A "new" Indy baseball business model

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JoesFan
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A "new" Indy baseball business model

Post by JoesFan » Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:11 am

Just to fortify my reputation as a troublemaker:
How about brainstorming a new indy baseball business model?
Here are a few ideas I'll throw out for your consideration. I will say in advance I'm just a fan, so some of these may be unworkable at best. But give it a few minutes thought and then hit these big fat meatballs right outa the park!

1) Weekend league: (we've discussed this one a little) for a City the size of Anderson, Albany, Aiken, Florence, et al. Aside from the players, would the fans like it? I think we would! If an average of 1,000 fans per game is reasonable @ $5 per, with an assumed $10 per in concessions. $15,000 per game? Is that reasonable? With a six team league playing five games a week, we're up to $225K weekly income. Am I way out of line? I'm thinking about a 16 week season, for a total annual sales intake of $3.6M. Is that enough intake to survive? I'm assuming the players salaries would probably deplete about $1.2M of that. I have no clue what stadium rentals are...
2) Others more experienced in such matters can discuss other avenues of income, such as advertising, uniform contracts, equipment contracts...
3) When revamping old stadiums, why not build a 22 or 44 unit condo above the clubhouse. That will take care of the player housing for both the home and road teams. Or buy an old nearby local motel... I like the host family program, but not enough hosts!
4) Pay the players a little MORE than most indy teams, BUT have them also work in the front office, field maintenance, sales, equipment manager... That way the players can make more money and learn the business side of baseball. A higher percentage of players will NOT make it to the bigs, so this will be a learning opportunity for them.
5) Give the players an opportunity to buy stock in the league. Both an income for the league, and a sense of ownership for the players.
6) DITTO for the season ticket holders!
7) Why not reverse the model for fireworks. If you're gonna do fireworks, have them on the low-attendance weeknights. The attendance is automatically going to be higher on the weekend. Save the magnet money for the times you need the magnet.
8 ) Greenville did this one so I can't take credit. While you're building dugouts, build an EXTRA one farther down the first base line. Rent it out for BIRTHDAY PARTIES during the game!
9) Gotta have a gimmick: Remember Mike Veeck's Disco Explosion night? O.K. that's a bad example. I was gonna say the gimmicks don't have to cost anything. But this particular gimmick cost a lot of money to repair the field.
But something as simple as the A-Joes throwback uniforms got a lot of attention. Maybe something like the team with the best record after the first half of the season has to give up a player to the team with the worst record... O.K. let's keep thinking there... Require the uniforms to be old fashioned baggy with stirrup socks?
10) League ownership / individual team ownership? I don't know...
11) A stadium museum, with stuff from the old textile leagues? Might work well in upstate SC.
12) In addition to player led baseball camps, how about a public batting cage at the stadium. I know those things don't coast a whole lot, and you've got 22 batting coaches on site...
13) SCL did this well. The logos and team names nowadays have to be cool and unique. (A-Joes, S.G. Peanuts, Macon Music, Toledo Mudhens, Lehigh Valley Ironpigs, Montgomery Biscuits, I could go on...)

Anything else? :rolleyes:
Last edited by JoesFan on Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by summerfan » Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:46 am

1)Fans for the most part are split on weekend games vs weekday games.

2)$5 is way to low.You have to start at $10.00 for adults and then lower for srs etc.

3)$10 for concessions is not bad i would go a bit higer.

4)Your looking at about $200,000 per team in insurance.

4b)Stadium rentals all depend your looking at about $40 grand for a small basic stadium.

5)Its not a bad idea to build a condo.This would not be cheap in any way.You would have to go by the states building guidlines.

6)Batting cages would not costs a lot but the insurance would.

For a league like this just to break even you would need to make about $20 million per year.

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Post by MikeH » Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:56 am

[quote=""JoesFan""]Just to fortify my reputation as a troublemaker:
How about brainstorming a new indy baseball business model?
Here are a few ideas I'll throw out for your consideration. I will say in advance I'm just a fan, so some of these may be unworkable at best. But give it a few minutes thought and then hit these big fat meatballs right outa the park!

