Amid Sales Slump, Phillies Turn to Groupon To Promote Cheap Game Tickets
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Coming off record-low attendance for last Friday night's game, the Phillies are now offering half-price tickets on a discount web site.
It's a far cry from the 257 consecutive sellouts the Phillies had between 2009 and 2012. Now, for the first time ever, the Phillies are selling tickets on Groupon.
Half-price tickets in the outfield and upper deck are being offered for as little as $8.50 each, for three games: May 8th, 13th, and 16th.
"Every year in ticketing is different," admits the Phillies' vice president for ticket sales, John Weber. "I've been fortunate enough to work for the Phillies since 1987. There's ups and downs. We have to try to adjust to our sales climate."
The season-ticket base is around 12,000 now -- half of what it was during the Phils' five straight division titles. Weber says the Groupon tickets are being offered for six more days.
"It's something we wanted to try, and hopefully our fans that are on the Groupon will go ahead and utilize it," he told KYW Newsradio today.
Weber says the team will evaluate the response, and may use Groupon again this season.