On Nov 11, 2011, Andrew Berlin, an American businessman, purchased the South Bend Silver Hawks, a single A Minor League Baseball team.
Curiosity: The name “Silver Hawks” was an homage to the once famous Studebaker Silver Hawk automobile, manufactured in South Bend.
The team was struggling financially and played in an outdated facility, Coveleski Field (The stadium was built in 1987 and named for Stanley Coveleski, the Hall of Fame pitcher who retired to South Bend after a career in major league baseball).
When Berlin first took over the Silver Hawks, Jewish community leaders proposed that he find a way to renovate and incorporate a Synagogue (The Sons of Israel Synagogue – opened in 1901 – was the first synagogue ever built in South Bend, Indiana) located near the Ballpark.
Context: Over the time, new generations of the South Bend Jewish community moved out of the city, and the synagogue’s membership began to decline as a result. Since the 1980s, it had gone mostly unused.
After some initial hesitation, Berlin decided to turn the synagogue into the team’s store.
The project would be more costly than building a new store in a more conventional location. The owner would have to commit a million dollars to create the team’s “Ballpark Synagogue.”
Berlin understood the importance of restoring the synagogue as it was representative of what “they” were trying to do with the Silver Hawks, the stadium, and the downtown South Bend.
The Ballpark Synagogue has been a resounding success. Fans now identify it as their favorite part of the stadium.
The store has been a focus of national attention, with a documentary about the synagogue winning the Emmy in 2013. In the same year, the Ballpark Synagogue received National landmark status.
While the synagogue has become the team’s crown jewel, Berlin has also been relentless in improving the fan experience at the park.
To better understand his customers and what they wanted, Berlin surveyed fans on 36 different touchpoints at the stadium, including the smells, the quality of the customer service, and the experience in the parking lot – all to create the “best ballpark.”
As a result, and among many other actions, Berlin created dedicated areas for families and kids. He even arranged for the team mascot to wear cotton candy-scented cologne.
Improvements have totaled $10 million. Merchandise sales went up 850% since Berlin bought the club.
Berlin transformed the franchise by focusing on improving areas that he could control regardless of the Silver Hawk’s win-loss record.
In 2012, attendance went up 68% (teams record was 67-73). In 2013, attendance climbed another 29,5 %, and the team announced an agreement with the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, owners of Four Winds Resorts, for naming rights to its field. The team finished the year with an 81-59 record.
Curiosity: As part of the agreement, Berlin installed a permanent bronze memorial bearing the name of Stanley Coveleski at the main entrance of the Field.
In December 2014 the team ended their 17-year affiliation with the Arizona Diamondbacks, signed a 4-year player development agreement with the Chicago Cubs, and changed their name to the South Bend Cubs.
“Today is a turning point. I made a promise to the local community and government officials who welcomed me with open arms three years ago. I promised that I would return the team to its former glory days. And I promised that I’d do everything I could to bring people back to South Bend and prove that this is a wonderful place to invest. Now one of the best and most beloved brands in the history of Major League Baseball is making a bold statement about this place too.”
Regardless of a team’s record, sports organizations aim for increases in revenue and awareness each year through efforts in ticket sales, marketing, sponsorship, and community relations.
“I always want the team to be in the first place. But as a business owner, I care more about attendance.”
Excerpts from the book: The Sports Strategist: Developing leaders for a high-performance industry (Irving Rein, Ben Shields, Adam Grossman)