1) Weekend league: (we've discussed this one a little) for a City the size of Anderson, Albany, Aiken, Florence, et al. Aside from the players, would the fans like it? I think we would! If an average of 1,000 fans per game is reasonable @ $5 per, with an assumed $10 per in concessions. $15,000 per game? Is that reasonable? With a six team league playing five games a week, we're up to $225K weekly income. Am I way out of line? I'm thinking about a 16 week season, for a total annual sales intake of $3.6M. Is that enough intake to survive? I'm assuming the players salaries would probably deplete about $1.2M of that. I have no clue what stadium rentals are...
2) Others more experienced in such matters can discuss other avenues of income, such as advertising, uniform contracts, equipment contracts...
3) When revamping old stadiums, why not build a 22 or 44 unit condo above the clubhouse. That will take care of the player housing for both the home and road teams. Or buy an old nearby local motel... I like the host family program, but not enough hosts!
4) Pay the players a little MORE than most indy teams, BUT have them also work in the front office, field maintenance, sales, equipment manager... That way the players can make more money and learn the business side of baseball. A higher percentage of players will NOT make it to the bigs, so this will be a learning opportunity for them.
5) Give the players an opportunity to buy stock in the league. Both an income for the league, and a sense of ownership for the players.
6) DITTO for the season ticket holders!
7) Why not reverse the model for fireworks. If you're gonna do fireworks, have them on the low-attendance weeknights. The attendance is automatically going to be higher on the weekend. Save the magnet money for the times you need the magnet.
8 ) Greenville did this one so I can't take credit. While you're building dugouts, build an EXTRA one farther down the first base line. Rent it out for BIRTHDAY PARTIES during the game!
9) Gotta have a gimmick: Remember Mike Veeck's Disco Explosion night? O.K. that's a bad example. I was gonna say the gimmicks don't have to cost anything. But this particular gimmick cost a lot of money to repair the field.
But something as simple as the A-Joes throwback uniforms got a lot of attention. Maybe something like the team with the best record after the first half of the season has to give up a player to the team with the worst record... O.K. let's keep thinking there... Require the uniforms to be old fashioned baggy with stirrup socks?
10) League ownership / individual team ownership? I don't know...
11) A stadium museum, with stuff from the old textile leagues? Might work well in upstate SC.
12) In addition to player led baseball camps, how about a public batting cage at the stadium. I know those things don't coast a whole lot, and you've got 22 batting coaches on site...
13) SCL did this well. The logos and team names nowadays have to be cool and unique. (A-Joes, S.G. Peanuts, Macon Music, Toledo Mudhens, Lehigh Valley Ironpigs, Montgomery Biscuits, I could go on...)

Anything else? :rolleyes: [/quote]

To set a couple of things straight, not sure if anyone realizes it.

The potential franchise has the ability to set their own lease terms in most places. If anyone wants to argue, let's go. I know this first hand, so I can accurately state this because of our first potential franchise (independently owned).

Also, as far as bats, baseballs, and uniforms. ALL Atlantic Coast League franchises are REQUIRED to use D-BAT baseball bats for regular season, postseason and All-Star game; they are REQUIRED to use D-BAT's DB-OM baseballs, and they are REQUIRED to use Victory Custom Athletic uniforms.

The contract that I, myself secured with Victory and D-BAT on the league wide level.

Teams CANNOT use Louisville Slugger, Wilson, Rawlings, Spalding, etc. It is in violation of the league contract with our suppliers.

Back to the lease, the independent owner of our first possible franchise set his own lease amount, and the recipient of the proposal was more than satisifed with it. The reason being is all ACL franchises will propose a minimum of 5% of all concessions (food and non-alcoholic beverages) to be paid to each city.

Rental of equpiment and other monetary benefits that franchise pay to each city, the proposals stipulate to send that money to the youth sports initiatives. This shows that the ACL and its members are dedicated to the youth sports. Also, each franchise will be required to set up scholarships with the local college/university, i.e. Anderson franchise would donate $15,000 to Anderson University for a baseball scholarship(s) each season. This helps to make sure kids are able to go to school, and play baseball in hopes to go pro.

This league is fan oriented. For example, I am meeting with JoesFan July 1st, and we are going to a Greenville Drive game. This is how I do things. Interact with the fans, and the fans will love you. Show them they are more than just another buck or two, and they will feel that they are more than just a fan, or someone spending money to help support franchises.

The ACL is mandating a league wide reading program for kids. For example, one of our franchises, they will provide 20 Kid's Club Membership (normally $45) as a reward for the first 20 kids that read the most books before the first game of the season. The Kid's Club Membership program is a special benefit that member's receive, over other kid's that pay around $1 or $2 for their tickets.

Also, $10 for concessions, way too much. We are looking at people spending at most $20-$30 per game to see a game.

