Heat Season Ticket Sales - Firings

[wyvernmcd]

I thought this was a joke when I first heard about it on the radio but all I can say that it is too sad to be true:

(From Palm Beach Post)
With season tickets sold out, Miami Heat fires season-ticket sales staff

With the arrival of Lebron James, the Miami Heat rapidly sold out all their season tickets. That turned out to be bad news for the ticket-sales staff, which was fired Friday.

In a statement, the Heat confirmed the dismissals Friday afternoon, saying that with an ``exhausted'' inventory of season-tickets ``we no longer require a season ticket sales team to sell tickets.''

Stephen Weber, vice president of sales, delivered the news to about 30 ticket sales people Friday morning, according to one of the staffers who asked not to be named because he is seeking another job in sports.

Even when James was merely rumored to be heading for the Heat, the team saw an explosion in season ticket sales. The staffer said he and his colleagues were making cold calls to prospective customers and taking deposits for a waiting list that now has more than 6,000 names on it. The dismissals reflect the new Heat position in basketball: it can sell tickets without really trying.

``They let us go because there was really nothing left to do anymore,'' the fired staffer said.

Ayeh Ashong, partner at the Tickets of America brokerage in Miami, said demand for Heat tickets is sky-high, with opening game seats selling for about $250 apiece. ``They're probably the hottest tickets in the country,'' he said.

The Heat did not release details of the dismissals, except to say the sales force ``ebbs and flows'' with the supply of tickets.

``While the decision to release part of our sales force was a difficult one, we greatly appreciate their contributions to the company,'' the statement continued. ``We have also hired a placement service to assist those individuals find new employment.

``Should any season tickets become available, they will be handled through our season ticket deposit program. We thank those employees for their time with the company and wish them success in their future endeavors.''
(end of article)


This just sucks. Aren't there other things that the arena can use ticket sales people for? Not liking the Heat ownership for this move.

[Phishfan]

This just sucks. Aren't there other things that the arena can use ticket sales people for? Not liking the Heat ownership for this move.

What would you have them do? There are no tickets to sell. Sure it sucks for those people but there is no demand for their services. The people who man the ticket booths are a different staff than the season ticket sales staff. Would you have the ticket booth people fired and replaced with the season ticket staff? That doesn't improve anything. Would you fire the maintenance staff? That doesn't improve anything either.

[Landshark]

What would you have them do? There are no tickets to sell. Sure it sucks for those people but there is no demand for their services. The people who man the ticket booths are a different staff than the season ticket sales staff. Would you have the ticket booth people fired and replaced with the season ticket staff? That doesn't improve anything. Would you fire the maintenance staff? That doesn't improve anything either.

I've always wondered.  The typical size of an arena for hockey or basketball is about 15,000 to 20,000.  For a baseball stadium built purely for baseball, it's about 40,000 to 50,000, and for a football or football/baseball stadium, it could be anywhere from 60,000 to over 100,000.  How many of those seats are usually designated for season tickets, and in a situation like the Heat's, can more seats typically reserved for individual games be sold at season ticket prices?

[jtex316]

There's nothing the Heat can do. Sales people are as disposable as napkins, and they (sales people) know it. They are completely useless for anything else. They can get hired for the Miami Dolphins, though.

[wyvernmcd]

I guess what I am trying to say is that these people can do other things.

I was a season ticket holder for hockey for a couple of years and the seller/agent contacted us throughout the year, not only for the hockey season tickets but all the events the arena had and we had priority discounts (at the time) so it was not only an off season job for them or anything like that.

That is what I thought these people did for the Heat. If all they did was work a couple of months just to sell tickets, then I can see why they got cut, so in that case it was not a bad move but again, I figured these people did more than just sell tickets for one event/team/etc.

[Dave Gray]

I understand the move.

