New venue is the Jam's game-changer
| Saturday, Jan 30 2010 12:00 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Jan 30 2010 12:00 PM
Images
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Audra Guinn, left, and Bibi Anderholt relax in comfortable chairs in one of the suites during a Bakersfield Jam basketball game at their new facility on Norris Road.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Everyone at Jam basketball games has good seats to watch the game or the antics of Jam mascot, Swish. People also find time to network since many of the fans are also business people.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian People enjoy a cigar during the half time of a recent Jam Basketball game at the clubs new facility on Norris Road.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Lynn Gudmundson has a great view of a Jam basketball game from a second level suite at the Jam facility on Norris Road. Gudmundson says that since many of the ticket holders are also local business people it gives people a great opportunity to network during the game in a relaxed setting.
Since the Bakersfield Jam moved to Oildale last year, going to see a home game is an entirely different experience.
The action is so close you can smell the players' sweat. And the energy level, the customer service -- season ticketholders say there's no comparing games at the Rabobank Arena to what you get at the newly redesigned Jam Events Center off Norris Road.
It goes deeper: businessman Lynn Gudmundson said he could never speak with more than five people a night at the Rabobank because of its sheer size. Now he makes sure to load up on business cards before heading to the new venue.
"It's really a fun way to conduct business and see the Jam play at the same time," said Gudmundson, owner of several businesses in town.
No doubt business considerations have taken a more prominent seat since the team's move last fall. That's the case on many levels, from cost-cutting and ticket pricing to corporate sponsorships and alternative uses of the new $2 million, 22,000-square-foot custom venue.
In fact, without the owners' sharpened focus on dollars and cents, the Jam almost certainly would have folded, and there would be no professional basketball in Bakersfield.
Jam co-owner and managing partner David Higdon said he and business partner Stan Ellis halted plans to shut down the Jam when they realized they could make money renting out the venue for other uses.
Higdon said he expects the company's primary revenue stream to come from renting out the venue for events such as concerts and retirement parties. Secondary to that would be sports camps offering professional instruction on basketball and volleyball.
"Now," he said, "literally the Jam becomes the third piece of this puzzle."
Worth imitating?
The Jam's new business model has won the attention of its parent league, the National Basketball Association's Development League.
League President Dan Reed said he and other franchises within the organization will be watching to see how well the Jam succeeds in terms of improving the business, providing a quality fan experience and engaging with the community.
"It's safe to say that people are very interested in learning the lessons of Bakersfield's first year into this model," Reed said. "And I do think there'll be a lot of interest in what it means."
Already there have been big changes to how the team engages with the community, both in terms of attendance opportunities and a new nonprofit side of the business.
During the Jam's first three years, fans could buy single-night tickets for games at the Rabobank. That's still the case, except that only two of this season's 24 home games are at the Rabobank -- and one of those was canceled because the team ran out of time to prepare, Higdon said.
Fans who want to attend a game at the new center must get hold of a season ticket, which costs as little as $4,000 for courtside seats, and as much as $40,000 for access to plush lofts that accommodate as many as 12 people.
Season ticketholders get various side-benefits. Among them: free meals before the game, introductions to players, access to team training facilities though the week and the opportunity to purchase discounted tickets to Lakers games.
After-school program
Ellis, Higdon and their other partner, Steve Chase, have established a nonprofit educational foundation to be run by Larry Reider, the former superintendent of Kern County Superintendent of Schools.
The foundation's first project is to open its Norris Road center to 20 Standard School District students and give them access to tutors, computers, a library and a workout room. Eventually the program would be expanded to include as many as 100 students.
This aspect of the new business model has also earned the league's attention.
"To me, that's a huge nod in their favor to know what their community needs are," said Kevin Carr, the development league's vice president of community and player programs.
"In a lot of ways, this (afterschool program) provides a vehicle for young people who may not have an opportunity to buy tickets but yet they get a firsthand view of a great facility."
Making it work
None of that would have been possible had the team continued with its former business model at the Rabobank. Higdon said the Jam was losing too much money, given sparse attendance at games and high overhead costs. An announcement was made in April that the franchise would close.
But on a trip to Los Angeles, Ellis and Higdon awoke to a new opportunity. Higdon said a Development League team there was hosting a game at its practice facility, something done regularly in other sports but not within the NBA.
The Bakersfield team owners already owned a practice facility they figured was large enough to seat a sufficient audience. So, they decided to go forward with a large investment that could be spread across different lines of business, such as political fundraisers, business meetings and other private events.
Other cost savings were required as well, Higdon said. Numerous layoffs came down and virtually all local advertising was stopped. He said the savings came to half a million dollars a year and now the Jam's basketball operations neither make nor lose money.
When the first game took place Dec. 3, fans in attendance took notice. Many like the change.
"The energy that we create within that place can really be electric at times," said season ticketholder Jason Reynolds, manager of Rogers Jewelry on Rosedale Highway.
He and others said that one big advantage to the new venue is the opportunity to interact with other fans -- and, hopefully, make business connections.
"I get to immerse myself among the right kind of people," he said. "You know, jewelry buyers."
Another season ticketholder, Joseph Campbell, general manager of Delano Farms, said the venue's size fills a niche that had been overlooked in Bakersfield.
Campbell said he hopes the team's owners will eventually reach out to bring in a more diverse crowd to games, including possibly underprivileged youths. But in the meantime, he said it allows Bakersfield to host professional basketball.
"I think it's good for Bakersfield. I really do," he said. "It's really quality basketball."
