Ron Goch
The Telios Group
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Food Alternative for College Athletics

July 6th 2009

Q. In the “Create a Sellout” eBook, three of the many ticket sales strategies you share are the “All You Can Eat” ticket package, the meal deal, and the family value days, which packages food and tickets for a reasonable price. We’d enjoy implementing these ticket/food packages, but our concessions charges a minimum of $8 per person.  Add in the ticket and it’s not exactly a great value. What do other college athletic and sports teams do in similar situations?

A. This is a common challenge college athletics and sports teams face when trying to create value meal ticket programs, and one great alternative for both college athletics and sports teams is to work with the sponsorship sales team to create value meals with your sponsors. (more…)

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Sports Creative Ticket Promotions

June 15th 2009

Q. Considering today’s economy, what are some of the creative and successful ticket promotions in sports?

A. Sports seem to always find different ways to be creative with ticket promotions, and minor league baseball seems to lead the way year after year in the creativity category.

This past weekend I read a story “Teams Get Their Day In Downturn,” which highlights some creative marketing and promotions from baseball.  One promotion – Mortgage Mondays – involves raffling off a mortgage payment, which I’m sure many of the fans in attendance would enjoy winning.

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Should Children Receive a Free Ticket?

February 9th 2009

Q. We’ve been discussing and debating whether we should admit children for free in an effort to fill empty seats, as well as attract paying adult customers. Is this something you’d recommend college and pro sports teams consider implementing, especially with the struggling economy?

A. It’s a great question, and my answer wouldn’t be the same for all college and professional sports teams. Taking into consideration the fact a sports team is struggling to fill seats, as you’ve shared, college and professional sports teams have enjoyed successful children’s ticket promotions for designated theme nights for years. (more…)

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Successful College Nights

January 21st 2008

Q. What sports teams are hosting successful college nights and what are they offering the students?
 

A. College Nights have become more and more popular over the years with sports teams and many teams are hosting successful College Nights.
 

The Seattle Mariners host College Nights where five games during the months of May through September are designated as College Nights. The Mariners partner with a local restaurant and offer the college students a pre-game party with discounted food and drinks, and also offer students a specially reduced ticket of $7 on a regularly priced $18 reserve seat.
 
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Increase Ticket Sales with Assembly Program

January 14th 2008

Q. We have conducted hundreds of assembly programs over the years, and although we know they’ve proved to be beneficial for the schools, teachers and the youth we reach, we also would like to see a greater increase in our attendance as a result of these programs. What ideas and strategies could you share to assist us with this objective?
 

A. Take a look at the Pistons Partner Program, which is an assembly and basketball clinic program that involved three different programs that not only have the objective to reach out and address the needs of the Detroit community, but also effectively increase ticket sales.
 
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Unique Strategies for Armed Forces Nights

January 7th 2008

Q. I’m sure you’re familiar with the many armed forces appreciation events that sports teams conduct each year. Could you share any new or creative strategies we may be able to implement with our annual “Armed Forces Appreciation Night” that we conduct annually?
 

A. There are two neat strategies that come to mind.  The first is the Dallas Maverick’s annual “Seats for Soldiers” game where each of the front row seats is donated to military personnel by season ticket holders. (more…)

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Leverage Baseball to Sell Basketball

October 15th 2007

Q. Could you offer a creative way to leverage MLB’s World Series to assist a basketball program with selling tickets?
 

A. Why not simply mirror the World Series promotion Taco Bell has put together that offers one free taco if a base is stolen in the World Series?  You create whatever prize you would like to offer – for example, a complimentary pair of season tickets – if a player steals a base any time during the World Series. (more…)

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Ticket Sales Strategies with No Schedule

August 20th 2007

Q. Each year the question is raised why we don’t sell tickets year round, and the answer is usually because we don’t have a home schedule.  How can we sell tickets during the off season when we don’t know dates or opponents for the next season?
 

A. Many sports teams take season ticket deposits, and then once the schedule is finalized, they host a select-a-seat event or simply make follow up calls to lock people into seats and collect their remaining balance. (more…)

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Ticket Sales Payment Plans

July 30th 2007

Q. We have invoiced season ticket holders once each year and usually have two to three installments we ask for payments to be paid in full.  What other payment plans exist and should we be considering?
 

