Now that the Round Rock Express has moved up a notch to Triple-A, the Frisco RoughRiders figure to top the Texas League in attendance. After all, they are the only other team in the history of Double-A baseball to achieve a season total in excess of 600,000.
Everyone loves a winner, and the RoughRiders are the defending champions of the Texas League. That never hurts ticket sales!
“We’re definitely not resting on our laurels just because we won the championship, though,” notes the team’s Director of Communications, Aaron Artman. “We worked hard to increase value for our ticket holders this year.
This includes having fireworks after every Saturday home game, our new ticket packages for 2005 and the Teddy Section. This seating section, which is named after the most famous ‘roughrider’ of them all, Teddy Roosevelt, includes a free sandwich, chips and a drink with your ticket.”
The ballpark itself is one of the most beautiful in all of baseball, but that didn’t stop the team from making changes to it for 2005. “We’ve added the Dr. Pepper Patio for group outings and two new dining areas for our Founders Club members,” Artman noted.
Marketing behind the Dr. Pepper/Seven Up Ballpark comes from the powerful Mandalay Sports Entertainment franchise machine which includes veteran Hollywood producer and studio executive Peter Guber and partners Paul Schaeffer and Hank and Ken Stickney. Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks' Southwest Sports Group is a part-owner.
Mandalay's Hollywood roots show in their powerhouse marketing. Each team has logowear that sells big. Their Lake Elsinore Storm unit, which was sold several years ago, had one of the best known logos in baseball: The brooding eyes of the Storm. The Dayton club has its dragon. The Las Vegas 51s, Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers have their alien.
MSE owns the Las Vegas-51s AAA affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Dayton Dragons, part-owned by Lakers legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson and two-time Heismann trophy winner Archie Griffin, the Hagerstown Suns, the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, and the Erie SeaWolves, Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.
The team may not be able to rest on their laurels even if they wanted to do so. The Ryans have not left Texas league baseball, merely relocated. If their new operation in Corpus Christi achieves the kind of success that they had with the AA club in Round Rock, the hooks may give Frisco a rough ride at the boxoffice once more.
