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Big news—Sports Marketing Machine has officially joined forces with Revelocity Sports. But this episode isn’t just about the merger… it’s about what it unlocks for you. Jeremy breaks down why the best teams aren’t just running promotions and ads—they’re building connected marketing systems that drive more ticket sales, better decisions, and stronger fan engagement.

Key Topics Covered

• The big announcement: why Sports Marketing Machine joined Revelocity Sports
• Why most sports teams are running disconnected marketing tactics
• The difference between “busy marketing” and revenue-driving systems
• How connecting your ads, email, data, and CRM unlocks better results
• Why automation creates space for strategy instead of constant execution
• The role of personalization and fan data in driving engagement and sales
• How top teams are building systems that generate momentum over time
• What this partnership means for future insights, strategies, and case studies

Timestamps

• 00:00 — Big announcement: SMM joins Revelocity Sports
• 01:24 — The mission: helping teams sell more tickets and grow their fan base
• 02:48 — Why traditional strategies still work (but aren’t enough alone)
• 03:46 — The shift: from tactics to connected marketing systems
• 05:12 — Disconnected vs. system-driven teams
• 06:08 — How automation changes the role of marketing leaders
• 07:33 — Creating space for strategy and long-term planning
• 08:02 — What stood out about Revelocity Sports
• 08:24 — Shared mission: helping teams and communities thrive
• 09:21 — Data, personalization, and smarter fan communication
• 10:48 — What this means for the future of the podcast
• 12:13 — Developing staff and reducing turnover through education
• 13:08 — Closing thoughts and what’s ahead

Call to Action

If you’ve been focused on improving individual tactics—your ads, your emails, your promotions—this episode will challenge you to think bigger. Start looking at how everything connects. Because that’s where the real growth happens.

And if you’ve been listening to the podcast, get ready—this next chapter is all about bringing you deeper insights, smarter strategies, and real-world examples you can apply immediately.

Links mentioned:

Revelocity Sports - LINK

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Should Sports Teams Eliminate the Ticket Office?

What if your team stopped selling tickets at the window… completely?

In this episode of the Sports Marketing Machine Podcast, Jeremy Neisser breaks down one of the most polarizing ideas in sports ticketing today: going fully digital and eliminating the ticket office altogether. This isn’t a hot take—it’s a strategic conversation about how fans actually buy tickets today, and what teams need to consider before making a major operational shift.

If you're focused on selling more tickets and improving the fan experience, this episode will challenge how you think about your current ticketing model.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why digital-only ticketing is becoming the norm across sports
• The biggest advantage of removing the ticket office: a simpler buying process
• How teams can reduce staffing and operational costs on game day
• Why pushing fans to buy earlier improves data, planning, and revenue opportunities
• The real risk of losing spontaneous, last-minute buyers
• What happens when you remove human interaction from the buying experience
• Why your website and ticketing flow must be frictionless before making the switch
• Jeremy’s benchmark: when 80–90% of your tickets are already sold online
• How to rethink on-site support without a traditional box office
• The most important question every team should ask before making this move

Timestamps

00:00 – Why this is a conversation worth having
02:23 – Do teams still need a ticket office?
04:46 – Simplicity, efficiency, and cost savings
07:09 – The power of digital data and earlier purchases
08:34 – The downside: lost walk-ups and human touchpoints
09:33 – Why your digital experience must be dialed in
11:54 – When it actually makes sense to consider this
14:15 – Improving the buying experience with better tools
15:11 – Why you still need game-day support
16:39 – The key question: what would break?
18:02 – Final takeaway: make it easier to say yes

Key Takeaway

This isn’t about copying what another team is doing.

It’s about understanding how your fans buy tickets—and making it as easy as possible for them to say “yes, I’m coming to the game.”

Share This Episode

If this got you thinking, send it to someone on your team and start the conversation.

And if you found value in this episode, a quick rating or review on Spotify or Apple helps more sports marketers like you discover the show.

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Most teams are asking the wrong question when it comes to theme nights—and it’s costing them ticket revenue. In this episode, Jeremy Neisser breaks down a practical, repeatable framework for building theme nights around real audiences, not random ideas. If you want your promotions to actually sell tickets (and grow year over year), this is the blueprint.