A. There are many ticket payment options and I’ll share two to consider.  One would be a year-round approach where a season ticket holders bank account would be debited each month similar to other household bills. (more…)

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Look and Think Outside Your Area

June 27th 2007

Q. What are creative ways to enhance the value of our ticket offers beyond the traditional ticket and food specials?
 

A. You may want to look outside of sports for new, fresh ideas.  I’m not suggesting sports teams are not creative with its ticket packaging, because many certainly more creative than I ever could be, but its fun and usually helps the creative process when you look and think outside your area. (more…)

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College Athletics Anniversary Sale

June 18th 2007

Q. Many retailers have annual anniversary sales and I’d like to know if this kind of sales could work well for college athletics?
 
A. Any time a college or professional sports team can celebrate its history (whether just a few years or many), I believe it can be positive and also provide a college or sports team with multiple opportunities. (more…)

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Father’s Day Ticket Specials

June 5th 2007

Q. What Father’s Day ticket specials are sports teams offering Dads and their families?
 

A. Here are three examples of Father’s Day ticket specials: (more…)

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Family Event Flyers

June 1st 2007

Q. Could you provide two or three examples of family event flyers? We’d like to see what other sports teams are doing and hopefully gain some insights on how to improve our family events and flyer presentation.
 

A. Here are three family event flyers for your review: (more…)

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Tickets as Gifts for Father’s Day

May 31st 2007

Q. We’d love to offer a Father’s Day gift card or Father/son ticket package this Father’s Day, as well as a Dad’s and Daughters or a Father/Son ticket special in the fall and winter during the football and basketball seasons. Baseball probably has the most success since Father’s Day falls during its season. Have football and basketball teams done well with these offers in the fall and winter, and if so, could you provide examples?
 

A. The father/son ticket special is ideal for college and professional baseball teams – as is a Dads and Daughters (don’t forget about those fathers who don’t have sons, and who may only have daughters!) – due to the timing of the baseball season. (more…)

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Field Trips to Sporting Events

May 29th 2007

Q. Schools and day cares often take field trips to the zoo or museums. Has any sports team been able to tap into school’s field trips, and if so, which sports teams have been successful offering field trip events?
 

A. Baseball has probably done the best of any of the sports at successfully offering field trips to schools. (more…)

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Baseball Ticket Promotions

May 25th 2007

Q. What are some of the more creative ticket promotions and events that minor or major league baseball is doing that would be successful at the college level?
 

A. Here are five baseball ticket specials and events for your consideration: (more…)

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Moving Tickets and Sponsor’s Products

May 10th 2007

Q. How can I create a promotion that both provide value to a sponsor while also helping us sell more tickets?
 

A. There are many ways to structure ticket promotions with sponsors that provide value to the sponsor and assist you with selling tickets. One way to consider might be offering fans that purchase your sponsor’s product and one of your game tickets, a second ticket free. (more…)

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National TV Turnoff Week

April 3rd 2007

Q. I read in a school bulletin that National TV Turnoff Week is April 23-29, and curious if you know of any promotions – or if you could suggest a promotion – sports teams could host related to this special week?

A. The Richmond Braves are offering children complimentary tickets and each accompanying adult half-off general admission tickets to its May 1 game for thos who complete a pledge form. (more…)

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Best Way to Report Attendance

March 27th 2007

Q. In college athletics, there is not one uniformed way to report attendance for sporting events.  How do you recommend college athletic departments report event attendance?
 

A. There was a time while I was at the University of Tennessee when we struggled with whether we should announced paid attendance, tickets distributed, or turnstile (tickets scanned) attendance numbers when announcing women’s basketball attendance. (more…)

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Family Nights

February 12th 2007

Q. Does one night work better than others when it comes to hosting “Family Nights,” or would it prove effective to have a family ticket special for each of our home games?
 

A. Many teams select Fridays for hosting Family Nights for a few reasons.  One, Fridays and Saturdays work well for kids and families due to no school the next day, so the kids can stay out a bit later than they would on a school night. (more…)

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Web Only Ticket Offers

January 9th 2007

Q. We’d like to begin offering web only discount offers to our fans and curious to know if this would have any negative effect on our season ticket sales?

A. Many sports teams offer exclusive web-only ticket offers, which is now common practice for many businesses, and it hasn’t impacted season ticket sales in a negative way.

Most sports teams have attractive season ticket holder benefits, so even if they offer an exclusive discounted ticket on its web site – for example, Web Wednesdays – season ticket holders still receive the best price and benefits.

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Ron Goch,
The Telios Group
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Selling Full and Mini Ticket Plans

January 1st 2007

Q. We’re debating whether we should sell full and mini season tickets for football now, or whether we should wait to sell mini season tickets closer to the season. What do you recommend?

