scottfloccocom.files.wordpress.com · Web viewWhat sets USA Baseball apart is its ability to bring the top prospects to the complex, however, they still struggle to fill the seats

USA Baseball

Marketing Plan 2017

By: Danny Maher & Scott Flocco

Executive SummaryUSA Baseball has been the national governing body for amateur baseball since 1978. The National Training Complex, located in Cary, North Carolina, has four regulation sized baseball fields. Each year, the complex hosts some of the top prospects for each Class during the numerous tournaments held at the Complex.

USA Baseball is responsible for selecting our professional, collegiate, and women’s national teams. Tryouts for the various age groups are all held at the National Training Complex in Cary. Our professional team plays in events like the World Baseball Classic, which the United States just won, while the collegiate team faces some of the top talent around the world. All players selected by USA Baseball wear the uniform proudly.

What sets USA Baseball apart is its ability to bring the top prospects to the complex, however, they still struggle to fill the seats. Cary is a large baseball area, with multiple college teams, the Durham Bulls, the Carolina Mudcats, and the Holly Springs Salamanders all relatively close. The issue of USA Baseball not necessarily being in an affiliated league makes it difficult to consistently draw fans out as well. These are small obstacles which will be overcome through multiple marketing tactics.

A large amount of high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools all lie within a 10-mile radius of USA Baseball. Cary is a very populated area, and there is a lot of community outreach USA Baseball fails to provide that will begin. Local schools, businesses, and restaurants will all become more involved with the organization in an effort to increase attendance. Also, USA Baseball will focus their efforts towards boosting sales in the team store through social media advertising as well as through in-house advertising. Our tactics will show results by the end of the current season.

USA Baseball Marketing Plan 2017: 2

Table of ContentsExecutive Summary: 2

Introduction: 4Organizational Mission: 4Background: 4

Situational Analysis: 6Strengths (Internal): 6Weaknesses (Internal): 7Opportunities (External): 8Threats (External): 8

Competitor Analysis: 10

Customer Analysis: 12

Target Market: 14

Marketing Goals: 15

Value Proposition: 15

Strategy: 15

Tactics: 16

Implementation and Control: 18

Evaluation: 20

Appendix: 21

References: 25


Introduction:Organizational Mission:

USA Baseball does not have an official mission statement, however, listed in USA Baseball’s Constitution & Bi-Laws are its duties, and listed below is Section 1. This section accurately summarizes USA Baseball’s six missions listed earlier in the document.

“To develop, foster and encourage interest and participation in baseball throughout the United States and to be responsible to the persons and sports organizations USA Baseball represents.”

Background:Acting as the national governing body for amateur baseball since 1978, USA Baseball represents the United States for multiple matters involving baseball and softball. As a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and internationally as a member federation of the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), USA Baseball has united almost every national amateur baseball organization. Through this, USA Baseball governs over 12 million young baseball players all across the United States.

One of the main jobs of USA Baseball has is to select who will represent the United States in various international competitions like the World Baseball Classic, which the United States never won until 2017. Teams comprised of Major and Minor League players are selected to compete, with Major League players being featured in the WBC and occasionally World Cup, while Minor League players comprising the teams that compete in the Pan American Games & the World Cup when the Major-League players do not compete. Other than the 2017 WBC victory, the best successes for USA Baseball have been the 2007 & 2009 World Cup gold medals, the silver medal in the 2011 Pan American Games, a co-bronze in the 2011 World Cup, and a fourth-place finish in the 2006 WBC.

Additionally, USA Baseball selects a Collegiate National Team to compete each summer. The top college players across the country are selected to play in numerous exhibitions not only in the U.S., but internationally as well. They play some of the world’s best teams, including a big game between Japan’s Collegiate


All-Stars. Following this game, they face Canada, Cuba, Chinese Taipei, and the Netherlands in an international friendly series. They have found great success in the past as they won the inaugural World Baseball Challenge in 2011. Many notable Major League players once played for this team, including Ryan Howard, David Price, Mark Teixeira, and Ryan Zimmerman.

National Teams are also selected for numerous age groups as well that have yet to reach college. National teams exist for 18U, 15U, and 12U, with National Team Developmental Programs for 17U and 14U. The development programs are centered around getting the best players from around the country ready to perform against International Competition next year through practices, intrasquad scrimmages, and skill development. The 18U National team is a powerhouse internationally, winning their major tournaments every year from 2011-2014. Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw, Buster Posey, and both Upton brothers played for the 18U team in their careers. The 15U and 12U teams have also been very successful, comprised of the best talent in their age group across the country.

