Winning (Over the Fans) in New Comiskey Park

Tell ardent baseball fans you're taking away their ballpark — their 80-year-old friend, the famed Baseball Palace of the World — and replacing it with a new one, and some don't take kindly to the idea. Such was the case when the Chicago White Sox retired old Comiskey Park and built a new park right across the street.

The fact that new Comiskey Park opened to near universal accolades and fan approval reflects the White Sox "good PR" orientation — a fan-responsive effort that involved every department in the Sox organization and the marketing communications support of Public Communications Inc.

A task force composed of Sox marketing, public relations and community relations staff, and a team from PCI began meeting in late 1990 to design a marketing strategy for the 1991 opening. The objective was to create an atmosphere of fan and media acceptance of the new park by reinforcing its fan friendliness and demonstrating that it was designed with the fan in mind. The challenge during the season would be to make this promise come true.

The final plan integrated advertising, publications, media relations, special events, community relations and operations. Two important steps were taken in late '90 and early '91 that gave momentum to the effort: a full-time customer service director was hired and an aggressive media relations campaign was initiated. The customer service director immediately set up a program to train all Sox staff and vendors who had public contact, in the fine art of making fans happy. The steady stream of positive print and broadcast stories kept the new park in the public eye and helped to ease fan transition.

Media relations encompassed not only sports media but heavily targeted non-sports business, lifestyle and general interest media that would not normally cover a baseball story. Many angles were pitched but all had a common denominator: the Sox had an organization, a park and a team devoted to fans. A series of pre-season media events and announcements kept the club and ballpark in the news.

Advertising reinforced the visibility. The theme, Brand New Old Fashioned Fun, reassured fans of the intentions of the Sox and served as a tag line for ads, publications, and various premiums. An award-winning television campaign featured Chicago notables and sports personalities.

The Sox community relations department coined its own theme: never say no. The dozens of requests that arrived weekly were satisfied with premiums, free and discounted tickets, current and former player appearances and the creativity of a staff dedicated to fan service.

Special events leading up to the opening and continuing through the season were selected so the razzmatazz would be kept to a minimum and baseball would remain center stage. In the week leading up to the April 18 home opener, the park was christened by representatives of the six families that have owned the club over the past 90-plus years, and a downtown fan rally kicked off a run by two marathon runners who carried the opening game ball to the new park, followed by vans carrying media.

The first fan through the turnstiles won a trip to DisneyWorld and the opening-day crowd was entertained with a precision fly-over by the Lima Lima Flight Team, bands, fireworks and a visit by a host of local and national dignitaries, including Vice President Dan Quayle.

Other special events followed: The press box was dedicated to former owner Bill Veeck, a legend in Chicago and baseball; a time capsule was set into place; a charity gala and memorabilia auction was held and raised $65,000; the union workers who built the park were honored with free tickets and a special on-field tribute.

Baseball operations' customer service emphasis was apparent from the moment a fan entered the park. Parking lot attendants, ticket takers, concession vendors and ushers smiled and helped. When prime seats wound up being available at game time, the director of customer service would personally search out families in the "cheap seats" and invite them down for a game. All letters and calls were responded to and suggestions and criticisms taken to heart. The warm, friendly atmosphere became a hallmark of the season.

The White Sox broke all team and Chicago attendance records for the '91 season with 2,934,156 tickets sold — a 68 percent increase over the 1990 season and nearly triple the 1,045,651 seats sold in 1989. But strong attendance might be expected for the first year in a new park with a contending team of young stars.

Perhaps the clearest indicator that the club accomplished its "make the fans happy" objective was a fan satisfaction survey, which began mid-summer and ran through the end of the season. Were they happy? More than 95 percent said yes, with nearly a third of fans surveyed rating the park a perfect "10." Even better, 96 percent chose to renew their season tickets for '92.