Key Topics Covered

• Why “What theme night should we do?” is the wrong starting point
• The shift from idea-first thinking → audience-first strategy
• The 4-part framework every successful theme night must have:
  • Clear audience
  • Reachable list
  • Organizer/advocate
  • Compelling reason to attend
• How weak theme nights fail (and why they don’t drive group sales)
• Real examples of audience-driven nights (Korean Night, Healthcare Appreciation, Bark in the Park)
• How to evaluate and score your current theme nights for effectiveness
• The role of organizers (coaches, principals, business leaders) in scaling ticket sales
• Building momentum: turning 200-ticket nights into 500+ year-over-year
• Why specificity beats broad appeal when trying to grow attendance

Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction: Why most theme nights don’t work
00:26 – The common mistake teams make when planning promotions
00:54 – Theme nights as audience strategy (not ideas)
01:46 – The wrong question teams are asking
02:16 – Start with audience: the foundation of every successful night
03:15 – Real-world examples of targeted theme nights
04:10 – Build the idea for the audience (not the other way around)
05:07 – The 4-part theme night framework
05:37 – Defining a clear, specific audience
06:05 – Do you actually have a list to reach them?
06:34 – The importance of having an organizer/advocate
07:03 – Creating a compelling reason to rally a group
07:58 – Challenges at the minor league and college level
09:22 – The 4-point filter to evaluate your theme nights
10:20 – Using momentum to grow attendance year-over-year
11:14 – Leveraging past success to scale future nights
12:13 – Why specificity drives results
13:10 – Prioritizing high-impact theme nights
14:07 – Continuous improvement and iteration
15:04 – Final takeaway: audience first, always
15:34 – Wrap-up and next steps

Core Takeaway

Theme nights aren’t promotions—they’re audience acquisition strategies.

If you don’t have:

• A clearly defined audience
• A way to reach them
• Someone to organize them
• A reason for them to show up

…you don’t have a theme night. You have an idea.

Resources & Links

• Previous Episode: Top 10 Theme Nights That Actually Sold Tickets
• Revelocity Sports

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Most teams sit at a 75–85% group renewal rate… but that’s not the goal — it’s the starting point. In this episode, Jeremy breaks down what elite renewal actually looks like, why groups really don’t come back, and how small breakdowns quietly kill retention. If you want to stop rebuilding your book of business every year and start compounding revenue, this is a must-listen.

Key Topics Covered

• Why 75–85% renewal is average — and why 90%+ should be your target
• The hidden cost of low renewal rates (and how it kills efficiency)
• The real reason groups don’t come back: “death by a thousand cuts”
• Why lack of follow-up is the #1 renewal killer (and how to fix it)
• How experience vs. expectation gaps destroy retention
• Turning one-time group outings into long-term relationships
• Simple post-event follow-up systems that drive repeat bookings
• How to segment groups by renewal potential and prioritize the right ones
• Why you’re not selling tickets — you’re selling someone else’s reputation
• The KPIs that actually matter: tracking renewal revenue, not just volume

Timestamps

00:00 – Why renewal rates matter more than you think
00:30 – Industry benchmarks vs. real goals (75–85% vs. 90%+)
01:35 – Renewal rate = reflection of your entire system
02:28 – The compounding impact of lost groups each year
03:53 – Excluding one-time groups from your true renewal rate
04:51 – Why higher renewal = massive efficiency gains
05:20 – “Death by a thousand cuts” — why groups actually leave
05:49 – The #1 mistake: not asking for the renewal
06:45 – No follow-up = no renewal system
07:16 – Experience vs. expectation gaps
08:12 – Group leader pressure: you’re selling their reputation
09:10 – Why transactional thinking kills long-term revenue
09:39 – Creating next steps and ongoing engagement
10:08 – One-time vs. repeatable groups (and how to handle both)
11:04 – Turning situational buyers into repeat customers
12:23 – Game day execution + post-event engagement
12:52 – Using photos and recaps to reinforce the experience
14:35 – Pricing vs. perceived value
15:04 – Positioning your offer as a time-saver
16:55 – Building a simple follow-up sequence (24–72 hours + beyond)
17:21 – Creating urgency for next year’s booking
18:10 – Giving group leaders a “win”
18:39 – Segmenting groups by renewal potential
19:31 – Tracking renewal KPIs that actually matter
21:18 – Why renewal is always improve-able
21:47 – The real takeaway: small issues drive churn
22:17 – Shift from transactional → relationship-based selling
23:13 – Using surveys and feedback to continuously improve

Episodes mentioned:

134: Season Tickets vs Single Game - And How to Convert One Into the Other

139: What Is Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)?

Call to Action

Pull your group sales data from last season and answer two questions:

1. What percentage actually renewed?
2. Why didn’t the others come back?

Then build a simple post-event follow-up system — because without it, you don’t have a renewal strategy… you have a guessing game.