One franchise has ticket prices set as follows:

Field Box Seats: $5.00 ($180.00 for Field Box season tickets)
Reserved Seats: $4.00 ($135.00 for Reserved season tickets)
General Admission: $3.00 ($90.00 for GA season tickets)
Kid's Ticket: $2.00 ($45.00 for the Kid's Club Membership which includes 45 tickets, plus a membership card)

Just so everyone is clear, this has been presented in front of two people whom happen to be my partners, both of whom have experience in franchise operations, and both gentlemen have told me, this can work, even based on this markets average attendance. Each club has their set estimated amount of fans per game, most are under 1,000.

I am realistic. We are not expecting many, if any at all, season ticket holders in former SCL markets. We do not expect this. We know this, and we are okay with this. The 3 league staff members are working together to develop a marketing strategy for each club.

As of right now, we have 5 huge potential markets, with an extra 4 that we possibly could secure before 2009. If we cannot secure a 10th franchise, we will operate a road team, or start with 8 and expand to 10 as we search for a 10th market.

I know some people are going to ridicule me, and again, say I am clueless. Feel how you want to feel. I have already been told by my partners that I have been working my bum off on this and every possible aspect that I can.

Number one aspect being the players salary cap is set at $100,000 for an entire season.

Just so everyone understands this, the salary cap is based on 20 players, making at most, $1,000 per month. (1,000 per month x 20 players x 5 months = $100,000 total player salary). Not all players are making $1,000 per month. We have a range of $750 to $1,000 per month. So, in short, our player salaries are between $75,000 to $100,000 per year.

I sit up late almost every night, sometimes never sleeping because I get new ideas and I have to jot them down. I then crunch numbers (because Math is my forte) and I keep adjusting and modifying everything I have until I come up with something that is reasonable, feasible, and almost 100% accurate.

Despite what some people think about me, I have seen some very kind remarks about me and my ambition to produce a successful indy league in the Southeast. I also have a few contacts that have experience with running indy leagues that have given me substantial advice. Even a former staff member of the original Atlantic Coast League emailed me and wished me luck with this time around, and even told me what went wrong with the original ACL. He gave me valid pointers as to avoid what Patrick Gaffney did.

So, again, for the people who feel that I am "clueless", they might want to get the actual facts as to whom I have talked with and who I have on staff that are showing their dedication, and they both have 110% loyalty to me, and to this league. That is the main reason the three of us will meet after all this hectic work is complete, and we will divide our shares up equally. We have a 3 way partnership, with stock still remaining.

P.S. - JoesFans, I look forward to meeting you and take in a great baseball game!

By the way; this is a brilliant statement. One of the best I have ever seen.

"Maybe something like the team with the best record after the first half of the season has to give up a player to the team with the worst record." JoesFan, you are a genius!! That would help ensure equality amongst teams.
Last edited by MikeH on Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Longing for Indy's Return

Post by Mark » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:46 pm

All these sound like great ideas. Here's a few more.

One of the things that impressed me as a fan was the bidding war for game-worn t-shirts on Pink Ribbon night in Albany. I realize that that was for charity, but some of those ugly, cheap, pink t-shirts went for over $100 each. (I still have the one I bought, by the way.) Why not sell some of the team-worn shirts to the fans? I kept begging the front office to sell me a Official Peanuts Jersey, but they wouldn't do it.

I think I put this on another thread, but why not offer a premium beer or two? I have no problem paying $5 for a beer if it's a decent beer. Have you seen the price of Cokes at Disney World? After that, I have no problem paying $5 for a Guinness. You could even offer such 'luxury' perks on special nights to try and draw in a different crowd.

If you want to have more family nights, use more than 1 person in the mascot suits. Those things are hot and hard to work in, so a relief mascot would help keep things moving. (And the mascots are SOOOOOO popular with the kids).

We southerners tend to think oppositely from northerns. Up north, you pull the house over your head in the winter and try not to go outside. Here, you do that in the summer. In working on your contracts, try to get SHADE for the seating and concessions areas, especially for the higher-priced seating. If you want people to fork over more money, you'll have to offer them more.

Finally, as much as I enjoyed the fireworks after the games, I enjoyed the fireworks on the field even more. There's no substitute for good baseball.

