Sports venues offering discounts to draw fans - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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, the , the Thrashersa and Six Flags Over Georgia are amonfg those offering promotions and discountws to attract customers during the worst recession ina generation. At Atlantaa Motor Speedway, where the Sprint Cup Kobalt Toole 500 is set to run onMarch 8, traclk President and General Manager Ed Clark said the evenr “pretty assuredly” will not sell out its capacity of abou t 125,000 fans. It failed to sell out both of last year’e events and the March evenr isbehind 2008’s Clark said. Clark is working a numbert of promotions — operators prefere any words otherthan “discount” — to draw more customeras to the Hampton, Ga.
, The biggest one is with the race’zs principal sponsor. Kobalt Toolsz is the proprietary brand of home improvementy retailer Fans whobuy $25 worth of merchandised at a Lowe’s store can get a free tickert to the race with the purchase of a regular-priced That deal is good for ticketsa up to $95 — a potential savingsx of $70. “There’s probably never been a better time for our customers to get as much valuew for the dollar in recenft times on theNASCAR circuit,” Clarm said. He noted that even the recent Daytona 500 often dubbed the Super Bowl at the start of theseason — offeredx discounts.
“It’s not just in sports,” he “Go to any retailer that’s not offering an opportunithyand they’re not selling something. ... If you are not offeringb some kind of incentiveor give-back, the consumer’s probablyy not spending money with you.” Besides tickett promotions, Clark has gone to even greater lengthw to try and draw in The track’s Web site, atlantamotorspeedway.com, has links through Vroomz.conm to travel packages. In more prosperous times, locap hotels would require three-night minimumas and raise their Clark said the hotels being promoted on their Web site are refraining fromthose practices.
Times have changed also for , ownerf of the Hawks and which is offering deals not justto single-gams buyers but also to season-ticket buyers. Last some season-ticket holders complained about discounts beinhg offeredto single-game buyers that undercut season-ticket values. Tracy White, senior vice president of salesand marketing, said Atlanta Spirit is concentrating on enhancinfg value for season-ticket holders while still attempting to lure in single-game “People are paying the right to enjoy prime real estate and they want to make as they well that they’re receiving the most value,” White Hawks fans who renew their season ticketx in the lower bowl will receive a $200 credit and $25 for use in the team merchandisinv store for every season ticket they Thrashers fans will receive a credit for 10 percentg of their season ticket balancer for the use of Atlanta Spirit also has offered ticket buyers an eight-month interest-free period in whicj to pay fo r their tickets, which White called “on the most aggressiv end by league-wide standards.
” And for the Thrashers, Spirit had announced some monthd ago that fans could purchase a full season ticket for $99 for each full-pricecd one they bought, although the discounted one mighft be in a lower-priced area. The Braves say they aren’t offering discount but they haveseveral “value offers” that involve 2-for-11 tickets, and there are plans for season-ticket holderw that provide a pricre break. The Falcons offered season-tickeft holders who renewed before Dec. 30 savings of $60 to $200 per , wary of a potentially tough summerd at its Six Flags Over Georgia and White Water also has cut its A season pass for an adult is now whichis $20 less than last year.
“Wse just want to offer more value to our saidHela Sheth, a spokeswoman for Six Flagz Over Georgia. “It’s what it’s all about giving them that value to come out tothe park.”