Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

HOUSTON: YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.

(Overused, yes. Appropriate, yes.)

As I read more and more about the financial aspects of MLB it appears that they might not care too much about my filling the stadium $24mil/year bonus plan. I understand this business, as any business, is about the bottom line, money and maximizing profits and it seems that ticket sales are a minimal variable in the MLB equation. TV money is now the big momma and the more research I do the less I hear organizations talk about fans bringing money to the ball parks. As a lifelong baseball fan this makes me more disappointed than I can express.

My goal in starting this research was to inform the Houston Astros of how to maximize profits by putting fans in seats and I will continue to protect that point although I may detour more than I had previously intended.

Every year I try to make it to as many Astros games as time and money allow. Lately, I’ve managed only two or three per season but win or lose I ALWAYS enjoy the experience. I love baseball at every level and ballparks have an amazing all American feel that is unparalleled to any other place on earth. My dad took me to games growing up and I hope my son continues enjoys them as much as I do.

Lately, I have watched the average game attendance decline year after year and game after game. I noticed it as a casual fan and had the numbers confirmed through research. In 2006, the season after the Astros made their first ever world series appearance the average game was 91.1% full….this has fallen every year to a horrible less than half (48.5%) in 2012. The Astros average attendance was 28^th in the league out of 30. Abysmal for a city the size of Houston.

FIELD OF DREAMS:

Now, let’s fix this. There are two good ways to get fans into the park to support a program. 1) Win and 2) Give them a good deal. If you don’t have 1, then 2 is a necessity. Finishing last in the MLB last year doesn’t really send fans running to pay your average $27 a ticket and drink a $10 beer to watch their extremely sub-par team.

The basic baby laws of supply and demand are easy to understand here.

Every game will be played regardless of the number of people in the stands. If you have to hire event staff, pay players and turn on the electricity for every game it only makes since to get every dollar you can. Empty seats make no money. Empty seats buy no t-shirts, ball caps, hot dogs, popcorn, or $10 beers. Get a person into that seat for a minimal price and no doubt concessions will be bought, their kids will want baseballs, mom will want a yardstick margarita and profits will be made. It really is that simple.

THE NUMBERS GAME:

Here’s my math and how at LEAST 24 million can appear per year:

40, 963. That is the total number of seats available per game.

19,848. That is the average attendance per game in 2012.

21,115. That is the average number of VACANT seats per game.

According to sportsfan.org the Astros have the 10^th highest average ticket price in MLB with the 3^rd lowest average attendance and worst team record in 2012.  I love my ‘Stros and consider myself a fan through thick and thin but I don’t have a lot of money to spend on extras, especially when there is a good chance I won’t be witnessing my team come out victorious.

Let’s say you charge $5 average per unsold ticket. (Maybe $7-10 for the better seats and only $1 or $2 for the nosebleeds.) That alone equals over $100k/game in ticket sales. Then the people are there. They are hungry, thirsty and they feel good because they got a great bargain on the ticket price. From there let’s pretend every ticket buyer spends $10 on food and/or drink (again, I feel this is a little low, but an easy number to multiply). That is over $200k in food and drink for those previous empty seats. Now you are looking at your per game ticket and concession total at over $300k just for filling these cheap seats. At 81 home games a year that puts you at a minimum of an additional 24.3 million, not even including any souvenirs. That, to me, looks like a very pretty penny.

IF YOU BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME?

Sure, math looks great, but is this feasible? Can we really expect to fill the stands just by lowering ticket prices? YES! Americans love baseball games and in Houston giving them a family friendly place an outdoorsy feel, with air conditioning in the summer for a good price they will come. It takes me an hour and a half to get to Minute Maid Park and I would squeeze in many more games if I wasn’t paying $17 for my 4^th level ticket. Drop ticket prices and I’m there more often, drop beer prices and I’m buying my beer at the stadium instead of trying to load up at the home plate and leaving early and heading downtown. I know you dropped beer prices last year, but going from 10.50 to 9.50, a ten dollar beer is still a ten dollar beer no matter what way you round that. I’m not sure what kind of profits you are making off that but I fell like the supply and demand curve would move a little if you could make it a little more affordable. I would rather buy three $6 beers than one $10 beer and look, you’ve magically made more money off me and I’m a happier fan and customer.

