The Atlanta Braves Fandom Playbook

A baseball season gives you 81 chances to get it right, and 81 chances to lose someone if you don’t. We sit down with Anthony Esposito, Senior Vice President of Ticket Operations for the Atlanta Braves, to unpack what actually creates lasting fandom when the calendar is packed and the expectations are high.

We start with what makes Braves fans distinct, including the long reach of the “TBS effect” and the way baseball becomes a family routine across generations. From there, Anthony shares how changes like the pitch clock and the new balls-and-strikes challenge reshape fan attention and even improve the in-venue flow, from bathroom breaks to concession timing. If you care about fan experience design, this is a rare look at how rules, rhythm, and predictability can strengthen engagement.

Then we go deeper on loyalty beyond the game itself: Truist Park as a destination, The Battery Atlanta as a live-work-play entertainment district, and the year-round relationship with A-list members through events, access, and intentional touchpoints. We also talk concerts, postseason ticketing whiplash, All-Star Week complexity, and the modern ticketing skill set that blends customer service with analytics, dynamic pricing, and clear reporting.

If you’re building a live experience brand in sports, music, theater, or attractions, you’ll leave with practical ideas on CRM-driven relationship building, “know before you go” communication, and the Braves’ simple “three bases of service.” Subscribe, share this with your team, and leave a review with the one touchpoint you’d improve first.

Recorded Tuesday, September 8th, 2026
Hosts: Damian Bazadona, CEO & Founder, Situation & Maureen Andersen, President & CEO, INTIX
Guest: Anthony Esposito, SVP of Ticket Operations, Atlanta Braves
Producer: Peter Yagecic, Founder, A Mind at Work

Transcript

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Welcome And Guest Introduction

Peter Yagecic 0:04

You're listening to Fandom Unpacked, the series where we unpack modern fandom with some of the brightest minds in sports and entertainment. I'm producer Peter Yagecic, and our hosts for today's QA are Situation CEO and founder Damian Bazadona and President and CEO of INTIX, Maureen Andersen. Our guest today is Senior Vice President of Ticket Operations for the Atlanta Braves, Anthony Esposito. Damian, you're leading off today. Take it away.

What Makes Braves Fans Different

Damian Bazadona 0:28

Thank you, Peter. Thanks for joining us, Anthony. Appreciate taking the time with us. Oh, thank you. Thank you very much for having me. You spent a huge portion of your career around baseball fans. And I think baseball has this interesting combination, more so than a lot of other sports, about history, family tradition, routine, and just honestly sheer frequency that just, again, like many live experiences don't have. When you think about a Braves fan specifically, what makes the fandom distinct? And what do you think other live event brands can learn from it?

Anthony Esposito 1:00

Well, I'm glad you said Braves fan specifically, because we can point to the TBS effect, which is kind of the known Atlanta Braves fan effect across the country. So TBS and WGN with the Chicago Cubs are kind of the two national TV stations that were always on your TV growing up for a lot of a lot of people growing up that had cable. So the Braves fandom kind of stretches far outside of uh the city of Atlanta, state of Georgia. It goes all the way, you know, up to the up to the state of Washington, all the way down to South Florida, all the way up to Maine, that area. So that's definitely a big thing that we um kind of pat ourselves on the back for that we did have the TBS effect. Um but it's definitely, definitely a long season. Um 81 games, um, 81 regular season games. Hopefully we're we're in the playoff hunt uh almost every day of the week from you know late March, early April until the end of September. You can outside of a little stretch of uh all-star break, you can pretty much count on baseball and the Braves being on on your TV. So we've um yeah, we've got some generational fans, and a lot of it goes back to the TBS effect, but you know, generational fans, you know, you you sat on the front porch, you know, watching or listening on the radio or watching the game with your grandfather, and now you're bringing your kids to the game. And um, so you know, just creating that generational fan is is a big thing for us in baseball.

Damian Bazadona 2:27

As a as as yourself a generational fan in our in our pre-talk, you've you've like kind of grew up playing baseball all the way into college. How do you just out of curiosity, what's your take? I feel like there's been a lot of changes to the game that I don't want to leave the witness. I think it's been a massively exciting changes as someone who grew up watching baseball. Just what's your take on just honestly as a fan of baseball?

