1. CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) What is the goal of any facility manager?
2) What is the lifeblood of sport & entertainment facilities?
3) What is the most important marketing concept that any business should
remember?
4) What are mini-plans?
5) What reasons are a season ticket beneficial to the organization?
6) What does the underground luxury suites at The Palace of Auburn Hills lack?
7) What do club seats offer the patron?
8) What is often the most important revenue source for many facilities?
9) What is a per cap analysis?
10) What do some teams charge fans in addition to the fee for entering the parking
lot?
11) What is one of the most important revenue sources for most facilities?
12) One of the critical components of maximizing the answer to Question 11 is to
police the facility for illegal sales of what?
13) What can sport & entertainment facilities provide a sponsor access to?
14) What was the company, team, & year the first time a company agreed to pay to
have its name attached to a professional sport facility?
15) What was the issue with SF Candlestick Park agreeing to naming rights?
16) What was the issue with the Houston Astros selling the naming rights to its
stadium?
2. 1) WHAT IS THE GOAL OF ANY FACILITY MANAGER?
-TO GENERATE REVENUES THAT EXCEED EXPENSES.
-PROJECTING REVENUE &
EXPENSES IS ONE OF THE
MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS
OF MANAGING A
SPORT/ENTERTAINMENT
FACILITY.
4. THE 4 AREAS OF FACILITY RETAIL OPERATIONS
1) CONCESIONS 2) PARKING 3) MERCHANDISING 4) TICKETS
-TICKET OFFICE IS THE HEART OF SPORTS ENTERPRISE & KEY
TO FINANCIAL SUCCESS.
5. 2) WHAT IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF SPORT/ENTERTAINMENT
FACILITIES?
TICKETS
9. 1) Starting June 1, what will be the new name of the Home Depot Center?
-STUBHUB CENTER
2) What was the value of the agreement that Home Depot signed in 2003?
-$70 MILLION OVER 10 YEARS
3) What 2 MLS teams play home games at the stadium?
-LOS ANGELES GALAXY & CHIVAS USA
4) Who is StubHub's parent firm?
-EBAY
5) Announced in November, StubHub became the official ticket reseller for all venues
owned by what company?
-AEG GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS
10. 6) What is the name of the entertainment district across the street from the Staples
Center?
-L.A. LIVE
7) Where is StubHub based?
-SAN FRANCISCO, CA
8) What company did StubHub hire to help develop concepts related to activation of its
sponsorship?
-CAA SPORTS CONSULTING
9) Who was the first ticketing company to put its name on a major league sports facility?
-STUBHUB
10) What MLB teams pulled out of the StubHub-MLB deal when it was renewed in
December?
-YANKEES & ANGELS
11. “MOVING IN OUTFIELD FENCES GIVES PADRES ROOM FOR NEW SEATING”
SBJ: MARCH 4-10
PAGE: 13
12. 1) The Padres moved the outfield fences how many feet closer to home plate?
-11 FEET
2) What is being installed just behind the right-field fence to fill the space left by the shift?
-14 4-SEAT TABLES & 7 2-SEAT HIGH-TOP TABLES & STANDING ROOM FOR 10 PEOPLE
3) What is the name of the seating vendor that was hired to install the tables?
-4TOPPS
4) How will be Padres be able to generate revenue with the new right-field wall?
-LED DISPLAY: A 105-FOOT-LONG, 7-FOOT HIGH SLECTRONIC SIGN WITH A 14-FOOT-LONG STRIP CARVED OUT FOR LIVE
VIDEO
5) What companies teamed up to produce the 105-foot-long, 7-foot-high electronic sign?
-DAKTRONICS & SONY
6) The new 6 boxes behind the Home Plate Club will be sold as all-inclusive season-ticket packages & cover the cost of what?
-FOOD, BEER & WINE, IN-SEAT SERVICE, 1 PARKING PASS, & ACCESS TO THE OMNI PREMIER CLUB
7) What company owns the naming rights to the Padres stadium?
-PETCO
13. 3) WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MARKETING CONCEPT
THAT ANY BUSINESS SHOULD REMEMBER?
THE MOST DIFFICULT & EXPENSIVE THING TO DO IS MAKE
THE FIRST SALE.
-A CONSIDERABLE INVESTMENT OF TIME & MONEY IS
REQUIRED TO TO GET A CONSUMER TO OVERCOME
INITIAL RESISTANCE TO BUYING INTO A
PRODUCT/SERVICE, BUT…
-ON AVERAGE IT COSTS 5X MORE TO GET A NEW
CUSTOMER THAN IT DOES TO KEEP AN EXISTING ONE.
