Memphis Grizzlies: Everything to Play For
Entertainment, Spas, Other
Written by Eric Slack   
Sunday, 01 March 2009
Memphis Grizzlies: Everything to Play For
One of the youngest NBA franchises, the lone major league pro sports team in Memphis is building a foundation off the court while working to improve on it.
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The glitz and glamour surrounding professional sports masks the tense nature of the business. Success takes more than victories and a fancy new arena. It requires building deep bonds with the community, something the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies have been doing since 2001.
 
“We’ve created a good core of strong fan support, and we’ve worked hard to touch the community through social programs and mentoring,” said Greg Campbell, president of business operations. “All that’s left is to turn things around on the court.”

Memphis Grizzlies: Everything to Play For
Greg Campbell, president of business operations
Although the Grizzlies call Memphis home, that wasn’t always the case. The franchise was born in Vancouver in 1995 but moved six years later. Since moving to Memphis, the franchise has had its share of success, qualifying for the playoffs from 2004 to 2006.

The team has been a welcome addition to the community, donating more than $23 million to various programs, including $5 million in 2002 to fund the Memphis Grizzlies House at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a short-term housing facility for young patients and their families undergoing outpatient treatment for cancer and other serious diseases. In fact, the team’s charitable foundation received the 2007 Steve Patterson Sports Philanthropy Award, given annually to a professional team demonstrating philanthropic excellence and leadership.

Although the Grizzlies have struggled on the court in 2008/09, off the court, the organization has begun to make inroads with hard-core and casual sports fans in the community despite its short history. In fact, as a business, the success or failure of a sports organization doesn’t all boil down to winning. To be sure, a successful team brings in the bandwagon fans, but to become a lasting part of Memphis, contending for championships is just one piece of a bigger puzzle.

Community connections
One factor in the Grizzlies favor is that Memphis is a basketball city, but it wasn’t always a professional sports town. As far as the big-four sports leagues go, only the NBA resides in Memphis. Although Nashville is home to the NHL’s Nashville Predators and NFL’s Tennessee Titans, the cities are roughly 200 miles apart, and neither Major League Baseball nor a fringe league like Major League Soccer has a team in Tennessee. But basketball has a history here thanks to the University of Memphis, which has 20 appearances in the NCAA men’s tournament and two     appearances in the finals.

Both teams play in the same place and, since 2004, have shared the state-of-the-art FedExForum, regarded as one of the most unique arenas in the NBA. It cost $250 million, seats more than 18,000 for basketball, and has 26 courtside suites, 33 club suites, four party suites, and 80 club boxes. Although it is owned by the city, the Grizzlies run the arena, meaning Grizzlies leadership is responsible for booking concerts, conferences, and special events. This provides an opportunity to build awareness even when out of town.

“When someone comes to a concert, they will see our practice site next to the arena, the photos of our players throughout the arena, and our presence in the merchandise stands,” Campbell said.

The inside of the arena reflects the city’s heritage, specifically as a music metropolis. Concessions are tailored to the region, with barbeque nachos one of the top concession items, a dish not regularly found elsewhere. Two restaurants, Opus Restaurant and the Blue Note Lounge, fit in with the musical theme, and although Lexus Lounge and Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 bear sponsor names, they seamlessly slide into the arena’s theme.

A service culture
Sponsorship is one of the most important revenue streams and marketing tools for any sports organization. Simply put, more sponsors mean more revenue and a greater market presence. With many companies pulling back, making sure sponsors see value for their dollars is perhaps more important than ever.

“We are trying to find out what is working for them and what might need to be tweaked, telling them if some elements of their contracts aren’t working, let’s fix it,” Campbell said. “They need to know they are garnering extra sales or at least that they are spending X to get Y for their own company.”

The organization is also working to understand what drives the various segments of its fan base, rewarding those who have been the most supportive. The team recently introduced a season ticket holder MVP program to reward seniority. Those who have been with the club since the beginning get access to a private lounge, extra tickets, seat upgrades, and more access to the team, while all season ticket holders have an exclusive express concession-stand line.

For casual fans, the team is trying to determine who is coming to games and why. The club collects information on individual ticket sales through Ticketmaster and analyzes purchases to create multi-game packs that could entice single game fans to come more often. Campbell said data shows these fans tend to prefer weekends, games with special events or collectible giveaways, and games against the league’s current elite, so ticket packages have been created to consider those factors.

As with all hospitality experiences, if customer service is lacking, the product doesn’t matter. Therefore, when Steven Zito, senior VP of arena operations, joined the Grizzlies from San Antonio, he brought in a program called Fan First. From the parking attendants to the employees in the stands, everyone is taught to greet people with a smile and given the ability to help with virtually any issue that may arise.

Although a tough start to this season led to a coaching change, new head coach Lionel Hollins seems to have injected some life into a team that has a wealth of young talent such as Rudy Gay, OJ Mayo, and Marc Gasol. In fact, after Hollins’ appointment, the team started February 4-1, giving Memphis fans a reason to cheer. With the intangibles of building a successful sports franchise in place, the final piece of the puzzle is building a winner, something Campbell thinks GM Chris Wallace is doing.

“Our team is showing the passion we need, and that helps the fans believe we are playing the best we can and are on the right path to being a contender,” he said. “Other than that, we just have to get out there and let everyone know we have a ticket package that is right for them.”
 
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