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April 20, 2023

Group Sales Strategy, Infrastructure Investments Spur New Jersey’s Record-Setting Season Off Ice

Photo Credit: New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils are in the midst of a record-setting season on and off the ice.

The team finished the regular season with 112 points, the most in franchise history, its 52 wins tied the franchise high-water mark, and its +47-point YoY improvement matched the NHL record.

New Jersey also set organizational records across every major revenue vertical this year.

“From ticket sales, to premium, to sponsorship, to the entertainment business [and] food and beverage,” Jake Reynold (president, New Jersey Devils) said.

That is not by coincidence–and it’s not simply the result of the team winning games, either.

The Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) owned franchise spent the last six years preparing itself to be “100 point ready.”

“[We wanted to make] sure when this team turned and hit [its] stride on the ice, the business systems were ready for it and able to capitalize,” Brian Norman (SVP, ticket sales & hospitality, New Jersey Devils) said.

Those inside the Devils organization were confident the ’22-’23 season was going to be different.

However, it wasn’t until the team started to rattle off wins in November that casual fans began to take notice. Once they did, the business side of the Devils organization was off to the races.

The team sold out its home games on the back half of a 13-game win streak, and fans began buying up tickets to late season games they now anticipated would have meaning.

“Our games in January, February, March and April were selling at significant clips back in October, November and December,” Norman said. “Traditionally, the run rate on seats and sales for those games [happens] two, three, four weeks prior.”

Most Devils home games played down the stretch were sold out.

While the club did sell a few pro-rated season ticket plans on the heels of the fifth longest win streak in NHL history, the bulk of the upside realized came in the form of individual game (+125% YoY), partial season (+80% YoY) and group sales (+85% YoY).

“All categories in which we set organizational records on,” Norman said.

New Jersey finished the year with the league's fourth largest group business. The club has found success, in a world where group sales have

generally been down

, by giving group participants season ticket member like benefits (think: high-five tunnel with players, post-game photo ops on ice) and treating group leaders as if they are season ticket members (think: access to exclusive presales and events).

“When you look at them, from a value perspective, at times [their] purchases are two, three, four times what some of our highest season ticket members are paying,” Norman said.

New Jersey finished the regular season having increased ticket sales revenue 32% YoY, the sixth largest climb in the league. If one were to strip out the Canadian teams that still had COVID-19 restrictions in place last season, the Devils would have finished third.

Ticket sales revenue will continue to climb next season. 99% of existing season ticket holders have renewed (at an increased price) and the franchise anticipates it will sell more new packages this offseason than any other in team history.

“We’ve [already] sold 1,500 new season tickets [since putting them on sale in February]. For context, that is already ahead of where we finished last year,” Norman said. “And that [total] would have put us seventh in the league for new season ticket sales this year.”

NHL teams typically tie ~70% of seats to full-season plans. Prudential Center has ~16,000 bowl seats for hockey.

While the Devils seem unlikely to sell out their season ticket allotment this offseason, the franchise anticipates being in a position to do so within the next year “based on the way the team is performing and the way the market is reacting [to it],” Norman said.

New Jersey fans have been craving a winner. Prior to this season, the Devils made the playoffs just a single time over the previous ten years.

But the franchise worked to put itself in a position to capitalize once the on-ice product improved.

It invested “significant” resources in revamping building infrastructure to align with current ticketing and premium-related trends (think: new six-to-eight person loge boxes and loft tabletops). 

Suite sales rose 24% YoY as a result.

While the Devils’ success has been a factor, the robust content mix HBSE has attracted to Prudential Center post sports hiatus has been too. The Rock will host over 200 events this year, marquee acts ranging from Bruce Springsteen to K-Pop stars and the UFC.

Expect to see an increasing number of bite-size premium offerings, across leagues, in the years ahead. They're likely to come at the expense of the traditional luxury suite experience, which is simply not as popular as it once was.

Reynolds said New Jersey recouped its infrastructure investment in “less than one year.”

The Devils also invested in bolstering their content arm.

The organization sees content serving several initiatives. “It feeds our existing fan base and gives them an opportunity to continue to feel connected to our team, brand and players,” Reynolds said. “The second piece is driving new fans and the third would be [monetization], particularly from a partnership standpoint.”

The New Jersey hockey club reached profitability this season.

“That has been a core focal point for us,” Reynolds said.

The deeper the team goes in the playoffs, the

more profitable it will finish

.

The Devils hit the 100-point plateau this season and set records across the business. So, it’s fair to wonder just how much upside remains.  

But Reynolds insists ’22-’23 is “just step one, both on and off the ice, for [this] organization.”

There are plans for future infrastructure improvements, some of which will drive new monetization opportunities.

The team will introduce a new event-level club for season ticket holders with seats on the glass next season (rows one and two). New Jersey will also install a new Wi-Fi system, enhance F&B options at the venue and implement grab-n-go technology that should make it easier/faster for fans to purchase what they want.

“Then we’re looking at what a larger concourse renovation can look like to [further] drive premium offerings and fan engagement in the arena,” Reynolds said.

Of course, nothing drives fan engagement like playing your cross-town rival. The Devils will host the New York Rangers in Game 2 of their first round series tonight.

Building an independent media brand is a heavy lift. We use this space to shine a spotlight on some of our favorite sports, media and finance content creators. We hope you will check them out. 

The Albachiara Chronicle by Roger Mitchell

Roger Mitchell and his podcast AYNE look at the uncertain waters of sport and finance, to try and better understand the risks facing the business of sport.  Recent Story: Who in Sports has the Balls for the DTC Channel?

Excerpt: My major thesis today, in 2023, is that football is going very much in the wrong direction, throwing far too many games into the market. It’s oversaturated, just like how the excessive licensing of a Pierre Cardin, Gucci or YSL nearly killed those brands. .

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