Faced with direct competition in their back yard for the first time in 34 years, the Orioles are attempting to keep the loyalty of their best fans by offering them a chance to buy extra tickets for Opening Day.
As part of their "Orange Carpet" program, the team wrote a letter to all returning full- and partial-season ticket plan holders, giving them a chance to buy double the number of seats for the April 4 game against the Oakland Athletics.
The club does not expect to have a public sale of tickets for Opening Day except for obstructed-view seats and a small number of singles.
In September, Major League Baseball relocated the Montreal Expos to Washington. The newly named Nationals have already sold nearly 1.85 million tickets.
"What we did this year is held out some tickets to offer to our season-ticket holders as a perk," said Don Grove, senior director of fan and ticket services for the Orioles, who has been with the team for 14 years. Grove declined to say how many tickets the Orioles have sold.
Other perks offered as part of the Orange Carpet program include the ability to buy additional tickets at a reduced rate and early entry into Camden Yards to watch batting practice.
Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based SportsCorp LTD, said what the Orioles are doing is good business.
"The Orioles have to be more cognizant that there is competition in the marketplace," Ganis said. "Fans are going to vote with their wallets.
"That's where customer service comes in. That's where offering perks and special benefits comes into play.
"It doesn't matter if it's a baseball team or a supermarket or a bank or an airline. They've all got to participate in a world like this."
E.J. Narcise, a principal with Bethesda-based Team Services LLC, said the Orioles need to do much to win back their fan base.
"I think that the Orioles have tremendously underestimated the malaise that has come over the fan base in general, and going out and signing Sammy Sosa isn't going to fix that," said Narcise, whose company is working for a number of the groups that want to purchase the Nationals, who are owned by Major League Baseball.
Separately, in an effort to sell more luxury suites, the Orioles have begun offering nine-game plans targeted toward small businesses.
Previously, the team had offered plans of 81 games, 40 games and 27 games for the 72 suites. Additionally, some suites have been available for single games.
The Orioles will pick the games and the suite location for the nine-game plans, which cost about $20,000 and include 14 tickets per game. All of the suites between the bases are sold out.
Prices for full-season suites range from $100,000 to $300,000, and suites include 10, 12, 14 or 20 tickets.
Narcise said selling the suites in smaller packages is a good plan.
"Everyone will put a full-court press on their suite sales until they get to `x' point," he said. "Then, these suites become like hotel room nights, just like your ticket inventory. Once the night passes, you're out that revenue. So better to get out ahead of it and get creative."
