2017 All Things Lions Marketing & Promotions

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Qman
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Lions managment has a lot of work to do on ticket prices in offseason.

First:
Season ticket discount has to be higher to get me to renew. 20% discount is not enough. its should be over 30%-40% if you are a consecutive season ticket holder to incentivize you to renew every years. More you continue to renew, higher your discount (30%-->35%-->40%. People will never give up season tickets if this is case and lose their priority discount.

Second:
need to be a new price category on the 25 yd line between $735 and $410 season ticket sections (239 and 243 / 212 and 216). Say $600 - $60/game instead of $73

Third:
endzone tickets are too expensive. the should have a $189 season ticket and $239 season ticket. $25 and $30 single game max. Continue with the kids summer program, after 5 years of this you will have thousands of fans for life.
Last edited by Qman on Fri Jun 30, 2017 8:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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B.C.FAN
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Qman wrote:
Fri Jun 30, 2017 1:26 pm
Third:
endzone tickets are too expensive. the should have a $189 season ticket and $239 season ticket. $25 and $30 single game max. Continue with the kids summer program, after 5 years of this you will have thousands of fans for life.
My end zone season tickets are $274 plus taxes and fees, or $323 all in. I still consider that a bargain for some of the best seats in the house for those of us who like a players' and coaches' perspective on the action, and a chance to interact with players before and perhaps catch the odd football after a TD or field goal. The $25 single-game seats in the upper end zones don't seem any more full than the regular end zone seats below them so I don't know if price is as big a factor as we sometimes think it is. The $5 kids' tickets are a great bargain, though.
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SammyGreene wrote:
Fri Jun 30, 2017 11:11 am
$80 for a pair? Geez Lions have to do better than that.

I know this was 11 years ago but this was also when tickets were actually scarce. The difference between the Ackles and Skulsky eras:

October 21, 2006 - Canadian Football League (CFL) - B.C. Lions

News Release

(Vancouver) As the BC Lions close in on the end of another outstanding regular season, there's plenty of excitement and anticipation for what lies ahead. With just two home games remaining on the schedule including tonight\'s tilt with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Lions fans can still purchase seats at select 7-Eleven locations across the Lower Mainland. Tickets are $19.99 ea. (+GST) and are only sold in pairs.
I'm not sure this is a deal worth promoting, unless for the promoting in and of itself. And the hassle of it? Why wouldn't I just go to ticketmaster, choose a seat immediately on the great map feature.. About the same price, no? Sorry, free Slurpee isn't really gonna coax anyone. What a joke.

Sell the end zone seats for $19 at 7/11 and get people in the building. And make it simple. Vouchers that scan at the door, seats assigned then. If it becomes too successful (ha ha) open the upper deck. I'll not be concerned that people are getting in cheap. I'll still fork over my $73 per game and enjoy a better lions football atmosphere. This is how I got into the team 20+ years ago as a teenager. I bought $10 tickets at 7/11 and took my little brother. $39? Who are they marketing that to??
Qman
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... someone can correct me, but

those tickets are $44 on ticketmaster all-in ... so you save $5 a seat plus $5 in hotdogs/slurpees. you get $49 in value for $39. $39 is less than single game price but more than season ticket avg price of $32.

The kids ticket deal is more like the old 7-eleven deal - its basically 2-for-1.
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David
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Qman wrote:
Fri Jun 30, 2017 1:26 pm
Lions managment has a lot of work to do on ticket prices in offseason.

First:
Season ticket discount has to be higher to get me to renew. 20% discount is not enough. its should be over 30%-40% if you are a consecutive season ticket holder to incentivize you to renew every years. More you continue to renew, higher your discount (30%-->35%-->40%. People will never give up season tickets if this is case and lose their priority discount.
I agree with all your posts Qman, but I disgree slightly with this assumption. I think that overall revenue would be higher maintaining status quo with their ST base, than by reducing it. There's still a solid core of 'lifers.' They sit all around my section on the Lions' side. In fact, most of the seats between the 35s on the Lions side of the field are Lion lifers, including me. They'd be leaving money on the table by discounting season ticket prices.

