172 - Why Your Promotions Page Might Be Costing You Ticket Sales

Your promotions page is live, but half your nights are just names — "Taylor Swift Night," "Oil Field Appreciation Weekend" — with no details. A promotion with no details doesn't sell tickets, even when the night itself is great. 

In Episode 172, Jeremy Neisser breaks down the Minimum Viable Promo: the smallest concrete detail you can add today so a first-time visitor understands why a night is worth showing up for. You'll get the framework, real examples from across Minor League Baseball, and three fixes you can make this week.

KEY TOPICS COVERED
• Why reading your own promotions page like a first-time fan exposes the gap quietly costing you ticket sales
• How teams end up with promo pages full of bare titles — and why it's a timing problem, not a competence one
• The Minimum Viable Promo (MVP) framework: the lowest bar of detail that still gives fans a reason to buy
• How a single descriptive sentence turns "Taylor Swift Night" into a night fans recognize as "for me"
• What the Chattanooga Lookouts do differently — describing every promotion while leading MiLB in ticket sales growth
• The Dueling Pianos lesson: how one line of copy can sell a night with no sponsor and no photo
• A side-by-side from the Midland Rockhounds showing a detailed promo vs. a vague one on the same page
• The three practical fixes: publish with whatever you know, schedule a recurring revisit, and focus on the next 2–3 games
• Why the 72-hour buying window means your next few games matter more than the whole season
• How to use a recurring 15-minute calendar block to keep details current without adding staff or budget
• The clarity principle — "when you confuse people, you lose people" — and how it applies to every promo listing
• A simple to-do you can run today on your next two or three games

TIMESTAMPS
[00:00] – Why your promotions page might be quietly costing you ticket sales
[00:29] – The pattern across MiLB, the majors, hockey, and soccer: nights posted as names and never updated
[01:06] – A live promo page with no details still doesn't sell — even when the night is phenomenal
[01:22] – This is a timing problem, not a competence problem: why it happens to good teams
[01:44] – Promotions get planned months out before giveaways, sponsors, and specials are locked in
[02:11] – Introducing the Minimum Viable Promo (MVP): borrowing "minimum viable product" for your promo page
[02:45] – The lowest bar: one concrete thing that tells a fan why this night is different
[03:36] – "Taylor Swift Night" vs. a one-sentence description that creates a reason to come
[04:03] – The single sentence that flips a fan from scrolling past to "that's for me"
[04:33] – Case study: the Chattanooga Lookouts describe every promotion — and lead MiLB in ticket sales growth
[05:02] – Effective copy in action: the Dueling Pianos "this ain't your mama's" example
[05:58] – The gap illustrated: Midland Rockhounds' detailed Thirsty Thursday vs. vague Oil Field Appreciation Weekend
[06:25] – Practical fix #1: publish with whatever you know — an incomplete description beats a bare title
[07:21] – Practical fix #2: build a recurring 15-minute revisit to add confirmed details
[08:19] – Practical fix #3: focus on the next 2–3 games and the 72-hour buying window
[08:43] – Why this tiny website tweak actually moves ticket sales
[09:12] – Clarity always wins: "when you confuse people, you lose people"
[09:45] – Bringing it home: your promo page doesn't need to be perfect, it needs to be clear
[10:10] – Your to-do this week and how to book a promo-calendar review call

Links mentioned:

• Chattanooga Lookouts
• Bowling Green Hot Rods
• Midland Rockhounds
• Episode Page on Revelocity Sports

CALL TO ACTION
Want a second set of eyes on your promo calendar? Head to Sports Marketing Machine and book a 20-minute call — Jeremy will walk through your full promotions calendar (or just the month ahead) one promotion at a time and find the quick wins that help you sell more tickets.

