Root, Root, Root ...

By Stephen C. Smith
Publisher
January 30, 2010

 

In my last column, I lamented the lack of interest Brevard County seems to show towards baseball relative to other parts of the nation I've witnessed.

The Brevard County Manatees were seventh in attendance last year in the twelve-team Florida State League.

Almost no one was on hand to witness the Viera Nationals win the Gulf Coast League pennant last September.

The Space Coast Surge folded in October along with the rest of the Florida Winter Baseball League after three weeks.

I posed the question, “So what will it take to get the Space Coast excited again about a home town team?”

I then wrote, “I wish I had the answer.”

Well, let's see if we can find some answers.

Let's acknowledge up front that we're in the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Brevard County's unemployment rate was 12.1% in December, with thousands more jobs expected to be lost once the Space Shuttle program ends in about a year.

People out of work need to watch how they spend every penny, and entertainment is definitely discretionary spending.

But minor league baseball remains one of the more affordable options for entertainment, and Brevard County baseball is one of the more affordable within all the minors.

At Minor League Baseball's winter meetings last December in Indianapolis, MiLB President Pat O'Connor said that minor league attendance was down 2.5% in 2009, and Major League Baseball was down 6.5%.

A Manatees game is one of the more affordable entertainment options in the Space Coast. All seats are general admission, which is $7, cheaper than a first-run movie. It's $5 for college students, and military personnel (active or retired). Parking at Space Coast Stadium is free for Manatees games.

The Manatees are affordable, but you can't beat the price of Viera Nationals games.

Those are free.

The Nationals are in the rookie level Gulf Coast League, two levels below the Manatees. Rookie-A is the lowest of the six levels in professional minor league baseball. You won't see play the level of the major leagues, but players such as Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, future Hall of Fame outfielder Vlad Guerrero and Yankees hero Derek Jeter started their careers in the GCL.

Families typically go to games on Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday day games. They don't go out on a school night. It's a common problem for most minor league teams. I knew one operation that actually shut down most of their stadium for weeknight games, discouraged ticket sales for those nights and did all their promotions on weekends.

GCL Nationals games are usually played during the day, so families are unlikely to attend during the school week. The games are played on minor league complex fields with small bleachers, no concessions and little shade. You're welcome, but don't expect amenities.

Brevard County has a high senior population. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 20% of the county's population is 65 and older. Seniors don't care much about school nights, and would seem more inclined to enjoy the slower pace of a ballgame. If the weather isn't brutal, a daytime GCL Nats game is an excellent option.

Since pro ball games in the Space Coast are so affordable and abundantly available, why don't more people attend?

I can't point to any surveys or statistical analysis — just my opinion based on thirteen seasons around minor league baseball.

The main reason, I think, is that most people simply don't know they have pro ball available to them. Of those who do know, certainly more know about the Manatees than the Nationals.

So how to inform them?

Florida Today is one obvious route, but newspapers these days have their own problems with dwindling subscriptions and therefore dwindling resources.

Advertising on cable TV is actually rather cheap, especially on niche channels. Perhaps the Manatees could produce a 30-second ad and run it on ESPN, Fox Sports, Spike, Sunsports, and News 13.

It would require an owner with the deep pockets to invest in advertising. I know of one owner who bought a team in the Pioneer League about five years ago. He privately declared he was going to lose $1 million his first year to saturate his market with advertising. Before that, the team rarely drew big crowds. Their last year before the investment, they averaged 1,292 tickets sold per game. In 2005, the first advertising year, the team averaged 2,075 tickets per game. In 2008, before the worst of the recession hit, the average was 2,927. In 2009, the recession year, the average dropped to 2,551, a 12.8% loss from 2008 but still double what it was before the ad blitz.

Another gimmick might be to target transplanted fans from other major league markets.

Brevard County has baseball fans, but many of them appear to be transplants. I see plenty of Red Sox and Yankees logos on caps, cars, houses.

The Yankees are in the Florida State League (Tampa). Maybe one way to lure fans would be to promote when the Tampa Yankees are in town. (May 6-8, July 4-6, August 24-26.) Baseball fans are passionate about the Yankees — they love 'em, or they hate 'em. So I'd come up with special promotions for those series. Call it “Pinstripe Passion.” New York fans, come support your “future Yankees.” Everyone else, come curse da bums.

The Cubs, Phillies and Cardinals are also in this league, all organizations with passionate transplanted fans.

