We have seen the one-off giveaways in market by teams both major and minor to find ways to help ease the burden of the ticketholder and entice he or she to continue to attend games.Nets potential of over $200,000 in free gas may be the leading enticement as one incentive, but in South Florida the diversity of savings attempts, combined with the sluggish economy and a sometimes apathetic fan base to begin with, has made every team search for ways to top the other. Charles Elmore took each effort team by team in the Palm Beach Post, which includes the Dolphins providing free bus service to the Heat entering fans in a sweepstakes for free mortage and utility bills to the Panthers offering the obligatory gas cards.Perhaps one of the more interesting points in the piece is addressing the issue of lower ticket prices and the perception that a lower price may not be an incentive (although the Dolphins have frozen prices). People always look to perceived value vs. actual value, and the ability to work with brands to create the added value for fans is both the more diverse and the more entertaining way to fill seats. Getting something for nothing, or the feel of such an opportunity, still outweighs the cash outlay, and the way the piece goes into detail is a great primer for diversity of ideas in one market.
One the value of star power, we see two examples, one positive, one negative, on how important stars are to events. Darren Rovell has a great q and a with Octagon's Peter Carlisle on the present and longterm value of brand Michael Phelps.?while Golf.com has a good piece on the fall of the PGA Championships this past weekend as a TV property without Tiger Woods, the Raleigh News and Observer has a great piece on hometown hero and Olympic medalist Cullen Jones and the potential he can have over swimmers of colorthe New York Times has a look at the value of marketing retired athletes…lastly, the South Florida Sun Sentinel has a look on the “coolness” and marketability of NCAA football programs,.and the New York Times
