Alan Ledford, President of MountainStar Sports Group, is a baseball lifer who’s helped launch two of Minor League Baseball's most successful Triple-A franchises: the Sacramento River Cats and El Paso Chihuahuas.
Building a new sports franchise from the ground up presents a unique set of challenges. Here, Alan shares five essential considerations (in under 140 characters) about what goes into positioning a team for success:
1. Consider market viability earliest: population, econ health, employment, density of corporations, competition from other entertainment.
2. Hire smart. Essential for any organization but critical for start-ups/relo. Skills can be taught, attitude is innate.
3. Obviously, venue is key. Specifically, perception of location, ease of access, public transportation, availability of parking.
4. Who are your community stakeholders? What’s the level of interest by political, business and community influencers in supporting team?
5. Create perception of demand, then the reality. PR & grassroots outreach will be critical to sell your team's vision and generate demand.