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Post by Baseball Insider » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:21 pm

Joes Fan - I like your thinking. In my hockey team now, our owners bought 12 houses for players. In this part of the country, economy is booming and they got tired of paying rent. They rent them out to basbeall players now. Again though, if not for the owner's deep pockets........
Players and the front office are a difefrent breed - just like I can't hit a curve, they may not understand our job. They do need to get invloved though - point well taken. We try and get our players to call season ticket holders and than them, take them on appearances. If a player shows an interest in this, that is different. Reid Ryan, Nolan's son, a good example of this for the Round Rock Express. He is a superstar -

I have never been involved in a lease, but I do know when our team had a lease with Golden Park, it was $1,000.00 a year, and city paid utilities. When the Catfish (formerly Waves) came in, they paid $50,000.00 - when my former team moved to Ohio, in new stadium lease was over 300 K - I have to think that both us and the Catfish (formerly Waves) would have liked to have paid $1,000.00. I also have to think that the ACL would have liked to at least listen to an offer from the ACL. I also have to think that Albany will sift through offers from ACL and collegiate wooden bat league -

Mike - I don't have the guts you do and give you credit. I just wish there was more buzz aout this league. I don't hear anything, except from a few articles which I know those reporters found out about through this site (you should hire Baseball Kid as your PR guy and fire the others). It seems hardly anyone votes on your site for the polls. Ok, we know the SCL bombed but many people here like the Golden League - It just seems like they let their action do the talking.......we knew Pat Sajak was an owner. We heard about their partnership with Safeway - just my thoughts........

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a model loop ...

Post by ca » Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:05 am

to me would be a league owned set of members in existing parks as this is a model that would work almost anywhere

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Post by MikeH » Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:16 am

1) Fans for the most part are split on weekend games vs weekday games.

2) $5 is way to low.You have to start at $10.00 for adults and then lower for srs etc. - $5 is not too low when you are dedicated to providing affordable baseball.

3) $10 for concessions is not bad i would go a bit higer. - I hope you mean $10 total for things like, a beer, a soda, nachos, popcorn, etc.

4) Your looking at about $200,000 per team in insurance. - Insurance is provided by the league; just like any normal job, players will have Fed and State Tax, Medicaid, Social Security, and Insurance deducted from their checks. This is the price you pay to live and work in America!

4b) Stadium rentals all depend your looking at about $40 grand for a small basic stadium. - $40,000, are you joking! I got told my lease payments were too high in my proposal to a city. The SCL paid $18,000 per year for one of their markets. As Jamie said once they secured Aiken, they were to pay $30,000 per year.

5) Its not a bad idea to build a condo.This would not be cheap in any way.You would have to go by the states building guidlines. - To build a condo, most condos go for about $100k+ to buy one. Even the rent or lease on condos are expensive.

6) Batting cages would not costs a lot but the insurance would.

For a league like this just to break even you would need to make about $20 million per year. - Very inaccurate! Besides, to make about 20 million a year, we'd have to set prices very high around $20 to $30 per seat, concessions at $10 per item, etc.

As far as player housing goes, the franchises can work with the city and their housing authorities to provide decent housing for all players and for a decent price, possibly free! Just stay posted and watch if I cannot work out an agreement like that.
Last edited by MikeH on Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
**HOMETOWN CLUBS**
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Carolina Mudcats (Class AA Southern League)
Winston-Salem Dash (Class A Advanced Carolina League)
Greensboro Grasshoppers (Class A South Atlantic League)
Burlington Indians (Rookie Appalachian League)
**CINCINNATI REDS' AFFILIATIONS**
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Post by wellington » Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:32 am

[quote=""Mark""]

I think I put this on another thread, but why not offer a premium beer or two? I have no problem paying $5 for a beer if it's a decent beer. Have you seen the price of Cokes at Disney World? After that, I have no problem paying $5 for a Guinness. You could even offer such 'luxury' perks on special nights to try and draw in a different crowd.

[/quote]

First of all, its good to hear that you have good taste in beer. Its a very good idea. Maybe teams could set up a beer garden. Does not have to be fancy -- just an area with some tables (with umbrellas -- sponsors logo) and chairs with a view of the field. The beer garden could be sponsored by a particular brew and could maybe offer drink specials before the game (1 hour) to get people out early and also offer a few premium beers (i.e. Guiness, Bass, Newcastle). They could even offer a limited selection of wines. The beer garden does not have to be open every game, but maybe for the main beer drinking nights -- Thursday, Friday, Saturday. You could even have a special night like Halfway to Octoberfest -- give out plastic steins with sponsors logos on it and offer a selection of German and other beers. The stein can be re-filled for a special price. The Budweiser products are going to be your staple brew, but I agree it would be nice to offer some other beers to maybe bring in a different crowd.