The Manatees might also think about creative ways to transport seniors to the ballpark. Space Coast Area Transit has a route that goes by the stadium. Perhaps SCAT could arrange for a special run to bring seniors to and from the game. One weeknight game could be moved up into the daytime or early evening, if that helps coincide with SCAT's schedule.

Many minor league teams do a couple special morning games during the school year as a field trip for local children. Why not something similar for seniors? Schedule a handful of day games early in the season specifically for seniors who get a discount. Once they're introduced to the park, they might be more inclined to return later in the year when it's hotter and games have to be played at night.

In the next decade, it's possible that a future extension of the SunRail light-rail project will extend from Orlando east on 528 and then south of I-95, which would take it close to Space Coast Stadium. Should that happen, a shuttle service from a nearby station would help attract customers.

Many minor league teams send their players out into the community for public relations. One team I know has a school reading program. Players volunteer to go to local schools and read to young students, accompanied by the team mascot and broadcaster. Players can't be forced to participate — they're employees of the parent club, not the local minor league team — but most players are happy to do it because, frankly, they have nothing else to do. If the team offers a modest compensation, that helps as minor league salaries are pretty pathetic.

As a long-range goal, finding a more intimate venue for the Manatees is probably a good idea. That's no slight intended against Space Coast Stadium, which is owned by Brevard County, leased by the Washington Nationals, and sub-leased to the Manatees. Minor league baseball seems swallowed up by that 8,000 seat stadium. Manatees attendance averages have ranged in their history from about 1,000 to 2,200 per game. A ballpark with a 2,500-seat capacity would fill up quickly and probably be a lot more fun.

Palm Bay Mayor John Mazziotti proposed last July that Palm Bay explore the feasibility of a minor league park in their city. That seems to have gone nowhere.

When such proposals are made, inevitably people start complaining that the taxpayers shouldn't subsidize private business, much less put tax dollars at risk.

I agree.

Many studies have shown that subsidized ballparks don't provide the economic stimulus typically promised by ballpark owners.

Properly planned, though, such a facility could be developed in a way that not only benefits the community, but also protects local taxpayers as well.

Many states have some sort of statewide sports or entertainment fund that raises money for such projects, if local matching funds can be found. These are typically funded by a hotel or tourist tax.

In some towns, the ballpark is part of a larger project, perhaps surrounded by amateur fields or a retail complex. The stadium becomes an anchor to lure customers to other attractions that might generate more revenue.

When not in use by the minor league team, the ballpark can be used for other events. Cocoa Expo Stadium hosts many amateur events from all over the nation and the world. Local colleges such as Florida Tech and Brevard Community College might be coaxed into using the stadium, or even becoming a co-tenant. It's not unusual in the lower minors to find the professional teams leasing a college park for the summer.

Local taxpayers can be protected, if the project is not financed out of the agency's general operating fund. Such projects are generally financed by a bond issuance, with the bond repaid by a percentage of ticket sales.

What if sales aren't enough? Well, there's the risk. In the worst-case scenario, the bonds are secured by the general fund, but rarely does it get to that point. Municipal owners may renegotiate the debt, or even sell the park to a private owner to get it off the books. One step to protect the general fund is to create a special agency that operates separate of the municipality, so it's the special fund on the hook if the project fails.

I've followed the minor league business for many years. It's very rare for a new stadium to collapse financially. Where problems have occurred, it's been because local leaders blindly believed that the stadium would be a pot of gold, attracting development where none currently exists. There's no pot of gold at the end of the baseball rainbow, but if prudent a park can be developed while minimizing the risk.

Here's one final wacky idea ... Schedule an annual exhibition between the Florida State League Manatees and the Gulf Coast League Nationals.

Parent clubs usually aren't keen on the idea of their minor league investments playing in exhibitions, as the risk of injury is created for a meaningless contest. But Brevard does have a unique arrangement — we're the only place in minor league baseball with two different organizations' affiliates operating out of one complex. If this were a charity game, with a percentage of the gate going to worthy causes, both organizations would get some positive publicity.

A variation on this idea would be to schedule a twi-night doubleheader, where the GCL Nationals play the afternoon game and the FSL Manatees the nightcap. The Nats kids would probably enjoy playing in a stadium instead of a complex field where no one ever sees them. The Manatees and their opponents might lose a full-blown batting and infield practice, but it's only one day and those are sometimes lost anyway due to rain.

Professional minor league baseball can be successful in the Space Coast. It'll take some creativity, some vision, dedication, investment and most certainly a lot of hard work.

Brevard County needs creative ideas to escape the recession as the Shuttle program winds down. Hopefully some of the above will help.