How would you market hockey for a minor league team?

[Jason Harris 31]

I was in Utah for a Shoot For A Cure function with the Grizzlies the past two nights. (The assistant coach is a friend of Gouche's from Germany, while the head coach broke his vertebrae shortly after making the NHL.) We went to the bar last night with a group from the marketing and admin staff, then got onto a conversation about marketing the team in a non-hockey town. He mentioned a couple of ideas, to which I replied that the purist in me didn't like due to too much showmanship. His response, of course, was he still has to sell tickets, so I told him I'd shoot him an email with ideas. Then I thought I'd post it here to open it up to 10,000 hockey fans. Besides, for an accountant, chippa always has good marketing ideas....

Some of the things they've done are bringing in the Hanson Brothers; Pooch On The Pond (bring your dog to the game -- I hated that but it worked well for them); Guns and Hoses (discounted tickets for police and firemen based on the amount of tickets they sold); or broomball, pickup or open skates after the game.

One idea I had was giving away a Lotto ticket with a purchase, since it's effectively only a $1 discount, but they said they don't have Lotto in Utah. I remember having another last night, but three hours of sleep seems to have taken it from my brain.

[Chadd 916]

Dollar dog night is usually a popular promotion but group sales are frequently a big part of minor league ticket sales. Churches, boy/girl scouts, etc...

[furlanitalia 1]

How about working with minor hockey associations? There's a huge group buy and your target audience. Working out a fundraiser of some sort for the teams and recognize them at the game. Little kids love that stuff.

[SirJW 207]

Heritage nights seem to work well in Los Angeles for the Kings. An after party w/ a celebrity or two from that group seems to be a good draw.

[chippa13 1844]

Talk about being put on the spot. One thing I've noticed from frequenting games in Lowell, trying to market minor league hockey as family entertainment doesn't work.

If you're looking to get your name out, celebrity softball is always a good option. Get together a team of celebrities to face off on the diamond against your players. Obviously, folks will attend to see the celebs but they'll get a glimpse of your players and learn a little about the team. Create some face recognition. Have players do some guest bartending at local drinking clubs (Utah officially doesn't have bars from what I understand but one can belong to a club). Get a player or two a regular call in or visit to a popular local radio station. Get the good PR of having players do school visits and such and involve players in visible charitable events, common sense and most players do it on their own anyway.

Advertise professionally, it reflects on your team and organization. If you don't have high quality looking video highlights of your team then don't use them in tv ads. You don't want folks to see your commercial and be thinking of the local high school cable network. Also, don't undervalue yourself. Two-fers sound like a good idea because maybe you'll put asses in the seats but folks view it as cheap and apparently not worth it. View the anthem the same way. While a group of 4th graders butchering the Star Spangled Banner might seem cute to you, it is atrocious and makes your organization look cheap and hokey.

Game presentation is really where it is at and folks like me who have attended both Lowell Devils/Lockmonsters home games and Manchester Monarchs home games will agree. Manchester puts on a much better show and the ticket sales reflect that. Lowell averages maybe 1,000 a game (and that is helped by the near 5-6,000 they get when the P-Bruins come to town) while Manchester draws around 5-6,000 a night. Same product on the ice but Manchester has two huge advantages in their stadium, near instant lighting and a great video scoreboard. That allows Manchester to do a much more exciting and energetic pre-game buildup. The video scoreboard also allows for in-game highlights and between period entertainment. All things that keep folks focused and involved in the game.

People who have a great time at a game will come back and bring other people. Don't try so hard to cater to kids, cater to adults. Families may attend a game or two a year but a small group of adults could be there every Saturday. Have some kind of lounge type set up with tables, waitstaff, and a good view of the ice, and don't limit it to season ticket holders.

Ok, it just hit me. Here is your string of commercials..............players going thru day to day life but in full hockey gear. Might be a bit of a rip-off of the NHL's "hockey players are just like you" or "hockey's back" theme but you could have a lot of fun with it. You've got a guy struggling at the ATM because the fingers of his glove won't let him get his PIN right, the team goon dropping off bloodied jerseys at the cleaners, abuse the stereotype with a dentist's office waiting room full of players in gear, a player walking his dog and uses his stick to clean up the dog's business, a foul ball is hit at a baseball game and there's a big crowd reaching up for it but it is caught by the goalie, obviously with his catching glove, who sits back down in his full gear showing off the ball in his glove to other fans. The simple slogan is "The [insert team name here] are back in town." The week before the team's obligatory "ladies' night", the ad is all the guys, in full gear, getting manicures, hair cuts, shaves, etc. and someone walks into the place and seeing them all asks, "what's going on?" only to have one of the players point at a poster on the wall advertising said "ladies's night".