QUOTE PULLS
"When you confuse people, you lose people. Clarity always wins." — Jeremy Neisser

"A promotion with no details doesn't sell tickets — even if the actual night is phenomenal." — Jeremy Neisser

"You don't need the giveaway photographed. You don't need the sponsor locked in. You just need one concrete thing that tells a fan why this night is different." — Jeremy Neisser

"Don't try to fix the whole season at once. Look at your next two or three games — those are the ones driving ticket decisions right now." — Jeremy Neisser

"Your promotion page doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to be clear." — Jeremy Neisser

Episode Page

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Transcript

Jeremy Neisser (00:00.564)
Welcome to episode 172 of the Sports Marketing Machine Podcast. I'm your host, Jeremy Neiser. This podcast is powered by Revelocity Sports. Quick question for you. When was the last time you went over to your website and read your own promotions page? The way a first-time fan would, a first-time website visitor, or a family would if they're looking at buying tickets to an upcoming game. So when was the last time you went to your promotions page and

And just check that out. Here's what I keep seeing across Minor League Baseball, heck, even the major leagues, hockey, soccer, across the board, lots of sports teams do this. They will go and they're working on their promotional calendar, they'll make it, they'll have it good to go, and then they're gonna put things up with just a name. Taylor Swift night, happy hour, oil fueled appreciation night, two for one special, and then life gets busy.

Nobody circles back and that page never gets updated. Which means it just says Taylor Swift night and you don't actually know what's going on or what's actually happening on that night. The problem is that that page is still live and a promotion with no details doesn't sell tickets. Even if the actual night is phenomenal.

So today I'm going to show you what that fix looks like. And it's actually simpler than you think. Let's get into it.

Jeremy Neisser (01:44.59)
Alright, I want to be clear as I'm talking through all of this and sharing this information with you that this isn't about teams dropping the ball. That's not what this conversation is about. What I'm describing is a timing problem, not a competence or a knowledge or an experience problem. Promotions, we all sit down, we create promotions months in advance.

Before the season even comes around, we're planning promotions. Oftentimes the giveaway item that we're talking about for it isn't finalized. We haven't locked in a sponsor. Drink specials haven't been confirmed. So the promotion just goes up on the website with a name because, well, that's all we've got to share at that moment. Then the season ramps up and the staff gets pulled in 15 different directions.

And nobody has a free moment to circle back and put the information on the website to help the fans. The fix isn't we need more staff or we need more time. It's actually a smaller question, a bare minimum. What can we tell fans will be happening on this night? In the software as a SAS SAS business, software is a service business, SAS.

and even sometimes selling products, actual products, there's a thing called MVP, minimal viable product. In this case, I'm gonna rename it to call it Minimum Viable Promo. You don't need the giveaway item photographed. You don't need the sponsor on it. You just need something concrete that helps a fan understand why this night is different than any other Tuesday at your arena

At your pitch or at your ballpark. See if you put Taylor Swift night, that's just a name. But if you add a sentence or two like pregame concert featuring your favorite Swifty songs, plus friendship bracelet trading before before first pitch, now it creates a reason to come. Putting just that one sentence changes it from just a name to actually giving people a reason to want to come.

Jeremy Neisser (04:03.65)
That one sentence is the difference between a fan scrolling right past and thinking, hey, that's actually for me. That sounds good. So let me give you a few examples of teams that are doing this pretty well and a couple that need some tweaking here. All right, some teams that are doing really well. Chattanooga Lookouts. I'll put a link in the show notes to their their calendar, their schedule here with their promotions. Currently they're the highest increase in ticket sales in all of minor league baseball.

Partially because they have a brand new ballpark. But their promotions page puts descriptions on everything. Conservation night gets a one-liner about the Tennessee River fish. Fireworks Fridays gets a photo. Thirsty Thursday actually tells you what the drinks specials are. Every promotion answers what's happening and why should I care? Alright, another one.