-IF CUSTOMERS HAVE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE DURING
THEIR FIRST VISIT THEY ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO BE
REPEAT CUSTOMERS.
15. 1) Besides the Heat, how many other franchises currently offer a 3-year season-ticket renewal plan
across all season-ticket price points?
-NONE
2) What does the 3-year season-ticket renewal deal provide the Heat?
-ASSURED TICKET REVENUE
3) What does the deal lessen for the Heat?
-THE SEASON-TICKET ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN ON THE CLUB
4) How do the ticket holders benefit from the long-term deal?
-LOCKS IN RATES COUNTERING ANY PRICE INCREASES THAT MIGHT COME DOWN THE LINE
(PLAYOFF TICKETS AT REGULAR-SEASON PRICES)
5) The Heat also sold 3-year season-ticket plans after winning its first NBA title in 2006. What was
different with that plan offering than the current deal?
-NO PRICE INCREASE INCREASES FOR THE TICKETS ACROSS THE SPAN OF THE DEAL
16. 6) Along with having a star-laden team, how else has Miami increased demand for
Heat season tickets?
-LIMITING THE SEASONLONG INVENTORY THAT’S AVAILABLE FOR THE CLUB
7) The Heat hold back much of the nightly ticket inventory to maximize revenue
through what 2 types of ticket-pricing efforts?
-VARIABLE & DYNAMIC PRICING
8) Heading into this season, how many teams were projected to have sales of at
least 10,000 full-season equivalent tickets?
-15
9) What NBA team offers a 3-year plan for their higher-end, "all-access" season
seats?
-BROOKLYN NETS
18. 4) WHAT ARE MINI-PLANS?
A SERIES OF TICKETED EVENTS DURING THE SEASON.
19. ESCALATOR APPROACH
-A SALES APPROACH THAT
ATTEMPTS TO MOVE A
CUSTOMER UP THE “TICKET
ESCALATOR” ONE STEP AT A
TIME (SINGLE GAME TO MINI-
PACKS TO FULL SEASON).
20. VARIABLE & DYNAMIC TICKET PRICING
-TICKET SELLING STRATEGIES THAT USE ADVANCED COMPUTER
PROGRAMMING TO MAKE PRICE ADJUSTMENTS BASED ON CERTAIN
DEMAND FACTORS (DAY OF THE WEEK, MONTH, OPPONENT, HOW
WELL THE TEAM IS PLAYING, ETC.)
-VARIABLE: PRICES ARE SET AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON
-DYNAMIC: PRICES ARE ADJUSTED DURING THE SEASON, SOMETIMES
AS LATE AS THE DAY OF THE GAME
-MORE THAN 1/2 OF MLB TEAMS UTILIZE DYNAMIC PRICING
21. 5) WHAT REASONS ARE A SEASON TICKET BENEFICIAL TO THE
ORGANIZATION?
-USUALLY PURCHASED PRIOR TO THE START OF THE SEASON SO THE
ORGANIZATION RECEIVES ALL OF THE MONEY FOR THE TICKET
SALES PRIOR TO PAYING EXPENSES FOR THE GAMES.
-SOLD FOR THE ENTIRE SEASON: THE SALES STAFF DOES NOT NEED
TO WORRY ABOUT SELLING THE SEAT
-ASSIST THE GAME OPERATIONS STAFF TO PREPARE FOR
ANTICIAPTED CROWDS
22. RED SOX SEASON TICKET WAITING LIST
-CURRENTLY OVER 7,000 PEOPLE ON THE RED SOX SEASON TICKET
WAITING LIST.
-THE RENEWAL RATE: ABOUT 98%, AMONG THE HIGHEST IN MLB.
-AT THAT RATE, ABOUT 400 RED SOX SEASON TICKETS ARE NOT
RENEWED EACH YEAR.
-SINCE MOST PEOPLE BUY SEASON TICKETS IN PAIRS, ABOUT 200
FANS ADVANCE THROUGH THE WAITING LIST YEARLY.
-THAT MEANS IT COULD TAKE UP TO 20 YEARS FOR A PERSON ON
THE WAITING LIST
-CHICAGO CUBS HAVE LARGEST SEASON TICKET WAITING LIST IN
MLB AT ABOUT 120,000.
