The Amarillo Dillas, the reigning back-to-back United League Champions, have signed an agreement with Budweiser of Amarillo to enhance the “Dilla Villa” for the summer of the 2010 season.
Minor League baseball and Independent League baseball pride themselves on giving its customers affordable family entertainment. At the same time, indy teams specifically, are working with a tighter budget, in smaller cities than their professional counterparts.
Social Media is now essential for any business not just a sports franchise. Twitter, facebook, webpages, blogs etc…, along with increasing corporate sponsorships, teams without the luxury of a wide-open bank accounts become experts at local area marketing as well as group sales.
What the Dillas have accomplished is created an atmosphere where investor’s, companies, small groups, and corporations can watch a game with a tremendous view that has a capacity of at least 30 people.
According to the Dillas website, the party deck includes an “All You Care to Eat’ buffet-style of ballpark favorites.
Dillas general manager Mark Lee explains the concept.
“Group sales are the heartbeat to success in professional baseball”, Lee said. “Once the pre-season selling season ends you only have concessions, group sales, walk-up tickets, and souvenirs to get you through the season. So to add an attractive feature like the party deck is very important to sustaining our (Dillas) summer and having an outstanding partner such as Budweiser makes this project even more attractive”.
Well-played baseball is almost a given for the Dillas, so is a product that people want to see. It appears that this franchise has found the balance between product and customer satisfaction.
The club saw franchise records for attendance in 2006, 2007 and 2008, with an increase of nearly 53,000 fans (106,707 to 159,363). Last season saw the Dillas take down another team record. Nearly 7,700 fans came to the ballpark last July 26, when Sonic Drive-in provided fans free admission.
The Dillas begin their quest for a third championship May 27.
For more information on the club, please visit the Amarillo Dillas website.
Devon Teeple is an author for the Business of Sports Network, which includes the Biz of Baseball, the Biz of Football, the Biz of Basketball and the Biz of Hockey. He is a former professional baseball player with the River City Rascals & Gateway Grizzlies. Devon is also available for hire or freelance opportunities.
Devon is a former student within Sports Management Worldwide’s Baseball General Manager Class. Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective and is a intern with The Football Outsiders and contributor with the Plymouth River Eels.
Currently, Devon is a Branch Manager at a financial institution in Southern Ontario Canada. He can be reached at devon@thegmsperspective.com , thegmsperspective@yahoo.com or devon@businessofsportsnetwork.com
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