The signings of Trea Turner (left) and Bryce Harper immediately enhanced ticket sales and marketing opportunities for the Phillies. Getty Images
Front office departments outside of baseball operations will also feel the effects of the slowdown in free agency. The Philadelphia Phillies provide an example of how that impact can be addressed.
In 2019, superstar slugger Bryce Harper signed a 13-year, $330 million contract on March 2nd. After the 2022 season, shortstop Trea Turner signed a similar contract (11 years, $300 million) three months earlier, on December 8, 2022.
“If you're the vice president of domestic ticket sales, you're going to sign up for an early sign-up,” said John Weber, Phillies senior vice president of ticket operations and projects. “But the person buying the ticket has to adapt to any situation.”
In general, if there's a potential benefit to signing early, it's that you can generate more season ticket sales, as well as significantly more single-game sales. For example, Turner's contract was felt more on the team's season ticket basis, which increased by about 5,000 during the offseason he joined. Meanwhile, Harper's contract increased sales for individual games more intensively, with approximately 350,000 tickets sold in the first week of March of that year. But Harper and Turner were both highly coveted in free agency, making them game-changers in the entire realm of ticket sales.
On the marketing side, there are certain limitations when signing free agents late. For example, bobbleheads require months of advance notice and execution before being distributed as game day giveaways. However, Michael Harris, the Phillies' vice president of marketing and new media, said that even though he officially spent nearly three more months with Turner, there were no marketing-related changes the team could not make with Harper. He said he couldn't think of a better example of activation than with Turner. He was signed ahead of his debut season in Philadelphia.
“Fundamentally, the overall strategy hasn't changed,” Harris said. “Television commercials, digital billboards, social media content, all of this can be done quickly and almost instantaneously on demand, given how digital and technology-centric our world is,” Harris says. “That doesn't suggest it's a desirable or ideal scenario. But our job is to strike while the iron is hot, regardless of the timing or circumstances.”
