Week 1- Game Week
09/03/13
My first week at FC Dallas I was introduced to different staff in different departments such as Ticket Sales, Marketing, Human Resources and Stadium and Game Operations. The ticket sales department alone has about 30 different reps divided into 5 different sub departments. These departments include Fan Relations, Mobile Sales, Affinity Sales, Soccer Sales and Premium Seating Sales. Each department is aimed to serve a different target market and work independently with the managers of each sub department. As a sub department, they each have goals to meet and collectively all sub departments have an overall goal of tickets to sell for each home game.
On my first day I was able to join in on the weekly sales meeting and it was a pleasure to be involved. The sales meetings are done weekly and on game weeks, the message is clear: where are you as opposed to your ticket sales goal, and with 6 days left to sell, what are you doing to reach that goal. Since the department is sales, it is important to keep the team motivated and updated on anything that can be of use. In this case, that Saturday was the opening of a lot of soccer leagues in the DFW area. It served as a final touch point to do some grass roots marketing and sell some final tickets. Overall the meeting served as a great introduction to what ticket sales is and how sports organizations go about filling up the stadium.
As a ticket sales intern, I was to learn the different strategies and tactics used to attain those goals. Very quickly into my internship I was introduced to the FC Dallas Foundation and the different programs they offer. One of their initiatives is called "Kicks for Kids", which is aimed to provide tickets for under privileged kids in the DFW area. The program is created to have local businesses donate through different packages where for every $10 donated, they provide 1 ticket for an underprivileged kid. The incentive behind this program is to entice local businesses to either promote their organization at one of our games or too simply provide a professional sports experience to kids who might never get the chance to otherwise. The donation can also be used as a tax write off.
My first task during game week, was to find a home for these tickets. Using previous data collected over the year and in years prior, there was a data bank of many non profit organizations that deal with kids throughout the entire DFW. My job was to contact these organizations and present them with the opportunity to attain some of these tickets. With several donations for this game I had over 1,000 tickets to distribute and through some urgent professional persistence I was able to distribute these accordingly. The tickets got tracked and only about half of the tickets were used. This data was collected through the box office and it was definitely a learning experience for many reasons since it is very important to have people use the tickets. Reasons such as: the stadium looks better with people in the seats, especially with a big sponsor in town. Also there is an increased level of food and beverage consumption when people are at the game. And finally, those tickets could of been donated to other organizations.
On my first day I was able to join in on the weekly sales meeting and it was a pleasure to be involved. The sales meetings are done weekly and on game weeks, the message is clear: where are you as opposed to your ticket sales goal, and with 6 days left to sell, what are you doing to reach that goal. Since the department is sales, it is important to keep the team motivated and updated on anything that can be of use. In this case, that Saturday was the opening of a lot of soccer leagues in the DFW area. It served as a final touch point to do some grass roots marketing and sell some final tickets. Overall the meeting served as a great introduction to what ticket sales is and how sports organizations go about filling up the stadium.
As a ticket sales intern, I was to learn the different strategies and tactics used to attain those goals. Very quickly into my internship I was introduced to the FC Dallas Foundation and the different programs they offer. One of their initiatives is called "Kicks for Kids", which is aimed to provide tickets for under privileged kids in the DFW area. The program is created to have local businesses donate through different packages where for every $10 donated, they provide 1 ticket for an underprivileged kid. The incentive behind this program is to entice local businesses to either promote their organization at one of our games or too simply provide a professional sports experience to kids who might never get the chance to otherwise. The donation can also be used as a tax write off.
My first task during game week, was to find a home for these tickets. Using previous data collected over the year and in years prior, there was a data bank of many non profit organizations that deal with kids throughout the entire DFW. My job was to contact these organizations and present them with the opportunity to attain some of these tickets. With several donations for this game I had over 1,000 tickets to distribute and through some urgent professional persistence I was able to distribute these accordingly. The tickets got tracked and only about half of the tickets were used. This data was collected through the box office and it was definitely a learning experience for many reasons since it is very important to have people use the tickets. Reasons such as: the stadium looks better with people in the seats, especially with a big sponsor in town. Also there is an increased level of food and beverage consumption when people are at the game. And finally, those tickets could of been donated to other organizations.
