What if going to baseball games was as easy and convenient as pulling up your favorite show on Netflix, finding your favorite beach playlist on Spotify or signing up for your favorite workout class on ClassPass? In Atlanta, it is!
Okay, so the Braves hoped to have a better final season at the Ted and it’s not the hot ticket in town that it usually is. But if you’re in the Atlanta area, there is an app worth checking out to catch the Braves’ last three months at Turner Field.
With the Braves Monthly Pass fans gain access to every home game for a monthly fee. For the 2016 season, that monthly fee is $39 and the subscription auto-renews until you cancel it. The day of the game, you’ll receive a text asking if you plan to attend the game. If you respond, “Yes,” you will be sent a Standing Room Only (SRO) barcode to claim a ticket to that game. Then, about an hour or two before first pitch, you’ll be sent your seat assignment.
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The Atlanta Braves are the first Major League Baseball franchise to introduce a monthly subscription package. With the highest percentage of day-of game sales of any MLB team, the Braves wanted to figure out a way to capitalize on that last-minute market while also getting younger fans to the ballpark. So they worked with their technology partner, Experience, who has helped them enhance their ballpark app, and came up with the idea to mimic the recurring subscription model that millennials already utilize in many areas of their life including television, music, fitness and even cooking meals. The whole experience is done digitally to meet the target audience where they are: on their phone.
The program was launched last year to test the concept of a flexible ticket that gained you access to the ballpark for a certain time period. The “Spring Pass” cost $49 and was good for April and May of 2015. With 55% of purchasers being new fans and 60% of purchasers falling in the 18-35 age bracket, it was considered a success. “It’s actually not a revenue play. The goal is to attract new fans and attract a younger, more digitally connected audience that already embraces the shared economy,” explained Greg Mize, Director of Digital Marketing for the Braves. The last minute seat assignments also allows the Braves to maximize their inventory.
Priced at only $39/month for this season, it’s clear that revenue is secondary to getting these fans to the ballpark. However, Mize noted that Millennial-aged fans tend to spend more on concessions once they are in the ballpark in general and they found that the monthly pass users are willing to spend a little more once they’re in the park because they didn’t pay a premium for the tickets. Mize also pointed out that for this target audience, coming to a baseball game isn’t about sitting in your seat and scoring each inning. Instead, it’s about enjoying the ballgame while hanging out with your friends and grabbing a beer at the Chop House. With that in mind, the majority of the Monthly Pass tickets are General Admission and 30% of them are Outfield and Infield seats.
In keeping true to meeting the target audience where they are, marketing and promotion for the Braves Monthly Pass has all taken place solely through the Braves’ social media channels. While that may not provide the standard ROI metrics of click to purchase, Mize said that real value is in creating awareness. The growth will come as followers engage with the posts through reactions, comments, and tagging friends.
As the Braves wind down their tenure in downtown Atlanta, the question arises: will this amazing deal make the move to SunTrust Park with the team? While Mize said they don’t know what the pricing structure will be yet, the answer is yes. Future considerations for the pass could also include encouraging those who don’t come to very many games with great seats when they do attend or rewarding frequent users with better seats as well as concession vouchers. And connectivity and fan engagement were top of mind in designing the new state-of-the-art ballpark, so the Braves will be even more equipped to engage with the millennial fan – once they get them through the gates.