Fanfest 2019 update.

[Going Underground]

Another update.Should be getting an email from the Orioles sometime after Christmas on how to get your complimentary tickets if you are a season ticket holder from last season.Bresking news as it happens. 

[ThomasTomasz]

17 hours ago, eddie83 said:

They have to be making some changes with this new wording. They are going to need to be very creative. 

It has been a positive offseason but that doesn’t mean fans want to invest in season plans for a bad team. Curious what they do.  

One of the things I got from the STH survey was that they are strongly considering a point-based system.  The Redskins have that, and you get points for early renewal, renewal period, attending certain events, having your ticket scanned, scanned early, etc, and you can exchange points for activities (be in the tunnel during the walkout, be on the field during pre-game warmups, hold the flag during the National Anthem, attend the STH mock combine), or swap them for memorabilia.  

The Pirates are another example of a great organization as far as STH benefits.  One of the things you can do is take BP on the field in the off-season, and I believe the Yankees and Mets offer that and other benefits for their STH's. 

The Orioles have a ways to go.  Over the past two seasons, they've definitely increased the quality of the gate giveaways, and stepped it up as far as their promotional days.  But, they still have a long way to go for the 81 and 29 game holders.  Essentially, the only benefit we have is the STH appreciation day.  

[ThomasTomasz]

10 hours ago, Going Underground said:

Another update.Should be getting an email from the Orioles sometime after Christmas on how to get your complimentary tickets if you are a season ticket holder from last season.Bresking news as it happens. 

You used to be able to log into the My Tickets portal and have access to download your ticket for the event.  I would suggest emailing your account representative and see what they can do for you.  Both of mine over the past five years have been awesome at responding promptly and getting things worked out for me.  

[ThomasTomasz]

This is not to be political, but the change in name from season-ticket holders to Birdland members is marketing specifically designed to target millennials.  As someone who is an employer of millennials, and whose parent company has put a lot of time and research into how to attract and keep talent from that age group, they want to feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves.  Wrapping up season-ticket holders with the Birdland bow is trying to get that across subliminally.  Make no mistake that we hired a successful president of business operations from the Miami Heat, and we immediately institute this program.  The Redskins had a similar hire, and immediately started this #TogetherWeHail program, where variants of that hashtag and #hail are plastered around different parts of the stadium and in all advertisements, video breaks highlighting the community during games, etc. 

It's all part of a plan to target that key millennial demographic and get them to feel a part of this community and therefore, spend their money on tickets.  The good thing that comes from this is that we are going to be getting more value out of our membership in all likelihood.  

[Going Underground]

6 hours ago, ThomasTomasz said:

You used to be able to log into the My Tickets portal and have access to download your ticket for the event.  I would suggest emailing your account representative and see what they can do for you.  Both of mine over the past five years have been awesome at responding promptly and getting things worked out for me.  

Some good points  on season tickets.The Orioles are still one of the last teams to have season tickets on sale. I think only one other team that does not have a season ticket plan or holiday or other mini packs on sale. I think we will know soon about season tickets. Last year,they sent out invoices on January 9th. The My Oriole ticket website has been  saying being updated for over a week. Now it says log in coming soon. 

 

Some teams for some plans are going to all mobile site and no printable tickets. This is the Diamondbacks:

Mini Plan tickets for the 2019 season are mobile only, accessed through the free MLB Ballpark app. Click on the buttons below to learn more about how to access your tickets via a mobile device.

 

 

 

[wildbillhiccup]

6 hours ago, ThomasTomasz said:

This is not to be political, but the change in name from season-ticket holders to Birdland members is marketing specifically designed to target millennials.  As someone who is an employer of millennials, and whose parent company has put a lot of time and research into how to attract and keep talent from that age group, they want to feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves.  Wrapping up season-ticket holders with the Birdland bow is trying to get that across subliminally.  Make no mistake that we hired a successful president of business operations from the Miami Heat, and we immediately institute this program.  The Redskins had a similar hire, and immediately started this #TogetherWeHail program, where variants of that hashtag and #hail are plastered around different parts of the stadium and in all advertisements, video breaks highlighting the community during games, etc. 

It's all part of a plan to target that key millennial demographic and get them to feel a part of this community and therefore, spend their money on tickets.  The good thing that comes from this is that we are going to be getting more value out of our membership in all likelihood.  

That's interesting because Millenials, in general, don't seem willing to commit to anything long term. I don't see them being a big purchaser of season tickets. Especially when they know they'll be able to walk up to the gate and get tickets to just about any game they want to this season. The Orioles are going to have to take a page from the minor league teams/parks if they want to fill the seats this season and get creative with the promotions / giveaways. They need to think bigger than floppy hats and bobblehead dolls. Installing free (working) wifi at the stadium would do wonders as well. And post tweets with hashtag #orioles on the scoreboard throughout the game. Millenials aren't going to put away their smart phones so you have to find a way to engage them. Just some suggestions. 

