Problem
The Buffalo Bison's are a Triple A affiliate of the New York Mets -which means the players on this team are one level below the Major Leagues where salaries can be huge. In the early days of the team's most recent incarnation, sell-outs were very common. Filling 20,900 seats was fairly easy in the early 90's when the stadium was still new and the team was a perennial contender. In recent years, the selling effort has become more difficult. Now the typical attendance is @8,000 per game.
You are the VP of Operations. You want to design a ticket sales plan that will reinvigorate the fan base for the Bisons. You recognize several realities:
One staff member serves as the full-time sales agent. He/she has two major jobs:
Sell tickets to games. Because the Bisons had a weak team last year, projections are that it will be difficult to exceed the average of 14,000 seats no matter what plan is designed. Further, architecture of the stadium makes sales above12,000 more challenging because the seats are not as desirable. If last year is any indication, fans will buy less expensive seats, then switch to premium seats that are unoccupied after the game begins. For PR reasons, staff look the other way when this occurs, unless late-arriving fans find their seats occupied. Your goal is to focus on the sale of premium seats, thus reducing the "seat-shifting" by fans buying standard and bleacher seats. Statistics for last year are as follows:
|
Type of Seat
|
Cost to Fan
|
# of seats in section
|
Average paid occupancy
|
|
Premium
|
$12
|
6,000
|
1,500
|
|
Standard
|
$9
|
13,000
|
6,000
|
|
Bleacher
|
$7
|
1,900
|
500
|
B. Sell advertising - Advertising dollars come from placement of product information throughout the stadium. including on billboards, outfield fences, scoreboards, even dugout roofs. The dollar amount sold last year was $908,013.
2. Increases in advertising sales are dependent on team performance. Team performance drives ticket sales. In turn, advertising depends on number of seats sold.
3. The sales person depends heavily on the seven administrative staff for ancillary activities in the selling event (e.g., they send out brochures, answer phone queries, provide follow-up information after the initial sales contact, etc.)
Can you use any data to predict the future and/or changes in ticket prices? Such as can you calculate the break even point(s)? If so show me.
The response should include a reference list. Double-space, using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.