DevilMinder Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 Argh I hate these topics, but alas it deals with the Devils. By Darren Rovell ESPN.com ESPN Article Frustrated team owners often advocate firing the coach or signing a high-priced free agent in the offseason to help ring up sales at the box office. But this offseason in the NHL proved that, for the most part, winning is the most important marketing tool of them all. The Anaheim Mighty Ducks are seeing a significant return from last season's surprise run to the Stanley Cup finals. Team officials are optimistic that more than 20 games will be sold out at The Pond this year -- compared to just seven last season -- thanks to a season-ticket base that will grow by at least 2,000 fans, according to Al Coates, the team's senior vice president of business operations. The Ducks capitalized on their playoff run, but needed to replace Paul Kariya with Sergei Fedorov to maximize it. The Ducks are already coming off a positive attendance year. They experienced one of the largest increases in the NHL last season, drawing almost 14,000 fans per game, an increase of almost 2,000 per game from 2001-02. Coates said there'd be less reason for optimism had the team been unable to replace departed captain Paul Kariya with a star of equal magnitude. On July 19, two weeks and two days after Kariya signed with the Colorado Avalanche, the Ducks signed Sergei Fedorov. "Our fans in this market care about having a marquee player and picking up Sergei negated a potential slide," Coates said. "This area thrives on the star syndrome." Reaching the second round of the playoffs has helped turn around things for the Tampa Bay Lightning, whose St. Pete Times Forum is the second-largest arena in the NHL at 20,500 seats. The Lightning expect their season-ticket base to increase from 9,000 fans last season to 11,000 this season, said team president Ron Campbell. Add a 25 percent increase in purchases on all ticket packages and the Lightning should draw more than 17,000 fans per game and net about $21.5 million in ticket sales -- $4.5 million more than last season. "Teams that don't have to work too hard to get their crowd, like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, can take away 90 percent (profit) from each ticket," Campbell said. "But since we have to advertise more, we only come away with about 70 percent." Simply showing improvement during the second half of last season might be good enough for the Atlanta Thrashers, who have yet to make the playoffs since joining the league in 1999-2000. Bob Hartley coached the team to a 19-14-5-1 record after taking over in mid-January and Dany Heatley followed up his rookie-of-the-year season with 41 goals and the All-Star Game MVP award. "We'll be significantly north of where we were last year," said team president Stan Kasten, who expects attendance to be up at least 10 percent. "We played the second half like we were a playoff team." Kasten said he didn't expect a possible change of ownership to affect the average fan's feelings for the team. AOL Time Warner has been trying to complete a sale of the Atlanta Hawks, Thrashers and operating control of Phillips Arena to Dallas businessman David McDavid for the past couple months. "Our hockey franchise is more stable than the basketball franchise in that the Thrashers are moving in a very clear direction," Kasten said. "That's unlike the Hawks, where the general manager and the coach were in limbo until two weeks ago." Things are less clear with the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils, whose regular-season attendance last year fell by seven percent from 2001-02 and the team played in a Continental Airlines Arena that was, on average, 22-percent empty. "We definitely saw the effects of 9-11 in the 2001-02 season," said Devils' president and general manager Lou Lamoriello. "And we've certainly been effected by the economy since our area has been hit as hard as any." Though Lamoriello said it was too early to determine how winning the Stanley Cup will translate into new season-ticket sales, he said that season-ticket holders from last year are returning at the highest rate ever. "The market here is not New York City, it's not a situation where mass transportation isn't an issue," Lamoriello said. "But we're trying to make things as accessible as we possibly can." While the Devils attempt to parlay their third Cup in nine years into ticket sales with an all-out publicity blitz this week -- an advertising campaign occupying 60 billboards and space on a few buses -- the Minnesota Wild don't require the hardware or the effort to draw fans. The Wild have sold out every game in their three-year existence and have more than 16,000 season-ticket holders, minimalizing the impact of reaching the Western Conference final last season. The Columbus Blue Jackets haven't made the playoffs since they joined the league with the Wild in 2000-01, but ticket sales haven't lagged. The team has 13,500 season ticket holders -- roughly 1,500 more than it had in its inaugural season -- and the retention rate during the offseason is expected to be around 94 percent, said Mike Humes, the team's senior vice president for business operations. "We think the arena experience we give our fans is one of the reasons why we have such a great following," Humes said. Last year's ESPN.com's SportsNation Ultimate Standings, fans ranked the Blue Jackets second overall in best in-arena experience -- behind only the Wild -- among teams in all of the four major professional sports leagues. Although there is lack of professional sports competition in Columbus, it is also the second-smallest market in the league. The team has been a key beneficiary of the recent revitalization of the downtown area, Humes said. Missing the playoffs is starting to hurt the Nashville Predators, who haven't qualified for the postseason since joining the NHL in 1998-99. Attendance has dropped by about 1,000 fans per year since the team's inaugural season, and last year it ranked last in the league in average attendance. "When you are an expansion franchise there is a honeymoon period, but when you are building from within the way that we have, there is a lull in there," said Gerry Helper, the Predators' vice president of communications and development. "People have said make a coaching change, make a big trade, sign a big free agent, and fans give you pressure to do that. But it's only if those changes coincide with results on the ice do you get a long-term response in terms of attendance." Last year, in order to slow down the erosion of ticket sales, the team offered season-ticket holders a refund of the price increase -- six percent -- if the team didn't make the playoffs. Fans were refunded between $42 and $250 each, according to Helper, who noted that the team won't be offering the guarantee again this season. Though the clock is ticking on the current Collective Bargaining Agreement -- it expires in Sept. 2004 -- team executives said the potential of a protracted work stoppage hasn't had an affect on ticket sales ... yet. "The end of the Collective Bargaining Agreement is not an issue yet," Kasten said. "This time, next summer, we expect it to obviously be much more of a factor." Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn3.