Anthony Esposito 2:46

Yeah, and

Faster Baseball And New Rules

Anthony Esposito 2:47

anything to um, I know a lot of traditionalists like the idea of coming to the game and it's it's a social, it's a social thing. You come here, you watch a couple innings, you may, you know, go grab some food, conversate with the people you're with. Um, but uh, you know, I think it creates some structure, definitely creates structure. It it allows you to kind of know like you're gonna be in and out of a baseball game now within you know two to two and a half hours rather than you know, in the past it was kind of an average of like on the low end, two and a half hours up to three, four hours, depending on which game you're watching, or if it goes extra innings. Um I think the rules have really kept fans more engaged, especially now with the ABS challenge that was new. Um, this year with the balls and strikes, you know, fans can really, you know, they see the they want the instant gratification and they can get that by, you know, we show that on the scoreboard when a when a batter taps his helmet or a catcher taps his helmet, a challenge, a ball, or strike call. Um, and then just the pitch clock in general. You kind of know if you're getting up to go to the bathroom in between innings, you know you have two minutes and 30 seconds, and then action is gonna start. Um so it kind of helps speed up everything from you know that example of a bathroom break to you know concession lines and people kind of moving, you know, throughout the game. They know they know when the next inning is gonna start.

Damian Bazadona 4:01

It is funny. It's like a pitch clock to a bathroom

Turning Games Into A Destination

Damian Bazadona 4:03

clock.

Anthony Esposito 4:03

Yeah.

Damian Bazadona 4:03

Um for so for 80, you know, I think one of the things that's that is fascinates me about uh honestly the marketing of baseball is you have so many like the home dates. You have just so many chances for people to sort of engage in experience with the brand. And in some businesses, scarcity helps make the event special, right? Like you can only see so many. But in baseball, you're asking fans to build the team into the rhythm of their lives. How does having that many opportunities to attend change the way you think about building loyalty and giving people reasons to come back?

Anthony Esposito 4:32

Um well, for us, we're we're fortunate. We have kind of a built-in uh entertainment district called the Battery that's attached to Truest Park. So we've sit on 80 acres of land here. Uh the ballpark's on about 18 acres, and then you know, the remaining 62 acres are um, you know, live work play. So apartments, retail, restaurants, shopping, um, you name it. We've got a couple hotels on the property. So it's really kind of made Truest Park or coming to a Braves game, kind of a destination event. Uh we've got a, we kind of call it a pregame and post-game built-in tailgate. So you don't have to come and park and load up. Like we've got everything you need. You show up, have your Braves gear on, and we've got restaurants you can go to, we've got bars within the entertainment district. Um, and it really helps us kind of be a 24-7, 365 advertisement for the Atlanta Braves and our brand. Um, that's that's really that's really helped a lot.

Damian Bazadona 5:28

Yeah, I feel you know, one of the common themes on this podcast is um a lot of the uh sports brands, media brands is is really everyone's formulating really to entertainment brands as a whole and creating kind of full-blown viewing themselves as end-to-end entertainment that includes sports and other things, but it is so much bigger as it creates a sense of community and brings sort of the power of the live experience. And you're exactly to your point. 81 games, 81 opportunity. Bringing people back to the venue each time is different in that logic beyond just the game, it creates an amazing experience. I know of a fair number of people who I personally have not been there. I know a fair number of people who have gone and said they've had an incredible experience. Uh so kudos to you and your team. Um, Maureen, I'm gonna let you get in here.

Keeping Season Ticket Holders Engaged

Maureen Andersen 6:05

Yeah, well, your your battery park is great, Anthony. I mean, I've experienced it, and it's really quite an amazing thing to be there. Um, I want to take you back a little bit. So you and I were on an Intiks panel at Intix 2021, which was our only virtual, and we were avatars, right? Remember that? And you said something that has stuck with me ever since is that loyalty is easy when you're in the season. The bigger question is how to keep that relationship going year round. So five years later, how's your has your thinking evolved? How has it evolved? And has the Braves learned anything about ticketing and the broader fan relationship that helped them stay connected even when there isn't a game that night? And did non-baseball events change the calculus or elevate it or hurt it?

