Dolphins no to ticket price hike - Ingles

Dolphins president Mike Dee said Friday the team will not increase any ticket prices and might lower some. Dee declined to detail what seats will be cheaper but said plans would be announced soon.

The Dolphins sold just under 44,000 season tickets in 2011 – their lowest since 1984 and down from 61,000 in 2006.

“The research suggests it’s the most complex metropolitan market in the United States,” Dee said during a visit to The Miami Herald. “If you draw a 75-mile line from Pinecrest to Jupiter, it’s three different communities within one community. Miami-Dade is 67 percent Hispanic.

“A lot of those folks who have moved here in recent years, unlike prior generations, don’t have really an affinity for American football. They’re soccer first in their thinking. We’ve got to convert a lot of people.”

Conversely, Dee noted Palm Beach County is 19 percent Hispanic. “A totally different way of marketing from south and north,” he said.

“We’ve got to have a playbook for every market that we do business with – every ethnic group in this marketplace we do business with. We’ve got to attack this market differently. This is not 1972.”

One challenge, Dee said, is “the other competition has never been more fierce” – including the Marlins in their new stadium. “There’s a finite amount of entertainment dollars in the marketplace and we’re still in challenging economic times,” he said.

“We’ve got to get performance on the field heading in the right direction. I’m confident.”

The Dolphins’ 2012 home schedule -- in addition to annual visits by New England, the Jets and Buffalo -- also includes non-division games against Jacksonville, Tennessee, Oakland, St. Louis and Seattle.

In recent years, the Dolphins have marketed the team in several ways unrelated to football, including an orange carpet entrance for celebrities and opening a Club LIV. “You’re going to see us take steps around the Dolphins experience that will be more football oriented,” Dee said.

(source Miami Herald)