In 2004, the USA Women’s National Baseball Team was established, following an open tryout in which 18 players were selected. When not competing, the women’s team is responsible for hosting the development program. With a goal of increasing women’s participation in baseball, they lead clinics and other programs to bring youth into the sport. Their most recent success was the 2014 Silver Medal from the Women’s Baseball World Cup in Japan.

The current marketing strategy of USA Baseball is to provide developmental baseball programs and services to cater to the needs of the community. By providing high quality programs and services, in addition to outstanding customer service at the park, they plan to draw fans in almost naturally. Other direct marketing strategies would be used by the staff to promote the programs, but there is nothing specific. There have not been any direct targeting efforts to bring in new customers. USA Baseball almost expects that with the big names they bring in, the brand name of “USA Baseball,” and the residents that use the complex through various Town of Cary programs like recreational baseball and see how nice it is, be so overcome by the Complex that baseball fans alike almost feel a need to visit. However, through poor marketing, USA Baseball is failing to reach the sales they could in Ticket Sales at the Training Complex as well as memorabilia sales within the Team Store in the Complex.


Situational Analysis:Strengths (Internal):

Facilities- The facilities at the National Training Complex are one of a kind. The

main stadium field has 1,800 seats, a full concession stand, and a press box, complete with an official scorer’s room, a sound room, and press row, to give a minor-league feel to the stadium.

- Three training fields are also located on the premises. All fields are 330 feet down the Left and Right Field lines and 400 feet to Dead Center. Fields are all maintained by the Town of Cary and are constantly kept in great condition.

Strong History- USA Baseball has been the national governing body of amateur

baseball in the United States since 1978.- Many big-time players have come through USA Baseball. Whether it

be through the 18U Team or Collegiate National Team, many of baseball’s stars represented USA Baseball early in their career. With such a great history of success, many current players are destined for the same success, and USA Baseball offers the opportunity to watch them now.

- With a strong performance in the 2017 WBC, interest in USA Baseball will be higher with a more successful team. The United States has been historically competitive in every competition, and watching your country’s national baseball team is a rare opportunity.

Number of Teams- With the Major and Minor League National Teams, the Collegiate

National Team, the 18U, 15U, and 12U teams, as well as the 17U and 14U, USA Baseball provides an opportunity to watch the top talent at every level. Youth players can watch the top players in their age group as well as the top talent in the country with the professional and collegiate teams.

Location- Centrally located in Cary, NC


- A large number of high schools and middle schools surround the National Training Complex, as well as a few colleges.

- Cary is full of baseball fans, with travel baseball, recreational leagues, school teams, and Legion Baseball full of players every year.

- The Town of Cary hosts multiple recreational baseball games at the complex each Spring and Fall, so many people who would not normally visit the complex get the chance to see the complex are able to come visit and even play on the fields.

Weaknesses (Internal): Lack of Community Outreach

- Little effort to reach youth recreational and competitive baseball leagues.

- Little involvement with schools or local businesses in an attempt to bring in more fans.

- With such a poor outreach, many local residents are unaware of the complex’s existence.

Team Store- Store is poorly advertised throughout complex. Little to no advertising

is found, and there is little mention of the store during games as well. - Store is relatively unorganized. Can be cluttered, especially in the

back. Workers in store do not seem knowledgeable of complex as well.

- Improper advertising online for team store as well. Little mentioned on main page of website to entice visitors to buy memorabilia, especially after WBC victory.

Town of Cary- With the Town of Cary owning and operating the National Training

Complex, any changes to the park must be approved by them. They cannot operate independently as a part of USA Baseball.

Players- Due to other sponsorships or recognition away from USA Baseball,

many player’s affiliation with USA Baseball are not even recognized. Fans do not realize the players of each team, so they do not come out to watch.


Opportunities (External): Game Coverage

- Stadium Field has stand in Center Field which allows for Live Recording of Games.

- If game cannot be played on live TV, the game is available to be streamed online.

- Press box in stadium, along with announcer, scorekeeper, and press row, gives a Minor-League feel to the stadium.

Use of Technology- During all major tournaments at USA Baseball, a software called

“GameChanger” is used to officially score each game. By scoring each game in this app, every player’s stats for the entire tournament are consolidated and each player is able to see their final tournament stats.

- “TrackMan” is used to live cast each game with pitch by pitch updates. Each play is shown and various stats for the play are presented, such as Exit Velocity (off the bat), Distance, Pitch Velocity, etc.

Social Media Outreach- USA Baseball has various social media accounts (Twitter, Instagram,

etc.) that showcase events and highlights.- Also shows results from competitions USA Baseball participates in.- Send out promotions and discounts at team store through social media

advertising.