Now, do I think the Lions need to completely overhaul their pricing structure, across the board, effectively discounting every seat in the house? Hell yea!! But as long as tickets are priced where they are, the season ticket deal is a pretty good discount, and for the 8,000 - 10,000 or so hardcore fans, it would be dumb on the club's part to discount further, as these people are price inelastic. In fact, they could probably raise the price a bit and increase overall revenue (not that it would be a smart move, mind you.....).


DH :cool:
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SammyGreene
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Qman wrote:
Fri Jun 30, 2017 1:26 pm
Lions managment has a lot of work to do on ticket prices in offseason.

First:
Season ticket discount has to be higher to get me to renew. 20% discount is not enough. its should be over 30%-40% if you are a consecutive season ticket holder to incentivize you to renew every years. More you continue to renew, higher your discount (30%-->35%-->40%. People will never give up season tickets if this is case and lose their priority discount.

Second:
need to be a new price category on the 25 yd line between $735 and $410 season ticket sections (239 and 243 / 212 and 216). Say $600 - $60/game instead of $73

Third:
endzone tickets are too expensive. the should have a $189 season ticket and $239 season ticket. $25 and $30 single game max. Continue with the kids summer program, after 5 years of this you will have thousands of fans for life.
These are some great points Qman. I don't see any a significant changes until new ownership comes in. Certainly the strategy under Skulsky since moving into the renovated BC Place was getting more $$$ out of less people. As David points out, management has been putting the value of going to the Lions game closer to the Canucks rather than going the "affordable" angle.

Even though the crowds have steadily decreased the average cost to enter the building is far greater than the 2005-08 golden era thus the revenue stream has remained decent. Thanks mainly to that hardcore David mentions that also snap up other things like Operation Orange trips. Likely why there wasn't any drastic measures taken in pricing or deals until this season's $5 kids ticket.

The panic button should have been hit a lot sooner as they watched so many people pass on season ticket renewals. It's now at the point where they are no longer even revealing their season ticket base anymore.

They quietly removed one tier of sideline ticket pricing back in 2011 so everyone was paying the same between the 20 yard-lines. As you suggest that needs to come back as there are now mass blocks of empty $92 seats around the 20-35 yard-lines. My old section (212) which was once full of season ticket holders is 70 percent empty now.

Even the kids deal doesn't cover all price categories which is crazy when you now have so many empty higher price seats and its only for the summer games anyways. Getting $97 for two of those seats beats them sitting empty.
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Hambone
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David wrote:
Fri Jun 30, 2017 10:09 pm
Qman wrote:
Fri Jun 30, 2017 1:26 pm
Lions managment has a lot of work to do on ticket prices in offseason.

First:
Season ticket discount has to be higher to get me to renew. 20% discount is not enough. its should be over 30%-40% if you are a consecutive season ticket holder to incentivize you to renew every years. More you continue to renew, higher your discount (30%-->35%-->40%. People will never give up season tickets if this is case and lose their priority discount.
I agree with all your posts Qman, but I disgree slightly with this assumption. I think that overall revenue would be higher maintaining status quo with their ST base, than by reducing it. There's still a solid core of 'lifers.' They sit all around my section on the Lions' side. In fact, most of the seats between the 35s on the Lions side of the field are Lion lifers, including me. They'd be leaving money on the table by discounting season ticket prices.

Now, do I think the Lions need to completely overhaul their pricing structure, across the board, effectively discounting every seat in the house? Hell yea!! But as long as tickets are priced where they are, the season ticket deal is a pretty good discount, and for the 8,000 - 10,000 or so hardcore fans, it would be dumb on the club's part to discount further, as these people are price inelastic. In fact, they could probably raise the price a bit and increase overall revenue (not that it would be a smart move, mind you.....).


DH :cool:
There are now actually 8 different price levels for Lions games not counting the $5 summer kids offer. Price structures need to flow both ways from most expensive to cheapest and vice versa. It's all fine and dandy for some to advocate slashing end zone pricing but that can turn into an exercise in levelling the legs on a table. Slash too deeply in one price group and you devalue the next price groups up. You might gain some new ST holders while at the same time making it very attractive for fans in higher price brackets to "trade down" to the new cheap seats.
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DanoT
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Ironically, one of the selling points for the Lions is that the new owner has a great potential to increase ticket sales. Of course the selling price has to reflect current sales and not be based too greatly on growth potential.
Huge Talent
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Looked at some other teams pricing structure. Imo, the Stampeders are doing it right...

https://www.stampeders.com/seasontickets/

More price levels, the top being the actual best seats (mid level, mid field). I understand why the Lions club seats are where they are, it's the way the stadium is set up. But those seats are too far from the action to warrant the higher price tag imo.

