7A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

The opportunity I will be exploring is how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team are unable to consistently sell out the stadium due to the lack of a fan experience and the prevalence of television deals

Who? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization
What? Inability to consistently sell out the stadium
Why? Lack of a fan experience in the stadium and the prevalence of television deals

Hypothesis: I believe the improvement of the fan experience within the stadium will attract more fans and create a dynamic fan culture within the city. The buccaneers have not been a successful team really at all in the past 15 years which has had a large effect on fan attendance. Another huge factor affecting fan attendance is the lack of a fan experience in the stadium. What this means is that fans are preferring to watch the game in the comfort of their own home because attending the games does not provide the fan with enough consumer utility for the price they are paying. Creating an exciting fan experience will bring fans to the games which has a large impact on team revenue.

In order to decipher whether this opportunity can be exploited, I conducted five interviews asking about this potential opportunity. The interviewees will remain anonymous out of respect for their privacy.

1 - The first person I interviewed is Buccaneers season ticket holder of 17 years.Upon asking him about the lack of sellout games, he attributed that mostly to the teams lack of success. When I mentioned the idea of the lack of a fan experience, he seemed intrigued, but did not seem to care as the football is all that matters to him. He did add that making the games cheaper and adding amenities to the stadium would most likely bolster ticket sales and "hopefully get us back in the playoffs"

2 - The next person I interviewed was that man's wife. Despite her husband having season tickets for 17 years, she has only been to 2 games. She attributed that to her lack of interest in football and how if she wanted to watch the game, she would "rather not pay to sweat the whole game when it's free to watch at home". When asking her if she would join her husband at more games if they fan experience throughout the stadium was improved, she said she would consider, but loves the idea.

3 - The third person I interviewed was a Buccaneers fan living a few towns away from Tampa. He was a big Bucs fan, but said he did not go to as many games as he wish he could because it was "too much money to drive that far". He added that going to games the previous times he had were underwhelming due to the expense for food and drink in the stadium, the humid heat, and lack of intrigue, especially when the Bucs were losing. He was doubtful of the feasibility of the idea of upgrading the fan experience, but was almost begging for it to happen so he would want to go to more games.

4 - The fourth person who I interviewed was the mover employed by the Buccaneers to move their equipment for away games. Since he has free tickets to every home game with VIP access, he did not see the need for upgrading the fan experience, but he did say he would like to see more fans attend the game so if that would do it, he would be all for it.

5 - The last person I interviewed was a UF student wearing a Buccaneers shirt on Campus. She said her dad has always been a huge fan and she loved going to the games with him when she was younger. Bucs' games for her represented some of the best moments of her childhood so she did not think there was a need for upgrading the fan experience. She did add it obviously could not hurt to add more to the fan experience and that her memories could be a little biased due to it having been 7 years since she has actually attended a game in Raymond James Stadium.

In conclusion, I've learned that others share my notion that upgrading the fan experience in the Buccaneers stadium would be a good idea to attract more fans to come to games. One thing I would say I learned from the interviews is that people do not have nearly as much interest in something if it does not directly impact their lives.