Published on November 4, 2015 by Micah Green-Holloway  

According to the data gathered by baseball-reference.com, the Braves rank 25th among Major League Baseball’s 30 teams in attendance per home game. In addition, Turner Field recorded its biggest drop in attendance in a decade when the Braves averaged 29,065 fans per game in the 2014 season to 25,530 this year.

This can partially be explained by increased ticket prices. According to ESPN analysts, “Major League Baseball's average ticket price rose 3.3 percent this season to $28.94, the steepest increase in six years.”

Importance of Promotions

Winning games is essential to any teams’ success, but having fans that are engaged is even better. I think the most effective way that the Braves can acquire more fans to the game is to increase their promotional days. Currently, the Braves have different promotional dates such as: kids run the bases, military day, and Friday night fireworks. These promotions are good and have been successful in the past, but in order to increase fan interest, the Braves have to invest in new promotions. One idea that would reach a different target market is offering college student discounts or “College students discount day”! Offering this discount would increase both revenue and fan interest, which would help the Braves’ overall attendance.

Even though the attendance may be declining for the Atlanta Braves, I think their sales and fan experience will increase tremendously when they move to the new SunTrust Stadium. Right now, however, I believe if the Braves can lower their ticket prices, invest in new promotions, and engage the social media crowd, it will make the stadium experience more worthwhile. This way, the Atlanta Braves can uphold their title as “America’s Team” and continue striving for success.

This blog post was written by Samford University, sports marketing student Micah Green-Holloway.

References

  • http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ATL/attend.shtml
  • http://www.sbrnet.com.ezproxy.samford.edu/research.aspx?subrid=763
  • http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12627891/major-league-baseball-average-ticket-price-         33-percent-nearly-29
  • http://www.forbes.com/sites/sportsmoney/2012/06/08/is-dynamic-ticket-pricing-hurting-mlb-attendance/