Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Long-term success goal for Jones
Marlins exec in charge of club’s strategy, development
MIAMI — If you google the name ‘Adam Jones,’ you’ll likely find dozens of pages referring to the longtime Baltimore Orioles outfielder before coming across the Miami Marlins’ Adam Jones.
While he may be unfamiliar to search engines and the Marlins fan base, Jones has quickly established himself as one of the organization’s most influential voices and has spearheaded Miami’s aggressive offseason changes — from ‘Dímelo’ to ballpark enhancements to rebranding.
“He has his hands in everything we’re doing,” Marlins CEO Derek Jeter said.
Miami’s senior vice president of strategy and development, Jones helps formulate the team’s vision — both short-term and long-term — and is tasked with moving the franchise to the forefront of a radically changing sports environment.
Before joining the Marlins, Jones spent 14 years at Pricewaterhouse, advising professional franchises and league officials as the firm’s director and sports practice leader.
The 37 year old was consistently striving to stay ahead of the curve, helping author the annual industry report ‘At the Gate and Beyond: Outlook for the Sports Market in North America,’ which delved into topics like TV and gate revenue, attendance, in-game experience and digital streaming rights, projecting how they might evolve in the next four years.
“I was very fortunate to work across all the major leagues,” Jones said. “I saw what worked, what didn’t and in 15 plus years, took a lot of lessons on both the positive and negative and had the opportunity to apply all of that into what we’re doing here, so we’re not making some of the missteps that others have made and that have preceded us on this type of venture.”
He linked up with Jeter a few years ago, helping the former New York Yankee great and Marlins majority owner Bruce Sherman in the acquisition process of the franchise. When the sale was finalized and Jeter took over as CEO, Jones was one of his first hires.
“I had a lot of visibility into this market and this franchise,” Jones said. “I came with my eyes wide open into the challenges that were here. It’s that set of challenges as well as what’s inherently the strengths of this market, of this ballpark, that make it such an incredible opportunity.”
“We need to force ourselves is to reset a lot of the standard — not only for this organization and this market, but the industry as a whole.”
Dímelo
One of Jeter’s first priorities as CEO was transforming the toxic perception of the team that had permeated from prior ownership.
“When I got here, I said we need to listen to our fan base and understand what they like, what they don’t like,” Jeter said. “When [Adam and I] sat down and talked about how we were going to do that, Adam started talking about ‘We’ll have these Dímelo booths.’
“A lot of the things that we started that you’re seeing right now came from conversations with Adam.”
Out of that meeting, the ‘Dímelo’ campaign was born. The Marlins set up online surveys and video booths within the ballpark for fans to record messages on what they liked — and didn’t like — on anything Marlins related. Jones said the team accumulated over 18 hours of footage from the booths, which he viewed in its entirety.
“It framed a lot of our strategic conversations,” Jones said. “It’s very impactful when you can see the face of our fan and see the emotion on the face or see if the sentiment is more positive or negative.”
While the Jones said the majority of feedback was extremely constructive, they also recorded some colorful footage that might be deemed not safe for work.
“There’s plenty of content for a great reality show someday,” Jones said.
Ballpark renovations
A recurring theme from the fan base was improving the in-game experience at Marlins Park — from food and beverage to seating options. After finishing with a league-worst attendance in 2018, the organization put together an aggressive offseason campaign, targeted at making the park a more attractive venue for fans.
Among the changes, Miami overhauled its food and beverages, lowering prices and adding a variety of new options.
The Marlins are also making serious seating renovations to boost the ingame experience. Ditching the infamous Home Run sculpture, the team is creating a three-tiered Center Field Zone and a standing room only section in right field, targeted to add a more unique, vibrant feel for fans — especially the millennial audience. Jones said the team used similar-type concepts at Progressive Field, Coors Field, SunTrust Park and Target Field as inspiration for the changes.
In addition, the organization upgraded its premium seating — remodeling ‘The Club: Dex Imaging.’ All the new sections are scheduled to completed by opening day.
“[Jones] spearheaded our capital improvements in the park,” Jeter said. “That’s Adam coming to me and saying, ‘These are some things we need to do in order to improve the fan experience in the park.’
“He comes with an unbelievable institutional knowledge that comes from every part of the business and has an incredible work ethic.”
Jones was also integrally involved in the team’s rebranding, highlighted by its new logo, colors and uniforms — which were all well-received by the fan base.
The future
Part of Jeter’s brain trust, Jones continually has his mind on ‘What’s next.’ Negotiating a new TV deal and securing stadium naming rights, which he said he couldn’t discuss, will be critically important for the franchise’s long-term growth.
While the team is spending 2019 upgrading the instadium experience, a necessary step in the future will be tackling the out-of-stadium experience — specifically finding a way to boost the surrounding area.
With Marlins Park plopped in the middle of a residential neighborhood with no bars, restaurants or shops surrounding it, the franchise is at a significant disadvantage.
The trend with recent ballparks — Atlanta’s SunTrust Park, for example — has focused on building out the nearby area to create a more attractive scene, where fans can have dinner before a game or grab a drink afterward — all within walking distance of the park.
While there’s nothing currently planned, the topic is definitely on Jones’ radar.
“I think it’s certainly within the long-range horizon of the organization that we want to be an active stakeholder within the community, within this neighborhood,” Jones said. “Whether we’re directly or indirectly supporting the development of the neighborhood. There will be a role for the organization as we look to better the community and position the broader location for our fans and game attendees.
“There are blueprints in other communities where you look at the villages or mixed use development in general. The formula that seems to work elsewhere the best is when there’s both public and private involvement in those ventures with private really driving, so those are areas we’re certainly going to explore and as we continue to drive engagement in the site, others will have interest as well.”
For now, Jones continues to keep an eye toward toward the future as the Marlins’ new ownership group enters its second full season. He and Jeter stay in constant contact, speaking daily at the team’s stadium offices — whether in meetings or when Jones drops by the CEO’s office to pitch an idea, which is always welcomed by Jeter.
“I have the open-door policy,” Jeter said. “Any time Adam has ideas, he walks down [the hall] and [we] talk about them.
“I value his opinion and he’s been a great asset to the organization.”