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Post by wellington » Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:37 am

[quote=""MikeH""]To set a couple of things straight, not sure if anyone realizes it.

The potential franchise has the ability to set their own lease terms in most places. If anyone wants to argue, let's go. I know this first hand, so I can accurately state this because of our first potential franchise (independently owned).

Also, as far as bats, baseballs, and uniforms. ALL Atlantic Coast League franchises are REQUIRED to use D-BAT baseball bats for regular season, postseason and All-Star game; they are REQUIRED to use D-BAT's DB-OM baseballs, and they are REQUIRED to use Victory Custom Athletic uniforms.

The contract that I, myself secured with Victory and D-BAT on the league wide level.

Teams CANNOT use Louisville Slugger, Wilson, Rawlings, Spalding, etc. It is in violation of the league contract with our suppliers.

Back to the lease, the independent owner of our first possible franchise set his own lease amount, and the recipient of the proposal was more than satisifed with it. The reason being is all ACL franchises will propose a minimum of 5% of all concessions (food and non-alcoholic beverages) to be paid to each city.

Rental of equpiment and other monetary benefits that franchise pay to each city, the proposals stipulate to send that money to the youth sports initiatives. This shows that the ACL and its members are dedicated to the youth sports. Also, each franchise will be required to set up scholarships with the local college/university, i.e. Anderson franchise would donate $15,000 to Anderson University for a baseball scholarship(s) each season. This helps to make sure kids are able to go to school, and play baseball in hopes to go pro.

This league is fan oriented. For example, I am meeting with JoesFan July 1st, and we are going to a Greenville Drive game. This is how I do things. Interact with the fans, and the fans will love you. Show them they are more than just another buck or two, and they will feel that they are more than just a fan, or someone spending money to help support franchises.

The ACL is mandating a league wide reading program for kids. For example, one of our franchises, they will provide 20 Kid's Club Membership (normally $45) as a reward for the first 20 kids that read the most books before the first game of the season. The Kid's Club Membership program is a special benefit that member's receive, over other kid's that pay around $1 or $2 for their tickets.

Also, $10 for concessions, way too much. We are looking at people spending at most $20-$30 per game to see a game.

One franchise has ticket prices set as follows:

Field Box Seats: $5.00 ($180.00 for Field Box season tickets)
Reserved Seats: $4.00 ($135.00 for Reserved season tickets)
General Admission: $3.00 ($90.00 for GA season tickets)
Kid's Ticket: $2.00 ($45.00 for the Kid's Club Membership which includes 45 tickets, plus a membership card)

Just so everyone is clear, this has been presented in front of two people whom happen to be my partners, both of whom have experience in franchise operations, and both gentlemen have told me, this can work, even based on this markets average attendance. Each club has their set estimated amount of fans per game, most are under 1,000.

I am realistic. We are not expecting many, if any at all, season ticket holders in former SCL markets. We do not expect this. We know this, and we are okay with this. The 3 league staff members are working together to develop a marketing strategy for each club.

As of right now, we have 5 huge potential markets, with an extra 4 that we possibly could secure before 2009. If we cannot secure a 10th franchise, we will operate a road team, or start with 8 and expand to 10 as we search for a 10th market.

I know some people are going to ridicule me, and again, say I am clueless. Feel how you want to feel. I have already been told by my partners that I have been working my bum off on this and every possible aspect that I can.

Number one aspect being the players salary cap is set at $100,000 for an entire season.

Just so everyone understands this, the salary cap is based on 20 players, making at most, $1,000 per month. (1,000 per month x 20 players x 5 months = $100,000 total player salary). Not all players are making $1,000 per month. We have a range of $750 to $1,000 per month. So, in short, our player salaries are between $75,000 to $100,000 per year.

I sit up late almost every night, sometimes never sleeping because I get new ideas and I have to jot them down. I then crunch numbers (because Math is my forte) and I keep adjusting and modifying everything I have until I come up with something that is reasonable, feasible, and almost 100% accurate.

Despite what some people think about me, I have seen some very kind remarks about me and my ambition to produce a successful indy league in the Southeast. I also have a few contacts that have experience with running indy leagues that have given me substantial advice. Even a former staff member of the original Atlantic Coast League emailed me and wished me luck with this time around, and even told me what went wrong with the original ACL. He gave me valid pointers as to avoid what Patrick Gaffney did.

