Last time I talked about sport franchises’ and their season ticket holders. This time around, I’m going to scale it down to single games as well as moving over to basketball.
An article by Mills suggests that out-of-market fans make larger purchases than more local fans (Mills, 2016, p. 545). This makes for an intriguing discussion about marketing to out-of-town fans.
As an out-of-town fan of the Boston Celtics, there are some marketing techniques that have perked my interest. During certain away games, the Celtics organization tries to gather Celtic fans in the area to watch the game. Below is a table with the upcoming schedule for road rallies:
The rally includes a chance to meet Celtic legends, dancers, mascot, win autographed Celtics merchandise and even one of the championship trophies (the Celtics have won 17 championships).
I think this is a great way of reaching out to Celtics fans outside of Boston while cheering during the game. The chance to win exclusive merchandise is what separates this event from any other.
These types of road rallies is what I think drives the sales of merchandise. The logo gives a sense of belonging to a group. This, plus the adrenaline of the game and e-commerce, drives the buying tendencies. Personally, I’ve spent about $100+ on Celtics gear. What is intriguing is the variety. There are so many items not available outside of Boston area. For example, this sweater:
online at the Celtics official store and I have not seen it at any local mall. I guess the marketing scheme really got to me.
In the comments, post about your favourite piece of merchandise and if you shop online.
References
Miller Lite Road Rally. (n.d.). Retrieved from NBA: https://www.nba.com/celtics/promotions/miller-lite-road-rally
Mills, B. M. (2016). NBA Primary Market Ticket Consumers: Ex Ante Expectations and consumer Market Origination. Journal of Sport Management, 538-552.
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