Anthony Esposito 6:57

No, yeah, definitely. Um, you know, 2020, everybody in the live entertainment space um lived through that, learned a lot from that. Um, one of the biggest lessons, we we were already doing this, but we kind of took it to a new level, you know, during that COVID time when we couldn't have live events, and and you know, we just made sure to connect with our season ticket holders, um, just whether it's through, you know, phone calls or you know, what we could do at the time, you know, virtual meetings, anything we could we could do to keep them engaged, and then we've continued that. Um, as we've gone on, we got we were fortunate in 2021 to win the World Series. Uh that definitely helps. Um but then that brings a whole new wave of of excitement and season take a holders and people wanting to be involved. Um, so so really, you know, for us it's it's a positive for us um to kind of be busy all the time. Um it creates a sense of community um and belonging for our our we our season take a holders. We call them A-list members because the Atlanta has an A in it, Atlanta Braves logo, so they're A-list members. Um they love that. Um and we have a lot of events planned for them, whether it's in-season. We have um we had a chat, I think, three weeks ago with our team president and our head of baseball operations, where they we have a big elevator tower that's that's on campus. It's a it's a testing tower uh for an elevator company. So they're they're in a room there. They have um they have the GM of our team and the president of our our business side uh where they can ask any questions to. And so keeping them engaged through events like that, um, whether it's a big event like that, we have an off in the off-season, we have a play day for them, an A-listed member play day that's spread over a couple days so they can come and basically have the whole park to themselves. They can go on dugout tours, they can pitch in the bullpen, they can hit on the field, they can run the bases, play catch in the outfield. Um, so really just it is a long season. It's a long off-season, but trying to keep them, you know, engaged with our brand um uh through through a lot of different events um is is what we we try to do, keep them involved.

Concerts That Create New Fans

Maureen Andersen 9:00

Do you see the crossover when you do the the concerts and the other and the kind of non-baseball stuff?

Anthony Esposito 9:06

We we see some definitely for the country concerts. That's kind of what our fan base caters to. And country concerts and rock and roll. So if you put Def Leopard in this place, um or if you put you know Jason Aldean, like we're gonna crush it. Uh, we just had Ella Langley, Cody Johnson, uh, for a for a festival this summer. Uh we had Noah Khan a couple weeks ago. Sold, it was our largest concert uh we've ever had at Truist Park in terms of tickets sold. So we try to do three or four up to seven, but we've kind of landed around three or four concerts per year, um, where you know, it brings a different fan base. It brings somebody out to the battery that may have never come. So uh depending on the genre of music, you know, somebody may be coming just for that concert, but then they they they're now exposed to the battery and the experience, and they're like, Oh, I want to come back to a braze game.

Maureen Andersen 9:57

Like, this is a cool, you know, this is a cool atmosphere here and you know Yeah, and everything that the venue itself has to offer, which is, you know, is fabulous because the infrastructure's there, which is great.

Anthony Esposito 10:07

Yes, correct.

A Quick Note From Damien

Damian Bazadona 10:11

Hey guys, Damien here. I just want to take a quick moment to say if you're enjoying this podcast right now, odds are you're in the business of selling live experiences. And if you don't know my team at the advertising agency situation, you most definitely should. Aside from just being an awesome group of human beings, they're a global team of professionals covering a brand base in sports, arts, theater, culture, museums, or any live experience that requires people coming together. Big, small, all shapes and sizes of brands. You can hit them up at the information below in the show notes.

All-Star Week And Postseason Chaos

Maureen Andersen 10:52

You're a unicorn, basically, and my friend in ticketing. You've done special events, concerts, uh, NBA, regular seasons, postseason baseball, World Series. Now you just did an All-Star Week with an extraordinary amount of events you've done with a lot of moving parts. So my question is that when demand and complexity, complexity suddenly spike like that, what separates a really mature ticketing operation from one that's simply trying to just survive the moment, tame the chaos? And what would you want Intex members to take back to their own organizations from this vast experience that you and your very, very well respected team have learned?

