The Colorado Rapids entered a partnership with the city of Denver's tourism initiative Tuesday, promoting "mile-high" bargains including $52.80 packages that include free Rapids tickets to those staying at participating hotels in the Denver metro area.
From Rapids managing director Jeffrey Plush's perspective, any tourism efforts could be well-directed at getting his soccer club to visit their own home field as they enter the final week of a full month-long stretch of four consecutive away matches.
Though they've only played one home game so far, a March 28 victory against Kansas City, the Rapids haven't lost in three matches since then, and the box office for their second home game on April 25 against L.A. reflects building interest in the team's success despite the challenging economic times.
"It's hard to say whether they're tied together yet," Plush said of whether the team's strong start is leading to increased attendance. "We're having some success for our next home game, but it might be because they haven't been home in so long. We know that in any sport, the better they play, the more they win, the more people start to fall in love with the idea of winning, which is always fun. When the team performs, it makes it fun for everyone."
The Rapids are one of three professional sports teams already supporting the effort to offer special bargains to out-of-town visitors, alongside the Colorado Rockies and the Denver Outlaws. Additional teams are expected to follow the lead of the soccer, baseball, and lacrosse franchises.
"Tourism will be the first thing to bring us out of a bad economy," said Richard Scharf, the president and CEO of Visit Denver, noting that the tourist industry is the largest employer of women, minorities, and minors in Colorado. The new initiative hopes to build on the success of Denver's recent "Restaurant Week," when 298,000 meals were sold as special $52.80 deals.
The Rapids are partnering with 14 area hotels to provide free tickets as part of "5280" packages, and the team is making tickets available for any game during the season, including their perpetually sold-out 4th of July match with the Chicago Fire. The "5280" moniker and marketable price tag comes from Denver's mile-high elevation of 5,280 feet above sea level.
"We're looking for any way that we can provide economic stimulus to this community," Plush said. "The concept is to give back to the community and give back to the outlying communities who might want to travel in to Denver. Tough times are when you show your customer how much you value them. Our mentality was to provide real value, not just $1 off."
Plush shared the stage with Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who stressed that projections show more people intend to stay closer to home this summer, and that Denver can benefit by providing "less expensive, higher quality opportunities" as the largest city within 500 miles.
Plush estimates roughly 15 percent of the Rapids fan base travels from out of town specifically to see high quality and relatively inexpensive professional soccer matches, whether coming from up and down the Front Range, from the Western Slope, or from out of state. Season ticket holders routinely travel from New Mexico and Wyoming, often driving 400 miles roundtrip to see the Rapids. With hotels in Denver typically running from $110 on a slow weekend to $600 when a major convention is in town, the $52.80 price for a hotel room with the added perk of free soccer tickets or other cultural offerings is a tough offer to turn down.
"It might be someone coming in from Dallas or Chicago or Telluride that's never been to our stadium, never been to a professional soccer match," Plush said of the target of the "5280" initiative. "If we can get them into our building the first time, we feel confident that our product speaks for itself."
For now, the excitement is focused on the field, where the Rapids have rebounded from a First Kick loss to win two league matches and an Open Cup play-in game and to draw the defending MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew on the road last weekend.
"It would be naïve to think that we aren't going to be a little bit down," Plush said of the hit the team could take at the gate as a result of the economy, which they are trying to forestall with the 5280 initiative.
"We'll see. Keep working hard. [Head coach] Gary [Smith] and the boys are doing their part to make the product compelling. We've just got to keep supporting them. We're combining [our value programs] with a team that has a purpose in the way they're playing and a real spirit in the changing room. That's how you achieve things. We feel good about where we're going."
Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
