Rainmen Ticket Prices

Last Sunday's game features $5 tickets for children, resulting in an attendance of 4,012 -- the largest since our team's inaugural game. I think it is smart to have cheap seats for kids, say age 12 and under, because it gets them in the building. Once they are inside, they spend way more than the difference in the seat price in concessions and maybe even Rainmen gear. Plus, as cigarette advertisers know, get consumers’ loyalty while they are young and you have a better chance of keeping their loyalty for years.

One other thing, season ticket holders should not be paying 24% more than someone walking in off the street. I hope the front office looks into that for the coming season. I don’t mind paying as much as a single ticket buyer if there are benefits, but this is one area that the organization is a bit behind the curve. The meet & greet with the players before the season was a good start, but there needs to be more attention paid to this.

The Rainmen should offer cheaper season tickets and more meaningful benefits to faithful fans. The benefits don’t have to cost a lot.

A few ideas:
- Include season ticket holders in the 2-for-1 nights, or give them a free ticket near their season seats for one game to invite a friend and maybe get that new person to buy season tickets next year. I brought 2 friends last year who ended up buying 3 seats this year. It works.

- 1 free piece of Rainmen gear, either T-shirt or hat, or half-price hoodie, for every season ticket seat as well as discounts on additional purchases of Rainmen gear. This is probably the best way to increase the Rainmen’s visibility, especially among kids who would wear them to school, not to mention making the stands look Rainmen blue. Watch US college or major league sports and the stands that are full of fans wearing their team’s colours make a difference. It’s all about the fan’s sense of belonging to the team and building their loyalty, not to mention the psychological power it would have on the visiting teams.

- More season-ticket-holder-only events. These don’t have to be expensive, and if there was a cost to attend, keep it under $10/person and provide value for that money. Better options would be the “Season Ticket Holder Experience” events that don’t cost anything, like an afternoon with the Rainmen where kids would have some court time with the players. How cool would that be?

- A free program! I bought programs every game last year, despite having virtually no new information in each issue. This year, I can’t even find someone who sells them. I think a free program for season ticket holders is a cheap way to keep them informed during the games.

- Your seats guaranteed, available to buy for playoffs. This goes without saying.

- Ticket exchange privileges: if you can’t make a game, you can switch tickets for extras to a game you can attend.

- A ticket donation program to get unused tickets into the hands of deserving children and charities and give the season ticket holder a tax deduction. I have not used all of my tickets and it is a shame that the seats go unused.

- Discounts on purchases from team sponsors. This is a win-win situation, increasing visibility for companies as sponsors of the Rainmen and helping their corporate citizen image.

- How about free face painting for season ticket holders before the games? Let’s get creative here!

- A sit-in session with new Coach Les Berry, in a Chalk Talk event? I know a lot of people who post on here would love to get an “insider” appreciation for Coach Berry’s strategies.

- Honorary Ball Kid. Have a lottery to choose season ticket holding children to be able to rebound balls for the Rainmen during pre-game warmups.

Most of these are essentially free or very low cost to the team and would add significantly to the “Season Ticket Holder Experience.”