Anthony Esposito 11:34

Yeah. Well, well, thank you for saying that about the team. That's what it's all about as a team. So you've got to have a good team in place. Um, fortunately, we do. I've got I've got two employees on my team that have been here longer than I have. Um, and then most employees, I mean, tenure within our organization is probably off the charts compared to a lot of organizations that um around the league or around any professional league. But um, yeah, we have a we have a great team in place here in the ticket office with the Braves and Truest Park. Um, and then for those events, you know, whether it's postseason, all-star game, anything, uh, Major League Baseball has an incredible playbook that's really led by Rob Capilli up at the Major League Baseball offices, uh, for us in particular. Uh, Christine Fleming that works with Rob. Um, they do a great job of, you know, they've got everything is laid out as clear as can be. Like we need, we need this form with this information on this date. And then a week later, we need this form with this information on this date. Um, so that really kind of helps you, you know, keep it going. All-stars are a little unique because you you should, if everything goes well, you should only have one of those every 29, 30 years of your career, because there's 29 other teams that want to host an all-star game. Um, and they're really just leaning on others with experience. So, you know, through the network you've created, through your in-text relationships and through your baseball meetings, um, leaning on people that that have gone through the experience, whether it's an all-star game or whether it's a post-season event. Um, postseason, you know, all-star game is is is good. It's a you know you're gonna have the all-star game, you know, two years before you actually have the game. Postseason is a little different. Like you hope you make it to the World Series, but you don't know you're playing in the World Series until probably two days before the World Series starts. So um, you know, you plan with pre-sales and on-sales and have everything ready, but you know, uh just like anybody in the library entertainment business, when a big event is announced or something big is happening, you know, every everybody comes out of the woodwork. Um so everybody knows you, everybody that's known you for years. You know, some guy you pass in the hallway in fourth grade suddenly, you know, reaches out and wants to be your best friend for a day until you can get them some tickets.

Maureen Andersen 13:43

So well, yeah, that's a that's a story for everybody. But you know, one of the things I've heard you talk about over and over again is is that the the need, the instincts that come with it is flexibility and you know, embracing the excitement of it and not being put off. I mean, you know, whether you're zip-tying seats or pulling the tarp, you know, it's you know, we dig in as a team, right? Yes, 100% and it's exploit and and use the networks that we all create. Um, and you know, you're a great example of that. So just building on this whole thing of the ticketing team is that you started as an unpaid office and ticketing intern. And now, decades later, in this business, technology's changed, but so of the skills that we ask our professionals to have. And your Braves team is a great example of having a Stellar Pro ticketing team. You grow leadership, you're developing the next generation of ticketing leaders, and I see it all the time. I mean, they're members and they participate. And what skills or instincts matter most now that perhaps

The Skills Modern Ticketing Demands

Maureen Andersen 14:48

weren't even part of the job description when you started?

Anthony Esposito 14:51

Yeah, that's a great question. Um, I will say, funny enough, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Because I started in 1997 as a ticket office intern working off a host. And today, as a 50-year-old guy working in ticketing, uh, I still use host. So I will use host tonight for our game. So the blue screen, everybody knows the blue screen host if you're listening to this.

Maureen Andersen 15:18

Right. And and the cheats that go with it to tell it what to do.

Anthony Esposito 15:21

Yep. Yeah, we we've we've dumbed it down a lot to try to keep it simple. But um, just so people listening don't get completely scared, we do use TM1 sales at our windows, but we do rely on host to kind of look up, um, move some inventory sometimes or look up some problems that really need some escalation on the back end. But um, no, that being said, I mean, it's you know, customer service, um, just kind of the focus on on growing your people, um, making your staff the best they can be. And the big one of the biggest things I've seen change, especially in the last five, six years, is you really have to have kind of an analytical mindset now working in ticketing, especially professional sports. Um nothing is black and white anymore. Um, you can't do things the way you did them 10 years ago just because that's the way it worked, or even five years ago, or even two years ago. Um, you know, things, things are changing. You know, price pricing changes have have become a big thing, um, down to not only you know pricing game by game, pricing, you know, first base side of the field, third base side of the field, upper level, lower level, outfield, um, you know, down to the seat level. So I know a lot of venues are doing that. Um, but but having an analytical mindset, kind of embracing that, um, because that's what your boss wants to see. Your boss wants a quick, easy report where he sees, you know, all positive numbers, but he wants it in a digestible form. Um, you know, that's that's easy for him to, you know, whether your your boss is going to your ownership or whoever they report to, um, just being able to create something that's that's really simple. Um, and then just a lot of patience, a lot of patience in the job. Don't worry about the quick promotion. Um just, you know, you're in you're in it for the long haul when you're in the ticket ops side of the world. And you know, the good thing about us is that a lot of people leave us alone because nobody really knows what we do. That's right. And they don't want they don't want to know what we do because it's a little technical and it's a little complicated.