However, will all the money the team will be making, it'd be nice to see them try to keep these people on to do other things (or at least offer to re-train them.)  You could have them become customer service reps or whatever, to give even a greater experience for the fans.  I'm guessing that they're not getting paid top dollar anyway.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

It make sense.  They don't need anyone to sell the tickets.

Before I condemn the Heat I would have to know the details...

For example A..  Friday at 3 pm boss tells them to clean out their desks they have been eliminated..here is the paper work you will need to file with unemployment office. ..bye.....don't show up on Monday, today is your last day you will get paid for.... well then the Heat is a bunch of assholes.

For example B.  Friday boss comes in tells them, sorry as you can probably figure out we don't have any tickets to sell.  We had hoped to sell all of this years season tickets by the season opening and budgeted to have you as employees 'til then.  You will remain employees of the Heat thru Oct 26th collecting full pay and all your benifits.  On Oct 26th you will be laid off.  You just don't need to show up to work starting Monday.  You can come in if you want to use the phones and copy machine to aid in your job search.  Or you can not ever come in again, its up to you.  We have also retained an employment placement office to help aid you in your search for a new job.  well then the Heat is a wonderful employer, who treats their employees better than most companies.


My guess is it is somewhere in between.  W/o knowing exactly where I can't really judge them.

[Dave Gray]

^ This website is no place for your even-handed, well thought out analysis.  Reactionary ranting only, please.

[Fau Teixeira]

From what I've read about this. There were severance packages of up to a year paid out. Some were moved internally. And a job placement firm was hired to help find new jobs for those that were actually canned.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

^^^ a years severance pay, is even more than my example B.  Sounds like the Heat are doing the right thing and more.

[fyo]

There were severance packages of up to a year paid out.

That's insane for a job as fungible as selling season tickets.

It also makes one wonder if it wouldn't have been worth it just to keep at least a good part of them. Not only would there be a future need to season-ticket sales, but with their salaries effectively fully subsidized for (up to) 12 months, they would constitute extremely cheap labor for other uses in the organization.

In any event, it seems like they might have missed a big opportunity. If your season tickets are selling like hotcakes, why not try and let some of the staff go earlier? And, more importantly in the long run, really look at who the GOOD workers are. In my experience, there's always a fraction that really stand out and these would be valuable. Never, ever fire good employees. They are surprisingly difficult to find.

I realize the story notes that some were moved internally, so the Heat may have done this to some extent, but it sounds like pretty much everyone got canned, so I don't know...

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I think some folks want this to be a "woe is the poor salespeople, the Heat are evil" story.  But it doesn't really sound that way.

Let’s not forget these folks were sales folks.  Almost certainly commissioned sales folks whose base pay was around min wage with a highly incentivize commission schedule. 

It is quite probably that in addition to whatever severance package the heat provided they may have made more money in commission in the last 2 month before being fired than they had made in commission and salary in the 2 years prior. 

Many of them might not want a job, with the Heat or anyone else, but are thinking "now I can afford to go to college and finish my degree" or "now I can start the business I have always wanted to start" or "now I can retire" or "I am gonna spend 6 months backpacking around Europe and then come home and find another job" or "i am going to the beach, I will look for another job when my money starts to runs out"

Others might want a job but not with the Heat.  They may like sales as a profession and want another sales job instead of a non-sales job with the Heat.  And it sounds like some are being retained by the Heat.

But I bet none of them are immediately worried that Lebron has put them in jeopardy of not being able to pay the mortgage.  Would not surprise me if a couple of them are using their Lebron commission check for the down payment on a house they never thought they could afford.   

As for the don’t give them a severance package just keep them, thought  -- that just delays the problem.  To break even you need to lay them off when the severance runs out.  Now they are still laid off, just later and with no windfall or free time to job hunt.  Also the severance is probably not for what they are fully expecting to make on a weekly basis.  There pay is probably base + commissions with commission being a substantial portion of the pay.  The severance is probably only on the base.  So they would be taking a pretty substantial pay cut to come in and twiddle their thumps.  Not a good long term plan for either  the company or the employee.