Sports Marketing Machine Podcast
174 - Stop Treating Mini Plans Like an Offseason Product
Jul 16, 2026
Season 1
Episode 174
Sports Marketing Machine Podcast - Jeremy Neisser
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Most teams push mini plans hard from October through March, then go silent the moment the season starts — right when they're creating new fans at every home game. In Episode 174, Jeremy Neisser makes the case that your warmest mini plan prospect is the fan driving home from tonight's game, not a cold name from last winter. He breaks down the psychology of selling to fans while the experience is still fresh, why teams stop even when they know better, and five tactics you can run this week to turn single-game buyers into repeat fans.
KEY TOPICS COVERED
• Why the fan who just attended is a qualified buyer — not a cold prospect — and how that erases the hardest part of the sale
• The simple math that proves every home game produces a fresh list of mini plan prospects
• The real reason fans buy mini plans (hint: it's not the sport) and how to sell to fresh emotion instead of faded memory
• The ladder that moves a casual fan to a lifer: single game = acquisition, mini plans = habit formation, season tickets = loyalty
• How to build packages from the games left on your schedule instead of waiting for a full season of inventory
• Why in-season prospects are already warm — you have their email, phone, and attendance data right now
• How selling mini plans in July feeds next year's season ticket pipeline before renewals even start
• The organizational trap that quietly kills mini plan sales during the season — and the one-person fix for it
• The commission problem that pushes reps toward big groups and away from mini plans
• The 24-hour thank-you email that hits fans at their highest-value moment
• The "two games in 30 days" CRM trigger that flags your warmest in-season leads
• The limited-time ticket-credit offer that lowers the barrier to commit
• Using a QR code on the video board to catch fans at peak enthusiasm
• The post-game text that turns a first visit into a second one
TIMESTAMPS
[00:00] — Jeremy spots the pattern: teams promote fireworks, giveaways, and bobbleheads front and center, but stop selling the one product built to create repeat buyers
[00:56] — Why quitting mini plan sales in-season means walking past new fans you're creating at every home game
[02:05] — Prospect vs. qualified buyer: the fundamental thing most teams miss about in-season selling
[03:11] — The hottest lead in your database is the fan driving home from tonight's game
[03:45] — Run the math on one game: 3,500 fans, 700 first-timers, 300 who had a great time — and why they should be on tomorrow's outreach
[04:35] — The real reason in-season selling works, and it's not about tickets — it's fresh emotion
[05:30] — Selling the day after asks fans to repeat what they felt; selling in October asks them to remember it
[06:20] — You're not selling tickets, you're selling habits: how repeat attendance becomes a behavior pattern
[07:00] — Mini plans as the bridge: acquisition to habit formation to loyalty, and walking fans up the ladder
[07:44] — Five reasons in-season mini plan selling works
[08:14] — Reason #1: Every home game is a lead-generation event — treat attendance as a list, not a number
[08:43] — Reason #2: The remaining schedule is your inventory — package fireworks, rivalries, and flex nights intentionally
[09:12] — Reason #3: Fans understand the value better after attending (the Chick-fil-A analogy)
[09:41] — How the post-game follow-up feels like a reminder, not a sales pitch
[10:08] — Reason #4: You already have their contact info — email, phone, and which games they attended
[10:29] — Reason #5: In-season mini plans build next year's season ticket pipeline right now
[10:58] — Why teams stop selling mini plans — and why it's not really their fault
[11:25] — How game-day execution mode crowds out sales mode across the whole organization
[12:19] — Mini plans disappear because nobody owns them anymore — not because nobody cares
[12:46] — The commission problem: why reps chase $2,500 groups over $150 mini plans, and how marketing can help
[13:15] — The fix: assign one person to own in-season mini plan selling and automate the outreach
[13:45] — Tactic #1: The 24-hour thank-you email with a simple mini plan offer
[14:11] — Tactic #2: The "two games in 30 days" trigger — flag repeat attendees as warm leads
[15:10] — Why multi-game buyers are the warmest in-season list you can build
[15:40] — Tactic #3: The limited-time ticket-credit offer that lowers the barrier to commit
[16:10] — Tactic #4: A QR code on the video board to catch fans at peak enthusiasm
[16:36] — Tactic #5: The post-game text to recent buyers the morning after
[17:05] — This week's challenge: audit your CRM for one-game buyers nobody has personally contacted
[18:04] — The main takeaway: acquisition, habit formation, loyalty — and why mini plans are the bridge
[18:58] — Final reminder: the best time to sell the next ticket is while the experience is still fresh
CALL TO ACTION
If you're building your second-half sales strategy, there's a lot more on this topic — reach out and Jeremy is happy to talk through how it could look as you export lists and work on selling more tickets in the back half of the year. And if the episode helped, leave a rating or review on Apple or Spotify to get it in front of more people trying to sell more tickets and grow their fan base.
QUOTE PULLS
"The hottest lead in your database is the fan driving home from tonight's game — not the one from last April." — Jeremy Neisser
"The issue isn't that fans won't commit. It's that teams stop asking at the exact wrong time." — Jeremy Neisser
"Sell a mini plan the day after the game and you're not asking a fan to imagine something. You're asking them to repeat something they just felt." — Jeremy Neisser
"Single game tickets are acquisition. Mini plans are habit formation. Season tickets are loyalty. Mini plans are the bridge." — Jeremy Neisser
"Mini plans don't disappear because nobody cares. They disappear because nobody owns them anymore." — Jeremy Neisser
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