What is it about?
Professional sports teams often use promotions like giveaways to attract more fans to live games. One common approach is a stadium giveaway, where a limited number of items—like bobbleheads—are handed out to fans on a first-come, first-served basis. Recently, however, teams have started offering special-ticket packages, where fans can pay a little more to guarantee they receive the promotional item. This study looks at nearly 25,000 Major League Baseball games across a decade and compares how each strategy affects ticket sales. The results show that both strategies work: stadium giveaways increase ticket sales by more than 10%, while special-ticket packages increase sales by 8%. However, giveaways often involve handing out more promotional items than needed, while special-ticket packages efficiently target only the fans that are interested in the item.
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Why is it important?
Sports teams operate under limited sales and marketing budgets and are constantly looking for ways to boost attendance, grow their fanbases, and increase revenues. This study shows that special-ticket packages are a promising and cost-effective alternative to traditional giveaways. Special-ticket packages allow teams to better match promotional items with fans who value them, while simultaneously minimizing waste and fan disappointment. These findings can help sports marketers design smarter, more efficient promotions that keep fans engaged and excited to attend.
Perspectives
This study builds on ongoing research into how marketing strategies affect fan behaviour in professional sports. I have always had a personal interest in how small changes—like the timing or structure of a giveaway—can have big effects on attendance and fan satisfaction. It was exciting to see that special-ticket packages, an emerging strategy, are already re-shaping how teams promote games. I hope this work provides practical value to event organizers and sparks further research into how targeted promotions can make minimize wasted resources while making live sports more rewarding for everyone.
Jeffrey Cisyk
Charles River Associates
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Special ticket packages and stadium giveaway promotions and the effect on demand for live sporting events, International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, June 2025, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/ijsms-02-2025-0059.
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