A. I recommend selling full season tickets, mini season ticket plans, as well as group ticket plans…the full menu of plans.

Keep in mind, your full season ticket holders are great prospects for group tickets, and also, your group leaders make good season ticket prospects, or at the very least, could refer you to prospective season ticket holders.

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Ron Goch,
The Telios Group
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Selling Tickets by Category or Territory

October 9th 2006

Q. When it comes to selling season and group tickets, do you feel it’s best to assign groups by territory or category to sales executives?
 
A. I do not recommend assigning territories for season ticket sales executives, and I recommend assigning categories to group ticket sales executives. A fun approach to the category assignments is conducting a group category draft – similar to a professional sports team’s player annual player draft – among your sales executives.
 

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group
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Giveaways to Pack the Place

August 2nd 2006

Q. What giveaways would you recommend to pack the place for a basketball or football game?

A. I don’t believe giveaways “pack” athletic arenas and stadiums. The best strategy to create arena and stadium sellouts is hiring and training a ticket sales team.

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group 

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List to Start With When Selling Tickets

June 14th 2006

Q. What is the best list to start with when selling sporting event tickets?

A. The best places to start for ticket sales are with your cancelled season ticket accounts and single event buyers.

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group 

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One Change for Business of College Athletics

June 9th 2006

Q. If you had the opportunity to change one strategy about the business of college athletics what would that one strategy be?

A. If I could assist college athletic programs with one major change in how they do business, without hesitation, I‘d work in collaboration with colleges to transition each from being primarily focused on “ticket operations” to a “ticket sales and services” operation.

We have the pleasure of working with college and professional sports teams on a daily basis, and not a day goes by that we’re not assisting college athletic programs in some way with successfully implementing ticket sales strategies.

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group 

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Father’s Day Ticket Sales Promotions

April 24th 2006

Q. Last week you provided some ticket sales strategies for Mother’s Day.  What ticket sales strategies would you recommend for Father’s Day?
 

A. We provided a post at Telios Tips last week on April 21st for Father’s Day that you may want to check out.
 

Your turn to take a shot!
 

What ticket sales promotions or strategies will you be implementing near Father’s Day at one of your sporting events?
 

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group
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Mother’s Day Ticket Sales Promotions

April 21st 2006

Q. What ticket sales promotions or strategies would you recommend for Mother’s Day?

A. Check out the post at Telios Tips on April 20th that includes Mother’s Day events you may find interesting and helpful with your ticket sales promotions for games near Mother’s Day.

Your turn to take a shot!

What ticket sales promotions or strategies will you be implementing in celebration of Mother’s Day?

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group 

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Unique and Effective Baseball Theme Nights

April 20th 2006

Q. What are some unique, yet effective, theme night promotions you’d recommend for baseball and/or softball?

A. Here are a two unique ticket sales theme nights you may want to consider for baseball and/or softball:

Third Annual Somerset Patriots Twins Day

Annual Somerset Patriots Car Show 

Your turn to take a shot!

What are some unique and effective ticket sales theme nights you’re hosting thi season for baseball and/or softball?

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group 

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Hurricanes Scoring on and off the Ice

April 6th 2006

Q. What’s the general consensus on how the NHL hockey lockout has affected hockey, and do you believe the fans will return to support hockey?

A. I’m surprised to see how quickly many NHL teams have garnered and rallied the support of hockey fans this season following the lockout.

A recent article regarding the Hurricanes, it’s success on the ice as well as in the box office will give you a good idea how their fans have supported their team, and next season may turn out to be an all-time record high for season tickets and attendance for the Hurricanes.

Your turn to take a shot! 

What are your thoughts on how the NHL lockout has affected hockey?

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group

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Faculty and Staff: Paid or Free Tickets

April 4th 2006

Q. Do you feel faculty and staff members should receive free admission to college athletics events?
 

A. It certainly would be appropriate to invite a faculty or staff member to an athletics event and provide a one-time complimentary ticket.  However, I don’t believe faculty and staff should receive complimentary season tickets.
 

I’d offer faculty and staff a special discount on season tickets as Stanford Athletics recently did when it offered faculty and staff 50 percent off season tickets in a special faculty and staff seating section for the 2006 Stanford football games.
 

Your turn to take a shot!
 

What kind of discount or seating section do you offer your faculty and staff?
 

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Ron Goch, The Telios Group

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