GAME DAY: FC Dallas v. Vancouver White Caps
09/07/13
I was fortunate to start my internship on a game week that obviously included a game. As an intern, I had the opportunity to participate in a variety of duties for game day. As a sales staff they participate on various game day duties that run from the beginning of the day and throughout the game. Due to the freedom in the department, reps are allowed to run different campaigns that may lead to ticket sales. So if anyone has something set up the day of the game, they will obviously be busy. But the rest of the staff is assigned different game day duties that include the: ticket box office, pre game parade, the player rally tunnel, FCD Express, Season Ticket Head Quarters and the Seat Store. The duties are assigned the day prior to the game during the Game Day Meeting. I was assigned to assist in the FCD Express and the pregame parade.
The day of game day many soccer leagues were also starting, so that gave sales reps one last chance to sell tickets. So before the game I assisted one of the reps and visited a soccer league with the Dallas East Soccer Association. We did some grassroots marketing and talked to coaches and parents about the game that night. The thinking there was to invite them to provide a great experience for their kids in watching professional players play the game they are learning. As an introduction to visiting soccer fields prior to a game, I was able to interact with a variety of people which allowed me to see what some of the responses or objections are. This is key because it allows reps to approach parents and coaches accordingly in a way that can create positive results.
One great program FC Dallas is currently running is the FCD Express. Essentially this is a program that provides a bus ride to the game from 4 different locations in Dallas to the Toyota Stadium in Frisco TX and back to the location they were picked up at. The FCD Express was created for various reasons, but one main reason is the fact that Frisco is located north of Dallas about 25 miles away and one must travel on the Toll way to get there. The FCD Express has two routes that includes 4 Bars located in Dallas. You can ride the bus for $10 and purchase a ticket for another $15. If you already have a ticket, you just pay $10. My duty was to go to one of the 4 bars and tally up the people who had already signed up and purchased their tickets. If anyone else wanted to sign up there, I had the means to sign them up and get them on the bus as well. I was to arrive about 30 minutes early and instruct them the bus would be arriving shortly. I really enjoyed this program an hope more people take advantage of this service, provided by FC Dallas.
Once we arrived from the FCD Express the group was instructed the bus would leave 20-30 minutes after the game. Right after that I joined the rest of the sales staff and went on to my duty with the pre game parade. Essentially the pre game parade allowed kids to be on the field prior to the game while the players are warming up. As soon as the players enter the locker room, those on the field follow a route that goes through the field similar to a parade and fans get to walk on the field the professional players play on. My duty was to control the crowd and keep them in route and do not allow them to run onto the rest of the field. The parade lasts about 10 minutes and after that everyone is off the field. It is a great incentive to purchase group tickets or to entice first time ticket buyers.
The day of game day many soccer leagues were also starting, so that gave sales reps one last chance to sell tickets. So before the game I assisted one of the reps and visited a soccer league with the Dallas East Soccer Association. We did some grassroots marketing and talked to coaches and parents about the game that night. The thinking there was to invite them to provide a great experience for their kids in watching professional players play the game they are learning. As an introduction to visiting soccer fields prior to a game, I was able to interact with a variety of people which allowed me to see what some of the responses or objections are. This is key because it allows reps to approach parents and coaches accordingly in a way that can create positive results.
One great program FC Dallas is currently running is the FCD Express. Essentially this is a program that provides a bus ride to the game from 4 different locations in Dallas to the Toyota Stadium in Frisco TX and back to the location they were picked up at. The FCD Express was created for various reasons, but one main reason is the fact that Frisco is located north of Dallas about 25 miles away and one must travel on the Toll way to get there. The FCD Express has two routes that includes 4 Bars located in Dallas. You can ride the bus for $10 and purchase a ticket for another $15. If you already have a ticket, you just pay $10. My duty was to go to one of the 4 bars and tally up the people who had already signed up and purchased their tickets. If anyone else wanted to sign up there, I had the means to sign them up and get them on the bus as well. I was to arrive about 30 minutes early and instruct them the bus would be arriving shortly. I really enjoyed this program an hope more people take advantage of this service, provided by FC Dallas.
