Sales & Marketing

MLB’s Phillies turn to Groupon to lift ticket sales

Philadelphia Phillies are again taking to Groupon in a bid to boost poor ticket sales at the start of the Major League Baseball (MLB) season.

According to the Metro website, the Phillies, who once boasted a 257-game sell-out streak that ended in 2012, are expecting poor attendances at the start of the campaign.

It is the third successive year in which the Phillies have used Groupon. However, they have previously waited until late in the season before employing the e-commerce marketplace used by organisations to promote sales through bulk discount buys.

The team is selling some 400-level tickets for just $10 (£8.0/€9.30) via Groupon, with 300- and 200-level seats at $13. The savings are up to 50 per cent off for the tickets and field level seats are also offered at a steep discount.

The promotion is only available on the website for Saturday April 22 against the Atlanta Braves, Tuesday April 25 against the Miami Marlins and Tuesday May 9 against Seattle Mariners.

In 2015 the Phillies became the first major league team to lose 500,000 fans in three consecutive seasons. They saw a slight increase in attendance in 2016, with 1.91 million fans attending their games, compared to 1.83 million in 2015.