When you sell out tickets on a regular basis (consecutive years, not games) AND you win more games than you lose you may rethink prices and move them up. For now, Houston, you’ve made the city fall out of love with baseball. You’ve had four consecutive losing seasons, had to deal with franchise players retire and then trading all the ‘new’ big names, and then are charging those that continue to give you support way too much to see this debacle. Fans are fickle; they want a reason to fall in love again. Give them one.

Astros owner Jim Crane on his hard times trying to buy a MLB team, "I'm accustomed to winning. So we set our sights on winning and we never gave up." 

Tis the season?

The idea for this blog started on Thanksgiving....the day of giving thanks for all wonderful things we have been blessed with in our lives. To be thankful for our friends and family, or health and fortune  however small or large it might be. To come together with loved ones, enjoy the company of them all and appreciate the love and fondness we have for one another.

After feeling all nice and toasty with a full belly of the nourishment we were all thankful for the "stuff" starts. Christmas lists are brought out, shopping trips are planned and either pennies are pinched or credit cards are brought out to show each other how much we care with "stuff".

What I Love: Christmas. I love the songs, the decorations and the family traditions we have like playing cards on Christmas Eve and whiskey shots on the hour in memory of family we have lost through the years. I love the family all sleeping under the same roof to wake up to a half eaten cookie and note from Santa. I love the day in pajamas playing more cards and eating stocking candy for breakfast. Family.

What Drives Me Nuts: The "stuff".  Why do we feel the need to go into debt or spend every penny in our bank account showering our family and friends with gifts. Don't get me wrong, I don't have much money but I do it as best I can. I love getting people gifts but the pressure that you have to get everyone something at the same time of year is overwhelming. Especially noting the fact that most people don't even give gifts that people actually want.

Solution. Year Round Christmas. No, I'm not suggesting decorated trees, fake snow, elves, fat guys in red suits and jingle bells splitting time with the Easter Bunny. I'm saying forget the stress in December, and spread the joy year round. As far as gift giving, try to send notes or things to your friends whenever you get the urge. I have a few friends who I do that with already. And since we've had children we don't buy Christmas presents in December anyway. No, we don't love each other any less, we just understand that a forced gift is not necessary. When picking up a cup of coffee, get a gift card to send to your friend who you wish was joining you. If you see a sweater that would look amazing on your bestie at a clearance sale in April....get it for her. On a hot August day, sip a cold drink and write a letter, by hand, to a distant relative.  Trust me, these little things scattered throughout the year will do much more than an extra bottle of lotion from bath and body works on Christmas.

Although, if anyone can find a bottle of discontinued Butterfly Flower, I am all out ;-)

Why we love sports......

American interest in sports is apparent everywhere you look. T-shirts ranging from little league mommas up to XXXL NFL fans are on every corner. Coffee and water cooler conversations are known to often begin, whether good or bad, with  "How 'bout them Cowboys?" From the casual conversationalist to the statistical analyst, it seems like the $70 billion sports industry is highly visible in American culture.

Why has the sports industry been one of the fastest growing industries for decades? As one who currently has 4 different windows open with NCAAF rankings, Fantasy NFL football, NCAAF pick em's, and baseball trading news, this idea began to fascinate me so I opened window number 5 and began research.

Soccer Mom: This is both a beginning and a middle to the obsession. As soon as they're potty trained many children begin their journey into organized sports. Soccer, and tee-ball, then peewee and little league. My child is now 6 and I feel like we are already behind. Unfortunately, as much as I had hoped ever since I found out I had a boy in the womb, my child is not interested in playing organized sports....at least at this point in time. The children are sent out early spending a lot of their free time on a field of some sort connecting this to a way of life and moms (and dads) are eagerly cheering for their wee one to succeed. 

Friday Night Lights: Growing up in a small Texas town this was a way of life and the ONLY life as a high school student. The joke was that they closed the only two gas stations in town by 7pm because everyone was at the game. Honestly, I couldn't tell you if that was true or not becuase I was already at the stadium. The energy in the hallways on a Friday in the fall was electric. And homecoming week, you could forget everything else existed. The locker and hall decorating, the pep rallies, the secret gifts to football players. High school football is really many teens first love.

College Gameday Saturdays: As much fun as one has in high school with their school's football team it only grows exponentially in college. In a stadium with over 80k maroon clad fans, tailgates, weekend parties, bowl projections the excitement in the air is unparallelled.  This is also where one may begin to start paying attention to the statistics more. Pass percentage, QBR, point spreads, rankings. The numbers game is a fun way to get your math homework in!