 

[atomic]

2 hours ago, wildbillhiccup said:

That's interesting because Millenials, in general, don't seem willing to commit to anything long term. I don't see them being a big purchaser of season tickets. Especially when they know they'll be able to walk up to the gate and get tickets to just about any game they want to this season. The Orioles are going to have to take a page from the minor league teams/parks if they want to fill the seats this season and get creative with the promotions / giveaways. They need to think bigger than floppy hats and bobblehead dolls. Installing free (working) wifi at the stadium would do wonders as well. And post tweets with hashtag #orioles on the scoreboard throughout the game. Millenials aren't going to put away their smart phones so you have to find a way to engage them. Just some suggestions. 

  

And most millennials probably can't afford season tickets.  I am sure the mass majority of season ticket holders are 35 and older.  If they want to market to millenials probably cheap beer nights or don't raise the price of tickets on promotion nights. 

All this millenials don't buy  houses and are forgoing cars is all because they can't afford it.  People think it is some conscious decision.  Once they have a 6 figure salary and their student loans are paid off they will have things like houses, expensive cars, and season tickets. 

[ThomasTomasz]

On 12/19/2018 at 7:49 AM, Going Underground said:

Some good points  on season tickets.The Orioles are still one of the last teams to have season tickets on sale. I think only one other team that does not have a season ticket plan or holiday or other mini packs on sale. I think we will know soon about season tickets. Last year,they sent out invoices on January 9th. The My Oriole ticket website has been  saying being updated for over a week. Now it says log in coming soon. 

 

Some teams for some plans are going to all mobile site and no printable tickets. This is the Diamondbacks:

Mini Plan tickets for the 2019 season are mobile only, accessed through the free MLB Ballpark app. Click on the buttons below to learn more about how to access your tickets via a mobile device.

 

 

 

Yeah, they have always been late, in the past we always thought it was because they were waiting out the FA market.  The Chris Davis contract signing, they waited a ridiculously long time to send out.  I am hopeful the reason this year is that they are rolling out a whole new revamped program.  

The Redskins tried to do all mobile tickets this year, but they had a lot of pushback and ended up still sending paper tickets.  It also didnt help that their parking passes are not digital either, however, the Orioles are.  By the midway point of the year, I was using the MLB app exclusively for my ticket and parking passes, so I do not mind going mobile at this point.  

[ThomasTomasz]

23 hours ago, wildbillhiccup said:

That's interesting because Millenials, in general, don't seem willing to commit to anything long term. I don't see them being a big purchaser of season tickets. Especially when they know they'll be able to walk up to the gate and get tickets to just about any game they want to this season. The Orioles are going to have to take a page from the minor league teams/parks if they want to fill the seats this season and get creative with the promotions / giveaways. They need to think bigger than floppy hats and bobblehead dolls. Installing free (working) wifi at the stadium would do wonders as well. And post tweets with hashtag #orioles on the scoreboard throughout the game. Millenials aren't going to put away their smart phones so you have to find a way to engage them. Just some suggestions. 

 

The hashtag thing was a big point of my first post for sure.  Like I said, the Redskins new branding doesn't let you forget about it at the stadium, it's actually pretty clever.  While they may not be a big purchaser of the 81 or 29 game packages, they can easily get them in on a smaller membership, especially if you combine them with a great rewards program and get creative with giveaways like you said.  The college hat days were huge successes for them, and I imagine that program will continue.  

[wildbillhiccup]

3 minutes ago, ThomasTomasz said:

The hashtag thing was a big point of my first post for sure.  Like I said, the Redskins new branding doesn't let you forget about it at the stadium, it's actually pretty clever.  While they may not be a big purchaser of the 81 or 29 game packages, they can easily get them in on a smaller membership, especially if you combine them with a great rewards program and get creative with giveaways like you said.  The college hat days were huge successes for them, and I imagine that program will continue.  

Smaller ticket plans make more sense. Either way I think the point is they probably need to do a better job of tapping into that demographic. A few more ideas. 

1) FortNite at the Yard - We're too old for this, but the teens would absolutely love it. 

2) Raffle / Contest to pay off someone's student loans. 

3)  Orioles IPA - Work with one of the local brewers to craft a "team" IPA that's sold at the stadium.  

4) When they're in town make the old time greats more accessible (like Boog). Even if it's just being able to see them at the park. 

5) Partner with Uber or Lyft and assign designated drop off zones at the stadium. 

6) Partner with local restaurants and offer discounted dinner and a game tickets. 

7) Develop more of presence/identify on social media (ex.: the twitter Moon Pie account).

[theocean]

On 12/19/2018 at 12:33 AM, ThomasTomasz said:

This is not to be political, but the change in name from season-ticket holders to Birdland members is marketing specifically designed to target millennials.  As someone who is an employer of millennials, and whose parent company has put a lot of time and research into how to attract and keep talent from that age group, they want to feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves.  Wrapping up season-ticket holders with the Birdland bow is trying to get that across subliminally.  Make no mistake that we hired a successful president of business operations from the Miami Heat, and we immediately institute this program.  The Redskins had a similar hire, and immediately started this #TogetherWeHail program, where variants of that hashtag and #hail are plastered around different parts of the stadium and in all advertisements, video breaks highlighting the community during games, etc. 