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Trade deals are everywhere in sports—but most teams treat them like “free marketing” instead of what they actually are: untracked investments. In this episode, Jeremy breaks down how trade really works, where it provides value, and why it often fails to drive results. If you’re relying on trade without accountability, this will change how you think about it.

Key Topics Covered

• Why trade isn’t free—and how teams unknowingly give up real revenue
• The right way to use trade: unsold inventory, awareness, and sponsor amplification
• Why trade is almost always a top-of-funnel channel (not a ticket sales driver)
• The biggest mistakes teams make: no tracking, no accountability, wrong expectations
• How media partners often deliver leftover or low-value inventory
• The problem with inflated trade value across different market sizes
• Why digital add-ons (email blasts, banners) are often overvalued and underperforming
• How to treat trade like paid media with promo codes, landing pages, and performance reviews

Timestamps

• 00:00 – Intro: Why trade is everywhere—but rarely measured
• 01:25 – What trade actually is (and why teams love it)
• 02:23 – The “free marketing” illusion
• 03:47 – Why lack of accountability is the real issue
• 04:16 – Where trade actually works (unsold inventory + awareness)
• 05:56 – Budget constraints and why trade is so attractive
• 06:24 – Using trade to enhance sponsorship value
• 08:13 – Creative community exposure opportunities
• 09:08 – Trade = top-of-funnel (not direct response)
• 10:37 – The expectation gap: trade vs. paid media
• 11:07 – The tracking problem (and why nobody knows what works)
• 12:56 – Leftover inventory and bad placements
• 15:18 – Inflated value and market-size mismatches
• 16:00 – Why accountability disappears in trade deals
• 17:09 – The truth about digital add-ons
• 20:31 – How to actually use trade the right way
• 21:22 – What to avoid (high-demand inventory, no tracking)
• 22:47 – Treating trade like real media
• 23:16 – Final takeaways: awareness vs. revenue

Episodes Mentioned:
125 - I saw your ad but didn't buy
111 - Building Your Marketing Budget Like a Funnel

Call to Action

If you’re doing trade deals and not sure if they’re actually working, let’s take a look.
Head over to sportsmarketingmachine.com and schedule a free 30-minute call—I’ll help you evaluate what you’re getting and where you might be leaving revenue on the table.

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Most teams treat in-game promotions as filler between plays. The best teams use them to design the energy of the building.

In this episode, Jeremy breaks down what he observed during a Sacramento Kings game and shares five practical principles he calls Game Entertainment 101. These fundamentals show how smart teams engage thousands of fans at once, create better crowd energy, support sponsors, and even drive revenue during the game.

Whether you work in marketing, ticket sales, or game operations, these lessons can help you create a more intentional and more engaging game-day experience.

Game Entertainment 101 – The 5 Rules

1. Design promotions for thousands, not one person
Too many promotions involve one fan on the field while everyone else watches. The best promotions invite entire sections — or the whole building — to participate. At the Kings game, a themed “Lowrider Cam” had fans pretending to drive lowriders in their seats, turning thousands of fans into part of the entertainment.

2. Timing matters more than the promotion
Crowd prompts like “Make Noise” or decibel meters are most powerful when used strategically. The Kings used them before tip-off, coming out of halftime, and during key late-game moments — when the team needed crowd energy the most.

3. Let the game breathe
The video board shouldn’t demand attention every second. The best game presentations mix high-energy interactive moments with quieter stretches where fans can simply watch the game and take in the atmosphere.

4. Game entertainment should drive revenue
In-game moments are powerful opportunities to promote concessions, merchandise, and sponsors. The Kings tied promotions to specific game moments — like a discount triggered after the team hit its 10th three-pointer — creating excitement while driving sales.

5. Your PA announcer is a crowd conductor
A great PA voice does more than read scripts. They help guide the rhythm of the game — amplifying big moments, supporting promotions, and letting the game breathe when it needs to.

Key Topics Covered

• Why many in-game promotions fail to engage fans
• How to design promotions that involve entire sections
• The importance of timing for crowd prompts and giveaways
• Using game entertainment to drive concessions and sponsor activations
• The role of the PA announcer in shaping the fan experience

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Group ticket buyers aren’t casual fans — they’re planners.

Office managers, HR directors, coaches, and teachers are trying to organize an event without creating more work for themselves. If your group sales page makes them think too hard, they leave.

In this episode, Jeremy Neisser explains how cognitive load quietly kills group sales and shares a simple framework that helps teams make their group pages clearer, faster to understand, and easier to book.

