Minor league sports is a tough sell in Las Vegas

A flow of new residents from cities with major league teams and an obsession with winners are just two of the factors that make the Las Vegas market difficult for minor league sports.

Few fans have grown up with the Las Vegas Stars and the Las Vegas Thunder, making it difficult for them to gain acceptance and respectability as the city's professional sports teams, said Jon Sandler, director of marketing for both the Stars and Thunder.

The teams are subsidiaries of Mandalay Sports Entertainment, which is owned in part by Hank and Ken Stickney.

The Stars are part of the Pacific Coast League and are the triple-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. As part of the International Hockey League the Thunder have only a minor player development arrangement with the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League.

Sandler, who is also the play-by-play announcer for the Stars, addressed the issue of marketing professional sports in this "unique" market at a luncheon hosted by the Las Vegas chapter of the American Marketing Association.

He said he was proud of the Stars' success over the past 16 years in Southern Nevada, which he called "an absolute graveyard" for professional sports.

Sandler spoke highly of the team's longevity in a market that has seen a number of other professional sports teams fail. He said it was a credit to the fans and to the team that it has become so much a part of the community.

The Stars have managed to operate successfully by marketing themselves as a top family attraction value, Sandler said.

The 15 seasons the Stars have played are the most ever for a professional team in Las Vegas. The Stars are averaging about 4,800 fans per game this season at Cashman Field, which seats more than 9,000. This ranks the team 20th among 30 Triple-A teams nationwide.

Most of the team's revenue comes from a combination of ticket sales and advertising, with some contribution from concessions, he said.

Emphasizing the quality of competition has been key to broadening the base of support for the Stars, Sandler said.

The team relies heavily on the local media to report about the level of minor league play, he said. But he complained the Las Vegas media often does not give the team the respect it deserves.

One message used in the Stars advertising is Las Vegans can see tomorrow's heroes today for only a few dollars.

Sandler said the Stars also emphasize the "great entertainment value" of the event and provide a good all-around product described as clean, pleasant and economical recreation.

The challenge for the Stars is to get people "reinvigorated" about the game, Sandler said. He explained that for some Southern Nevadans the Stars are like Hoover Dam or Mt. Charleston -- just another part of the local landscape.

While the Stars have experienced continued success, the future of the Thunder is uncertain.

Sandler said the team will stay in Las Vegas this season, but it may explore other options if it continues to lose money.

The Thunder lost roughly $1 million this year, thanks in part to high player salaries. Salaries are not a concern for the Stars. The Padres pay all player salaries for their affiliates, including the Stars.

The Thunder marked its fifth anniversary here by averaging 6,600 fans per game last season, down from the previous season's average of around 7,000, in the 12,347-seat Thomas and Mack Center.

Sandler said the Las Vegas market is "winner crazy." He suggested the Thunder experienced early success because it was winning at a time when UNLV basketball was down.

When the Thunder began struggling to win games, it struggled to fill seats as well.

Marketing hockey is a dilemma because some fans are attracted to its violent, aggressive nature while others are not.

The sport is also new for many Las Vegans, making it important to raise awareness about the product.

For both teams the marketing strategy has been similar: It blends a general awareness campaign and an immediate "day-of-the-game" program. Sandler said the general awareness program has been pivotal for the Thunder.

Broadcasting has also played a big role in recent marketing efforts for both teams. Six Stars games this season -- two home and four away -- will be broadcast on local television channel 33 (cable channel 6). This coverage comes in addition to radio broadcasts of all 144 contests.

Games are also shown on cable stations in San Diego, the Stars major league affiliate city. Sandler said coverage of select games will soon be broadcast to other large major league markets with farm teams on the Stars' schedule.

This development should help build the credibility of minor league baseball and the reputation of the Stars, he said.

The coverage should also help the stars sell advertising at Cashman Field to local businesses, he added.

Minor league teams often focus on certain games and offer enticements to sell them out. Sandler explained the goal is to create a sense that the baseball field or the hockey rink is the place to be.

The Stars employed this strategy over the Fourth of July weekend. Fireworks shows after the Thursday and Friday night game were expected to bring in 25,000 fans over the two-day period.

Attendance exceeded expectations with 14,514 on hand Thursday night and a record-setting crowd of 14,855 on Friday -- making these the biggest back-to-back games for attendance in Stars history.

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