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In this episode, Jeremy breaks down one of the most overlooked—but most profitable—windows in the entire sports marketing calendar: Q5, the five-to-seven-day stretch between Christmas and New Year’s. While big advertisers shut down campaigns and CPMs plummet, fans are at home scrolling with gift cards, holiday cash, and a “treat yourself” mindset. Jeremy explains why Q5 consistently delivers cheaper traffic, higher conversions, and a massive edge for teams who prepare simple, compelling offers. You’ll walk away with tactical ideas, best practices, and pitfalls to avoid so you can win that week without increasing your budget.

Key Topics Covered

• What Q5 is and why marketers consider it the “hidden fifth quarter.”
• Why ad costs drop 20–50% and how sports teams can capitalize
• The psychological mindset of fans between Christmas and New Year’s
• The four big benefits of Q5: cheaper ads, impulse buying, treat-yourself energy, and better-performing creative
• Tactical promos perfect for Q5: mystery packs, January/February packs, flash offers, family-focused bundles
• Why storytelling ads and light content crush during this window
• What NOT to do during Q5 (complicated offers, pausing spend, ignoring warm audiences)
• How Q5 builds momentum for January–March ticket sales

Suggested Timestamps

00:00 — What is Q5 and why sports teams ignore it
01:06 — Why advertisers disappear (and why that's good for you)
03:33 — Cheaper CPMs, CPCs, and conversions: the Q5 advantage
05:55 — The “treat yourself” mindset and holiday buyer psychology
08:15 — Q5 offer ideas: mystery packs, winter ticket packs, flash promos
10:27 — Using content to cheaply warm audiences
11:38 — Q5 cautions and best practices
12:49 — Final thoughts + why Q5 is the easiest win of the year

Call to Action

Got a Q5 idea you want to pressure test? Want help shaping an offer, promotion, or ad angle for that week? Send Jeremy a message or schedule a quick 10–20 minute call to brainstorm your Q5 plan and set up your January–March sales for a major lift.

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Buyout nights are one of the most misunderstood tools in sports marketing. Some teams swear by them — others won’t touch them with a ten-foot pole. In this episode, Jeremy breaks down exactly why buyout nights can be a revenue machine and a sponsor slam dunk… but also how they can quietly erode your ticketing strategy, overwhelm your operations, and reposition your brand as the “free entertainment option” in your community.

You’ll learn the financial upside, the hidden dangers, the operational realities, and a step-by-step framework for running buyout nights with intention — including the essential data capture, segmentation, bounce-back offers, and sponsor recaps that turn a one-night giveaway into long-term revenue.

Whether you’ve done buyout nights for years or you’re debating your first one, this episode gives you the guardrails you need to do them right.

Key Topics Covered

✔ What Buyout Nights Are (and the Two Main Formats Teams Use)

• Full buyout: A sponsor pays a lump sum so the entire community gets in free
• Partial buyout: A sponsor buys a block of deeply discounted tickets (e.g., $2–$4 each) for employees or a defined segment

✔ Why Buyout Nights Work — When They Work

• Guaranteed revenue upfront, regardless of opponent, weather, or win-loss record
• Perfect for teams in unpredictable climates or with volatile attendance rhythms
• Creates a “manufactured” packed house that directly enhances game entertainment
• Strengthens sponsor relationships through visibility, goodwill, and community impact
• Functions as a massive sampling event for new or casual fans
• Acts as one of the cheapest fan acquisition channels when data is captured properly

✔ The Hidden Downsides Most Teams Ignore

• Training your market to wait for free tickets (the “coupon culture” problem)
• Risk of season ticket holders questioning their investment
• Free/discounted attendees spend less, engage less, and convert less
• Turning your brand into the low-price entertainment option in town
• Sponsor expectations ballooning after their first successful buyout night
• Operational meltdowns when attendance jumps from 2,000 to 7,000 unexpectedly
• Lost marketing value if fan data isn’t collected every single time

✔ Why Email & Contact Capture Is Non-Negotiable

• Turning “visitors” into “buyers” starts with having their information
• Free ticket = free lead… only if you set the system up correctly
• Simple Google Form strategy: name, email, phone, zip, and one qualifying question
• How these leads power future meta audiences, family offers, and retargeting campaigns
• Why collecting data turns buyout night into one of your highest ROI events of the season

✔ The Guardrails That Make Buyout Nights Actually Work

1. Have a clear bounce-back offer ready within 24–48 hours
   A simple, low-friction “Come back for $10 next week” offer turns the spike into repeat revenue.
2. Segment your messaging for higher conversions
   Families, young adults, and potential group leads should each get their own targeted follow-up.
3. Deliver a premium sponsor recap
   Include impressions, attendance, photos, social metrics, and activation highlights.
   This is what turns one buyout ni

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In this episode, Jeremy breaks down one of the strangest ticket offers he’s ever seen—a “mystery pack” that moved nearly 700 opening day tickets months before first pitch. He unpacks why fans lined up to buy something they couldn’t fully see, using four key levers: price, surprise, giftability, and game-specific demand. You’ll walk away with plug-and-play mystery pack ideas you can adapt for your team this season.

Key Topics Covered

• The “Mystery Pack” Breakdown – How a minor league team sold 100 packs at $50 and 70 more at $40, pre-selling almost 700 opening day tickets in November.
• The 4 Levers That Make It Work – Price, surprise, giftability, and game-specific demand—and how each one lowers friction and boosts perceived value.
• The No-Brainer Floor Test – Why your base offer (even without the mystery items) has to pass a simple, “Would I buy this anyway?” sniff test.
• Designing Smart Surprise – How to keep the experience known and only make the extras mysterious so the offer feels fun, not risky.
• Turning Packs into Perfect Gifts – Structuring bundles that can go under the tree, into a stocking, or become an easy “one and done” gift for families, dads, or grandparents.
• Game-Specific Demand & Early Momentum – Using mystery packs to pre-sell your keystone nights (Opening Night, fireworks, theme nights, etc.) and build urgency months in advance.
• Ready-to-Use Mystery Pack Templates – Kids Holiday Pack, Father’s Day Dad Box, Theme Night Mystery Pack, and National Ice Cream Day bundle you can copy and customize.
• Guardrails So It Doesn’t Backfire – Avoiding junky merch, setting quantity limits, nailing fulfillment, and tracking new buyers, usage, and per caps to prove ROI.

Episode Chapters & Timestamps

• 00:00 – Introduction to the Mystery Pack Promotion
• 01:21 – The Offer That “Shouldn’t Work”… But Does
• 07:06 – The Four Key Levers: Price, Surprise, Giftability, Game Demand
• 13:53 – Pre-Selling Opening Night & Keystone Games
• 19:54 – Plug-and-Play Mystery Pack Ideas You Can Steal
• 23:37 – Guardrails, Metrics, and Final Checklist

Call to Action

Testing a mystery pack this season—holiday, Father’s Day, theme night, or something wild your GM dreamed up? Jeremy wants to see it. Send your offer, pricing, and results his way, or head to SportsMarketingMachine.com to schedule a call and workshop your own mystery bundle that makes fans say, “I don’t totally know what’s in it, but I’d be dumb not to buy it.”

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