(08-29-2018 10:43 AM)MemTiger90 Wrote:  The school has gone above and beyond when it comes to promoting and marketing the last few years. The buck falls on the fans.

That was my first answer:

The Fans! Us! We are!

(08-29-2018 01:51 PM)umbluegray Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 10:43 AM)MemTiger90 Wrote:  The school has gone above and beyond when it comes to promoting and marketing the last few years. The buck falls on the fans.

That was my first answer:

The Fans! Us! We are!

Are they "fans" if they consistently don't show up? Should these people chastise themselves for consistently not showing up?

Should the people who go to games call up the people who don't and yell at them?

(08-29-2018 01:11 PM)Shooters Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 11:52 AM)Tigers2B1 Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 10:43 AM)MemTiger90 Wrote:  The school has gone above and beyond when it comes to promoting and marketing the last few years. The buck falls on the fans.

Right, I have no complaints regarding the marketing of this program. It's no secret that the school has to promote while using very limited resources. With that, people around town are still very aware of this football team. If anybody here has ideas that don't cost much money or are free please feel free to contact the administration. I'm sure they would be interested in hearing good ideas.

Fans are not OBLIGATED to come to games.That has been the thinking for too long. We have a lot of casual fans who root for other schools but come because we are fun to watch. If we have a down period, we could lose them.

Not sure why you quoted me to say that. Who with any sense has said that the fans are obligated to come to Memphis football games. Honestly, I've never heard anyone take that position. And yes winning and entertainment are reasons that people show up I would think. As far as I can see there's nothing there that anyone would disagree with. But I'm not sure what that has to do with marketing and the expenses of marketing. Or any ideas at might bypass those expenses.

(08-29-2018 02:14 PM)Tigers2B1 Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 01:11 PM)Shooters Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 11:52 AM)Tigers2B1 Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 10:43 AM)MemTiger90 Wrote:  The school has gone above and beyond when it comes to promoting and marketing the last few years. The buck falls on the fans.

Right, I have no complaints regarding the marketing of this program. It's no secret that the school has to promote while using very limited resources. With that, people around town are still very aware of this football team. If anybody here has ideas that don't cost much money or are free please feel free to contact the administration. I'm sure they would be interested in hearing good ideas.

Fans are not OBLIGATED to come to games.That has been the thinking for too long. We have a lot of casual fans who root for other schools but come because we are fun to watch. If we have a down period, we could lose them.

Not sure why you quoted me to say that. Who with any sense has said that the fans are obligated to come to Memphis football games. Honestly, I've never heard anyone take that position. And yes winning and entertainment are reasons that people show up I would think. As far as I can see there's nothing there that anyone would disagree with. But I'm not sure what that has to do with marketing and the expenses of marketing. Or any ideas at my bypass those expenses.

MemTiger90 said the buck falls on the fans, which in essence means it's their responsibility. That's what I was responding to.

(08-29-2018 02:17 PM)TiminMem23 Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 02:14 PM)Tigers2B1 Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 01:11 PM)Shooters Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 11:52 AM)Tigers2B1 Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 10:43 AM)MemTiger90 Wrote:  The school has gone above and beyond when it comes to promoting and marketing the last few years. The buck falls on the fans.

Right, I have no complaints regarding the marketing of this program. It's no secret that the school has to promote while using very limited resources. With that, people around town are still very aware of this football team. If anybody here has ideas that don't cost much money or are free please feel free to contact the administration. I'm sure they would be interested in hearing good ideas.

Fans are not OBLIGATED to come to games.That has been the thinking for too long. We have a lot of casual fans who root for other schools but come because we are fun to watch. If we have a down period, we could lose them.

Not sure why you quoted me to say that. Who with any sense has said that the fans are obligated to come to Memphis football games. Honestly, I've never heard anyone take that position. And yes winning and entertainment are reasons that people show up I would think. As far as I can see there's nothing there that anyone would disagree with. But I'm not sure what that has to do with marketing and the expenses of marketing. Or any ideas at my bypass those expenses.

MemTiger90 said the buck falls on the fans, which in essence means it's their responsibility. That's what I was responding to.