Maureen Andersen 17:18

So you know you what you've you've kept it human and you've you've got the analytical. So it's kind of like magic in a bottle, is that you still have that and it's it's great. And teaching that and finding and encouraging that in a team is is kudos to you guys. And you know what? I I watch your younger team members coming up and also teaching those who are coming behind them. So that's legacy building, and that's important. So, you know, good on you, Anthony.

Anthony Esposito 17:45

Leave it, leave it better than you found it.

Maureen Andersen 17:47

Absolutely.

A Quick Note About Team Workshops

Damian Bazadona 17:51

Hey guys, Damien here. If you're listening to this podcast, I'm gonna bet that you're probably thinking about how your team works and adapts right now in this new technology landscape. That's why the one person I always point people to is my co-host, right here, Peter Yagecic, and his company, A Mind at Work Consulting. They run smart, tech-infused workshops that help teams build new skills and actually put ideas into action. Peter is way too humble to brag, but I have no problems bragging for him. So if you're serious about what's next, talk to a Mind at Work Consulting. More in the show notes below.

Designing For First-Timers And Regulars

Peter Yagecic 18:39

Yeah, we've got some listener questions that came in over at fandomunpack.com. Um, and and you've spoken to this this first one a little bit already, Anthony, but I want to put a little different of a twist on it. So on any given night, you might have someone who's attended hundreds of Braves games. Maybe they're your A-listers or just loyal fans, and they might be sitting right next to somebody that's visiting Truist Park and the battery for the very first time. Those two fans know the system very differently, and and maybe they want different things. How do you design the ticketing and arrival experience so that both of them feel like it was built just for them?

Anthony Esposito 19:12

Yeah, we have the first timer, we have the A-list member that goes to every single game. Um, you know, that that that veteran, um, patron, A-list member, season ticket holder, whatever you want to call them. They know exactly what route they're gonna take, what time they're gonna leave the house, you know, how they're gonna get around, you know, this parking lot to get to this parking lot. They know what spot in the parking lot they like to park in, what gate they want to enter in. Um they know everything, especially for bobblehead nights, which are huge. They know what gates at what times have lower lines, or maybe there's a secret gate around the corner that people don't know about, so they're gonna go there. Um so they're the they they know all that. So they're they're good. So for us, for the veteran people, it's just kind of removing, making it as frictionless as a process as we can. Um, you know, making sure the app works or tickets pull up, they can scan in, um, they're they're ready to go. The first timer, um, one of the big things we do is provide a no before you go email for every game, for every ticket holder. Um, and you know, that has everything from, I mean, the very first thing it says on it, besides the the matchup and the day and you know who's pitching, is make sure you have your tickets uh pulled up before you leave the house. Like whether you save them to your wallet, you're able to you know pull them up, make sure you have them. You know, we don't take screenshots and make sure you've done the work to you know log into your account, have your ticket. And then we go through a whole slew of you know parking and um concessions and retail and entertainment, everything we have to offer during the game, just so that you know, thinking in the mindset of a first timer so they have an idea, they have a the reference point of where to go. Uh and then once they get here, just we have a great, great um guest services staff that'll greet you from the parking lot to the gates to the ushers at the seats, even our concession workers, um, you know, that'll help answer any questions along the way. But uh, you know, a big part of it is your usher right in your section because that person, you're gonna see them the whole game going up and down. Uh whether you're getting up to go get a drink or you're coming back. And you know, they're they're you know, in the south, there's southern hospitality is a real thing. Um, so they're they're very good at what they do and making people feel welcome. Um, but just kind of arming people with as much information as you can before they come here um or have something to reference um has showed proved us to be very helpful. Um and we have emails internally that go around before every homestand. We had them going around last week for the homestand that starts tonight. Um, and it goes through that no before you go email for every game, and then each department has to weigh in to make sure that the information for that specific day, you know, is correct for for what we want people to know. So that's that's helpful for the first timers or for the people that only have been here a few times.

Peter Yagecic 21:57

Yeah, and I bet some of those users, you know, even Have a an intuitive sense of who a new face is and if they need that extra help to give them that southern hospitality. So adding on that human level to the to the technology as well.

Anthony Esposito 22:10

And and the reverse side with that too. The ushers also know our longtime A-list members. They know they they've watched them have babies, they watch their babies grow up, and now their kids are bringing their teenage girlfriends or boyfriends to the games. And um, you know, so they they have that relationship.

