Post by Banana Cat on Apr 12, 2012 3:20:56 GMT -5
www.reporternews.com/news/2012/apr/11/abilene-ruff-riders-alter-business-model-hope-to/
Abilene Ruff Riders alter business model, hope to expand fan base
By Brennan K. Peel
Posted April 11, 2012
If you go
What: Lone Star Football League Bounty Bowl
Who: Abilene Ruff Riders vs. Corpus Christi Hammerheads
When: Tailgate party starts at 5 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m., with kickoff at 7.
Where: Scurry County Coliseum, 900 E. Coliseum Drive, Snyder
For tickets: 325-669-3492
More than 2,600 people were in stands March 31 to watch the Abilene Ruff Riders win their season opener, according to Abilene Ruff Riders officials, but that attendance figure isn't as simple as counting heads.
Announced attendance numbers at Ruff Riders games over the past three seasons haven't necessarily represented the number of bodies in seats, mostly because casual fans and sports teams aren't necessarily interested in the same number.
A Reporter-News article April 1 estimated the actual attendance at the teams' March 31 home opener as lower than team officials had counted, prompting the team to clarify how it counts attendance.
While casual fans may just want to know how many people are in seats watching the game, most teams are more concerned with how many tickets are sold.
"I can tell you in the past that those numbers weren't the most accurate," Scott Anderson, one of the team's owners, said Wednesday about the reported attendance during the team's first three seasons. That's because the team often includes preseason ticket sales, walk-up sales, VIP tickets and box seats purchased by sponsors, who may or may not fill those seats. Coupons, tickets for staff and the visiting team and those given away must be deducted to know the true number of fans who purchased tickets that are actually watching any given game.
To better represent attendance, the team this year offers fewer types of tickets and isn't giving away as many free passes, which simplifies the bean counting for the team.
Last season, the team averaged an actual attendance of around 2,600 for each of seven home games. Other indoor teams attract fans with the entertainment value, but in the football-crazed Big Country, winning football games — and nothing else — puts fans in seats.
"If we're winning, our walk-up crowd is huge," Anderson said. "Winning's the key. We've just got to win ballgames. If we win games, everything else takes care of itself."
That "everything else" is largely money, which comes from ticket sales and sponsorships.
The team really needs to bring in between $225,000 to $250,000 a year, but could get by on $210,000, Anderson said.
It doesn't matter how many tickets are sold, as long as the total goal number is met. And it's typically easier to get there by selling sponsorships.
In past years, the team focused on securing big sponsors, companies that could put up $10,000 or $20,000. Today, the team is focusing more on smaller businesses that may not be able to put up such big dollar amounts but want tickets to a game and a banner to advertise themselves.
"I can go out and get one $3,000 sponsorships or 10 $300 sponsorships," Anderson said. "It's all the same money, but one works a lot better than the other."
This weekend, the Ruff Riders will try to attract a new audience by playing against Corpus Christi in Snyder.
The game is a sort of practice run for the league championship game at the end of this season in San Angelo, where there is no team this season. It allows the league to bring in two teams to a neutral site ahead of time, have players and dance teams make public appearances and involve the community in the festivities.
On Friday, players from both teams will visit workers and patients in the Scurry County Hospital, visit elementary, middle and high school students, then have walk-through practices simultaneously on either side of the courthouse. The city will close several blocks around the courthouse, Anderson said.
Then, players will judge a homemade ice cream making contest on the courthouse lawn.
On Saturday, all those with the $25 all-inclusive ticket can enjoy a pregame concert by Jaron Bell, a tailgate party with beer/wine and food concessions, access to the autograph tent where former Cowboys Everson Walls and Bill Bates will be signing (photo purchase required). Then there's the actual game, and afterward a postgame concert with Zach Edwards performing.
By Brennan K. Peel
Posted April 11, 2012
If you go
What: Lone Star Football League Bounty Bowl
Who: Abilene Ruff Riders vs. Corpus Christi Hammerheads
When: Tailgate party starts at 5 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m., with kickoff at 7.
Where: Scurry County Coliseum, 900 E. Coliseum Drive, Snyder
For tickets: 325-669-3492
More than 2,600 people were in stands March 31 to watch the Abilene Ruff Riders win their season opener, according to Abilene Ruff Riders officials, but that attendance figure isn't as simple as counting heads.
Announced attendance numbers at Ruff Riders games over the past three seasons haven't necessarily represented the number of bodies in seats, mostly because casual fans and sports teams aren't necessarily interested in the same number.
A Reporter-News article April 1 estimated the actual attendance at the teams' March 31 home opener as lower than team officials had counted, prompting the team to clarify how it counts attendance.
While casual fans may just want to know how many people are in seats watching the game, most teams are more concerned with how many tickets are sold.
"I can tell you in the past that those numbers weren't the most accurate," Scott Anderson, one of the team's owners, said Wednesday about the reported attendance during the team's first three seasons. That's because the team often includes preseason ticket sales, walk-up sales, VIP tickets and box seats purchased by sponsors, who may or may not fill those seats. Coupons, tickets for staff and the visiting team and those given away must be deducted to know the true number of fans who purchased tickets that are actually watching any given game.
To better represent attendance, the team this year offers fewer types of tickets and isn't giving away as many free passes, which simplifies the bean counting for the team.
Last season, the team averaged an actual attendance of around 2,600 for each of seven home games. Other indoor teams attract fans with the entertainment value, but in the football-crazed Big Country, winning football games — and nothing else — puts fans in seats.
"If we're winning, our walk-up crowd is huge," Anderson said. "Winning's the key. We've just got to win ballgames. If we win games, everything else takes care of itself."
That "everything else" is largely money, which comes from ticket sales and sponsorships.
The team really needs to bring in between $225,000 to $250,000 a year, but could get by on $210,000, Anderson said.
It doesn't matter how many tickets are sold, as long as the total goal number is met. And it's typically easier to get there by selling sponsorships.
In past years, the team focused on securing big sponsors, companies that could put up $10,000 or $20,000. Today, the team is focusing more on smaller businesses that may not be able to put up such big dollar amounts but want tickets to a game and a banner to advertise themselves.
"I can go out and get one $3,000 sponsorships or 10 $300 sponsorships," Anderson said. "It's all the same money, but one works a lot better than the other."
This weekend, the Ruff Riders will try to attract a new audience by playing against Corpus Christi in Snyder.
The game is a sort of practice run for the league championship game at the end of this season in San Angelo, where there is no team this season. It allows the league to bring in two teams to a neutral site ahead of time, have players and dance teams make public appearances and involve the community in the festivities.
On Friday, players from both teams will visit workers and patients in the Scurry County Hospital, visit elementary, middle and high school students, then have walk-through practices simultaneously on either side of the courthouse. The city will close several blocks around the courthouse, Anderson said.
Then, players will judge a homemade ice cream making contest on the courthouse lawn.
On Saturday, all those with the $25 all-inclusive ticket can enjoy a pregame concert by Jaron Bell, a tailgate party with beer/wine and food concessions, access to the autograph tent where former Cowboys Everson Walls and Bill Bates will be signing (photo purchase required). Then there's the actual game, and afterward a postgame concert with Zach Edwards performing.