What I'm saying is that the school has put tons of effort in to marketing the last few years. Promotions, give always, special ticket packages, themed nights, etc. They have done their part. So it ultimately falls on the fans if it will be a good crowd or not. The fans either choose to respond or not respond.

I am the OP on this thread. What I was asking was...is there an actual person who has the job description of maximizing ticket sales and does this...100% of the time, 52 weeks a year? I understand Tom Bowen oversees this but he has lots of responsibilities that prevent him from doing this full time. Over the years my company has worked with THE DALLAS MAVERICKS and they had two full time people who handled marketing and sales. Their other team, THE DALLAS SIDEKICKS had three full time people. This was because they had a harder job selling tickets to SIDEKICKS indoor soccer games. So...does anyone know if that person actually exists at the U of M?

(08-29-2018 10:29 PM)DallasTiger Wrote:  I am the OP on this thread. What I was asking was...is there an actual person who has the job description of maximizing ticket sales and does this...100% of the time, 52 weeks a year? I understand Tom Bowen oversees this but he has lots of responsibilities that prevent him from doing this full time. Over the years my company has worked with THE DALLAS MAVERICKS and they had two full time people who handled marketing and sales. Their other team, THE DALLAS SIDEKICKS had three full time people. This was because they had a harder job selling tickets to SIDEKICKS indoor soccer games. So...does anyone know if that person actually exists at the U of M?

I guess you missed my post from earlier in this thread...

It's a joint effort. The athletic department has marketing people and they also "outsource". There is a guy (actually 3 guys) that work for Learfield, who are tasked with selling tickets/sponsorships/making paper.

(08-30-2018 10:21 AM)oruvoice Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 10:29 PM)DallasTiger Wrote:  I am the OP on this thread. What I was asking was...is there an actual person who has the job description of maximizing ticket sales and does this...100% of the time, 52 weeks a year? I understand Tom Bowen oversees this but he has lots of responsibilities that prevent him from doing this full time. Over the years my company has worked with THE DALLAS MAVERICKS and they had two full time people who handled marketing and sales. Their other team, THE DALLAS SIDEKICKS had three full time people. This was because they had a harder job selling tickets to SIDEKICKS indoor soccer games. So...does anyone know if that person actually exists at the U of M?

I guess you missed my post from earlier in this thread...

It's a joint effort. The athletic department has marketing people and they also "outsource". There is a guy (actually 3 guys) that work for Learfield, who are tasked with selling tickets/sponsorships/making paper.

I looked at LEARFIELD's website and am pretty familiar with them and what they do since I ran radio stations for years. They represent lots of universities. But...their primary responsibility is to broadcast the games and sell commercials within those broadcasts. Do those three people have an office in Memphis and work exclusively on U of M sports marketing and advertising sales? If would not seem to me that selling spots and sponsorships within basketball and football games requires 3 full time people doing this year round and that LEARFIELD staff in ad sales would handle multiple universities. I do not think LEARFIELD is ultimately responsible for ticket sales and as an example, would be held accountable to the university if ticket sales do not hit projection. The people I dealt with at the MAVERICKS and SIDEKICKS...had the ultimate responsibility for being held accountable if ticket sales were up or down. Their offices were in REUNION ARENA, in the team offices. If they were down...they had some explaining to do to the GM of the team. If the MAVERICKS GM felt they were not doing their job...they could be replaced. So, I am not sure LEARFIELD has that challenge and that the buck stops there. As far as the Marketing Committee, does it have a leader? A head person whose (as an example) head gets chopped off if ticket sales do not hit projections? Or to be nicer....has to explain the aspects of the ticket marketing program that caused ticket sales to be off target?

(08-30-2018 10:52 AM)DallasTiger Wrote:  

(08-30-2018 10:21 AM)oruvoice Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 10:29 PM)DallasTiger Wrote:  I am the OP on this thread. What I was asking was...is there an actual person who has the job description of maximizing ticket sales and does this...100% of the time, 52 weeks a year? I understand Tom Bowen oversees this but he has lots of responsibilities that prevent him from doing this full time. Over the years my company has worked with THE DALLAS MAVERICKS and they had two full time people who handled marketing and sales. Their other team, THE DALLAS SIDEKICKS had three full time people. This was because they had a harder job selling tickets to SIDEKICKS indoor soccer games. So...does anyone know if that person actually exists at the U of M?