So, again, for the people who feel that I am "clueless", they might want to get the actual facts as to whom I have talked with and who I have on staff that are showing their dedication, and they both have 110% loyalty to me, and to this league. That is the main reason the three of us will meet after all this hectic work is complete, and we will divide our shares up equally. We have a 3 way partnership, with stock still remaining.

[/quote]
My hats off to you. Its nice to see that the ACL is transparent and open to the fans. I know you can't divulge every detail, but it will be fun to see how this endeavor continues to develop and I hope you keep posting on here. I wish you guys the best.

I know you may not be at liberty to give any specifics right now, but is your first franchise in one of the former SCL cities?

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Post by Morris Mott » Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:15 am

1) If an average of 1,000 fans per game is reasonable @ $5 per, with an assumed $10 per in concessions. $15,000 per game? Is that reasonable? No, it is not. You have to realize that not everyone in attendance buys from the concession stand. I've seen lots of fans bring a drink or two and a snack along instead. I'd put the figure more at 40% of the atttendees using the concessions. And I'm not sure how the SCL did it, or how the ACL plans it, but concessions in Winnipeg (be it the NL, AHL, or CFL) are outsourced with the host venue getting around 30% of gross sales.
2) Advertising... Makes up a large part of team revenue. Most parks have room for 30-34 outfield signs for rent at about $7,500 per year (NL price). That's a cool $225-$255,000.
3) When revamping old stadiums, why not build a 22 or 44 unit condo above the clubhouse. That will take care of the player housing for both the home and road teams. Or buy an old nearby local motel... I like the host family program, but not enough hosts! That sounds like something that would cost a few hundred thousand dollars and up. The less startup cost the better.
4) Pay the players a little MORE than most indy teams... The NL pays the most in having a $110,000 salary cap for a 20-man roster. That works out to about $366 a week per player. So for a small $100 per week raise for each player, you're talking about another $30,000. There's a reason salaries are capped... so that owners do not get into a bidding war over the services of players, thus burdening themselves as well as their fellow owners with an escalated pay scale. Indy ball does not have the resources to finance larger pay scales.
5) Give the players an opportunity to buy stock in the league. Both an income for the league, and a sense of ownership for the players... No comment.
6) DITTO for the season ticket holders! Again, no comment
7) Why not reverse the model for fireworks. If you're gonna do fireworks, have them on the low-attendance weeknights. The attendance is automatically going to be higher on the weekend. Save the magnet money for the times you need the magnet. This is just a marketing strategy that needs to be worked out for each team.
8 ) Greenville did this one so I can't take credit. While you're building dugouts, build an EXTRA one farther down the first base line. Rent it out for BIRTHDAY PARTIES during the game! A lot of teams already do this, it;s called a "Picnic" area and is in the form of a movable and expandable tent.
9) Gotta have a gimmick: Of course, minor league baseball is all about entertainment. The product on the field should not always be the focus of your marketing.
10) League ownership / individual team ownership? Has to be individual owners. Everytime I think of collective ownership, I think Vince McMahon and the XFL.
11) A stadium museum, with stuff from the old textile leagues? Might work well in upstate SC. Cool.
12) In addition to player led baseball camps, It's hard enough to get players to join in the between innings stuff. Minor league bus travel wears on a player and asking them to take even more hours out of their day, is asking a lot. how about a public batting cage at the stadium. In Winnipeg, they have a pitching booth. It's easy to run(just a teenager, a box of give-away stuff and a radar-gun) and takes up very little room. It's very popular, getting fans from little kids, guys showing off to their girlfriends, all the way up to wannabe pitchers.
13) SCL did this well. The logos and team names nowadays have to be cool and unique. Cool, is subjective. It all depends on whom a team hires in their marketing department.

My two cents...

Regardless of the model the two aspects that have to be considered are.

1) MARKETING... Baseball is a product. Sell it in a market that wants it(fan interest) at the right price (ticket price,promotions, merchandising)

2) NETWORKING... Baseball is a product. Don't try to present it on your own. Line up the advertisers... line up the merchandisers... line up the media... line up the local population... line up the other teams... line up whoever you need to help promote your team for you. If done right, most will pay for this opportunity.

No one buys a product they don't know exists... and products that do sell, sell better when there are more interests involved, each helping along the way.
Wanna post more about Indy Baseball?...http://indyball.webs.com/index.htmll

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