Once we arrived from the FCD Express the group was instructed the bus would leave 20-30 minutes after the game. Right after that I joined the rest of the sales staff and went on to my duty with the pre game parade. Essentially the pre game parade allowed kids to be on the field prior to the game while the players are warming up. As soon as the players enter the locker room, those on the field follow a route that goes through the field similar to a parade and fans get to walk on the field the professional players play on. My duty was to control the crowd and keep them in route and do not allow them to run onto the rest of the field. The parade lasts about 10 minutes and after that everyone is off the field. It is a great incentive to purchase group tickets or to entice first time ticket buyers.
Week 2: Press Conference - FC Dallas Welcomes Toyota
09/10/13
My second week with FC Dallas had already consisted of a home match and everything that led up to it and I was very fortunate to be present during a very important announcement for the organization. The announcement was going to be about the new naming rights of the stadium and leading up to the announcement, the sales department just like the public, did not know who this new partner would be. Being involved with this whole process was a great experience, one that I won't soon forget.
The announcement was done through a press conference at the stadium and media members along with team executives were all present. As part of the organization all employees and interns were allowed to be at the press conference as well. With the anticipation building and the presentation about to start, a few pick up trucks drove in with the FC Dallas drummers leading them in. The pick up trucks were obviously Toyota and we had a feeling who FC Dallas' new partner would be. Soon after that the press conference began with the introduction of the members present. After a few introductory speeches by the Hunt Family, the unveiling was made that the stadium and soccer complex would now be named The Toyota Stadium and Toyota Soccer Center as the new home of FC Dallas and FC Dallas Youth.
After a few years without a partner after the naming rights with Pizza Hut ended, FC Dallas along with Toyota were very pleased to begin this partnership as the MLS and FC Dallas continues to grow. The stadium was specifically built as a soccer stadium but also holds a concert stage as part of the architectural design. While the stadium hosts soccer games during the season, it is also home to High School and College Football Games and is used year round as a Concert Venue. So the different dimensions that make up the stadium is what makes it such an inviting venue for many fans. Now Toyota will be able to put its name in front of every event hosted at the stadium.
The announcement was done through a press conference at the stadium and media members along with team executives were all present. As part of the organization all employees and interns were allowed to be at the press conference as well. With the anticipation building and the presentation about to start, a few pick up trucks drove in with the FC Dallas drummers leading them in. The pick up trucks were obviously Toyota and we had a feeling who FC Dallas' new partner would be. Soon after that the press conference began with the introduction of the members present. After a few introductory speeches by the Hunt Family, the unveiling was made that the stadium and soccer complex would now be named The Toyota Stadium and Toyota Soccer Center as the new home of FC Dallas and FC Dallas Youth.
After a few years without a partner after the naming rights with Pizza Hut ended, FC Dallas along with Toyota were very pleased to begin this partnership as the MLS and FC Dallas continues to grow. The stadium was specifically built as a soccer stadium but also holds a concert stage as part of the architectural design. While the stadium hosts soccer games during the season, it is also home to High School and College Football Games and is used year round as a Concert Venue. So the different dimensions that make up the stadium is what makes it such an inviting venue for many fans. Now Toyota will be able to put its name in front of every event hosted at the stadium.
WEEKS 2 & 3- Preparation Weeks
09/09/13-09/20/13
My second and third week was considered a preparation week for the next home game which was still three weeks away. For the ticket sales department, this gives them the opportunity to prepare any campaigns or group outings they may be working with. In ticket sales the main goal is to sell tickets and fill up the stands every home game for many reasons. Reasons such as team support, brand exposure, team exposure, increased team and stadium sponsorship, and obviously to bring in revenue. So with three weeks to go I worked with many different sales reps assisting them with their campaigns or duties and in particular worked with one rep and assisted her with her campaign.
