The St. Louis Rams have formed a six-person ticket sales department, coming off a 2007 season that featured the fewest sellouts and the team's worst season since it moved to St. Louis prior to the 1995 season.

Michael O'Keefe was named vice president of sales and will oversee the team of six. He has worked with the Rams for 10 years, was previously the team's director of corporate sales and has been responsible for team sponsorships, suite sales and club seats in the past.

Reporting to O'Keefe is Jake Bye, director of ticket sales and premium seating. Bye is entering his third season with the Rams front office. The sales staff will also include new hires Barbara Helman, Megan Knapp, Jon Kruse, David Kinsey and Nathan Schandl.

"The new structure will enable us to better target potential customers and engage them in our unique NFL experience," Bob Wallace, executive vice president/general counsel of the Rams, said in a statement. "The ticket sales staff will work in conjunction with the existing ticket operations staff to ensure customer satisfaction throughout the entire ticket purchasing and holding experience."

The Rams finished 3-13 in 2007 and ranked No. 27 out of 30 NFL teams with an average regular season attendance of 63,044, according to the Sports Business Journal, an affiliated publication.

Of the eight regular season games played at the Edward Jones Dome in 2007, several failed to sellout. The Rams had sold out every regular season game except one, the 2006 finale, since moving to St. Louis.

Despite the Rams lagging attendance, the 2007 NFL regular season total paid attendance of 17,345,205 and the average of 67,755 per game were both all-time records.

Rams season tickets are currently available for purchase, with group sales going on sale in late April and flex plans in June. Single game tickets will be sold just prior to the start of the preseason games in August.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com