The power sections and family section caught my attention. $290 for power zone (side endzone seats) for season tickets, and you get a hot dog, popcorn, and pop included every game. $238 for family zone season tickets - includes TWO tickets: 1 adult, 1 child under 12. This is how you do it right. A very affordable option, easy (no messing around with 7/11, getting codes, screwing around to get the seats), commitment for the whole season. I think people would gravitate towards something like that here. No shenanigans, just affordable season tickets, with all the perks and belonging of being a member.

The best seats in the house are price accordingly. There are good seats available for lower prices - unlike the Lions where you pay the same to sit on the 25 as you do on the 55 - kinda lazy imo. Marketing 101 - give people options that they like. I bet many people would be happy to choose to sit on the 30 if, say, those seats were $600 or so. Bump up the price on the 241 and 214 seats a little to offset. Get something on the price plan for EVERYONE. Man, i know so many people in my demographic - young parents, who i could convince to shell out $238 for seasons with their kid. Then it becomes an even better event, when you get more friends coming out. Further, the clusters of people and vacancies you see each game are clearly a result of too few price categories... imagine all the lost opportunities within those vacant areas - not seats, but whole areas!
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David
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Great points Huge Talent.

Now, I am a fairly media savvy guy. I pay attention to ads, exposure, marketing opportunities and the like. But I did not see a single BC Lions ad advertising season tickets this off-season. Not until camp nearly started when I saw the "Who Is" poster at a Sky Train station.

I don't even live in Calgary, but I saw their :30 second TV ads for season tickets. In January! They leveraged their association with the Flames by advertising during Flames telecasts (we get the Alberta feed through Sportsnet). Massive ad campaign in Edmonton too in early May. A very expensive :30 spot.




DH :cool:
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Huge Talent
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Great ad. Would be nice to get something like that here. Our lions are a very good team, with great personalities. Blue collar warriors fighting for BC pride. Arguably the greatest coach of all time in possibly his last season. This message isn't really getting out there very effectively. With the canucks sucking for the next 5 years, and the caps inability to really compete due to being cheap, there is a great window for the Lions to grab some market share. No excuses, they can get 30k out to games if the really wanted to.

Sports is and will always be only as popular as its marketing makes it. How else do you explain people spending their time, money , and emotions on a bunch of grown men dressed up in colours running around after a ball, accomplishing nothing tangible if you really analyze it! lol, sorry not intending to sound cynical.
Qman
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Hambone wrote:
Sat Jul 01, 2017 9:25 am
David wrote:
Fri Jun 30, 2017 10:09 pm
Qman wrote:
Fri Jun 30, 2017 1:26 pm
Lions managment has a lot of work to do on ticket prices in offseason.

First:
Season ticket discount has to be higher to get me to renew. 20% discount is not enough. its should be over 30%-40% if you are a consecutive season ticket holder to incentivize you to renew every years. More you continue to renew, higher your discount (30%-->35%-->40%. People will never give up season tickets if this is case and lose their priority discount.
I agree with all your posts Qman, but I disgree slightly with this assumption. I think that overall revenue would be higher maintaining status quo with their ST base, than by reducing it. There's still a solid core of 'lifers.' They sit all around my section on the Lions' side. In fact, most of the seats between the 35s on the Lions side of the field are Lion lifers, including me. They'd be leaving money on the table by discounting season ticket prices.

Now, do I think the Lions need to completely overhaul their pricing structure, across the board, effectively discounting every seat in the house? Hell yea!! But as long as tickets are priced where they are, the season ticket deal is a pretty good discount, and for the 8,000 - 10,000 or so hardcore fans, it would be dumb on the club's part to discount further, as these people are price inelastic. In fact, they could probably raise the price a bit and increase overall revenue (not that it would be a smart move, mind you.....).


