Alice Edwards, a school bus contractor from Forest Hill, could have pocketed a tidy profit when she sold her two club-level PSLs, doubling her initial $5,000 investment. But Edwards couldn't leave the Ravens behind. So she applied the profits toward buying four new seats in a better section. "My sons and I are die-hard Ravens fans," she said.
Marc Ganis, the president of Sports Corp Limited, a Chicago-based sports marketing firm, said that even though the Ravens are a relatively young franchise, the history of professional football in the city - especially when combined with the team's recent success - has fostered an intense loyalty.
"When the Colts were successful there, football was very popular," Ganis said. "That kind of thing continues for generations. It's extremely hard to create something where it never existed. But if you lose that kind of following where it did exist, it's not as hard to get it back."
Cass said the Ravens have tried to look for additional sources of revenue for the team, and booking more nonfootball events at M&T Bank Stadium is one avenue.
Earlier this year, the Ravens played host to an international soccer match between Chelsea and AC Milan that sold 72,000 tickets, and the team is hopeful it can host a similar match next summer. The NCAA Lacrosse Final Four will also be played at M&T Bank Stadium in 2010 and 2011, and the team has expressed interest in hosting a World Cup match if the United States is awarded the competition in 2018. Because the state owns the stadium, the team splits the profits from those events with the Maryland Stadium Authority after taking 10 percent as a management fee.
"Some of those events, we don't make a lot of money," Cass said. "But we do them partly as payback, because we're a state-owned facility and there are a lot of ancillary benefits to the city like hotel rooms, and partly because we get on a list of stadiums that can do big events and put on a good event."
The Ravens do draw a small amount of revenue from local merchandise sales and Ravens-themed Maryland Lottery tickets, but the amount of money they bring in is fairly small compared with the revenue generated from ticket sales, suites leases and corporate sponsorships.
But the team's primary focus is to continue to grow its local fan base. The team plans to install high-definition screens inside the stadium for the 2010 season, which should cost between $8 million and $9 million, but Cass feels it's a necessary expense.
"We're competing against people's high-definition televisions at home," Cass said. "You have to make it worthwhile for the fans to come to the stadium."
Baltimore Sun reporter Jeff Barker contributed to this article
Game day expense
Estimated cost for family of four to attend a Ravens game:
Four tickets: Between $385 and $400, minimum
Off-site parking: $25
Concessions: $50 to $60 (four hot dogs, two sodas, two beers)
Merchandise: $50 to $250
countdown to kickoff
Thursday: Why the Ravens got faster this offseason, plus your guide to the NFL season.
