August 10, 2011 | Volume 10, Issue 6

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Dear Faithful Readers,

There is a prevalent misnomer out there about our industry that I would like to put to rest...none of us are in the business to win ballgames or even championships, we are all in this business to put butts in seats. Selling tickets, it is the lifeblood of any successful franchise. However, with enhanced state-of-the-art home theatre systems and less discretionary income for families to spend, it has become increasingly difficult to get fans out to see your product in person. This is why I wanted to highlight the New Orleans Hornets' aggressive ticket sales program. Not only were they trying to persuade New Orleanians to spend their hard earn dollar with them, but also had to assure the stability of a team with uncertain ownership as well as deal with a lockout that definitely wasn't enticing fans to open their checkbooks. Their subsequent success reveals that with the correct plan of attack and persistence, any team should be able to host games in front of capacity crowds.

Enjoy the Feature,

Joe Shapero
[email protected]

P.S. Love the feature? Hate it? Wish we covered a great idea or program your organization is doing? Email me with your idea and any and all of your comments from this week's issue and we will include them anonymously on our NSF LinkedIn Discussion Board!

New Orleans Beats The Lockout Blues

The Hornets return to their roots to increase season ticket sales during a challenging time.

CONTACT

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Bill Bailey
Senior Vice President, Ticket Sales and Service
New Orleans Hornets
Phone: (504) 593-4889
Email: [email protected]

ORGANIZATION

New Orleans Hornets

PROGRAM TITLE

I'm In, Are You? - 100 events in 100 days

OBJECTIVES

The NFL and NBA lockouts of 2011 mark the second time in history that two professional sports leagues have been shut down simultaneously by labor problems. With the NFL recently coming to an agreement and ending their lockout, only the NBA dispute remains. The league, its teams, and employees are facing a very uncertain future. At the tail end of 2010, the New Orleans Hornets were not only facing the looming 2011 NBA lockout, but also the perceived instability of a team that was purchased by the NBA after not finding a suitable local buyer in the short term. Additionally, the potential of not hitting certain attendance benchmarks could have allowed the team to opt out of their lease and possibly relocate. With these challenges in place, the goal was still “to get the team healthier business wise and show potential local ownership groups the support the team had in the city", Hornets' Senior Vice President of Ticket Sales and Service, Bill Bailey, stated "To do this, the team’s overarching goal was to reach 10,000 full season tickets. To reach this mark, we would have to continue aggressively selling during a traditionally slow time of the year."

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Summer months don't usually generate substantial ticket sales for NBA teams, so to reach their goal of 10,000 full season tickets the Hornets launched a program titled "I'm In, Are You? – 100 Events in 100 Days", beginning on June 7th. This program evolved from their highly successful "I'm In" campaign that launched in March of 2011. The "I'm In" campaign was designed to show the importance of the Hornets to the New Orleans community. If you were "in" for the city of New Orleans, you had to be "in" for the Hornets. This extended into the "I'm In, Are You? – 100 events in 100 days" because the staff knew they needed to do something different to keep the momentum going once they stopped playing basketball. It was taken to an extreme level to create more attention to their efforts, by setting out to do 100 events in 100 days. The initiative made an offer to the Hornets most enthusiastic supporters, their current season ticket holders. Season ticket holders were able to invite his or her non-season ticket holder friends, clients, and business associates into their home or businesses in hopes that they would purchase 2011-12 season tickets. The Hornets staff would be present at each event making a strong pitch to encourage all in attendance that the time is now to act on purchasing season tickets. The Hornets' staff would also bring fun to every event, including food and drinks.

Click Here to view more photos from the "I'm In, Are You? - 100 events in 100 days" campaign.

MEDIA

The Hornets promoted "I'm In, Are You? – 100 events in 100 days" through e-mails sent to season ticket holders, through a special website landing page, social media pages, a call campaign to current season ticket holders and a strong PR push that was launched with a press conference in a season ticket holder's home on June 7, 2011.

PARTNERS

The Hornets partnered with a local caterer, Mr. Mudbugs, to provide the food and drinks at all of the events. Mr. Mudbugs participated in trade for a combination of marketing assets and season tickets.

RESULTS

Hosting events in smaller, more intimate settings was key to gaining the attention of the Hornets market and a way for the team to represent the soul of the community in how they conduct their business. "People in New Orleans like to gather together in homes, back porches or balconies enjoying life together with food, drink and good times. We like to say ‘we are a New Orleans business who happens to be in the NBA' and not the other way around," stated Bailey. By embracing the New Orleans way of business, the team found great success and is currently at over 8,600 full season tickets sold, including 3,000 new full season ticket holders. In comparison, last season the team had 6,300 full season tickets.

Hornets fans enjoying one of the 100 events - A backyard BBQ!

LOOKING AHEAD

The Hornets will continue to use authentic, intimate promotions like this in the future. Bailey says, "We feel that the connection points that events like this provide for us with our fans will continue to be a staple of how we do business going forward...not just in sales, but as a more grass-roots method of connecting with our existing customers as well."

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