The campaign was aimed at the Peruvian Community in the DFW area and was created around FC Dallas' starting goalie who is the goalie of the Peruvian Men's National Team. The campaign was created to benefit the FC Dallas' "Kicks For Kids" Program while offering donors the opportunity to meet the FC Dallas goalie, Raul Fernandez. The campaign provided 4 options for businesses to donate and each option provided different incentives. Option one called for a $50 donation, option two called for a $100 dollar donation, option three called for a $150 donation and option four called for a $200 donation. Each donation would provide tickets for kids, one ticket for every $10 and business recognition during the game. The third and fourth options provided tickets to the game for the business, but only option number four would provide the opportunity to meet Raul Fernandez after the game. For week 2 and 3 of my internship, we visited a few businesses and made calls. We even got in contact with the Peru Consulate to promote the opportunity. Overall we only had two businesses jump on board with the special promotion and provided tickets for 30 kids. While we did not have the results we were hoping we had, we both made some contacts that moving forward could provide opportunities.
Aside from working on this campaign weeks 2 and 3 of my internship included sales training that introduced a selling process used at FC Dallas and around the MLS. In sales there are different ways to approach potential and current customers. In sports, especially in ticket sales, anyone is a potential client. FC Dallas has a detailed selling process that has provided results and there is a culture inside the organization that helps follow the process they currently use. With experience all over the organization, the goal is to make everyone better and provide each rep the resources and tools needed to be successful.
The campaign was aimed at the Peruvian Community in the DFW area and was created around FC Dallas' starting goalie who is the goalie of the Peruvian Men's National Team. The campaign was created to benefit the FC Dallas' "Kicks For Kids" Program while offering donors the opportunity to meet the FC Dallas goalie, Raul Fernandez. The campaign provided 4 options for businesses to donate and each option provided different incentives. Option one called for a $50 donation, option two called for a $100 dollar donation, option three called for a $150 donation and option four called for a $200 donation. Each donation would provide tickets for kids, one ticket for every $10 and business recognition during the game. The third and fourth options provided tickets to the game for the business, but only option number four would provide the opportunity to meet Raul Fernandez after the game. For week 2 and 3 of my internship, we visited a few businesses and made calls. We even got in contact with the Peru Consulate to promote the opportunity. Overall we only had two businesses jump on board with the special promotion and provided tickets for 30 kids. While we did not have the results we were hoping we had, we both made some contacts that moving forward could provide opportunities.
Aside from working on this campaign weeks 2 and 3 of my internship included sales training that introduced a selling process used at FC Dallas and around the MLS. In sales there are different ways to approach potential and current customers. In sports, especially in ticket sales, anyone is a potential client. FC Dallas has a detailed selling process that has provided results and there is a culture inside the organization that helps follow the process they currently use. With experience all over the organization, the goal is to make everyone better and provide each rep the resources and tools needed to be successful.
Week 4- Columbus Crew Match
09/23/13
My fourth week at FC Dallas was another game week that provided an extra day of selling for the ticket sales department due to the game being on a Sunday instead of a Saturday. For the sake of capturing interest in the DFW area, this date was beneficial in that the Dallas Cowboys were playing in San Diego and there weren't any College Football Games. So the soccer game was the only sporting event in the DFW area that day.
For this game, I was given a special campaign project that went along with the theme of Hispanic Heritage Month. I was in charge of inviting local High School Spanish Clubs to a Spanish Q&A with one of our Hispanic players. The intent of this campaign was to sell tickets and about 15 schools were contacted. Even through time constraints and obstacles, we were able to get a good sized group to come to the game. Tickets were $15 and they included the Q&A, a "Somos FC Dallas" T-Shirt, and a ticket to the game. Due to the size of the group, we were not able to provide enough people to conduct a Q&A so we had to present the group with a different experience that could offset the Q&A they were expecting. I was able to get them to be on the field before the game to watch the team warm up and brought them down after the game to get player autographs. In the end they were very pleased and really enjoyed that experience. Aside from working with the Spanish Clubs, we also had one of the Peruvian Businesses at the game, so myself and the other rep involved made a seat visit during the game and made sure everything was okay. They were really enjoying the game and enjoyed the whole experience, including meeting the Peruvian Goalie, Raul Fernandez.