[furlanitalia 1]

Ok, it just hit me. Here is your string of commercials..............players going thru day to day life but in full hockey gear. Might be a bit of a rip-off of the NHL's "hockey players are just like you" or "hockey's back" theme but you could have a lot of fun with it. You've got a guy struggling at the ATM because the fingers of his glove won't let him get his PIN right, the team goon dropping off bloodied jerseys at the cleaners, abuse the stereotype with a dentist's office waiting room full of players in gear, a player walking his dog and uses his stick to clean up the dog's business, a foul ball is hit at a baseball game and there's a big crowd reaching up for it but it is caught by the goalie, obviously with his catching glove, who sits back down in his full gear showing off the ball in his glove to other fans. The simple slogan is "The [insert team name here] are back in town." The week before the team's obligatory "ladies' night", the ad is all the guys, in full gear, getting manicures, hair cuts, shaves, etc. and someone walks into the place and seeing them all asks, "what's going on?" only to have one of the players point at a poster on the wall advertising said "ladies's night".

Awfully creative lol. I have to agree with your point though on the highlights (and any video clips): if they aren't done well, don't use them. Some people feel just getting video out there will make your organization look good, but if it's crappy video it can very negatively effect the business.

[Jason Harris 31]

I tell ya, chippa, you chose the wrong profession. Think about it, you could be some bronzed, coke-addled lothario if you had pursued your true calling....

The premise their V.P. had was once someone had gone to game, they'd realize how exciting hockey is as a live sport, so one idea I had was to hold some "shows" on the concourse during the games. Along the lines of a chili cook-off, where people could visit before the game and during intermissions.

Another thought was to reward season ticket holders with a fun event, such as a tailgate party just before the season, or a casino night during the season. Bring in some sponsors and donate the proceeds to charity.

[chippa13 1844]

One of the best Lowell events that I attended was called Locktoberfest held long before the Devils took over Lowell. They had a big tent and party after a game for the season ticket folks, good times. The Devils organization doesn't do stuff like that and their fan appreciation night is pretty cheap.

Sure, advertising/marketing might sound like a hoot but I could never leave all the glitz and glamour of corporate accounting.

[Neal 41]

As a geek, I thought the work the Ducks did with their local science museum was interesting. How effective it was in growing their audience I'm not sure, but it definitely exposed lots of kids to hockey that may not have ever seen a game.

[MTG35 0]

This is a very good question.

Here are some of the issues that I see from a personal standpoint.

1). Do people care? Most likely not. In my area the minor league team is not an affiliate for the local NHL team. So I am torn between rooting for this team of guys that are not going to be on the NHL team I follow and the other minor league team in the area that is affiliated with my NHL team of choice. It becomes very confusing.

2). Other than going to the games or the local newspaper I never see anything about the Falcons on TV so how can I really "follow" them. I go to a few games a year because it is fun and I want to support local hockey but I have no emotional attachment to the team. How do you create that emotional attachment?

3). Okay maybe skip the emotional attachment since on a wide scale its just not possible. Now you get down to the fact that you have to make it fun, accessable (cheap), and about more than just the hockey. This is where you get into the public skate after, dollar dogs, etc promotions.

I guess if I look at this from a personal fan standpoint what I would be looking for to get me more involved would be perhaps a little more access to the team/players etc. Perhaps something special for full or partial season ticket holders that gives them access to the team/players. Or even from a regular ticket holder standpoint try to make it like minor league baseball where a few of the players every game come out after and sign stuff for people and say a quick hello. Knowing that you might be able to get a signature from an up and coming NHL star would perhaps get people to buy tickets to more games throughout the year. Again it needs to be about more than the hockey (unfortunately) since most hockey fan already have most all their money, time, and emotions tied up in the NHL team.