Threats (External) Local Competition

- Baseball Durham Bulls Carolina Mudcats Holly Springs Salamanders NC State, UNC, Duke

- Other Professional Sports


Carolina Hurricanes NC FC

Non-Affiliation- USA Baseball is not affiliated with any specific league. It is hard to

get behind a team with constantly changing rosters that only plays occasionally.

- With many games being exhibitions, it is hard to draw up excitement, even if it is some of the top talent in the country.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP): USA Baseball brings in the top talent from every age group. From 12U to its

Professional Teams, the players who represent the United States are the best the country has to offer. With top high school and college prospects featured in various tournaments every year, fans have the chance to come see baseball’s future stars before they hit the big leagues. USA Baseball can use this to their advantage as they are located in Cary, a huge baseball area. With numerous baseball teams in the area, there is ample opportunities to watch a baseball game, but at USA Baseball, fans can see some of Major League Baseball’s future players and all-stars, or in the case of the Professional Team, a team full of all-stars. USA Baseball features the best competition around.

“USA Baseball: The primary source of competitive baseball for the patriotic baseball fan since 1978.”


Competitor AnalysisCary is very close to Raleigh, North Carolina, so competition for USA Baseball is very high. Despite how competitive the environment to bring in fans is, little is done to reach these fans. Sports are a big entertainment source in Raleigh. With college rivalries between Duke, UNC and NC State always strong, drawing fans away from this rivalry, in addition to their interest in other baseball teams and other sports completely to USA Baseball has shown to be difficult.

As the Triangle itself is very big on baseball, there are a lot of venues for the baseball fan to see a game. With NC State, Duke and UNC all being so close, many college students and fanatics would rather watch their school’s attempt to triumph over one of the other two local schools, in addition to the other competition in the ACC. NC State & UNC have been fairly successful in baseball over the past few years, so many fans are very engaged in this season until it is over. Seeing which area school did the best throughout the season is always important to many locals.

In addition to the college baseball in the area, Minor League teams also exist, which takes away much of USA Baseball’s customer base. Fans are interested in seeing the affiliated team at the beautiful Durham Bulls Athletic Park. With the ACC Tournament held there, as well as all the Durham Bulls home games, the DBAP provides many baseball fans the environment they desire when attending a baseball game. With various promotions, such as kids running the bases, fireworks, beer nights, fans are constantly drawn out to the stadium. Mid-inning promotions keep fans engaged and provide a strong home field advantage for the Bulls. This has led to their past success in their performance. The fan engagement and success the Bulls have seen keep fans coming season after season.

The Carolina Mudcats are another Minor-League Team in the area. Located in Zebulon, North Carolina, the Mudcats play at Five-County Stadium. As the Stadium, suggests, it draws fans from the five surrounding counties. This is a popular destination for additional baseball fans on this side of Raleigh. Five County Stadium provides a great family experience, and has been a popular destination for families and camps to come watch a game for many years.


The Coastal Plain League also has a team in the area called the Holly Springs Salamanders. This is a collegiate summer baseball league, and this manages to draw many fans away from USA Baseball as well. Many local players that went on to play in college come back to play on this team for the summer, so friends and family of these players all come to see the players they know play in Holly Springs as opposed to the top talent USA Baseball has to offer. They were formed in 2014, and have since had three Draft Picks from the team (21st, 31st, and 38th round picks in 2015/2016).

With all the baseball in the area, there are additional sports threatening USA Baseball’s attendance as well. The Carolina Hurricanes are a professional hockey team located in Raleigh. For the most part, the seasons do not coincide, so attendance is not too threatened. The end of hockey season signals the beginning of baseball season. However, these hockey fans need another source of entertainment during hockey’s off season. These fans present a potential customer base, as we know they are sports fans. However, hockey fans’ love of action sometimes leaves them looking for more when watching baseball, so many fans are lost to hockey for this reason.

Another professional team in the area is NC FC. Located in Cary as well, soccer is constantly tearing baseball fans away. With the new rebranding of NC FC to combine the RailHawks & CASL, soccer’s influence in Raleigh is increasing rapidly. Soccer’s heavy influence is taking baseball fans away and bringing their interest towards soccer. With baseball fans losing interest and finding other sports as a source of entertainment, NC FC is an even bigger threat now than ever.


Customer Analysis(Information from USA Baseball and SBRnet)

Average Attendance:

1,127 fans attended the National Training Complex during the 2016 summer months of May-August.