Since the game was on Sunday, there was an extra day to go visit some soccer fields and sell some extra tickets for the game on Sunday. Due to my Hispanic roots and bilingual skills I was given the opportunity to reach out to the Dallas East Soccer Association, which was primarily made up of a Hispanic community. The great thing about that Saturday was that the league was actually having a tournament and that meant there would be more people. So I took 100 tickets and 50 "Somos FC Dallas" Shirts in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Month. I was to pair up two tickets and one shirt for $25. That was the intent going in and after arriving to the fields I met with the League Director. After speaking about the game and Hispanic Heritage Month, we started talking about the league purchasing tickets to give as prizes to the winners in each age division. That would mean they would need about 350 tickets. After approval from the V.P. of Ticket Sales, we were able to give the league a special prize and even worked out a deal that would allow the winning teams to be awarded their trophies at the FC Dallas Game. The deal was in place, but due to bad weather later on that day, the tournament was postponed and therefore no tickets were sold. Luckily we had a game in two weeks and pending the postponed tournament we planned on doing the same deal for the October 12 match.
For this game, I was given a special campaign project that went along with the theme of Hispanic Heritage Month. I was in charge of inviting local High School Spanish Clubs to a Spanish Q&A with one of our Hispanic players. The intent of this campaign was to sell tickets and about 15 schools were contacted. Even through time constraints and obstacles, we were able to get a good sized group to come to the game. Tickets were $15 and they included the Q&A, a "Somos FC Dallas" T-Shirt, and a ticket to the game. Due to the size of the group, we were not able to provide enough people to conduct a Q&A so we had to present the group with a different experience that could offset the Q&A they were expecting. I was able to get them to be on the field before the game to watch the team warm up and brought them down after the game to get player autographs. In the end they were very pleased and really enjoyed that experience. Aside from working with the Spanish Clubs, we also had one of the Peruvian Businesses at the game, so myself and the other rep involved made a seat visit during the game and made sure everything was okay. They were really enjoying the game and enjoyed the whole experience, including meeting the Peruvian Goalie, Raul Fernandez.
Since the game was on Sunday, there was an extra day to go visit some soccer fields and sell some extra tickets for the game on Sunday. Due to my Hispanic roots and bilingual skills I was given the opportunity to reach out to the Dallas East Soccer Association, which was primarily made up of a Hispanic community. The great thing about that Saturday was that the league was actually having a tournament and that meant there would be more people. So I took 100 tickets and 50 "Somos FC Dallas" Shirts in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Month. I was to pair up two tickets and one shirt for $25. That was the intent going in and after arriving to the fields I met with the League Director. After speaking about the game and Hispanic Heritage Month, we started talking about the league purchasing tickets to give as prizes to the winners in each age division. That would mean they would need about 350 tickets. After approval from the V.P. of Ticket Sales, we were able to give the league a special prize and even worked out a deal that would allow the winning teams to be awarded their trophies at the FC Dallas Game. The deal was in place, but due to bad weather later on that day, the tournament was postponed and therefore no tickets were sold. Luckily we had a game in two weeks and pending the postponed tournament we planned on doing the same deal for the October 12 match.
Week 5 & 6 Chicago Fire Match
09/30/13- 10/12/13
My fifth and sixth week at FC Dallas included another preparation and game week. The preparation week followed the September 29th game and we started that week with a post game sales meeting. This sales meeting recapped the sales from the previous game and highlighted the fact that we had 2 home games remaining. These next two home games would be against playoff bound teams in Chicago Fire and Seattle Sounders FC. The Chicago Fire game on October 12 would have a few different events going on. The main one that was being promoted heavily was College Night.