Jeremy also walks through how small changes in messaging — like clearer headlines, pricing cues, and fewer decisions — can dramatically increase group inquiries.

Key Topics Covered

• Why cognitive load is one of the biggest hidden killers of group ticket sales
• The four questions every group sales page must answer immediately
• Why group buyers behave differently than single-game ticket buyers
• How too many packages, options, and paragraphs create friction
• The power of bullet points over paragraphs on sales pages
• Why teams should show starting prices early instead of hiding pricing
• The importance of one clear call-to-action for group buyers
• The “Caveman Test” for instantly evaluating your website clarity

The 4 Questions Every Group Sales Page Must Answer

When a group organizer lands on your page, they are trying to answer four simple questions:

1. Is this for me?
   Show the types of outings immediately (company picnic, youth sports night, church outing, birthday party, etc.).
2. What do I get?
   Use bullet points instead of long paragraphs.
3. What does it cost?
   Even simple starting pricing reduces friction.
4. What do I do next?
   Give one clear action like “Check available dates” or “Get group pricing.”

If buyers have to scroll around and interpret things to figure these out, you’ve created friction.

And confused people don’t buy tickets.

Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction: The hidden killer of group sales
01:28 – What cognitive load actually means
02:30 – Why group buyers behave differently than single-game buyers
04:16 – The four questions every group sales page must answer
05:43 – Why bullet points outperform paragraphs
06:41 – The importance of showing pricing early
07:32 – Simplifying your call-to-action
08:57 – Common mistakes teams make on group sales pages
10:50 – The “Caveman Test” for website clarity
11:48 – Live teardown of a Minor League group sales page
14:06 – Why clarity matters more than traffic

YouTube walk-through video - LINK

Call to Action

If this episode helped you rethink your group sales pages, share it with someone else in sports who’s trying to sell more tickets and grow their fan base.

And if you enjoyed the show, a quick rating or review on Apple or Spotify helps more sports marketers discover the podcast.

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Should your team be selling merchandise on Amazon?

In this episode, Jeremy breaks down the real strategic implications of adding Amazon as a sales channel — from margin math and SEO strategy to customer data ownership and cannibalization risk. If you're responsible for revenue, merchandise, or digital marketing, this is your practical roadmap before you jump in.

Key Topics Covered

• Why Amazon is more search engine than storefront — and why that matters
• The real math behind Amazon’s 15% referral fee
• FBA vs. FBM: Fulfillment by Amazon vs. Merchant fulfillment
• The hidden cost of losing first-party customer data
• Why you should never push your fans from Shopify to Amazon
• How Amazon SEO works (and why semantic SEO matters)
• Why city/state-forward merchandise should launch before team-branded items
• How to prevent Shopify cannibalization
• Pricing strategy: Why you may want to charge more on Amazon
• Using Amazon strictly as an acquisition channel
• Connecting Shopify to Amazon with Marketplace Connect
• Modeling margin before listing a single product

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Selling Merchandise on Amazon
01:59 Why Amazon Is a Powerful Sales Channel
03:48 Revenue Potential During Peak Seasons
05:42 Fulfillment Options: FBA vs FBM
07:08 Understanding Amazon Fees and Margins
08:32 Customer Data Ownership and Marketing Challenges
10:54 The Importance of SEO and Search Demand
13:14 Keyword Strategies and Search Terms
14:58 Starting with City and State Apparel
18:23 Semantic SEO and Listing Optimization
20:12 Connecting Shopify and Amazon
21:32 Getting Started and Learning the Platform
22:29 Pricing, Margins, and Protecting Your Brand
23:25 Strategies to Increase Sales and Customer Lifetime Value
24:46 Balancing Amazon and Shopify for Growth
26:10 Next Steps and Deeper Conversations

Core Strategic Takeaways

1. Amazon is an acquisition engine — not a loyalty platform.
You will gain reach. You will gain visibility. But Amazon owns the customer relationship — not you.

2. Start broad before going branded.
City-forward, state-pride, and general baseball apparel can build search velocity and reviews before you launch deeper team SKUs.

3. SEO is the real game.
Amazon rankings are driven by relevance + performance + conversion velocity. Without visibility, there are no sales.

4. Model your numbers before you move inventory.
Understand your true profit after fees. Align pricing carefully. Consider charging slightly more on Amazon to protect margin.

Resources Mentioned

• Shopify Marketplace Connect
• Marketplace Connect Tips
• Fulfillment by Merchant Overview & Referral Fees
• Amazon Seller Central
• Amazon Seller University
• Semantic SEO research tools
  • Jungle Scout
  • Helium 10

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