Geographic Location:

Many of the fans that attend USA Baseball games are parents of athletes competing from all across the United States.

The small number of outside fans come from the surrounding areas of Wake County, in Raleigh.

Gender (Minor League Wide) *:

In 2016, fans were exactly 55.2% male and 44.8% female.

Age (Minor League Wide) *:

In 2016, 5.1% of fans were between 13-17 27.5% between 18-34 23.6% between 35-49 25.7% between 50-64 18.2% were 65+

Average Income (Minor League Wide) *:

In 2016, 33.4% made between $50,000-$99,000 33.6% made over $100,000

Geographic Region (Minor League Wide) *:

In 2016, the Northeast represented 20.6% of fans


The Midwest represented 24.6% The South represented 37.7% The West represented 17.1%

Purchasing: Sports Logo Apparel (Minor League Wide) *:

In 2016, 19.5% of fans purchased sports logo apparel either online or at a game

23.9% of fans attended a game and purchased apparel there 42.5% of fans purchased apparel online

*No statistics could be gathered specifically about USA Baseball or youth baseball overall.

Summary: Analyzing the customers of USA Baseball and Minor-League baseball as a whole allows us to get a better understanding of who USA Baseball is trying to bring in and profit from. Unlike most youth baseball programs, USA Baseball’s target market is from all across the United States. This gives us a unique opportunity to spread awareness of our brand through online and team store sales of logo apparel. As noted above, 42.5% of fans purchased Minor-League logo apparel online. This great because it means most fans are buying online, and someone in California can buy USA Baseball apparel during the offseason.

Specific to Raleigh, there are only two main profiles for fans: families and people associated with USA Baseball (host families, former players in the area, and USA Baseball employees). Businesses comprise a large part of the Raleigh area. It is imperative to utilize the abundance of businesses to grow the awareness of USA Baseball in the Raleigh area. Families are also vital to USA Baseball’s continued success. By bringing young children to the tournaments and having them participate in tournaments, we can create loyal fans that will want to continually return to our programs. It is also important to keep people already involved with USA Baseball active with our brand. They are die-hard USA Baseball fans that can (and do) bring new fans to tournaments and expose them to the greatness of youth baseball. Since the Cary area is predominantly wealthy, and 33.6% of Minor-League baseball fans make over $100,000 per year, there needs to be an added emphasis on researching them and marketing products to them.


Target Market

While every baseball fan is a target for USA Baseball, the main target markets are segmented and detailed below.

Families of players and local familieso Families of players and local families make up a majority of USA

Baseball’s customers.o Families can influence friends and neighbors to come to tournaments

with them.o Families attending games greatly increases the chances of children

becoming life-long fans.o Families of players are more likely to purchase logo apparel.

Local businesses o Increases the potential for mutually beneficial promotional deals.o Local businesses are a great tool to advertise through.o Local businesses offer the chance to expand the community relation

efforts of USA Baseball by networking with the businesses current contacts.

People involved with USA Baseballo They already have deep connections to USA Baseball.o Host families are phenomenal community liaisons between USA

Baseball and potential customers.o Former players are very loyal to USA Baseball and regularly return

for tournaments and make purchases.

Marketing GoalsThe marketing goals of USA Baseball are very important for the continued success of their operation. The goals listed below are taken very seriously and are always at the forefront of the staffs’ minds. The first goal is to accomplish the key aspect of


consumers (moving them up the frequency escalator). The second goal is to increase community presence in the greater Raleigh area. People in Raleigh know about USA Baseball, but they rarely come to tournaments mainly due to the high volume of alternative baseball options. The third goal is to increase sales throughout USA Baseball’s company. Implementing these goals will take time and hard work, but the payoff will be great for the overall brand of USA Baseball.

Value Proposition“We offer the chance to see the future stars of baseball play the game in its purest form; for fun. Our team works hard to provide the best possible services available for youth baseball.”

Marketing StrategiesTo meet the goals of USA Baseball presented above, USA Baseball has developed two strategies. The first is to increase community relations efforts by 15%. This means partnering with new businesses to increase their presence in the Raleigh area. The second strategy is to increase overall team store sales by 20% both online and in the brick-and-mortar store located at the National Training Complex. There has been little effort in the past to increase awareness of the team store by USA Baseball, and they have seen sales fall slightly over the past three years.

Marketing Tactics


Use Current Community Partners:

USA Baseball has some current community connections, but they are mostly government agencies like the Cary, Durham, and Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. The problem with this is USA Baseball cannot go to these locations to promote their brand. They could potentially set up an advertising agreement with these agencies, but that could become extremely costly with little chance of generating desired results. This does provide the opportunity to get information from the government agencies about other businesses they could partner with, though.