Dueling Pianos copy says, This ain't your mama's dueling piano show. This is rock and roll pianos. That one sentence doesn't say a sponsor, doesn't need a sponsor, doesn't even need a photo, truth be told. It just tells you what exactly the kind of night is going to be all about. This ain't your mama's dueling piano show. It's a rock and roll pianos. Like

They just painted the picture in one sentence that really tells you what you should expect for that night. All right, one team that needs a little bit more work here, and I'm not picking on the Midland Rockhounds, but this actually gives you a really good illustration of the gap here. They're Thirsty Thursday. It says Thirsty Thursday is fully detailed. It's got half price fountain drinks, 550 draft, and canned beers.

Whoever added that took two minutes and made the promotion sellable. But they also have Oil Field Appreciation Weekend. They have a logo and nothing else. Like, what is actually happening on Oil Field Appreciation Weekend? It's the same team, the Midland Rockhounds, their same page that has Thirsty Thursday listed, but two completely different outcomes for the fan reading it.

Jeremy Neisser (06:25.038)
Because the fan has no idea what to expect on oil field appreciation weekend, where if they were looking at Thirsty Thursday, they would know that half price drinks, 550 drafting canned beers are what is happening on Thirsty Thursday. All right, the practical fix. Three things you can do right now to fix these. Number one, publish with whatever you know.

Even an incomplete description beats a bare title, beats nothing. Really? I mean, putting something there gives fans at least an understanding of what it is. So maybe a sentence about the theme, the vibe, the offer. That's enough to get you started. Just get something in there as the fans look at it and go, so that's what's going on. they shoot fireworks in the seventh inning, not after the game. that's the two for one special or

that's what's happening on oil field appreciation weekend, right? That just put something in there, right? Number two, build a revisit. So put on your calendar at the end of the month a recurring 15 minute block like two weeks before the promotion just to update the details that have been confirmed since the last time you put that on there. Just put that on there, even if it is once a month, put that information in there because fans want to know.

What is happening on Taylor Swift night? What is happening on this tattoo night? What is happening on Military Appreciation Day? Put the information in there, but schedule something in your personal calendar to come back to it to be able to put it in there because otherwise you're gonna forget because life is busy. Number three practical fix. Focus on what's coming up next. Don't try to fix the entire season at one time.

Just look at the next two or three games. Those are the ones that are actually driving ticket decisions right now. Because if you look at your ticketing data, a lot of your fans are buying the day of, the day before, and maybe the day before that. So 72 hour window before they're actually coming to the game. So just fix those. You don't have to fix the whole season. So even if you put a 15 minute block every month.

Jeremy Neisser (08:43.446)
Or every two weeks on your calendar or every Friday or whatever it is, just to pop in and update those promotions. And it may not even take you 15 minutes, but just doing that will actually help you drive ticket sales. It is wild to think that this little thing like this of just making a very small tweak on your website is gonna help people. It absolutely does. I can't tell you how many times I've shared when you confuse people, you lose people.

Clarity always wins. So when you give them an understanding of what's actually happening at your ballpark for a specific promotion, you have a better chance to sell more tickets. Alright, let me bring this puppy home. Your promotion page does not need to be perfect. It just needs to be clear. Can a fan who knows nothing about your team tell why this specific game is worth their time?

If the answer is no, the fix is usually just one sentence. Put something in there that will tell fans what they can expect. Here is your to-do. Go look at your next two or three games right now. What's the minimum you could add today to promote that game? Start there. Just tell fans exactly what is going on with those specific promotions.

If you've got some questions about this or you're trying to think about this a little bit differently, hop on over, Sports Marketing Machine schedule a call. I'm here to help you. I'm in the business to help you sell more tickets. So hop on over, we'll take 20 minutes. We'll just go through your entire promo calendar or even just the month of July if you'd like. We'll go through it one by one. But clarity always wins. When you give fans information about a promotion, they will buy tickets.

But if they don't know, you're gonna lose them and they're not gonna wanna buy tickets. So thanks for listening. if you found some value in this episode or others, appreciate you. Take a moment, pop one over to Spotify or Apple, leave a rating on or review. It would mean the world to me, but more importantly, it would get this podcast in front of people who are just like you, people who are trying to sell more tickets and grow their fan base. Until next time.