Maureen Andersen 22:27

And worry about them when they're not there.

Anthony Esposito 22:29

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Where were you? We weren't at the game last night. Everything okay. Yeah.

Peter Yagecic 22:34

I want to sneak in one more listener question.

Behind The Scenes Of A Postseason Run

Peter Yagecic 22:37

Uh, and this one's about the postseason. Um, you know, if fans experience a postseason run very emotionally, but I imagine that the ticketing team, you know, you're just worrying about it operationally. You you may not even know which games are going to exist until the team advances. Can you talk about what happens behind the scenes when when the team keeps winning? Is there a moment that you can actually enjoy that ride? Or are you just immediately thinking about inventory on sales and logistics for the next game?

Anthony Esposito 23:04

Yes. Yes. Yes and yes. Uh you can definitely enjoy it. Um we we do a good job here of, you know, not to get too particular about my side. We do a good job of balancing. So we don't make every person work every game. So we'll have a, you know, we'll have a manager on duty, a couple support staff, you know, myself, I'll be here. Um so you know, if you miss game one, you know you're gonna go to game two uh and work game two. You know, for myself, I I usually try to I enjoy the game after about the seventh inning. That's when we have our settlement done with Major League Baseball for postseason games. We meet with our our CFO, the other team's CFO, Major League Baseball CFO, settle on a number, and then at that point, we're done, that game's closed out, and then we can go in and you know enjoy the game. I I actually enjoy most of the games through the eyes of my wife and my kids. They get to use my tickets. So, but for World Series, you know, and definitely in 2021, definitely enjoyed that night, that game, the game six victory in Houston. Had a good time that night, but woke up the next morning, we had to start planning for a parade. Um, and we're gonna have the parade end it in Truist Park. It was a ticketed event, so we had to have a ticket available to be in the ballpark. So we knew that in advance. We had already kind of planned out we're gonna have this event, but you know, we're not we're not flipping it out sale until we win the actual World Series. So so even after our World Series, you think, oh, you get to celebrate. Like we celebrated that night. Then the next day you're planning a parade and all the logistics that go into that. Um and then after all that's done, then the auditors come in from Major League Baseball and audit every single home game that you had and find any little thing wrong that you may have done along the way. Um so but you definitely enjoy, you just enjoy the games a little differently. I think the biggest thing, like I said, is I enjoy it through the excitement of my family that you know gets to kind of dad's got a cool job and um you know they get they get to come the the games.

Maureen Andersen 24:57

Can I interject one thing on this one, Peter? And Anthony is also is that that post-game run is the number of people who are colleagues and who have become friends and mentors that suit up and show up to be there for you. Is it it's it's camaraderie and it's like you know you're not alone, right? Because these guys and ladies are showing up and they not only you know by text and email and a phone call and zooms, but in person.

Anthony Esposito 25:26

Absolutely. Yeah, it's that was that was one of the things the World Series 2021 World Series is kind of a blur, but I do remember after we won like the amount of you know, text messages or inbox messages on different social media platforms of people just genuinely, you know, saying congratulations and you know, people you wouldn't even have thought were paying attention that the World Series was going on, you know, within the ticketing industry and through the in-text connections, you know, you know, saying congratulations, shoot me a nice little message. So so that was nice.

Maureen Andersen 25:56

Well, and there's a club of there's a club of teams that have done this. Yeah. That you all have a mindset, uh, a store of information and experience to lean on.

Anthony Esposito 26:07

Absolutely.

Peter Yagecic 26:08

All right. Well, as we round third uh in this conversation, Damian kicking it back to you to bring us home.

The One Lesson For Lasting Fandom

Damian Bazadona 26:16

What a pun. Nice job, Peter. I like that angle. Um first off, Anthony, thank you for taking the time. You obviously you have a you have a big job with a lot going on, and I genuinely appreciate taking the time with us. Um and you're also a two-time youth sports coach during the season, if I heard you correctly up front. I have a big soft spot for youth sports coaches that I feel like volunteer and give their time back to the community. So it just makes us like you even more. Yeah, thank you. Um so you've had a front row seat to fans coming back season after season after season, through winning years, disappointing years, huge postseason moments to like an ordinary Tuesday night. So if you were, if you had to take everything baseball has taught you and give one lesson to somebody trying to build lasting fandom in some of the other experiences and attractions that we work with. We have a lot of clients listening to this and partners listening to this in theater, music, attractions, sports, and other live experiences, what would that lesson be?

