The Potential Role of Marketing in Promoting Free Enterprise in the U.S.: A Study Involving Minor League Baseball and Ticket- Sales Revenue Maximization

The objective of this study is identify key factors that determine the ticket-sales revenue of minor league baseball teams and, in doing so, to verify that marketing strategies can lead to greater success for free enterprise in this milieu. To ensure greater comparability of data between teams and hence greater relevance of the results, this study focuses upon a single grouping of minor league teams, the Carolina League, and a single minor league baseball season, 2006. The minor league teams studied are treated as constrained ticket-sales revenue maximizers. Although certain forms of marketing prove ineffective (2-for 1 beer specials, bands or concerts) in promoting ticket-sales revenue, several marketing tools at the disposal of these minor league teams are found to be highly statistically and financially significant in elevating ticket-revenue sales, including fireworks displays, low-value merchandising, high-value merchandising, and food/drink specials, as well as occasional family discounts and group discounts, suggesting that even in such a constrained environment, the free market works and marketing strategies can promote private enterprise.