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Most marketing directors couldn't draw their own fan marketing process on a whiteboard — and that gap is quietly costing their team repeat buyers. 

In Part 1 of this three-part series, Jeremy Neisser introduces the Fan Journey: a five-stage framework (Capture, Know, Respond, Return, Grow) that turns a scattered list of tactics into a system you can actually steer. You'll learn why your team is already running this journey whether you designed it or not, and how to use the framework as a diagnostic tool to find exactly where fans are leaking out.

KEY TOPICS COVERED
• Why most marketing directors can't map their own fan process — and what that blind spot costs in repeat revenue
• The critical difference between doing marketing (one-off blasts) and running a marketing system that guides fans automatically
• The big idea: your team is already running the fan journey, whether you designed it or not
• Stage 1 — Capture: turning first-time awareness into a ticket sale and captured fan data
• Stage 2 — Know: moving beyond a "filing cabinet" of names into real understanding of who your fans are
• Stage 3 — Respond: sending communication so relevant it feels like it was written for that specific fan
• Stage 4 — Return: win-back campaigns, lapsed fan reactivation, and second-game offers that create repeat buyers
• Stage 5 — Grow: converting multi-game buyers into mini plan, flex plan, and season ticket holders
• How to use the framework as a diagnostic tool to pinpoint exactly where fans leak out
• Why fans not returning is usually a systems problem, not a product, weather, or competition problem
• A step-by-step exercise to map your own team's fan journey this week
• The right questions to pressure-test each stage — do you have systems, or just campaigns?

TIMESTAMPS
[00:00] – Opening: kicking off a new three-part series on the Fan Journey and the lens shift ahead
[00:29] – The whiteboard test: could you draw your full fan marketing process, start to finish?
[00:57] – Why most directors describe tactics instead of a connected strategy
[01:47] – What 20+ years in sports reveals: teams list activities, but miss the system
[02:38] – Doing marketing vs. running a marketing system — and why the difference matters
[03:08] – The big idea: your team is already running the fan journey, designed or not
[04:01] – Stage 1, Capture: how a fan first hears about you and buys that first ticket
[04:50] – Stage 2, Know: using ticket data, email, phone, and surveys to understand the fan
[05:19] – Stage 3, Respond: putting fan knowledge to work with communication built for them
[06:19] – Stage 4, Return: win-back campaigns, reactivation, and second-game offers
[06:48] – Stage 5, Grow: moving single-game buyers up to mini plans and season tickets
[08:43] – Recap of the full map: Capture, Know, Respond, Return, Grow
[09:11] – Why it matters: the framework as a diagnostic tool, not just a concept
[10:02] – Finding the leaks: every team loses fans, usually in the same places
[10:56] – The e-blast trap: downloading a list and blasting it isn't a system
[11:15] – Systems problem, not product problem: why fans really don't come back
[11:39] – Your assignment: map your own fan journey on paper or a whiteboard
[12:31] – Pressure-testing each stage: do you have systems, or just campaigns?
[12:58] – Converting repeat buyers into plan holders beyond "smiling and dialing"
[13:26] – Closing thoughts and a tease for Episode 2: where the leaks show up

QUOTE PULLS
"Your team is already running the fan journey, whether you designed it or not. Your job is to stop letting it happen by accident." — Jeremy Neisser

"There's a massive difference between doing marketing and running a marketing system." — Jeremy Neisser

"This framework is actually a diagnostic tool. It shows you exactly where fans are leaking out of the journey." — Jeremy Neisser

"A lot of the time the fan would have come back. They just never got the right message at the right time. That's a systems problem, not a product problem." — Jeremy Neisser

"The fan journey isn't something you build. It's something that's already happening." — Jeremy Neisser

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