The Virginia Chili Peppers, a college baseball team owned by Chris Martin, switched to black lights and neon uniforms to save declining attendance. Tickets now sell out a year in advance. One creative change turned the game into a glow-in-the-dark party.
Baseball viewership is plummeting, but this particular team sells out games a year in advance with glow sticks. Well, how? Look, let's face it, baseball is a pretty boring sport to watch, but this team, the Virginia Chili Peppers, are selling out game after game, and the team isn't even a professional team. They're all college athletes. So how are they doing it? It all comes down to this guy, Chris Martin, owner of the team. At a night game once, he notices one fan kept drawing his attention. A kid in the stands had a glow stick, and that kid was having the time of his life. So Chris got an idea, glow in the dark. Glow-in-the-dark baseball. He swaps out the stadium lights for black lights, and he gives the teams neon pink and green uniforms and makes everything in the stadium glow. And now fans can even buy merch to stand out and be part of the show themselves. In business, you see, oftentimes people want to reinvent the wheel, but in reality, you can often just tweak one small thing and you've got the key to business success. And in terms of glow-in-the-dark baseball, it becomes so popular you have to buy tickets a year in advance.