For College Night, the Mobile Sales Team was leading the initiative and I was fortunate enough to assist with their efforts. With the DFW area being home to many universities and colleges such as TCU (Texas Christian University), SMU (Southern Methodist University) and UTD (University of Texas at Dallas) to name a few, a data bank with contacts was necessary to reach out to as many universities and colleges as possible. I was given this project and was able to create an excel spreadsheet with about 30 different universities and colleges that included phone number, email addresses, addresses and points of contact. This list allowed the mobile sales team to make calls and schedule any visits they would need to make. This also allowed them to narrow the main points of contacts to reach out to the students. The event would consist of different activities during the game including a FIFA Tournament prior to the game. This event also provided special pricing for students and offered different food and drink special for their section. I believe the turnout was about 800 tickets sold and a good 600 people showing up. With an estimated 75% attendance, the event was a success and was a great way to extend the FC Dallas Brand to a younger demographic that can pay dividends when they become professionals after their education.
During these two weeks I was also put in charge of running call reports for the entire ticket sales staff. FC Dallas has a program that can track each call and different types of data such as length of time, time of day and quantity of calls. With all this data I created an excel spread sheet with each day in the month of October and was able to document the following data: amount of calls, total length in time, average length per call, a breakdown of length of time, and a breakdown of the time of day. Then I was able to include percentages that could provide a visual as to how reps were using their time throughout each day. The purpose of this call log report was to give each rep an opportunity to see their efforts day in and day out. It is also a good managing tool for each manager to see if they need to assist a rep who is needing help or reward those who are doing a good job.
On Friday, the day before the Chicago Fire match, we had a game day meeting where game day duties would be assigned. Seeing as how we would be hosting a college night, the mobile sales team would be busy with that. This game was also an exchange game where season ticket holders could exchange tickets they did not use throughout the season. With that being the case, the ticket box office would be busy and extra people would be needed. Still we had enough staff to be distributed to all game day duties. My duty was to assist with the FC Dallas Express, that would be picking up at a bar in Dallas. After I was done, I volunteered to help with the pre game parade. For me those are two fun duties that allow us to be interactive with the fans.
For College Night, the Mobile Sales Team was leading the initiative and I was fortunate enough to assist with their efforts. With the DFW area being home to many universities and colleges such as TCU (Texas Christian University), SMU (Southern Methodist University) and UTD (University of Texas at Dallas) to name a few, a data bank with contacts was necessary to reach out to as many universities and colleges as possible. I was given this project and was able to create an excel spreadsheet with about 30 different universities and colleges that included phone number, email addresses, addresses and points of contact. This list allowed the mobile sales team to make calls and schedule any visits they would need to make. This also allowed them to narrow the main points of contacts to reach out to the students. The event would consist of different activities during the game including a FIFA Tournament prior to the game. This event also provided special pricing for students and offered different food and drink special for their section. I believe the turnout was about 800 tickets sold and a good 600 people showing up. With an estimated 75% attendance, the event was a success and was a great way to extend the FC Dallas Brand to a younger demographic that can pay dividends when they become professionals after their education.
During these two weeks I was also put in charge of running call reports for the entire ticket sales staff. FC Dallas has a program that can track each call and different types of data such as length of time, time of day and quantity of calls. With all this data I created an excel spread sheet with each day in the month of October and was able to document the following data: amount of calls, total length in time, average length per call, a breakdown of length of time, and a breakdown of the time of day. Then I was able to include percentages that could provide a visual as to how reps were using their time throughout each day. The purpose of this call log report was to give each rep an opportunity to see their efforts day in and day out. It is also a good managing tool for each manager to see if they need to assist a rep who is needing help or reward those who are doing a good job.
On Friday, the day before the Chicago Fire match, we had a game day meeting where game day duties would be assigned. Seeing as how we would be hosting a college night, the mobile sales team would be busy with that. This game was also an exchange game where season ticket holders could exchange tickets they did not use throughout the season. With that being the case, the ticket box office would be busy and extra people would be needed. Still we had enough staff to be distributed to all game day duties. My duty was to assist with the FC Dallas Express, that would be picking up at a bar in Dallas. After I was done, I volunteered to help with the pre game parade. For me those are two fun duties that allow us to be interactive with the fans.