THINGS WON’T CHANGE UNTIL THERE’S CHANGE
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Working in Major League Baseball sounds like fun, right?Unless you’re Catherine Aker, Vice President of Marketing, Communication and Community for the Oakland Athletics.
No disrespect to Aker. According to her LinkedIn bio she has been employed by the A’s for six years and four months. On paper, Aker is a rock star. Her profile in the Athletics 2022 media guide says:
In 2017, Aker became just the second female vice president for the Club and first in nearly 30 years. She began her career with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001 and quickly rose to become Director of Corporate Communications. After nearly 10 seasons with the D-backs, she took a short hiatus from baseball to start a family before founding her own consulting firm and nonprofit organization.
Aker formed the Women of the A’s, which provides networking opportunities along with professional and leadership development for the team’s female staff. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Women’s Sports Foundation and Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area. She was awarded the 2017 Oakland Digital’s Community Leader, the 2018 Emerging Leader for East Bay Women in Business, and was named as one of the 2019 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times. Aker was also a member of the 2018 class of 40 Under 40 for the San Francisco Business Times and Diablo Magazine.
No question she loves baseball, and the business. Clearly, she is a determined leader, who in the face of adversity behaves like a firefighter by running into the flames instead of away from them. By no means is this an indictment of Aker, who is stuck in the middle of an ugly situation.
Define ugly.
Easy.
Consider this set of data points:
Home opener attendance typically reveal how the “home team” is being received by the fan base and community. After drawing 17,000 for their home Opening Day vs. Baltimore Orioles, attendance plummeted the next two games (3,748 and 2,703, respectively). The sparse crowd of 2,703 in the third game of the series marked the lowest single game attendance in 42 years (2,443 vs. Texas Rangers on September 9, 1980).
Team president Dave Kaval is “working overtime to alienate A’s fans,” wrote Craig Calcaterra in his newsletter today.
I am curious, Mrs. Aker, how do you market a product when the ownership group is openly taking shots at the fan base on social media? How do you overcome the challenge of public perception? How do you counter the annual fire sale of talented players that keep payroll at the bottom of MLB? How do you increase attendance, season ticket prospects, and single game attendance when the team is planning to leave Oakland? What is the value proposition? How do you encourage and build culture when your marketing team gets an earful from angry fans? What keeps you personally coming back to the ballpark day-after-day? Do you still jump out of bed in the morning, excited to go to work?
There is no winning streak, no discount ticket package, no in-game promotion, no visiting star that will – or can – solve the Athletics woes.
As a marketing and communication professional, I have experienced similar circumstances. My experience tells me, things won’t change until there is change. It may sound like a word puzzle but think about it. The only way to regenerate the franchise is through change, either by relocation, sale, or force.
Sadly, this storied franchise with a short, but wildly successful history, has come to the crossroads.
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| Team | Attendance | Average Attend/Game | Payroll | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 242,605 | 20,217 | $78,860,000 | 3:05 |
| Atlanta Braves | 448,131 | 37,344 | $136,700,000 | 3:11 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 155,293 | 25,882 | $45,050,000 | 3:14 |
| Boston Red Sox | 233,414 | 33,345 | $182,420,000 | 3:10 |
| Chicago Cubs | 303,339 | 30,334 | $113,460,000 | 3:06 |
| Chicago White Sox | 150,944 | 18,868 | $163,958,334 | 3:09 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 145,452 | 20,779 | $110,682,381 | 3:05 |
| Cleveland Guardians | 73,817 | 12,303 | $64,060,000 | 2:59 |
| Colorado Rockies | 336,993 | 33,699 | $105,605,000 | 3:09 |
| Detroit Tigers | 255,388 | 21,282 | $117,240,000 | 3:02 |
| Houston Astros | 214,273 | 35,712 | $164,025,000 | 3:14 |
| Kansas City Royals | 154,547 | 15,455 | $83,360,000 | 3:03 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 393,199 | 32,767 | $177,063,095 | 3:11 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 339,941 | 48,563 | $289,311,999 | 3:03 |
| Miami Marlins | 94,862 | 13,552 | $58,750,000 | 3:11 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 205,260 | 25,658 | $136,291,627 | 3:08 |
| Minnesota Twins | 190,884 | 17,353 | $121,417,857 | 3:05 |
| New York Mets | 192,570 | 27,510 | $252,823,333 | 3:16 |
| New York Yankees | 430,740 | 35,895 | $198,200,714 | 3:15 |
| Oakland Athletics | 55,598 | 7,943 | $50,248,334 | 3:02 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 347,542 | 28,962 | $203,938,461 | 3:12 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 100,157 | 12,520 | $37,925,000 | 3:09 |
| San Diego Padres | 383,104 | 38,310 | $154,522,620 | 3:04 |
| Seattle Mariners | 224,458 | 24,940 | $63,335,000 | 3:08 |
| San Francisco Giants | 258,018 | 32,252 | $134,929,667 | 3:01 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 274,198 | 39,171 | $153,414,666 | 3:09 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 162,287 | 13,524 | $86,104,211 | 3:00 |
| Texas Rangers | 212,508 | 23,612 | $120,176,667 | 3:13 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 279,252 | 31,028 | $165,705,857 | 3:06 |
| Washington Nationals | 259,957 | 19,997 | $125,051,666 | 3:14 |
Spoke with A’s team president Dave Kaval about his Twitter storm that got a lot of local and national attention, and here’s his explanation (along with why he attacked a seagull): https://t.co/MLcdp00mMM via @sfchronicle
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) April 28, 2022
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The Oakland Athletics are eyeing two sites on the Las Vegas resort corridor as favorites for a potential ballpark in Southern Nevada, team president Dave Kaval said Tuesday.https://t.co/HxOwth2VTw
— Sporting Green (@SportingGreenSF) April 27, 2022
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First pitch at Coliseum pic.twitter.com/6aNyw4WMcg
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) April 20, 2022
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Special night at Coliseum (5-1 win in home opener) as Mark Kotsay talks up what he calls “the A’s Way” — here’s what the new manager means: https://t.co/wKFpOWW8AE via @sfchronicle
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) April 19, 2022
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