The Nashua Silver Knights say they are already way ahead of last year's ticket sales as they prepare to open the season on May 26. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Cam Cook sat outside on the deck just outside his Holman Stadium offices that look out over first base and right field with a sense of calm,

but also enthusiasm.

“It sneaks up on you,” the Nashua Silver Knights general manager said, referring to the start of the franchise’s upcoming 12th season on May 26. “It’s hard to believe it will be in a couple of weeks. But I can’t wait.”

That’s because Cook, the former Knights third baseman who was a key to two of the team’s five Futures Collegiate League championship seasons, as well as his assistant GM Katie Arend and staff have made it a point to take their off-season to a new level the past six months.

They’re ready.

“It feels like the most productive off season we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Cook said. “On the whole, everything feels normal day to day.

“But when you look back, 2019 was hurry up and get ready for the season with the Creedons purchasing the team and I came on I think in April. In 2020, we were cruising, cruising through the off-season. What we had seem from the past few years, we were cruising.”

Then, boom. COVID hit that March, and nothing really the next two years was the same. The Silver Knights were fortunate that they were able to be one of two franchises in the league to be allowed fans, the other being New Britain.

“We were grateful (to the state and the city) and as successful as we could have been given the circumstances,” Cook said. “Whatever the ceiling was for 2020, I think we hit that. And 2021 was better, but …”

But the Knights went through much of that off-season uncertain as to what they could and could not do leading right up to Opening Night, what they could sell, what they couldn’t sell.

But while COVID still remains in the environment, business returned to normal this off-season, and Cook & Co. went to work to try to replicate that 2019-20 business success that eventually got sabotaged. And it’s not like the team played in front of an empty stadium last summer; the franchise was third in the FCBL in attendance, averaging 1,148 per game behind Worcester (1,229) and runaway leader and first-year franchise Vermont (1,706). It was only eight less per game than the pre-pandemic season of 2019, but it was behind the tallies of 2017 (1,460) and 2019 (1,525).

But, to be fair, attendance levels all around the league were down as it was recovering from COVID restrictions where two-thirds of the franchises weren’t allowed fans for 2020.

“We’ve done about three-quarters of last year’s total ticket sales,” Cook said, “and we’re still three weeks from the season.

“And that doesn’t include walk-up.”

And that’s not all as sponsorship, the GM said, has increased 20 percent. All you need to do for proof of that is open up a Silver Knights 2022 pocket schedule and see the abundance of advertising.

“Everything’s up,” Cook said. “Sponsorship is way up. whether that’s people starting to know who myself and Katie are …”

How has this all happened? Cook and Arend made the decision to be as visible as could be in the community. Plus, mainly with a focus on group sales – the main ingredient the franchise has always basically lacked – a third person was added, this past season’s team broadcaster G.J. Mitchell for off-season sales.

“We’re just about and about all the time, man,” Cook said. “We are everywhere in the off-season, and from a business perspective it’s great. But I love Nashua. I’ll go to anything, I don’t care.”

The tickets included packages, a new all-you-can-eat ticket. Season tickets, something the franchise really hasn’t pushed, have grown to 250. The approach with groups was basically introductory, and the rest followed.

“We just wanted to let people know we were here,” Cook said. “Because as I’ve said before, when we get people in our front gate, they come back. It’s just a matter of getting them through the gate the first time. Our retention rate is great.”

Cook isn’t the type to sit around idle, so the staff went to work right away. First was taking care of the season ticket renewals, and then groups was next, beginning with introductory calls in November-December.

“Companies that have a staff of 300 to 1,000 people, they can’t plan the week of,” he said. “They need things way in advance … We don’t want to be late to the party.”

Once the season starts, what is the response or demand for tickets? Does that increase demand? Cook says it does especially for the suites that overlook home plate.

“It’s a good problem, but I never want to be the guy on the phone that says ‘Sorry,’ ” he said.

The deck Cook was sitting on is also sold as an outdoor suite. But this year Cook & Co. have tackled the age-old issue of how to market the picnic area that sits slightly above the left field brick wall. There will be a cabana-like area created named after a popular beer.

“There will be picnic tables, high tops, etc.,” Cook said. “G.J.and I sat out there for a high school game. It’s like you’re on the field. It’s one of those things that will sell more as the suite sells out. Not so much Opening Night. But people will see the signs, there will be umbrellas, Christmas lights strung out, so it will draw some attention.”

THE BUSINESS STRATEGY

Cook sat down with owner John Creedon, Jr. as usual after the 2021 season to begin to formulate their approach for 2022, which they hoped would come with less restrictions.

What were the parameters?

“It was what would put us in the best position financially, and that’s sponsors, and making sure we had good relationships with them,” Cook said. “Then group outings, and catering.”

Remember, what separates the FCBL from other summer collegiate leagues, most notably the New England Collegiate Baseball League, is it is a for-profit league. The franchises are in it to not only provide the college players with an opportunity, but their owners are in it to make a profit if at all possible.

And this was part of Cook’s education as a general manager.

“Let’s say we didn’t sell beer and hot dogs,” Cook said. “We would be super, super lucky if we broke even on the season.

“Beer, hot dogs, the suites, the catered areas, that’s what keeps us going,” he said.

That was the thinking behind a deal with the city for the first 500 to request tickets to the franchise’s first ever July 4 game – 11 a.m.that day – to be allowed in free of charge. The dollars will be made up in concessions.

“Hopefully a lot of them will come in have never been to a Silver Knights game,” Cook said, with the idea they’ll come in, “have their socks blown off and want to know how to get tickets.”

And, he said, the 500 have already been “sold” out. “I expected them to sell out, half of them quickly, and the rest closer to the Fourth,” he said. “Two weeks, all 500 were gone.”

