If a non-season ticket holder who has watched the odd Ticat home game on T.V. is thinking about going to a game
but he perceives that it's a big hassle to get to the stadium, he likely won't buy a ticket that day or any day.
See below
CFL Consultant Bernie Mullin*** who is careful not to comment specifically on stadium location,
said the key to expanding the Ticats' market beyond a 45-kilometre radius is "the driveway-to-driveway experience."
He said in order to compete with all the other diversions pulling at consumers, sports teams like the Cats need
to maximize the four- to five-hour football experience with ease of access by car and a jam-packed in-stadium experience.
Mullin can't imagine future generations of consumers dropping the car culture approach to major events.
...Mullin underscored something Ticat president Scott Mitchell has noted recently, that
pro sports teams compete against themselves by providing the product free on increasingly sophisticated TVs.
To counter that, explained Mullin, the ease of access to the stadium and value-added aspects
to the stadium experience become more important.
"We now have a "highlight generation" conditioned by TV to just see the slam dunks and spectacular plays."
He said the challenge for marketers is to match that somehow within the game experience
and that can be linked to stadium design.
P.S.
Despite what anyone familar with the City says about how easy it is to access Ivor Wynne Stadium,
friends of mine from outside a 45 km radius from Ivor Wynne who are unfamiliar with Hamilton
find it hard to understand my simple[?] directions to navigate through the City to the stadium now,
and the Rheem site has exactly that same drawbacks as Ivor Wynne Stadium does.
*** Bernie Mullin of Atlanta-based The Aspire Group.
Mullin has been an executive with the NBA and held senior positions in pro baseball and hockey.
He has been helping the CFL develop ticket sales strategies in Toronto and Hamilton.
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/773808