SYRACUSE — Syracuse Chiefs general manager Jason Smorol is busy preparing for the 2014 baseball season, and this offseason provides one primary focus. “It’s the business of baseball,” he says. And it’s an important offseason for the Chiefs, as the team on Nov. 19 announced a nearly $1 million net loss in 2013. Since Smorol […]
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SYRACUSE — Syracuse Chiefs general manager Jason Smorol is busy preparing for the 2014 baseball season, and this offseason provides one primary focus.
“It’s the business of baseball,” he says.
And it’s an important offseason for the Chiefs, as the team on Nov. 19 announced a nearly $1 million net loss in 2013.
Since Smorol began his duties at NBT Bank Stadium in early October, the team has announced a new plan for season-ticket and individual-ticket pricing.
The team on Nov. 13 also announced a partnership with Cumulus Media and The Score 1260 (WSKO-AM) to broadcast its games in 2014.
“The fans asked for radio. We believe in radio. The sponsors believe in radio. So, we’re going to be on the radio,” he says.
In the 2013 season, the Chiefs offered fans a smartphone app for their Internet-only broadcasts.
In addition to ticket pricing and the radio broadcasts, the Chiefs also have to renew all the sponsorships for luxury suites, fence sponsors, make the calls to the advertisers to ensure the Chiefs are still in their plans, says Smorol.
“Set up meetings, find out what they liked, what they didn’t like, and then show them the new Chiefs,” he says.
The team is also reviewing its organizational policies and procedures and announced its front-office staff.
With the calendar year nearing an end, Smorol is reviewing the financial statements and making sure the ball club’s budget is set.
His responsibilities also include arranging the hotels and buses for the team’s travel to various locations for away games. His staff is also checking the team’s uniforms, the bats, the balls, conducting research for promotional nights, and setting up a new marketing campaign, he says.
“It’s constant, and it’s something [for which] we don’t have the luxury of a lot of time,” he says.
“Substantial” financial loss
In his new role, Smorol has the task of generating renewed excitement for baseball in Syracuse after dwindling attendance numbers resulted in a difficult year on the team’s balance sheet.
The Syracuse Chiefs lost nearly a $1 million in its fiscal year 2013 that ended Oct. 31, a figure that is $700,000 higher than its net loss from fiscal year 2012.
That’s according to William Dutch, president of the The Community Baseball Club of Central New York, Inc., which does business as the Syracuse Chiefs.
Dutch spoke to The Central New York Business Journal on Nov. 20 a day after he presented year-end financial figures to the team’s board of directors.
“The loss is substantial,” Dutch says.
Dutch is also a member of Chiefs First, LLC, a group of interested shareholders who “felt strongly enough about the Chiefs” to loan it about $500,000 to help handle costs in the 2014 season, he says.
“We believe that the business model needed to be changed,” he says, noting that would also require an “entire new staff.”
The group believe the Syracuse community still has a “significant interest” in baseball. Chiefs First, LLC also wants to prove “this alternative is a better one than taking the risk of selling the club and having it relocated,” Dutch says.
The Chiefs hired Smorol on Oct. 7 to replace former general manager John Simone. Smorol had served as the general manager of the Auburn Doubledays between 2002 and 2004.
Transition
At the time the Chiefs made their offer, Smorol was working for a company called Hilti, Inc., a global manufacturer and direct-sales company for the construction industry. The firm has its U.S. headquarters in Tulsa, Okla., with global headquarters in Liechtenstein, Smorol says.
It makes and directly sells tools, drill bits, fasteners, fire stops, products for the heavy-construction industry.
“I’m transitioning away from Hilty into [his new role with] the Chiefs,” he says.
Having worked there for eight years, he just “couldn’t just drop it,” so he worked out a deal with the Chiefs that allows a transition “... because this came up as such a surprise,” he says.
Smorol devotes most of time to Chiefs, he says.
At Hilti, his territory extended from Onondaga County to St. Lawrence County over to Herkimer County in roles that included sales, engineering, shipping, and receiving.
But Smorol couldn’t pass up a chance to return to baseball management, having spent time as general manager of the Doubledays, and earlier in various capacities for New York-Penn League baseball teams including Watertown, Batavia, and Staten Island.
The most important part of his job as a general manager is having “passion” for the position, he says.
Smorol believes he has to know every aspect of the organization from how to sell a ticket to how to take a ticket, along with parking, hiring and firing, human resources, travel, player-development contracts, media relations, sales, and stadium operations.
“Every single aspect of every single thing that goes on in here is under my watch. And I love it,” he says.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