Chippa13, I see your point about trying to reach out to adults over kids but, if there is NHL hockey nearby the "adults" with free time, disposible income, etc are going to go to that. The traditional draw of anything minor league is that the family can go and not break the bank. So I would think that you would continue to focus on that as your core audience and see the "adult" market as secondary. So its all about finding ways to get your core audience in the building more times throughout the year as opposed to just 1 to 3 times a year.

I gotta say though all your commercial ideas are awesome. I would love those commercials if they were made.

[chippa13 1844]

Even if you can't follow the Falcons on tv, you can still listen to games on the radio or thru the web. As for the NHL over AHL option, cost and distance/parking play a huge part. The AHL is a lot more affordable, you can buy 2-3 great seats for the cost of 1 "cheap" NHL seat. Plus, how many folks are making the 2 hour drive from Springfield to Boston or even Springfield to NY, not a whole lot.

As for marketing to families instead of adults, it doesn't work. If you go to a Lowell game, the majority of the crowd is families and they're lucky to draw 1,000 people but if you go to a Monarchs game the majority of the crowd is adults and they're putting 5,000 in the seats.

[Jason Harris 31]

That's an interesting observation, chippa, because I also thought it's shortsighted to not market to families. Is one team significantly better, accounting for the different attendance?

As a family with two children, we often take advantage of the Family Nights offered for select Avs (as well as Nuggets) games. For the Avs, it's four tickets, four pizzas (or hot dogs) and four sodas for $99, while it's $59 for the Nuggets games.

[MTG35 0]

Plus, how many folks are making the 2 hour drive from Springfield to Boston or even Springfield to NY, not a whole lot.

My personal experience might not be the norm but what I know about the guys I play hockey with...the single or married with no kids guys have all been to a few Bruins games this season (driving an hour and a half) and even stayed over at hotels because they have the money to do it. The family guys have not, some have been to Falcons games some nothing at all.

Bottom line though, no matter if your a family or not, is you need to give people a pretty good reason to not stay home and watch the NHL team on your 50+ inch HDTV with a 6 pack of good beer for $8. Instead of going out, paying for a seat, buying food and 6 or 7 dollar beers for something that is not NHL hockey.

And please don't get me wrong, I really want a solution to this and respect everyones knowledge and insight. From what I read my area is in jeopardy of losing AHL hockey and I don't want that to happen.

[chippa13 1844]

Even in the standings this season and they've met a couple times in the playoffs. The game experience is better in Manchester and that would account for some of the difference but not that wide a gap. It is still AHL hockey.

As for family nights, they're a nice way to get some folks in the door on potentially thin nights from time to time but I don't see it as a way to boost overall attendance.

[furlanitalia 1]

As a family with two children, we often take advantage of the Family Nights offered for select Avs (as well as Nuggets) games. For the Avs, it's four tickets, four pizzas (or hot dogs) and four sodas for $99, while it's $59 for the Nuggets games.

Wow. Parking for Canucks games is $30-$40 (although you do get it back if you park at the casino). Beer is $8-9, pop is $4.75, Hamburger is about $9 as well. So for $99 my girlfriend and I could get a parking spot, two burgers, and a drink, and have a fantastic view of the game on the tv screen cause we'd have nothing left for tickets. Sometimes I wish I lived in a non hockey crazy city just for the good ticket deals.

[chippa13 1844]

My personal experience might not be the norm but what I know about the guys I play hockey with...the single or married with no kids guys have all been to a few Bruins games this season (driving an hour and a half) and even stayed over at hotels because they have the money to do it. The family guys have not, some have been to Falcons games some nothing at all.

Bottom line though, no matter if your a family or not, is you need to give people a pretty good reason to not stay home and watch the NHL team on your 50+ inch HDTV with a 6 pack of good beer for $8. Instead of going out, paying for a seat, buying food and 6 or 7 dollar beers for something that is not NHL hockey.

And please don't get me wrong, I really want a solution to this and respect everyones knowledge and insight. From what I read my area is in jeopardy of losing AHL hockey and I don't want that to happen.

One of the things that AHL teams need to use is their alumnus who have made it to the show. The list of guys that I've seen in Lowell before they became NHL stars is impressive. AHL teams should capitalize on that somehow but most around here don't.