The Dream is on a blitz to increase its attendance

By Pierce W. Huff

For the AJC

Justice Day-Parker, a skinny 8-year-old from Lilburn, tentatively approached the table where Dream star forward Angel McCoughtry was seated at a Bojangles in Norcross. Her request for an autograph came in a tiny voice that sounded close to a whisper.

McCoughtry jotted her name on her picture, handed it over and suddenly the face of the little girl in the pink-and-white stripped dress lit up. Another satisfied customer.

Earlier in the day, the Dream’s Armintie Price and Brittainey Raven made an appearance at a local women’s and children’s shelter. That evening, team owner Kathy Betty and players Shalee Lehning, Yelena Leuchanka, Erika de Souza and Iziane Castro Marques made an appearance at the “Screen on the Green” at Piedmont Park.

It's all in a marketing day's work. As they have season, the Dream last Thursday continued with their all-out promotional blitz, using team appearances, community functions and ticket giveaways to make themselves better known to the local community. The goal: increase ticket sales, even if it means personally meeting every Atlantan to do so.

The hard work is already paying dividends.

With average attendance up to 5,784, the Dream are drawing 1,300 more fans per game than last year. Attendance has increased in each of its past three home dates. The Dream plays Tulsa at noon Wednesday, the unusual start time due to the WNBA's annual Kids Day.

“There had been a very low awareness of this brand and this organization,” said Toby Wyman, the Dream’s president and chief operating officer.

But there is now more public awareness about the team than at any point in its three-year history. And that stems from the change in ownership to Betty, who purchased the club last October from primary owner Ron Terwilliger.

Wyman said the timing of sale was not conducive to marketing. He said the team should have been reconnecting with season ticket holders toward the end of last season, but it couldn’t until Betty officially took over.

“Coming in late, we were kind of behind the eight ball,” Wyman said.

But management has since labored to connect with its fan base. Everyone at the franchise -- players, coaches and office personnel -- has been asked to take an active approach in generating public support.

“We’re all in this thing together,” Dream general manager and coach Marynell Meadors said. “We need to get people in the stands and let them know how fun it is to be at a game.”

The Dream, now 9-4 and locked in a first-place tie with Connecticut in the Eastern Conference, markets itself with a four-way strategy. And that starts with winning games. Dream organizers feel that the more the team wins, the more people will show up.

“Winning is a piece of it, certainly, because we want to win a championship,” Wyman said. “Winning helps.”

Secondly, everyone in the organization has been asked to become an unofficial team ambassador whenever they are out in the community. Player and team representatives has been encouraged to hand out schedules and ticket information whenever possible. The entire roster has participated in four or more community functions aimed at getting the word out.

McCoughtry, last year’s rookie of the year and the Dream’s leading scorer, said she doesn’t mind selling the product off the court..

“When I do this, I think the people do come to the games. At least they tell me they are going to come to the games,” she said.

The third marketing prong concerns the team becoming a bigger part of the community. For instance, the Dream started a “Take the Show on the Road” event in April, practicing at local high schools to help raise funds for participating schools.

The Dream introduced “Dream Dads” last month, a program linked to the WNBA’s Dads & Daughters campaign. The program invites celebrity fathers from the Atlanta community and their daughters to participate in shot competitions during games. Former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz is one of the "Dream Dads."

The team likes to believe that once it gets a fan to a game, the fan will be hooked. Hence the team's fourth marketing initiative calls for more ticket giveaways or deals whenever possible. For example, the Dream has partnered with Aaron’s to provide free tickets to local youngsters 12 and under who visit an Aaron’s location and Wyman said he has other deals in the works with local businesses to allow discounted family ticket packages.

“We’re trying to establish ourselves as a family-oriented product,” he said.