I guess you missed my post from earlier in this thread...

It's a joint effort. The athletic department has marketing people and they also "outsource". There is a guy (actually 3 guys) that work for Learfield, who are tasked with selling tickets/sponsorships/making paper.

I looked at LEARFIELD's website and am pretty familiar with them and what they do since I ran radio stations for years. They represent lots of universities. But...their primary responsibility is to broadcast the games and sell commercials within those broadcasts. I do not think they are ultimately responsible for ticket sales and as an example, would be held accountable to the university if ticket sales do not hit projection. The people I dealt with at the MAVERICKS...had the ultimate responsibility for being held accountable if ticket sales were up or down. If they were down...they had some explaining to do to the GM of the team. It the MAVERICKS GM felt they were not doing their job...they could be replaced. So, I am not sure LEARFIELD has that challenge and that the buck stops there. As far as the Marketing Committee, does it have a leader? A head person whose (as an example) head gets chopped off if ticket sales do not hit projections?

There are 3 people with IMG-Learfield that are "salespeople". It is their job to sell tickets, sponsorships, etc. That said, at a place like Memphis (sadly), the turnover rate is very high. And, while they do "sell tickets", their income is incentive based on $$$ they bring in. Sponsors > selling tickets.

In addition, the Athletic Department has "marketing people". But, their duties deal more with marketing the product, not selling tickets. And, their income isn't tied to ticket sales. Thus, they don't really have any skin in the game. As long as the "production" of the pre-game, in-game, and post-game goes well, they have done their job.

I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the gist...?

(08-30-2018 11:06 AM)oruvoice Wrote:  

(08-30-2018 10:52 AM)DallasTiger Wrote:  

(08-30-2018 10:21 AM)oruvoice Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 10:29 PM)DallasTiger Wrote:  I am the OP on this thread. What I was asking was...is there an actual person who has the job description of maximizing ticket sales and does this...100% of the time, 52 weeks a year? I understand Tom Bowen oversees this but he has lots of responsibilities that prevent him from doing this full time. Over the years my company has worked with THE DALLAS MAVERICKS and they had two full time people who handled marketing and sales. Their other team, THE DALLAS SIDEKICKS had three full time people. This was because they had a harder job selling tickets to SIDEKICKS indoor soccer games. So...does anyone know if that person actually exists at the U of M?

I guess you missed my post from earlier in this thread...

It's a joint effort. The athletic department has marketing people and they also "outsource". There is a guy (actually 3 guys) that work for Learfield, who are tasked with selling tickets/sponsorships/making paper.

I looked at LEARFIELD's website and am pretty familiar with them and what they do since I ran radio stations for years. They represent lots of universities. But...their primary responsibility is to broadcast the games and sell commercials within those broadcasts. I do not think they are ultimately responsible for ticket sales and as an example, would be held accountable to the university if ticket sales do not hit projection. The people I dealt with at the MAVERICKS...had the ultimate responsibility for being held accountable if ticket sales were up or down. If they were down...they had some explaining to do to the GM of the team. It the MAVERICKS GM felt they were not doing their job...they could be replaced. So, I am not sure LEARFIELD has that challenge and that the buck stops there. As far as the Marketing Committee, does it have a leader? A head person whose (as an example) head gets chopped off if ticket sales do not hit projections?

There are 3 people with IMG-Learfield that are "salespeople". It is their job to sell tickets, sponsorships, etc. That said, at a place like Memphis (sadly), the turnover rate is very high. And, while they do "sell tickets", their income is incentive based on $$$ they bring in. Sponsors > selling tickets.

In addition, the Athletic Department has "marketing people". But, their duties deal more with marketing the product, not selling tickets. And, their income isn't tied to ticket sales. Thus, they don't really have any skin in the game. As long as the "production" of the pre-game, in-game, and post-game goes well, they have done their job.

I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the gist...?