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devils744 Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 woo hoo they are going to put up billboards which will do nothing. if they want to attract fans to a lot of games they will have to do something like buy 1 get 1 free or something like that. sorry but billboards and ads on buses arent going to get it done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HellOnICE Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 Get buses and trains there...that'll help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRASHER Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 Buy one get one free will only piss off the season ticket holders and people who already have tickets.... one thing they CAN try to do.. make things a little easier for season ticket holders who want to buy extra tickets for certain games (and I don't mean just banner night), just make things EASIER for people.. people like to be taken care of ya know ?? I do disagreee about the banners and signs.. it's about damn time we see some ... ANY exposure out there for this team.. the Cup's gotten TEN times the exposure in NJ this time then the other 2 wins... would also be nice to see some more commercials that are not just run during Devils games !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeps Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 Get buses and trains there...that'll help. Since when did buses not go there? I agree about the train situation, perhaps that will be solved. But tons of buses go there, even one from NYC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Leeds Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 Move to Newark, that'll get my butt there more than 4 a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek21 Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 Have some more promotional dates like, "PK Scott Stevens Night ." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe B Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 Move to Newark, that'll get my butt there more than 4 a year. but a move to newark will get my butt rhere from 40 times a year to about 4 Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'7' Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 While the Devils attempt to parlay their third Cup in nine years into ticket sales with an all-out publicity blitz this week -- an advertising campaign occupying 60 billboards and space on a few buses -- the Minnesota Wild don't require the hardware or the effort to draw fans. I hope this doesn't mean more Join The Crowd Call: 555-LOU for further instruction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msweet Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 Move to Newark, that'll get my butt there more than 4 a year. but a move to newark will get my butt rhere from 40 times a year to about 4 Joe Same for me. But let's not start this as this has been beaten to death. I'm sure NewarkDevil would agree. And as for Marketing, running a one week/one month blitz....that's not going to do it. I'm a marketing guy, and they are going about it in the wrong way, IMHO NJ residents already know we won the cup, and that teh Devils are great. They need to give "new" fans a reason to come to the arena. Most people have never been to a hockey game, and still think that all they do is fight. There needs to be a re-education about NHL hockey in this state and the Devils should be the centerpiece of that. TV ads, billboards, buses are all ok. but with the right message. The need to re-explain hockey, explain how amazing the team in everyone's backyard is and give a monetary incentive to get to the game. Do family packages with food, show famailies at the games, and blast the other sports as boring with prima-donna players. leverage the contact, the speed, the (relative) quickness of the length of hockey games, etc. Non-hockey fans don't know any of this and a Devil's billboard is not going to get them to go to any game.....3 cups, 4 cups, or 24 cups. Yes, I am a frustrated Marketing Director. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Dog Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 In keeping with the "make things easier/better for the fans" sentiment. I think that a small gesture would be for all partial plan holders to have preferred parking access. Its a joke that someone that shells out the bucks in advance for 6, 12, 18 games or more to have to park at Giants stadium or the race track and hike it across the foot bridge. Give those people a break. For the more casual fan, free food nights, family discount games (especially on weekends), two for one specials would all go towards getting more people in the seats. I have to disagree with Crasher about the two for one pissing off ticket plan holders. I've been a 12 game plan holder for 9 years and the thing that pisses me off the most is having the arena half empty on far too many nights. Anything that gets fannies in the seats is fine with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe B Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 I have to disagree with Crasher about the two for one pissing off ticket plan holders. I've been a 12 game plan holder for 9 years and the thing that pisses me off the most is having the arena half empty on far too many nights. Anything that gets fannies in the seats is fine with me. If they offered 2 for 1 night lets say, 6 times a year. Would you wait for the 6, 2 for 1 nights or get the 12 game season package again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devil Dog Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 Joe B Posted on Sep 4 2003, 11:40 AM QUOTE (Devil Dog @ Sep 4 2003, 10:01 AM) I have to disagree with Crasher about the two for one pissing off ticket plan holders. I've been a 12 game plan holder for 9 years and the thing that pisses me off the most is having the arena half empty on far too many nights. Anything that gets fannies in the seats is fine with me. If they offered 2 for 1 night lets say, 6 times a year. Would you wait for the 6, 2 for 1 nights or get the 12 game season package again? In all honesty I would opt for the package. I've basically been in the same row and seats for the whole time so I know what I'm getting. Also, I get first crack at the playoff tickets as well. I've always been happy with the games I get so have no desire to change. Like I said, I'm more burned by having 16,000 people show up for a Wings game then someone getting a two for one deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundstrom Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 i've seen the signs on the turnpike, 280, and 1/9. stevens holding up the CUP. they're pretty sweet. hopefully, they leave them there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 Yeah, I saw one on 78 also. I don't think it makes all that much sense. Who's going to look up at a billboard and go 'OOH let's buy hockey tickets'? I'll tell you what they need to do. They need to get on broadcast television on the weekends. When the average guy has a choice between golf and hockey...we'll I sure hope he'd pick hockey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarDew Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 I'm with JoeB on this issue Good seeing you post again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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