USA Baseball does have a partnership with the Durham Bulls, which provides them with the opportunity to go to games and increase fan awareness of USA Baseball. Fan awareness can be increased by setting up a promotional stand and letting customers get upcoming tournament schedules. They can also use this opportunity to speak with representatives of some of the Bulls’ partners in hopes of setting up further meetings with said partner.

Promote/Advertise with Local Businesses/Restaurants:

Raleigh is one of the fastest growing cities in America. There seems to be an almost endless amount of opportunities to partner with local businesses and restaurants and run promotions with them or advertise in their respective business. Many of the restaurants, especially around NC State’s campus, are sports themed already so the promotions and/or advertisement would not seem out of place. Seeing that USA Baseball is already a fairly successful company, there should be little chance of businesses turning down this opportunity.

USA Baseball can run promotions that include bringing your tournament wristband or weekend pass to a restaurant and receive a 20% discount on your meal. They can also place small advertisements with their biggest tournaments covered on them at the front of the restaurants so people see it as they leave.

*See appendix for example advertisements

Add In-House Advertisements for the Team Store:

Currently, the only ways to know about the team store are: if you happen to walk past and notice the small foldout sign that says “TEAM STORE OPEN,” play on


the stadium field where they make one announcement about the team store, or if you have been before and know about the store. The marketing efforts for the team store need to ramped up for people to gain awareness of it. The team store should be marketed more because they offer unique merchandise including game worn jerseys from their professional level team.

To increase awareness of the team store USA Baseball should add in-house advertisements throughout the National Training Complex. They currently have advertisements up for tournaments that have already been played, so they can replace those with the advertisements. They should place the signs by the main stadium field as well as the central area in between the three back fields so people walking to and from those fields will be sure to see them. This will not only increase awareness, but sales as well.

*See appendix for example in-house advertisements

Use Social Media to Advertise the Team Store:

The social media accounts for USA Baseball currently do very little to advertise the team store. Every once in a while, they will send out a tweet mentioning the online store and the team store, but they do very little to help increase sales. Their Twitter account has over 14,000 followers which is a decent amount. By sending out more tweets about the store, they can sell to people all over the country.

The employee who runs the USA Baseball social media accounts will start uploading Facebook posts and tweets every week to increase awareness of the store. During the off season this will increase online sales, and in the summer, it will increase the brick-and-mortar store’s sales as well.

Implementation and ControlGantt Chart



Budget

*Note: USA Baseball owns multiple tents and tables for Durham Bulls games

*Note: Using current community partners and social media to advertise the store are listed as tactics but are not shown on the chart because the cost for them is $0.00


EvaluationAs an organization, we believe the marketing plan laid out here is the best possible way to reach our customers. The plan allows for the retention of current customers as well as new ones. The new tactics will facilitate the growth of our brand and increase sales, all while providing valuable benefits for the customers. We will be saving the organization money by having such a small budget to make these tactics happen. We will measure our success by the amount of sales and businesses we have partnered with by the end of the 2018 season. We fully expect to not only meet our goals, but to exceed them. All of our efforts are in hopes of increasing USA Baseball’s popularity and bringing America’s pastime back to the forefront of the sporting world.


AppendixPoster Ad for Restaurant Discount:


Small Ad for Front of Restaurants:



In-House Advertisement 1:


In-House Advertisement 2:


References:About. (n.d.). Retrieved May 03, 2017, from http://web.usabaseball.com/about/

Market Research/Demographics. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05, 2017, from http://www.sportsmarketanalytics.com/research.aspx?subrid=715

National Training Complex. (n.d.). Retrieved May 03, 2017, from http://web.usabaseball.com/about/ntc.jsp

Schedules. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05, 2017, from http://web.usabaseball.com/schedules.jsp?type=t2491

Town of Cary. (n.d.). Retrieved May 03, 2017, from http://www.townofcary.org/recreation-enjoyment/facilities/usa-baseball-national-training-complex

USA Baseball NTC Business Plan (pp. 1-55, Business Plan). (2009). Cary, NC: Town of Cary. doi: ftp://pubfiles.townofcary.org/Parks,%20Recreation%20&%20Cultural%20Resources/PRCR%20Master%20Plan/Materials%20Request/Business%20Plans/Sports%20Venues/USA%20Business%20Plan.pdf


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scottfloccocom.files.wordpress.com · Web viewWhat sets USA Baseball apart is its ability to bring the top prospects to the complex, however, they still struggle to fill the seats