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JU Business Dean Don Capener quoted in Times-Union on minor-league sports marketing

Dr. Don Capener, Jacksonville University College of Business dean

The importance of promotions and marketing for minor-league franchises like the Jacksonville Suns is discussed in a Sunday, May 19, Money section story of The Florida Times-Union that features commentary from JU Business Dean Don Capener.

Capener, dean of the Davis College of Business, told reporter Drew Dixon that the expenditures for promotions – upwards of $200,000 a year for the Suns – is worth it to the team. Because minor-league baseball teams aren’t packed with a roster of stars, the sport can’t survive without the side attractions, he said.

About half of the Suns’ money goes to fireworks displays and the other half goes to entertainers who range from guys in costume getups  to musical acts.

“For the most successful minor league teams, they’ve got to go beyond handing out a helmet or a bat to the first 500 folks that come in the door,” Capener, who also teaches a sports marketing class at JU, said in the article . “They’ve got to look at … having the kind of entertainment value that’s going to get them back.”

Read the full article here.