This season I went to 77 games at 53 stadiums and set four world records for baseball attendance.
I had an amazing time doing it with my family, my friends and my colleagues!
Along the journey, I learned a lot. Our businesses aren't so different. A ballpark and a restaurant are both on demand factories and entertainment venues running at the same time. A ballpark just does it for thousands of people at once, with a hard start time, and then does it again tomorrow.
I got to watch the hardest version of our job, 53 different ways. Here are nine incredible hospitality lessons I learned along the way.
1. EVERYBODY OWNS THE EXPERIENCE
The teams that had the best community vibes had one thing in common. It didn't matter who you approached in the stadium, they treated you like a priority, and they helped you with what you needed rather than handing you off to somebody else. Even if it was just a friendly conversation.
That's culture. You can trust me to deliver the experience you're looking for, regardless of what my job is.
Your move: hire for your standard, then make sure they know they're empowered to deliver it.
2. SYSTEM: RUN IT, TEST IT, REBUILD IT
Dayton rotates their in-game bits so that even their biggest ticket package holders never see the same one twice all season. That rotation isn't something they wrote once and filed. They run it, watch how each bit lands, and build on it as they go.
Upholding the system is what makes execution reliable. Testing it is what tells you the truth about what's working. Developing it is what keeps it worth executing next season.
Your move: this quarter, pick one part of your playbook, put it under review, and improve it.
3. CULTURE CARRIES, SYSTEM SCALES
Take both examples above and put them in the same building. That's where it really happens.
Culture is what makes a great night feel personal. A system is what makes a great night repeatable. You've built one of them well. The cheat code is building the other one with the same intent.
Your move: name which one is your strength, then give the other one the same attention this season.
4. IF IT MATTERS, IT NEEDS A CAPTAIN
If you want to grow catering sales, make it somebody's responsibility. It doesn't need a new headcount, it needs attention.
As I traveled throughout the season going from park to park, I saw this in many ways. Oftentimes, the teams with the most engaged fans or the most fun things to do had a director of fan experience. The parks with the best, most unique or delicious food had somebody in culinary who really cared about the food. And from a content creator perspective, any park where somebody had a media relations role, or even a specific food content role, I was able to better capture the fan experience working with that person.
Your move: if it's truly a priority, make it someone's responsibility.
5. IT'S ONLY HARD IF YOU DECIDE IT IS
Hagerstown is independent ball. No affiliation, no major league budget. They're making artisanal food, including a bread pudding built from a local donut shop's donuts. Not thirty items like that. Three or four, done excellently.
The Jersey Jackals don't have the budget the affiliated clubs have, so they focused on the two things fully in their hands, the building and the baseball on the field. Great season.
Your move: cut your priority list by 50 percent and nail what's left.
6. LEAN HARDER INTO YOUR THING
Word of mouth happens when everybody agrees on the one thing that makes a place special. Some parks just know. You walk in and the answer is already waiting for you. When you're here, you've got to do this. When you're here, you've got to try that. Same answer every time, from everyone.
You already know what your thing is. The work is making sure everybody else does too.
Your move: make sure your team knows what sets you apart, and knows the best way to deliver it.
7. HOW YOU DO ONE THING IS HOW YOU DO EVERYTHING
The hot dog tells you everything. Fresh bun, cooked right, served like somebody cared. When a park gets the hot dog right, the attention usually runs all the way through the building, because the hot dog is the easiest place to stop trying.
I've been in the most ornate and beautiful steakhouses where the beer list is just three domestics.
At Handcraft Burgers and Brew , it's our veggie burger. Nine real vegetables, smashed exactly like we smash the beef, because it deserved the same attention as everything else on the menu.
Your move: find the item nobody has touched since you launched it, and hold it to the same standard as your hero.
8. TAKE THEM, DON'T TELL THEM
At the best parks, the service comes to the guest. The mascot comes to the fans. Dishes arrive with the dips and condiments already on the tray. Somebody in the team store walks you to the hats instead of saying they're over there.
As a creator, I noticed it too. The teams that walked me through the building are the ones I came away with the best content from.
That's hospitality. Closing the distance instead of describing it. The runner brings extra napkins with the wings before anyone asks. The server recommends one or two dishes instead of reciting the menu. Somebody walks the guest to the bathroom instead of pointing in its direction.
Your move: deliver the hospitality, don't describe it.
9. LOVE EVERY GUEST
Every person who walks through the gate made a choice. They picked this, on this night, over everything else they could have done with the time. 77 games and I never saw a great one treat that casually.
A band playing in the welcome area. A giveaway handed over the second you walk in. The mascot working the stands before first pitch. It doesn't take a program. It takes treating the arrival like it mattered, because to the person arriving, it did.
Your move: get the first thirty seconds right and everything after it gets easier.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Satisfaction is the measure. Advocacy is the payoff.
Reading Fightin Phils fans will defend their hot dog.
Lehigh Valley IronPigs fans will defend that FeFe and Ferrous are the best mascots in the game.
Rochester Red Wings fans will defend that being a fan there is a birthright.
Hagerstown Boxcars fans will tell you going to a game is part of being in their community.
Jersey Shore BlueClaws fans will tell you it's one of the best things you can do with your kids in the summer.
None of that is the scoreboard. It's what the building made them feel, and now it's part of how they describe themselves.
That's what all nine of these are pointed at. Not a better night. A guest who tells somebody else about it.
Which of these nine are you already doing well?
----
Do you need help with your restaurant marketing or maximizing how you use AI to make it stronger and faster? Send me an email [email protected]
- Rev Ciancio
WHAT DOES REV DO?
*I help restaurants to build guest marketing programs.
*I help hospitality tech companies with lead generation and content marketing.