It's all part of a plan to target that key millennial demographic and get them to feel a part of this community and therefore, spend their money on tickets.  The good thing that comes from this is that we are going to be getting more value out of our membership in all likelihood.  

As a millennial, season-tickets don't make any sense to me. You agree to pre-buy tickets to games you aren't sure you will be able to attend in a stadium where you can walk up to the ticket counter on any given day and buy tickets in any section. Sure, you get a small discount on the tickets - but if you can't make one game and the ticket goes to waste, that discount starts to become irrelevant.

Adding more value to a Camden Yards "membership" sounds more interesting. But, season ticket plans in and of themselves sounds like all the other dumb things my parents waste money on: cable subscriptions, time-shares, land lines, dinner at Applebees.

[ThomasTomasz]

6 minutes ago, theocean said:

As a millennial, season-tickets don't make any sense to me. You agree to pre-buy tickets to games you aren't sure you will be able to attend in a stadium where you can walk up to the ticket counter on any given day and buy tickets in any section. Sure, you get a small discount on the tickets - but if you can't make one game and the ticket goes to waste, that discount starts to become irrelevant.

Adding more value to a Camden Yards "membership" sounds more interesting. But, season ticket plans in and of themselves sounds like all the other dumb things my parents waste money on: cable subscriptions, time-shares, land lines, dinner at Applebees.

So the 29 game package contains at least one game in every series played at Camden Yards that year.  For the four game series, you sometimes get two.  I actually forgot to mention this benefit, but the Orioles have long had a "dollar for dollar" exchange program, meaning I can exchange my tickets for another game if I can't make it.  So if you have tickets to a Monday game, but you can't make the Monday game this week due to a work meeting, you log into the season ticket portal and trade them for the Tuesday game that you can make.  

On the other side, you can also sell them on StubHub, which may only be in play right now for Yankees, Red Sox and Nationals tickets due to the fact that attendance is going to be light over the next couple seasons.  Also, the Yankees, Red Sox and Nationals games cost more per ticket, and depending on what section you want, you may be able to trade those tickets in for two other games in other series.  

If you do miss a game with your tickets, they will allow you to trade the ticket in for an upper deck seat at future games, or for lower level left-field seat for select games.  And, if you are buying the 29 or 13 game packages, you get to see what games you are purchasing before you buy them.  Granted, things change over a six month season, but 95% of my commitments I know when I buy these tickets and I make sure to get my trade-ins going earlier.  

They need to do a better job with providing more value aside from the dollar for dollar exchange and just one appreciation day- they need a rewards program in the worst way- but they give you ample ways to use or reuse your tickets.  

[bobmc]

1 hour ago, wildbillhiccup said:

Smaller ticket plans make more sense. Either way I think the point is they probably need to do a better job of tapping into that demographic. A few more ideas. 

1) FortNite at the Yard - We're too old for this, but the teens would absolutely love it. 

2) Raffle / Contest to pay off someone's student loans. 

3)  Orioles IPA - Work with one of the local brewers to craft a "team" IPA that's sold at the stadium.  

4) When they're in town make the old time greats more accessible (like Boog). Even if it's just being able to see them at the park. 

5) Partner with Uber or Lyft and assign designated drop off zones at the stadium. 

6) Partner with local restaurants and offer discounted dinner and a game tickets. 

7) Develop more of presence/identify on social media (ex.: the twitter Moon Pie account).

Good ideas!  Others come to mind (and some ideas may be covered in the new package plans):

Interact with Sig (or staff geeks) during game with analytic-type questions on strategy/player profiles, etc.

Make  "memberships" for non-specific games for reduced prices and show up game day and select seats

Interact with music guys during games and make requests for songs to play between innings - make the "Thank G I'm a country boy" optional some games but don't lose the tradition.  Have roving camera guys show the ones whose song is selected.

Do t shirt guns more often during breaks and other things done at MiLB games

Upgrade seats every game during for select "members" during chosen inning where good seats aren't filled, etc.

[wildbillhiccup]

1 hour ago, bobmc said:

Good ideas!  Others come to mind (and some ideas may be covered in the new package plans):

Interact with Sig (or staff geeks) during game with analytic-type questions on strategy/player profiles, etc.

Make  "memberships" for non-specific games for reduced prices and show up game day and select seats

Interact with music guys during games and make requests for songs to play between innings - make the "Thank G I'm a country boy" optional some games but don't lose the tradition.  Have roving camera guys show the ones whose song is selected.

Do t shirt guns more often during breaks and other things done at MiLB games

Upgrade seats every game during for select "members" during chosen inning where good seats aren't filled, etc.

I love this idea. Even better if we hire an organist. Josh Kantor, the Red Sox' organist, can play just about any song (no matter how obscure) by ear.  

[Moose Milligan]

I'd personally love it if people weren't so worried about catering to millennials.  It's a bit ironic that the older generations are so interested in a generation that's pretty much disinterested in anything but their smart phones instagram/twitter and their precious feewings.