DH :cool:
There are now actually 8 different price levels for Lions games not counting the $5 summer kids offer. Price structures need to flow both ways from most expensive to cheapest and vice versa. It's all fine and dandy for some to advocate slashing end zone pricing but that can turn into an exercise in levelling the legs on a table. Slash too deeply in one price group and you devalue the next price groups up. You might gain some new ST holders while at the same time making it very attractive for fans in higher price brackets to "trade down" to the new cheap seats.
I would have no problem if just 55yard line sections (241 & 215) goes from 735 to 800. (FYI one of those is my section). Those seats do very well in secondary market still. That will offset to a large degree going down to 600ish on four outside coaches sideline sections.

On season tickets renewals, I think increasing the discount on season tickets with a consecutive holder plan is key for the lions in the offseason -- they need to stop the drain on their season ticket base. its too easy to leave and come back in three years. I have friends in toronto and have TFC tickets and thats how there ticket plan works. If you drop season tickets for one year, you lose your massive discount, and they don't even think of giving up their season tickets ever because of it ... even though they are not that big soccer fans. If you work your season ticket discount up to say 40% because you continue to renew, your never going to give that up, leave for a year and go back to square one.
TheLionKing
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Lions are missing a golden opportunity to win back fans with the Canucks sucking yet the marketing department is as quiet as a Christmas mouse.
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Hambone
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As a ST holder I constantly get updates from the team and offers for a variety of what I call perks such as the recent one inviting ST holders to a BBQ at Playland. I have no kids (that I'm aware of) or subsequently grandkids but IMO that sounds like a great effort to add value to season ticket value and it's not the only such offer the club makes in a calendar year that allows ST holders a chance to get more value from their ST package than a reserved seat for the games. Yet all I ever hear is griping about tickets costing too much and rarely kudos to efforts such as these or any recognition that the Lions do offer more value to the ST packages than just the ticket.

OK mini-rant over. I don't know who all here are ST holders, who are casual ticket buyers and who don't go to games at all. I have a question for those who only buy single game tickets. If you buy them through Ticketmaster do you wind up getting frequent emails from the Lions with offers for tickets and other notifications? It seems every time I buy a ticket elsewhere I wind up on the team's mailing list. Bombers from 2015 Grey Cup, Minnesota Vikings from taking in a game in 2008, Red Wings from buying one in April, Florida Panthers and TB Lightning last spring. I bought one for the Argo game on Friday. Yesterday morning I got a "thanks for attending" email from the Argos and an offer to buy tickets at discounted rates for the next 2 games. Do casual buyers experience the same from the Lions? If so that's a good thing and a big part of modern day marketing. If not it's a failure.
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DanoT
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Hambone wrote:
Sun Jul 02, 2017 6:58 pm
As a ST holder I constantly get updates from the team and offers for a variety of what I call perks such as the recent one inviting ST holders to a BBQ at Playland. I have no kids (that I'm aware of) or subsequently grandkids but IMO that sounds like a great effort to add value to season ticket value and it's not the only such offer the club makes in a calendar year that allows ST holders a chance to get more value from their ST package than a reserved seat for the games. Yet all I ever hear is griping about tickets costing too much and rarely kudos to efforts such as these or any recognition that the Lions do offer more value to the ST packages than just the ticket.

OK mini-rant over. I don't know who all here are ST holders, who are casual ticket buyers and who don't go to games at all. I have a question for those who only buy single game tickets. If you buy them through Ticketmaster do you wind up getting frequent emails from the Lions with offers for tickets and other notifications? It seems every time I buy a ticket elsewhere I wind up on the team's mailing list. Bombers from 2015 Grey Cup, Minnesota Vikings from taking in a game in 2008, Red Wings from buying one in April, Florida Panthers and TB Lightning last spring. I bought one for the Argo game on Friday. Yesterday morning I got a "thanks for attending" email from the Argos and an offer to buy tickets at discounted rates for the next 2 games. Do casual buyers experience the same from the Lions? If so that's a good thing and a big part of modern day marketing. If not it's a failure.
I bought a single game ticket on line for Riders at Lions on Aug.5 about a week ago through Ticketmaster. It was a "TicketFast" deal where I got to look at the stadium seating plan and pick my seat. I have had zero communication from the Lions. LIONS=MARKETING FAILURE.
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