Yep. We met a guy named Brian IIRC who sold us the left field deck for a Tiger baseball game this spring. He also called me to get me to renew my bball Tix I dropped in pastners next to last year. He works for Learfield.

(08-30-2018 11:06 AM)oruvoice Wrote:  

(08-30-2018 10:52 AM)DallasTiger Wrote:  

(08-30-2018 10:21 AM)oruvoice Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 10:29 PM)DallasTiger Wrote:  I am the OP on this thread. What I was asking was...is there an actual person who has the job description of maximizing ticket sales and does this...100% of the time, 52 weeks a year? I understand Tom Bowen oversees this but he has lots of responsibilities that prevent him from doing this full time. Over the years my company has worked with THE DALLAS MAVERICKS and they had two full time people who handled marketing and sales. Their other team, THE DALLAS SIDEKICKS had three full time people. This was because they had a harder job selling tickets to SIDEKICKS indoor soccer games. So...does anyone know if that person actually exists at the U of M?

I guess you missed my post from earlier in this thread...

It's a joint effort. The athletic department has marketing people and they also "outsource". There is a guy (actually 3 guys) that work for Learfield, who are tasked with selling tickets/sponsorships/making paper.

I looked at LEARFIELD's website and am pretty familiar with them and what they do since I ran radio stations for years. They represent lots of universities. But...their primary responsibility is to broadcast the games and sell commercials within those broadcasts. I do not think they are ultimately responsible for ticket sales and as an example, would be held accountable to the university if ticket sales do not hit projection. The people I dealt with at the MAVERICKS...had the ultimate responsibility for being held accountable if ticket sales were up or down. If they were down...they had some explaining to do to the GM of the team. It the MAVERICKS GM felt they were not doing their job...they could be replaced. So, I am not sure LEARFIELD has that challenge and that the buck stops there. As far as the Marketing Committee, does it have a leader? A head person whose (as an example) head gets chopped off if ticket sales do not hit projections?

There are 3 people with IMG-Learfield that are "salespeople". It is their job to sell tickets, sponsorships, etc. That said, at a place like Memphis (sadly), the turnover rate is very high. And, while they do "sell tickets", their income is incentive based on $$$ they bring in. Sponsors > selling tickets.

In addition, the Athletic Department has "marketing people". But, their duties deal more with marketing the product, not selling tickets. And, their income isn't tied to ticket sales. Thus, they don't really have any skin in the game. As long as the "production" of the pre-game, in-game, and post-game goes well, they have done their job.

I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the gist...?

You obviously know a lot. As best I can tell from your posts, there is no real "accountability" for expansion of tickets sales that rests with any one person who does this full time, year round. Your assessment on ad sales is correct. There can be great turnover, especially if there is not great income potential. The problem there is that a rep may not be there long enough to establishish great client rapport due to the turnover and that will effect sales.

(08-30-2018 11:06 AM)oruvoice Wrote:  

(08-30-2018 10:52 AM)DallasTiger Wrote:  

(08-30-2018 10:21 AM)oruvoice Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 10:29 PM)DallasTiger Wrote:  I am the OP on this thread. What I was asking was...is there an actual person who has the job description of maximizing ticket sales and does this...100% of the time, 52 weeks a year? I understand Tom Bowen oversees this but he has lots of responsibilities that prevent him from doing this full time. Over the years my company has worked with THE DALLAS MAVERICKS and they had two full time people who handled marketing and sales. Their other team, THE DALLAS SIDEKICKS had three full time people. This was because they had a harder job selling tickets to SIDEKICKS indoor soccer games. So...does anyone know if that person actually exists at the U of M?

I guess you missed my post from earlier in this thread...

It's a joint effort. The athletic department has marketing people and they also "outsource". There is a guy (actually 3 guys) that work for Learfield, who are tasked with selling tickets/sponsorships/making paper.

