Anyone claiming to be Timbers Army is well aware that the 2012 Timbers’ season has fallen short of pre-season expectations. For some unknown reason, the team just can’t seem to pin down that magic recipe that will propel the team back into the playoff hunt. So here we are, more than half way through the season, holding up the bottom of the table, tied with Toronto FC, who claimed the record for worst season start in MLS history, and 14 points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
As the approach toward last night’s match vs. Chivas USA rolled on, the first sign of what should be a real concern for the Timbers front office became evident: season ticket holders were selling their tickets and having to compete for buyers.
Folks, the marketplace appears to have spoken.
Since the announcement of MLS adding Portland to its portfolio, the Timbers were the hottest ticket in town. This was no surprise, as such an occurrence is natural for most expansion teams. Add to it that the Timbers already existed in various forms since the 1970’s, and that the Blazers were still feeling the hangover effects of Greg Oden, and you can see why Timbers owner Merritt Paulson had no qualms with making such an investment in our market.
Since opening day, getting tickets to a Timbers game meant you had to: A) be a season ticket holder; B) be at the front of the line at the box office; C) click very fast on Ticketmaster; D) buy from a dirty, filthy scalper, or E) wish illness on somebody who had tickets, forcing them to sell to you.
I hate to say it, but those days might be over.
It’s not like the Timbers have to worry too much about maintaining a sellout streak. Anyone attending Blazers games in the past year can attest that a technical sellout certainly doesn’t mean every seat was filled. It just means that every available ticket was distributed, either via point-of-sale or promotional means. When you consider stadium capacity, minus season tickets and single-match tickets already sold, there’s not much ticket inventory left for the remainder of 2012. I have no doubt the Timbers can maintain their sellout streak this season, and can probably do so with minimal numbers of tickets being given away for promotional purposes.
However, it looks like the varnish has worn off. Last night’s crowd was a bit more typical than what you might see at a “premier” game against Seattle or Los Angeles. With the Timbers recent on-pitch woes, and the opponent not exactly being one of high profile within the league, it’s safe to say that the appeal of last night’s match was far lesser than where it could have been if the Timbers were performing within pre-season expectations.
While the volume of hardcore fans increases with each loss (which are now mounting up rather quickly), there’s one thing that speaks louder than even the most passionate fans: the bottom line.
This weekend saw supply finally catching up with demand. If current trends continue, supply will be greater than demand, which means there may be unsold tickets, which could lead to less revenue generated at concession stands, the team store, etc. Less sets of eyes watching the Jumbotron and staring at above-urinal posters during matches, or watching local TV broadcasts, means unhappy sponsors who paid for advertising and sponsorships with expectations of CPM’s (cost-per-mille, or cost-per-thousand) that are not being met.
Everyone in the Timbers universe (players, fans, front office, media, etc.) wants the Timbers to succeed. But anyone who thinks the Timbers can and/or will succeed without proper business acumen is only fooling themselves. Sports is a fun industry, but it’s still an industry, a.k.a. business. I don’t believe we, as fans, are so naïve to think otherwise. However, there will eventually come a time when ESPN and NBC Sports review the upcoming MLS schedule, look at Portland’s matches, and say “oh, the Timbers Army? Been there, done that. What else do they got there?” Unless there is a product on the pitch worthy of national attention, could we blame them for taking their traveling camera crew elsewhere?
And it’s not like we necessarily want to be the focal point. I bet if you asked any Timbers fan what they would prefer to be the reason for a Timbers match being aired on national TV, every single one of them would prefer that reason to be for the team itself, and not what’s going on in the stands. (Maybe that would be a valid poll for season ticket holders.) The Timbers Army has had quite the run of press coverage this year. We’d happily trade all of it for improved performance on the pitch. We know what we do is fun and interesting because we’re always interested in making it fun. But do we feel that we should be the focal point of the Timbers’ share in the global sports marketplace? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
As a season ticket holder, I began this season prepared to renew for 2013 with an increased price tag. I was expecting that to happen in correlation with a successful season. Even without a playoff spot, a successful season can still be had. Now, I’d be hard-pressed to accept a price hike without some kind of serious discussion and/or argument with my ticket rep.
New talent is expensive. Existing salaries will only go up. Overhead never gets cheaper. Maintaining an existing customer base is far cheaper than creating a new one. This is Business 101. Merritt Paulson is a smart man. He has an MBA from Harvard. He has the drive to win. He has the means to achieve his goals. So I will part with this question:
Can Merritt achieve his goals with the current assets, infrastructure and management in place?
This is an opinion piece and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the 107ist or the TA.