The Business Man: And the money...from professional sport team revenues in ticket prices, merchandise and beer sales to both legal and illegal betting the business side is without a doubt impressive.

Check this out from www.americangaming.org :

• Overall, Nevada’s legal sports wagering represents less than 1 percent of all sports betting nationwide. In 2011, $2.88 billion was legally wagered in Nevada’s sports books; the National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) estimated that illegal wagers are as much as $380 billion annually.

• Gross revenue for Nevada’s sports books was $140.7 million in 2011. While more than $2.88 billion was wagered in 2011, more than 95 percent of all bets placed were returned to patrons in winnings.

  According to Forbes, the most valuable team in the NFL is the Dallas Cowboys. Who despite not winning a playoff game in years still are valued at over 2.1 billion dollars. The least valuable team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, is still a nice 770mil. 

The Couch Potato: Hot grill. Cold beer. Comfy couch. Nuff said.


Putting it together: Even if you managed not to grow up going and playing sports as a child, and don't have the money, business or math sense to be interested in statistical analysis as an adult, causal sports watching on a Sunday afternoon is a great excuse to have a drink, good food, a great way unwind and relax...unless like me, you're a Cowboys Fan.

The Starbucks Culture

Last year we made the decision to cut our high priced snail paced satellite internet (the only thing available where we live) and opted for a mobile hotspot through my phone. Good news is its much faster, one third the price and goes everywhere I do. Bad news is if your 6 year old streams Mario movies for an entire week off YouTube (please scold my parenting later) you run out of data a week too early.

So, here I am, at the overpriced coffee mecca for some 'free' wifi. Free that is with the purchase of a Grande cup of coffee not near as good as what I maike at home for the price of the whole can of what's in my pantry.

But I digress....

This is a fascinating place.

Although I seemed focused on my email, paying bills, etc. I am doing much more people watching. Several students seem to be studying intently getting prepared for their first week of exams. Some seem to be honestly intrigued by their subjects while others may be more consumed by social media.

A few suit wearing business men sit on the couch between college bud light pajama pants boy and then the sleepy hippie in the corner that hasn't seen the sandman for days. Two men on the patio sip and converse seemingly enjoying the cooler weather. A young beautiful blonde that is doing nothing more than just being pretty with a latte as far as I can tell,  and the older gentleman in the Harvard sweatshirt who obviously looks like he knows more than this cafe full of Aggies. 

Then, there is me, pretending to ignore the masses while writing about them on the internet.

We all look different but have something that brings us all together.

Free wifi and $4.00 coffee.

For the love of humanity!

I few items in the news and some rants about humanity....

So, this morning when I first awoke and heard the news about the movie shooting I thought how sad that was. The more I see and think about it, it makes me purely sick to my stomach. I just don't understand how anyone could harm ANYONE, especially a theater full of complete strangers. What could possibly encourage a human to do this.

I Just. Don't. Get it.

Heck, I don't even like it when the ladies at the VFW gossip about everyone in town. Why can't we all get along, and if you happen to disagree, state your peace (with them) then move on. Agree to disagree, focus on the good in people and the good in life. No, not every person on earth, every religion, every culture, every country won't always agree, but mind your own business and get on.

As for Chick-fil-A. If any of you bother to read this far, I know I have a very wide range of friends and beliefs on here with people posting how fantastic the restaurant is to how horrible they are to varying opinions between. A friend, Thomas Hernandez said it very well this morning. I believe he made the post public so you'll be able to read it. I am glad Chic-fil-A is not afraid to advertise what THEY believe in. I really am. I do disagree with them. As for my personal business with their fabulous chicken I am unsure. I've seen a good link on Pinterest that I need to try.

As for life in general. Love one another, you don't have to LIKE everyone, but respect them as a person unique in his or her own way. Treat them with dignity as you would want them to treat you. Life is to short to waste it on hate.

I am a white, female, heterosexual, American, Christian. However, I don't care what your race, religion, gender, sexuality is or if you prefer white or wheat bread. If you are nice to me, I'll be nice to you. And if you are not nice to me I'll tell you to 'take care' and move on with my life.

I feel better. Thank you for your time. Be kind out there today.