The team has two other big dates on the calendar: The 603 Night, which is basically a celebration of New Hampshire on Friday, June 3, in which 2,000 tickets have already been sold with several companies attending, special jerseys being worn, etc.

“We’re going to pump our tires on everything New Hampshire,” Cook said. “That’s really going to be our opening day, us opening the gates and saying this is what 2022 is going to be.”

That and Education Day, a 10:30 a.m. Game Wednesday, June 8, which will also bring a huge pre-sold crowd of students from area schools. A new wrinkle was added as first, the game, while it counts in the standings, will be a seven inning affair only so the youths can stay for the whole game. After it, there will be a home run derby. And two, hundreds of students submitted different rules, etc. that will be fun but won’t deter from the results. “Every one will be incorporated in some way,” Cook said, noting that during the game he will be taking older students from high schools on a tour around the stadium if their interest is sports management. “It will be an informative trip,” he said.

Also, the suites will be used by groups from senior citizen homes around the area. “And they get to watch all these kids have the time of their lives,” Cook said.

THE WEEKNIGHT PUZZLE

Like any collegiate league or minor league team, Fridays and Saturdays are big – the Knights have five Fridays and each has post game fireworks – and Nashua will try to fill in around them on the weeknights. June has a combined seven Tuesday-Wednesdays, giving the month the most home dates which isn’t an easy sell.

Thursdays is half off beer,but this year in an effort to boost Tuesdays, the team will have that promotion for those nights as well. “It’s the cheapest bar in town,” Cook said. “Our whole model is Tuesday, Wednesday we’re still trying to sell the suites out, still trying to stack up some groups, but at the end of the day it’s still Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We don’t do fireworks on Tuesdays for a reason.”

When you open up the pocket schedule, it’s obvious the most games (18) are in late May and all of June, but, as Cook says, the dates in July-early August have mainly weekends. There are two Wednesdays and zero Tuesdays, and the Monday is the Fourth. “Which is good because that gives us time to bolster those (weekends) as much as we possibly can, stack them all up,” Cook said.

Opening Night is not going to be a huge sell, as its late May on a Thursday, school still in session, no championship pre-game ring ceremony, and the front office opted to put its resources into the other big draws.

“We really have’t had a super successful opening night,” Cook said. “Last year with the ring ceremony and (a stock car driving in) and all that, I thought it would be bigger. I think (the season) sneaks up on people. It sneaks up on me.”

Cook is low keying the first few days of the season to allow the game staff and interns to get acclimated, and that includes the first Saturday night (May 28) and also the franchise’s first Memorial Day game ever, a matinee at 1 p.m. “It’s one of those things where it’s a long weekend, and people are away, etc.,” Cook said, adding the holiday game was originally set for 6 p.m. and the club moved it to the afternoon.

JULY 4

The plans for that day to are to make those who usually came to the stadium early that holiday for city festivities to enjoy a lot of the same youth related activities with a greatly expanded Kids Zone for the day. “For someone who comes at noon and brings their blanket to sit on the field, they can still bring their blanket and lawn chair, and the second the game ends, they don’t have to leave the ballpark,” Cook said. “They don’t have to leave the park.”

THE ATMOSPHERE

Cook is absolutely thrilled with the staff he’s recruited for the season, many of whom were all signed up as early as January. There will be a new on-field host, Kailey Lane out of Duquesne, who has worked at NESN and currently works for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and there will be students working on social media and marketing. The addition of Mitchell worked to bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm in the off-season to what had been just a two-person office with Cook and Arend. “You get three people buzzing on the phone,” Cook said in terms of sales calls, etc.

But this is also the first year the Creedons can operate full force. They bought the team with just two months to go before the start of 2019; the pandemic hit in 2020 and the off season of 2021 was filled with question marks.

“This is the first year they’re ready to beat their chests and roll right into it,” Cook said.

There are a lot of new sponsors and promotions working with them – for example, a local bicycle company has a prize in case a Silver Knight hits for, you got it, the cycle. And many more. Traditional sponsors have worked with the team, Cook said, to incorporate new ideas.

“Whether it’s sponsors or a company in Nashua, whenever they’re thinking of an event, maybe it’s not a Silver Knights game right away but Holman Stadium pops right into their mind,” Cook said. “I’m limited because I can’t tell you whether you can have the stadium while we’re on the road (that is up to the city). But do you want to have something before one of our games and stick around? Be my guest, I can make that happen for you. We’re getting good at making sure we’re not stepping on Park&Rec’s toes, they’re taking care of us, really it’s just a lot of communication.”

Cook says there are still companies the franchise is chasing but they’re catching up to a few.

THE BASEBALL

The season last year was a disappointment, as the club missed the playoffs for the first time in its history with a 27-39 record, 5.5 games out of the fourth and final playoff spot and good for sixth out of eight teams.

How does the on-the-field product impact how many come to see it?

“It definitely doesn’t help,” Cook said. “If we’re 10-40, people would be like, ‘We’ll come next year’ – the casual fans. But a really good team, with good guys, a winning team with those personalities is what keeps people coming back, kids especially.”

This year’s team, which the Sunday Telegraph will take an in-depth look at next weekend, Cook says offensively is “a juggernaut” and for pitching there are 26 arms.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said.

Why not? Cook & Company have seemed to figure out a lot already. Except, of course, the big wild card – weather. Last year, rain was the theme.

“Statistically, it can’t be as bad as last year, right?” Cook said.

New concession items, more beer options.

“I’m excited,” Cook said. “Fans have been happy with what we’ve done the last three years for the most part., but I think this year it will blow their socks off.”