The news is the Iowa Chops ownership group is packing up and ditching Des Moines, after losing $4 million and trying for the better part of a year to sell their AHL franchise to local ownership. The Schlegels, owners of the franchise, blame much of the failure on the fact that they couldn’t land corporate sponsorships – and that they were competing with Global Spectrum, the company that manages the operations at Wells Fargo Arena, for those sponsorship dollars. They also say hockey is a tough sell in this market.
It’s obvious that part of the problem was the financial deal between Polk County, Global Spectrum and the Schlegels. It’s too bad that couldn’t have been renegotiated to the benefit of all three groups. But the other part of the problem? Bad marketing.
Some would tell you that there just isn’t enough of a hockey fan base in Des Moines. I don’t believe that’s the case. The Chops could have done a better job if they had taken a few pages from the Iowa Cubs playbook. A few thoughs:
The Iowa Cubs draw from a broad base of casual fans who are there as much (or more) for the social experience of going to a baseball game with family or friends as they are to watch baseball. Don’t believe it? Next time you’re at the game, ask the fans around you what place the Iowa Cubs finished last year. In fact, ask them what place they are in this year. Most probably won’t know. The Chops never established themselves as a social event to the casual fan.
Local cheerleaders. No, not those kind of cheerleaders. The I-Cubs have been successful because they’ve had well-connected, enthusiastic leaders in the community running the show. They’re here because they know their business is about relationships. That’s hard to do when you’re office is in Texas. Building those relationships is part of marketing.
Be creative. Unless you’ve seen their promotions book, you can’t imagine how many ways the Iowa Cubs make money. It’s not just tickets and concessions. It’s signs in the outfield, on the dugouts, in the entries. It’s special sponsor days. It’s shooting t-shirts out of the gun. It’s sponsoring the PA announcer between innings. They seemed to find a way to get all kinds of companies and sponsors involved – even for just a little money – because they knew if they could get sponsors involved – even just a little, they’d turn into fans who would also buy tickets, hot dogs and beverages.
A failed marketing plan makes the Iowa Chops the Worst of the Week.
Author: Tom Flynn III
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I'd also have to say that their ownership team did no favors to the Chops by using "outside" marketing consultants and resources.
The I-Cubs are part of this community in virtually every sense of the word. They may be driven my the big league MLB name, but everything they do is for Des Moines and provided by Central Iowa workforce…
Spot on worst of the week!