Facilities Management

Facilities Management

Arenas and stadiums are a huge source of income for sports teams. The question mostly argued by economist is whether the revenues help the owners of the stadium / teams get rich or help the community. By a team having it own stadium, it possess an opportunity for the team to make various sources of income to pay for the teams expenses and salaries. These revenues can come from ticket sales, luxury box sales, parking sales and concession sales. Many sports venues are paid using private investments, public investments or sometimes both. Public funding is using government bonds that are non-taxable and require an interest rate. A private investment uses private finances by a company usually a bank.

After a stadium or arena is built the goal is to keep the revenue flowing. This can be found to be challenging in our current bad economic situation. A good facility manager can see this as a creative opportunity to make an extraordinary impact for its company. Examples of creative ways to keep the fans excited about coming to an event can include discounts or incentives when attending an event. For example offering a family package deal that includes a meal and a drink. Another example would be to by one ticket and get one for half off. This could lead to ne person bringing a friend or making it a date with a significant other.

I believe that at a sporting event can offer some sort of live entertainment to keep fans excited about the team. An example will be like providing a band that is popularity is fair or good in the public majority. You see this at playoff game and in the NFL’s Super Bowl game. One team can have some live entertainment at there home games to attract their fans and make them want to come to the event. An event that currently uses this technique is the Dub Magazine show. To attract people to come see their car show they offer a free concert with popular musicians and stars. This event has become extremely popular and over the years has become a cross-country tour. This technique can be used, with some minor tweaks, in some sporting events to get some fans excited. You can also incorporate some fan interaction where fans can enter contest to meet their favorite athletes. Another contest could allow a lucky fan to view the game from a luxury box or sit with a famous star in a luxury box for one game. Social marketing is also a good way to raise excitement for your fans. Offering discounts on Facebook or MySpace can be an effective advertising tool as well as awareness tool.

With a tour economy facility managers have an opportunity to be creative when searching to keep the fans excited. Whether its offering incentives, contest, discounts or combination of all, this allows you the opportunity to shine like a star. Though this can be a stressful job it can also be rewarding upon its success.

Article references:

Taking Attendance: Facilities Find Creative Ways to Fill Seats in a Down Economy
https://www.iaam.org/Facility_manager/Pages/2009_Jun_July/Feature_3.htm

Conrad, M. (2006). The Business of sports: a primer for journalists. Mahwah,
New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.