Cardinals flying high into third season

Second-season attendance figures were strong for the club. Per-game attendance was more than 7,300. That’s down only 2 percent from the team’s inaugural season, despite having removed more than 700 seats from Hammons Field for additional aisles.

How the team plays, too, undoubtedly has an effect on attendance. The Cards have a 2-3 record through April 10, with all games up to that point on the road. The Cards’ home opener was slated for April 12.

Ticket prices, for both individual games and season tickets, range from $5 to $22.50 each per game. Kirk Elmquist, the team’s vice president of sales and marketing, said the team should match the roughly 4,000 season tickets sold last season, adding that those sales are ongoing. Elmquist declined to provide revenues.

The trick for the team now, according to General Manager Matt Gifford, is to keep overall attendance numbers high. The team isn’t worried about keeping die-hard baseball fans – Gifford calls Cardinal fans “the best fans in baseball.” But the team is putting a lot of effort into retaining fans that aren’t quite as enthusiastic.

“(Our fans) know how to cheer, when to cheer, and even when to cheer for the other team when they do something great,” Gifford said. “We want to make sure we never get away from that respect for our fans and their (baseball) knowledge, but we also want people to have fun at the ballpark.”

Fun for the whole family

The team is adding perks all over the stadium, including some just for kids. The Cardinals signed a five-year contract with Springfield-based Amberg Entertainment to provide inflatable games for children.

While the stadium has had inflatable toys in the past, Gifford said the difference is that Amberg will be changing them between each home game.

“We’ve had fun in the last year by having the same games, but we don’t want kids to get bored with the same games every time,” Gifford said.

“(Amberg) will bring their flavor of entertainment to the ballpark to make it an even better experience for kids and their families,” he added.

The team is also adding a jungle gym and playground area for children down the first-base line, an idea Gifford said came from seeing similar amenities in ballparks in Corpus Christi, Texas, and Wichita, Kan.

Getting ideas from outside sources is not unusual for the team. Gifford said many of the enhancements and new products have come from other ballparks or fan feedback.

One example: the new buffet-style dining in the Redbird Roost, where the $22.50 price of admission includes unlimited food and drink.

“We got some comments from fans saying, for example, they didn’t get enough cheese on their nachos, or they got too much,” he said. “Now, you’ll be able to get whatever you want. Fans saw it at Busch Stadium and really liked it; it becomes a more customer-friendly atmosphere.”

Business and pleasure

Companies in search of a unique way to entertain employees and clients also often visit the ballpark. Elmquist said the team hosts several hundred corporate outings each season for companies, schools and other groups.

Numerous business groups, ranging from local companies such as Corporate Business Systems and Ollis & Company Insurors to large corporations such as Kraft and American National Property and Casualty, take employees to the games.

Ollis & Company President Richard Ollis said his company has had several outings a year at the park, both with company employees and insurance carrier representatives.

“It’s a way where we can get food, mingle around and have a ballgame to watch. We’ve found it to be a great way to entertain,” Ollis said. “Particularly the people from out of town, they love it. They like the new ballpark … and they want to come back again the following year.”

Brian Peltier, vice president and general manager of sponsor Corporate Business Systems, said the company is happy with the value of the experience when entertaining clients.

“Whenever we’ve brought clients out there, and employees as well, it’s been well-received,” he said. “It’s a wonderful place to take folks – it’s a great environment, the facilities are wonderful, and the quality of the product on the field makes it a lot of fun.”

A new option for group outings is the J. Buck’s Patio, a tented area in the right field seats offering a shaded area to watch the game along with a wide variety of menu options.

The patio can be rented by groups for private use and is open to the public when not being rented.

Elmquist said the cost of a group outing at J. Buck’s Patio starts at $12 per person and increases depending on how elaborate the menu gets.

“We have any type of meal you’d like – if you want lobster, our chef can make that for you,” he said. “You can design your own menu.”

Individual luxury suites also become available for some games throughout the season, and Elmquist said those can be rented as well on a per-game basis.

Improving the view

The team also is working to improve the video quality in the stadium.

In addition to adding flat-screen televisions near concession stands showing both Springfield and St. Louis Cardinals games, video presentations on the giant centerfield scoreboard are being enhanced.

Since it began, the team has contracted with Springfield-based Opfer Communications for video work and scoreboard control.

Scott Opfer, president of Opfer Communications, said the team has hired two full-time staff members – Jacob Neimeyer and Jeffrey Johnson – to create new animations and run the scoreboard for each game, tasks formerly done by Opfer staff.

“The intent all along has been to, as the club grows, hand off pieces of this work back to them so that they could become self-sufficient,” Opfer said, adding that his company would continue to produce the “Rumble” video shown before each game. “Our company is in the business of marketing people and products on a national basis, mostly through television. We’re not in the business of baseball entertainment per se.”

One popular spot in the stadium to watch the game is the concourse area, and those fans, Gifford said, haven’t been forgotten either. The team has added nearly 100 cup holders on the railing for those fans, informally dubbed “Railbirds.”

All of those improvements are in line with what Gifford said is the team’s mission.

“We’ve said from Day 1 that the second game should be better than the first game,” he said.

“This will be our 143rd game, and that’s still important – that everything is enjoyable, not just for the die-hard fan, but also for the casual fan.”

Attendance

2006: 492,372 at 67 games (three home games were rained out) – 7,349 per game (average), with a 66-72 record for the season

2005: 526,630 at 70 games – 7,523 per game (average), with a 70-70 record for the season

Springfield Cardinals home dates

April 12–17 vs. Midland RockHounds and Frisco RoughRiders

April 23–30 vs. Wichita Wranglers and Tulsa Drillers

May 5–12 vs. Arkansas Travelers and Wichita

May 28–June 8 vs. San Antonio Missions, Corpus Christi Hooks and Tulsa

June 17–24 vs. Arkansas and Tulsa

July 4–9 vs. Midland and Frisco

July 19–22 vs. Wichita

July 31–Aug. 2 vs. Arkansas

Aug. 8–13 vs. San Antonio and Corpus Christi

Aug. 21–24 vs. Tulsa

Aug. 28–Sept. 3 vs. Wichita and Arkansas[[In-content Ad]]