Playing in empty stadiums isn't an option, so what is a minor-league club like the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers supposed to do?

In a nod to the often dismal early-season weather in the state, the Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers came up with an innovative, fan-friendly plan for selling 2020 baseball tickets over the winter: Buy a season-ticket package and get the 10 home games in April for free.

A total of 70 games for the price of 60! How could you go wrong?

“That’s the first time we ever tried it,” said president Rob Zerjav, whose Appleton-based club has been affiliated with the Milwaukee Brewers since 2009. “It was new this year and people were kind of excited about it. We often have bad weather for games in April, so we didn’t want people to feel they were losing money by buying season tickets.”

As it turned out, it wasn’t the weather that caused games at Fox Cities Stadium to be postponed thus far this season. It was the COVID-19 pandemic that brought all sports to a grinding halt.

It’s anyone’s guess if, and when, baseball will be played this season but speculation about getting major-league baseball started involves playing games with no fans in the stands to avoid further spread of the coronavirus. Major-league clubs rely on attendance for between 30% and 40% of their yearly revenue, but televised games would put some money in their coffers and salvage something from a shortened season.

Playing in front of empty stands, or greatly reduced capacity to allow for social distancing, would not help keep minor-league teams afloat, however. Attendance is the name of the game in the minors, a truly seasonal business with tight margins for financial survival.

“Our revenue is driven by ticket sales and in-park spending,” said Zerjav, who began his career with the Timber Rattlers 24 years ago as an unpaid intern. “We don’t have television contracts, so there is no fallback to playing with no fans.

“We already are in a tough revenue and financial spot. To add additional expenses with no possibility of any incoming revenue isn’t feasible. And, honestly, I don’t even think that’s on the table (for playing games). If we’re going to see minor-league baseball this year, as far as I know, we’d have to get past this and have fans come and watch, even if it’s in smaller groups.”

With a stadium capacity of 5,500, Wisconsin draws an average of about 3,500 per game despite battling semi-tolerable weather elements, at best, in the early stages of the season. The club’s total attendance of 218,037 in 65 dates in 2019 ranked seventh among the 16 clubs in the Midwest League.

In drawing fans to the ballpark, nightly promotions are the life blood of every minor-league team, and few do it better than the Timber Rattlers. They were awarded two Minor League Baseball Golden Bobbleheads for the 2019 season, including one for their “Udder Tuggers” night in which, for one game, the team “changed” its name to honor the state’s dairy industry.

With a staff of 29 full-time employees and an additional 400 in seasonal staff, the Timber Rattlers also were named one of the Top 50 employers in all of sports by Front Office Sports, the only minor-league team so honored as well as the lone representative of the state.

“We’re not any different from any other small business,” Zerjav said. “Everybody is struggling and worrying about when we can move past this and everybody be safe. We’re trying to take advantage of governmental loan programs. Right now, it’s all about staying afloat and making any revenue we can on the side.

“If you have no games, then it becomes pretty scary in how you make things go.”

Taking a cue from the Packers

With that in mind, the Timber Rattlers, who are community owned, on April 15 began offering people the opportunity to buy team membership certificates for $50 through Appleton Baseball Club, Inc. The memberships are not stock and pay no dividends, and will not increase in value no matter the team’s won-lost record this season, assuming games are played.

The venture is similar to the sales of stock in past years by another community-owned team of note to the north, the Green Bay Packers. The stock is not really worth anything financially but gives the buyer the right to join the “ownership” group with no voting rights, while showing support by helping the team’s bottom line.

“We are community owned; there is no owner with deep pockets,” Zerjav said Monday. “We love our affiliation with the Brewers but by no means are we owned by them. So, waiting for a check from the Brewers to keep us afloat, that’s just not how it goes.

“Giving fans a chance to get a membership certificate is a unique way to add some revenue. We’ve had a good early response to it. We didn’t have big expectations, but we’ve had over 300 people purchase memberships already. It goes directly to us running the ballpark and keeping our staff employed.”

“It shows the team has value to the community, and we need everyone’s support. We think people have a lot of fun at our games, whether we win or lose. Folks are starting to pick up on it and we really appreciate the response. It’s a way of letting people know what we’re all about.”

More trouble brewing

Even before the shutdown, there were dark clouds hovering over minor-league teams. The Professional Baseball Agreement between the majors and minors expires after the 2020 season and in early talks between the sides, many angry words were exchanged. MLB reportedly indicated it wanted to eliminate 42 of the 160 affiliated franchises, mostly due to playing facilities deemed inadequate.

The Class A Beloit Snappers were on that endangered-species list, and new management has been trying to get a $32 million new-stadium project under way to avoid becoming extinct. Construction was expected to begin before the end of the month but recently was postponed.

In any given season, some of the Brewers’ top prospects can be found on the Timber Rattlers’ roster, though sometimes for short stays. Second baseman Keston Hiura finished the 2017 season there after being selected in the first round of that draft. Lefty pitcher Ethan Small, Milwaukee’s first-round pick last year, closed his first pro experience with five starts for Wisconsin.

The Timber Rattlers, who never got spring training officially started in Phoenix before camps were shut down, were scheduled to be playing a seven-game home stand this week against Peoria and Cedar Rapids. Instead, Fox Cities Stadium remains empty, creating a noticeable vacuum in the small community of Grand Chute, where the stadium is located.

“Nobody knows what’s going to happen,” Zerjav said. “We were really looking forward to this season but there’s certainly bigger things going on than baseball right now. We’re all trying to do our part to not spread the disease.

“It could always be worse. We’re all in the same boat; just waiting. We’re all hoping we play baseball at some point this year. And, if we do, we certainly hope there are fans in the stands. Minor-league teams depend on it.”