Anthony Esposito 27:11

I would say you have to build a relationship. Um, that's the biggest thing. You got to build a relationship. You know, the game, the concert, the show. Uh it's gonna get that, it's what gets them through the door. Um, but building a relationship is what kind of brings them back year after year. Um kind of goes back to my first answer on the first question is the TBS effect. Us in Atlanta with the Braves, we're fortunate that we had the Braves on TBS for all those years to kind of help build generational um loyalty to the to the brand and to the team. Um but yeah, building the relationship is is one of the biggest things. You can do that. You can, you know, if you want to look at it as cheating, have a strong CRM system and cheat, cheat your way through building the relationship. Every time you find one little piece of data, you know, whether they had a new baby or or whatever, thrown into your CRM system, when you're calling them, you can, you know, ask by name, you know, how their kids are doing. Um or you know, if if so and so hit a milestone birthday or anniversary. Um, but you know, having having a strong CRM system helps, you know, maintain that relationship, make feel make people feel like it's their place. Um, make them feel like coming to a Braves game or coming to Truet's Park is their place. And and to the point that if they ever think about not renewing their seats, they almost feel like they're breaking up with you. And it's more of an emotional tie, you know, to the to the process, to the to the parking attendant, to the ticket taker, to the usher, to the concession worker, uh, and obviously to the guys in the field. The guys in the field, you know, change come and go every year. You only have a few, a handful that are constants. We have from the 2021 World Series, which was only you know five years ago, I think we only have one active player, Ozzy Albis, our second baseman, who was on that team. Um so you know, those guys change, but we've had season takeholders that have been with us for you know 40, 50 years or more. Um, so really just kind of building that relationship, making them feel like you know they are part of your family. Um, and and the Braves are their family, and they couldn't imagine their summers without going to Truis Park um every single night. So and one of the big things, you know, I mentioned guest services before, give a lot of love to our our staff, our ushers, ticket takers. We have simple things. We have three bases plus home plate at any ballpark. So we have what's called the three bases of service. Uh so first base is your warm welcome. So in our case, coming up to a ticket window, you know, welcome to Truis Park. That's your warm welcome. You know, greet them. Um, anticipate their needs is our second base. So, you know, what kind of seating are you looking for today? If you see them with a gallon of sunblock in their purse, you know, you want some seats in the shade out of the sun, uh kind of anticipate, you know, if if you see them um having trouble walking or if they have a cast on, you know, we can find you some seats in the accessible road and make it a little bit easier, or somewhere on the aisle on a high road if you don't have any accessible seats left. Uh and then a fond farewell, which is big for our ticket takers and and uh ushers kind of leaving after the game, but us at the ticket windows, you know, a fond farewell. Enjoy the game, have a great time, you know, go braves, simple stuff. But just breaking it down simply um just helps build that relationship to like keep on coming back.

Damian Bazadona 30:30

Yeah. Well, listen, this reinforces why you guys have such a great reputation. Um a bonus question. So someone listening to this who really wants that very hard-to-get ticket, maybe a future World Series ticket, an all-star game ticket, what's the best email address they should email you to pretend that they know you? And and by the way, they want them for free and they need only need six tickets. Uh just throwing it out there.

Anthony Esposito 30:50

I'd say uh Peter, Peter, seven of all Peter.

Peter Yagecic 30:54

Yeah, we're we're having some technical difficulties. I I'm sorry, Damian, that last question, it just uh was all just static. It just really didn't come through. I didn't even know what to tell

Final Thanks And How To Follow

Peter Yagecic 31:04

you. You know what? I think we have covered all the bases on this episode of Fandom Unpacked. Thank you, Anthony, Damien, and Maureen, for a great conversation. Uh, thank you, Heather, for your producing support behind the scenes. If you liked what you heard today, please check out all the great QA interviews we've done over at fandomunpack.com or by searching for the show in your podcast player of choice. Also, if you haven't yet registered for Intix 2027 in New Orleans, what are you waiting for? Head over to intix.org and mark that off your to do list. We'll be back in your feed in a couple of weeks for the entire Fandom Unpack team. I'm Peter Yagecic. We'll see you next time.