I looked at LEARFIELD's website and am pretty familiar with them and what they do since I ran radio stations for years. They represent lots of universities. But...their primary responsibility is to broadcast the games and sell commercials within those broadcasts. I do not think they are ultimately responsible for ticket sales and as an example, would be held accountable to the university if ticket sales do not hit projection. The people I dealt with at the MAVERICKS...had the ultimate responsibility for being held accountable if ticket sales were up or down. If they were down...they had some explaining to do to the GM of the team. It the MAVERICKS GM felt they were not doing their job...they could be replaced. So, I am not sure LEARFIELD has that challenge and that the buck stops there. As far as the Marketing Committee, does it have a leader? A head person whose (as an example) head gets chopped off if ticket sales do not hit projections?

There are 3 people with IMG-Learfield that are "salespeople". It is their job to sell tickets, sponsorships, etc. That said, at a place like Memphis (sadly), the turnover rate is very high. And, while they do "sell tickets", their income is incentive based on $$$ they bring in. Sponsors > selling tickets.

In addition, the Athletic Department has "marketing people". But, their duties deal more with marketing the product, not selling tickets. And, their income isn't tied to ticket sales. Thus, they don't really have any skin in the game. As long as the "production" of the pre-game, in-game, and post-game goes well, they have done their job.

I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the gist...?

I just sent you an email.

(08-30-2018 12:26 PM)DallasTiger Wrote:  

(08-30-2018 11:06 AM)oruvoice Wrote:  

(08-30-2018 10:52 AM)DallasTiger Wrote:  

(08-30-2018 10:21 AM)oruvoice Wrote:  

(08-29-2018 10:29 PM)DallasTiger Wrote:  I am the OP on this thread. What I was asking was...is there an actual person who has the job description of maximizing ticket sales and does this...100% of the time, 52 weeks a year? I understand Tom Bowen oversees this but he has lots of responsibilities that prevent him from doing this full time. Over the years my company has worked with THE DALLAS MAVERICKS and they had two full time people who handled marketing and sales. Their other team, THE DALLAS SIDEKICKS had three full time people. This was because they had a harder job selling tickets to SIDEKICKS indoor soccer games. So...does anyone know if that person actually exists at the U of M?

I guess you missed my post from earlier in this thread...

It's a joint effort. The athletic department has marketing people and they also "outsource". There is a guy (actually 3 guys) that work for Learfield, who are tasked with selling tickets/sponsorships/making paper.

I looked at LEARFIELD's website and am pretty familiar with them and what they do since I ran radio stations for years. They represent lots of universities. But...their primary responsibility is to broadcast the games and sell commercials within those broadcasts. I do not think they are ultimately responsible for ticket sales and as an example, would be held accountable to the university if ticket sales do not hit projection. The people I dealt with at the MAVERICKS...had the ultimate responsibility for being held accountable if ticket sales were up or down. If they were down...they had some explaining to do to the GM of the team. It the MAVERICKS GM felt they were not doing their job...they could be replaced. So, I am not sure LEARFIELD has that challenge and that the buck stops there. As far as the Marketing Committee, does it have a leader? A head person whose (as an example) head gets chopped off if ticket sales do not hit projections?

There are 3 people with IMG-Learfield that are "salespeople". It is their job to sell tickets, sponsorships, etc. That said, at a place like Memphis (sadly), the turnover rate is very high. And, while they do "sell tickets", their income is incentive based on $$$ they bring in. Sponsors > selling tickets.

In addition, the Athletic Department has "marketing people". But, their duties deal more with marketing the product, not selling tickets. And, their income isn't tied to ticket sales. Thus, they don't really have any skin in the game. As long as the "production" of the pre-game, in-game, and post-game goes well, they have done their job.

I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the gist...?

You obviously know a lot. As best I can tell from your posts, there is no real "accountability" for expansion of tickets sales that rests with any one person who does this full time, year round. Your assessment on ad sales is correct. There can be great turnover, especially if there is not great income potential. The problem there is that a rep may not be there long enough to establishish great client rapport due to the turnover and that will effect sales.

Correct. The Learfield reps (at this collegiate level) are young/entry level guys. And, they are much more motivated by sponsorships than selling tickets to Joe Blow. Not to mention, most of them are looking for their next step up, before they even hit the ground running.

[/quote]
I just sent you an email.
[/quote]

I did not see it. But, sent you a PM.