C.Rector Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 From: http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/d...s_det&fext=.jsp 02/13/2004 3:48 PM ET Pudge signing creates ticket rush Fans can purchase single-game tickets on March 6 By Jason Beck / MLB.com DETROIT -- Before Ivan Rodriguez signed, the busiest members of the Tigers front office were the negotiators. Now that Pudge is delivered, the busiest negotiators in the building aren't dealing with players. They're handling tickets. What was already looking like an up year for Tigers ticket sales representatives has become a relative marathon of answering phone calls that would make a PBS telethon jealous. After three straight years of declining season-ticket bases since Comerica Park's inaugural season, falling to less than 7,500 last year, the Tigers are already looking at a double-digit percentage increase. "We haven't seen anything like this since the stadium opened," Tigers vice president of ticket sales Bob Raymond said. Since Pudge signed, Raymond's sales staff has been staying around evenings after other Tigers officials have gone home, and coming in to work weekends. That's the kind of demand Rodriguez's signing has helped foster in what some local media had feared a dying baseball market. On the day Pudge signed, the Tigers sold a single-day record with $160,000 worth of full and partial season-ticket plans. Since then, they've broken that mark at least three more times, including the two days after the signing. The latest record came last Monday, a week after the signing, with $225,000. Add up the first eight days following the signing, and they sold $1.2 million worth of new season-ticket packages. Some customers are buying for the first time; others last had tickets when Comerica Park opened in 2000. But the major effect of Pudge signing, Raymond said, was on season-ticket holders from last year who hadn't yet renewed. "We're seeing people who were on the fence now renewing," he said. "These are our bread and butter." They're also the customers team owner Mike Ilitch wanted to win back when last season ended. Much has been made of Ilitch's personal approach with suite holders, whose four-year contracts from the park's opening were up for renewal. Ilitch also took a role in pursuing season-ticket holders who are up for renewal on a year-to-year basis. Ilitch approved a plan with Raymond, senior VP of business affairs Jim Stapleton and others to come up with incentives for renewals. He also backed a letter to season-ticket holders from last year thanking them for their support, and asking them to get in touch with former ticket holders from years past. The incentives package had its pre-Pudge appeal thanks to the 2005 All-Star Game. After reviewing how many tickets would be available to the club, the Tigers guaranteed those who bought full-season plans the opportunity to buy the same seats for All-Star Week events, including the game, along with the Home Run Derby and the Futures Game. Those who bought partial plans at upper reserved level or better would have a chance to buy seats somewhere for All-Star festivities. The All-Star Game offer, Raymond said, had as much incentive as the Pudge signing. Sales have reached to the point where they'll soon run out of All-Star tickets they can offer to season-ticket buyers, possibly as soon as mid-March. On top of that, the Tigers decided for the first time to offer a discount for season-ticket holders, ranging from $2 to $10 per ticket per game under the cost of a single-game ticket at the same level. The organization also has taken a more personal approach with ticket buyers. Those who buy season tickets are assigned to a specific sales representative, who keeps in touch during the year and does more than simply handle customer feedback. Sales reps can help purchase tickets for their customers to events at other Ilitch-affiliated facilities and organizations. At the top of the list, season-ticket holders in the on-deck circle and Tiger Den who renew by Feb. 20 will have the chance to purchase two tickets to Red Wings playoff games. With that, ticket agents had answers for ticket buyers when they asked why they should renew. "When they get on the phone this year, they have a story to tell," Raymond said. Pudge's signing gave the story a happy ending. Every agent had a list of people who had called during the Rodriguez rumors saying they'd buy tickets when the deal was done. The story of ticket sales, however, is only beginning. Single-game tickets go on sale March 6 and will push sales figures further upward by the time the Tigers open the home schedule April 8. The eventual goal is that attendance picks up from last season's Comerica Park low of 1,370,000, which ranked fourth-lowest in the Majors. How much of an increase the Tigers see likely depends on the team's record, the one incentive for which there's no substitute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesoxin' Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 It would be embarassing if we got out drawn by the Tigers this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastime Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 You mean signing a high-profile free agent might actually increase ticket sales? Well spank my ass and call me Charlie. No way!! That can actually happen? Wow. We would rather take the "come out and support us and then we'll spend" approach. Pure genius, I tell ya. Pure genius - or stupidity. You say tomato, I say tomatoe. Pffft. Instead of the next "Wheel Of Fortune" contestant buying a vowel, let's hope he buys Jerry Reinsdorf a clue as to how to run a f***ing major-league franchise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Honda Civic Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Oh wait this isn't fark.... Still Detroit = HockeyTown.... Nobody cares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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