Lake County Attendance

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wasteland
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Post by wasteland » Tue Aug 03, 2010 5:30 pm

[quote=""preeths""]Off the top of my head, I think the Augusta GreenJackets, the South Atlantic League affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, run their own concessions.[/quote]

This article about the Riverhawks concessions led me to believe that they do their own as well, but I'm not sure.

http://www.rrstar.com/carousel/x1031043 ... d-new-menu

You can read in the article how much of the teams revenue comes from the concessions.

And fwiw, they have reported 10 sell-outs this season so far. the attendance varies for those as they often have many standing room only tickets issued for those.
Last edited by wasteland on Tue Aug 03, 2010 5:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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preeths
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Post by preeths » Tue Aug 03, 2010 5:43 pm

I've been reminded that the Carolina League's Myrtle Beach Pelicans, an affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, also run their own concessions.

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Sam Hill
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Post by Sam Hill » Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:27 pm

[quote=""wasteland""]Regardless, freebies are a good idea, when they used. Chances are the user pays $5 for parking, a $4 soda, and $15 foam finger. Thats more then pays for the ticket and then some.[/quote]

And you've effectively set the value of your core product at $0.

You've conditioned people not to "pay for the ticket next time," but to always expect a freebie.

That's no way to run a business.
Old enough to remember when bashing the ABA was fun.

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Post by J.J. Smith » Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:33 pm

I can understand why Lake County would outsource concessions this year given their situation, but I'm surprised that it's not the norm that more established teams don't try to do this in house. It would be well worth the money to find a quality person to manage this revenue stream. And there are plenty of them out there who could get the job done, given the recent contractions in the hospitality industry. If I were a team owner :eek: , I'd hang on to the concessions like grim death.

Am very skeptical of the attendance numbers being put out by Rockford.

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Ken, Steelheads fan
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Post by Ken, Steelheads fan » Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:22 pm

[quote=""J.J. Smith""]I can understand why Lake County would outsource concessions this year given their situation, but I'm surprised that it's not the norm that more established teams don't try to do this in house. It would be well worth the money to find a quality person to manage this revenue stream. And there are plenty of them out there who could get the job done, given the recent contractions in the hospitality industry. If I were a team owner :eek: , I'd hang on to the concessions like grim death.

Am very skeptical of the attendance numbers being put out by Rockford.[/quote]

I'm not surprised more teams don't do their own in-house concessions. Why do it yourself when others can do it for you? Which is more cost efficient? Which is easier to manage?
[quote=""wasteland""]This article about the Riverhawks concessions led me to believe that they do their own as well, but I'm not sure.

http://www.rrstar.com/carousel/x1031043 ... d-new-menu

You can read in the article how much of the teams revenue comes from the concessions.

And fwiw, they have reported 10 sell-outs this season so far. the attendance varies for those as they often have many standing room only tickets issued for those.[/quote]

[quote=""preeths""]I've been reminded that the Carolina League's Myrtle Beach Pelicans, an affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, also run their own concessions.[/quote]

I've just GOT to get out of Gary more often and see what the rest of the world is doing. Actually, Gary did BOTH (sorta) their first couple of years. There was the contracted concessionaire and there was a local restaurant (not the Bennigan's in right field) with a seperate concession stand. I understand the food was great (I wouldn't know because I only do the vegetarian thing), unlike the contracted slop. However, the service was inconsistent and they didn't last long at the ballpark.

My point though is the Lake County Fielders aren't doing anything out of the ordinary compared to other minor/independent league baseball teams.

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Ken, Steelheads fan
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Post by Ken, Steelheads fan » Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:31 pm

Actually, I DID get out of Gary last weekend. Travel documents and passport were approved, so I crossed the border into Illinois and spent the entire Sunday afternoon in the Village of Schaumburg. I didn't go to Alexian Field to check on the status of the ballpark (since longtime fans have already assured me that modern ballpark is still beautiful), so I did the Lance Armstrong and rode around Busse Woods for a few laps.

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Post by wasteland » Tue Aug 03, 2010 11:08 pm

[quote=""Sam Hill""]And you've effectively set the value of your core product at $0.

You've conditioned people not to "pay for the ticket next time," but to always expect a freebie.

That's no way to run a business.[/quote]

I don't know, I took advantage of the free month of netflix and ended up sticking around after the month was up. I see plenty of services and products that offer free or discounted intro fees to get people to "try before you buy." Ever had the free pizza or potatoe skins at the supermarket before?A proven effective bussiness method. Thats a fact.

If someone doesn't return because they can't get a free ticket, fact is they would never of come in the first place.

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Post by wasteland » Tue Aug 03, 2010 11:15 pm

[quote=""J.J. Smith""]I can understand why Lake County would outsource concessions this year given their situation, but I'm surprised that it's not the norm that more established teams don't try to do this in house. It would be well worth the money to find a quality person to manage this revenue stream. And there are plenty of them out there who could get the job done, given the recent contractions in the hospitality industry. If I were a team owner :eek: , I'd hang on to the concessions like grim death.[/quote]

Teams at this level don't have the finacial resources to bring on an employee when it can be outsourced for a fraction of the cost. They don't bare the expense that comes with inventory and equipment.

[quote=""J.J. Smith""] I am very skeptical of the attendance numbers being put out by Rockford.[/quote]

Don't be. I drive by the stadium often 2 or 3 times a day and have gone to a few games, including 2 sold out. The place has been packed alot, and have seen a fair number of standing room only crowds on the concourse. The weather has wrecked havoc on a number of games, but that doesn't mean no one bought a ticket. Of course I think a 1 or 2 of the sell-outs where when local media out-lets bought all the seats and gave them away to viewers for free. But of course unless you work with in the organization of any team, you'll never know how legit numbers are for anybody, so its really not worth the *****ing.

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Post by J.J. Smith » Wed Aug 04, 2010 1:17 am

If these teams are actually drawing the numbers they claim, then there is no reason they couldn't handle in house concessions and do very, very well. It would take an investment in a quality person to run it, that is true, and that is where the problem lies. The quality and competence of the ownership of indy baseball teams is often dismal. The people who could really do the job and bring some new ideas (and does this business ever need some new ideas!) don't get a chance because they either want professional compensation or are not "in the loop", or, probably, both.

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Post by J.J. Smith » Wed Aug 04, 2010 1:20 am

[quote=""wasteland""] unless you work with in the organization of any team, you'll never know how legit numbers are for anybody[/quote]

I think we can agree on that part.

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