The challenge of marketing

The Fake Lonnie Finch · August 15, 2011

Friday, our company posted notice of a job opening. Of all the resumes received so far, none are from people who are from Texas. They all now live in Plano or Frisco, but they all share in common that they've moved here with in the last decade from other states.

This ties into our discussion a few days ago about the Longhorn Network and who would really buy the games. Texas - at least Houston, Dallas, and Austin, anyway - are truly cities with high populations of residents born and educated outside of Texas.

The marketing to these folks, then, is challenging. How do you get people from Utah, Wisconsin, California, New York, New Jersey, Iowa, and other states interested in your product?

Obviously, fielding a consistently winning team helps. But, you've still got folks with allegiances far away.

It's a tough call. In Frisco, neither of my immediate neighbors is from Texas. One family is from Maryland, the other from Kansas. I can only think of a couple of people off hand our our street that even went to colleges in Texas.

The demographic is tough. But, there are many families in Denton and Collin County. I think you've got to sell it as a family thing at this point. Frisco certainly tries with its MLS soccer and minor/developmental league baseball, basketball, and hockey teams. They've even had an indoor football team (they still may...I don't know).

There has to be an appeal level above that. MLS soccer, been there...not so great, but it draws alot of families. Ditto baseball with the Frisco Roughriders. Still, I haven't been to a Roughriders game this summer, but have taken the family out a couple of times to the bigger regional baseball product, the Texas Rangers.

We can do it, but it's not a simple as it would be if we were the only game in town, or in a state where the population doesn't have many people migrating to it from other parts of the country (SEE Nebraska, Oklahoma, Alabama, Louisiana, etc.).

I appreciate the athletic department hitting billboards and newspaper and radio. It's really encouraging. But, DFW is a tough market to crack with so many entities competing for the disposable income of the families.

oldguystudent · August 15, 2011

As a former resident of Frisco, clearly not of Texas origin guy, I went to a few Roughrider games and found them intolerable. There were two main groups of fans.

1) The corporate crowd looking down on everyone from their party suites to see and be seen

2) Families. Lots and lots and lots of families

Now this is Frisco. I get the family thing, but I never saw any baseball at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. It was inning after inning after inning of kids twirling around bats blindfolded, hula hooping, hopping around in gunny sacks. People splashing in the outfield pool. Trophy chicks flashing cans of Coors Light from the suite decks.

Maybe this is what the market wants and demands. Maybe this is how you get butts in the seats and dollars in the ticket office.

All I know is that I'm looking forward to watching UNT play football for the very first time. You can keep the dot races in Frisco.

Edited August 15, 2011 by oldguystudent

DeepGreen · August 15, 2011

Trophy chicks flashing cans of Coors Light from the suite decks.

Maybe this is how you get butts in the seats and dollars in the ticket office.

That's one way! Seriously, I know what you're saying and I agree. Can't wait for some Mean Green football!

UNTLifer · August 15, 2011

As a former resident of Frisco, clearly not of Texas origin guy, I went to a few Roughrider games and found them intolerable. There were two main groups of fans.

1) The corporate crowd looking down on everyone from their party suites to see and be seen

2) Families. Lots and lots and lots of families

Now this is Frisco. I get the family thing, but I never saw any baseball at Dr. Pepper Ballpark. It was inning after inning after inning of kids twirling around bats blindfolded, hula hooping, hopping around in gunny sacks. People splashing in the outfield pool. Trophy chicks flashing cans of Coors Light from the suite decks.

Maybe this is what the market wants and demands. Maybe this is how you get butts in the seats and dollars in the ticket office.

All I know is that I'm looking forward to watching UNT play football for the very first time. You can keep the dot races in Frisco.

All of the between innings contests and games and synonomous with minor league baseball, the corporate person/siliconed trophy women are synonomous with Dallas.