How can the Miami Marlins boost fan attendance
MIAMI, FL – MARCH 27: A general view of the new Marlins logo in the outfield during 2019 Workout Day at Marlins Park on March 27, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
Miami Marlins position of need: 3B
The Miami Marlins have a serious attendance problem. I covered the issue of marketing a certain superstar before, but this goes deeper than that… The Fish have the worst attendance in the NL going back to 2013. This means that perennial losing teams such as the Pittsburgh Pirates have better attendance. How can we fix it?
The Miami Marlins need to improve attendance.
The first obvious solution to boosting attendance is winning. Winning teams tend to have higher attendance than losing teams. I’m not just talking about winning, but going on a streak of seasons where we either make the playoffs or just barely miss them. Add off-seasons where the Miami Marlins make a serious effort to improve, and the recipe for boosting attendance is set in motion.
Marketing Miami Marlins stars is the next step. There should be billboards all over Miami with Jazz Chisholm Jr. on them. Have an event for kids and have him there to sign autographs. Market other stars such as Pablo López and Sandy Alcantara. They need to be household names.
The next step is to erase the stigma associated with Jeffrey Loria’s time as owner of the Miami Marlins. Fans became accustomed to rebuilds and sell-offs, winning is the best way to fix the attendance issue but being creative can help as well. What about marketing slogans to turn things into a joke: “we’re a different team…we promise!” and “we’re actually trying to win every year now…yes really!”.
Another important factor is the community. The Miami Marlins play in Little Havana, so appealing to the fact that baseball is the favorite sport in Cuba, and to the community could spark more interest in the team. Show the community that you’re a part of it and they might just buy tickets. Have events in the neighborhood for example.
The Miami Marlins had great attendance when the team began play in a worse stadium even further away from downtown Miami. The Fish constantly selling-off teams and not trying to win ruined our reputation and poisoned interest in the team. There needs to be a massive push to create the antidote.
