Cubs and Mastercard Team Up

The Chicago Cubs have one of the most well known brands and devoted fan bases in sports. Although the Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908, historic Wrigley Field is almost always sold out. Now in conjunction with MasterCard the Cubs have decided to make some extra money off of that fan loyalty. Beginning Monday February 15th the Cubs allowed fans to buy presale tickets for individual games to during the 2010 season. This sounds normal right? Well the Cubs have tacked on a TWENTY percent surcharge to the tickets you purchase. If you use your MasterCard, however, you can lower your surcharge to a still high 15%.

So why would a team that hasn't won in over 100 years do this?

In my opinion the reason the Cubs are doing this is simply, because they can. The Cubs have built a successful brand even without winning results on the field. Fans of baseball want to root for the lovable losers and make it a mission to see at least one game in Wrigley Field. The Cubs have a huge number of season ticket holders that put a premium on individual game tickets. This service will allow a fan to guarantee a ticket to premium games such as the rival St. Louis Cardinals or the crosstown series with the Chicago White Sox. Teams such as the Red Sox have a similar presale, however the Cubs don't require fans to be a part of a club, they just require them to pay the surcharge.

It will be interesting to see if other teams begin to follow suit on this promotion. One thing is certain though, to pull off this promotion a team must have a strong brand and a devoted fan folllowing like the Cubs.