TheIceDog Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 To say that the ticket sales at The Rock have been disappointing may be a bit of an understatement. The lack of marketing has always been one of the very few negatives to a very successful organization...on the ice that is. The blockbuster Kovachuk deals signals the end of an era for the New Jersey Devils. The shutdown defense of blueliners Stevens, Niedermayer, Daneyko, etc., are long gone. Marty is in the home stretch of his brilliant HOF career. The team concept still remains and it will as long as Lou is in command, but now the time has arrived to showcase the Devils talent so look for a heavy dose of Brodeur, Parise and Kovalchuk ads, commercials, etc., to market this franchise and build up ticket sales. You won't see the ridiculous over-hyped garbage that comes out of MSG year after year devoted to marginaly talented hockey and basketball teams but you will see a difference. The playmaking d-men (Niedermayer, Raphalski and now Martin) have left over the years and Lou understands he needs firepower to suceed. Did Lou want Kovy? Absolutely. For that type of contract? Not a chance so in steps Vanderbeek who knows the Nets didn't acquire Lebron and they are going to relocate to Brooklyn, the heyday of big name bands is starting to wane so concert sales won't be as lucrative.....Jeff needs to fill the arena and he saw the need to have a marquee player beyond a goal tender who will bring out new fans to see live games. This is was a business decision, pure and simple, from ownership. Lou understands the economics but sees it as a team building transaction. Vanderbeeks sees it as the shot in the arm for revenue. Hopefully they won't blow this golden opportunity to really market and showcase one of sports most successful organizations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoArmySports Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 I feel we could average over 16k worth of fans per game this year easily! ESPN.Com reported our attendance as an average of 15,535 this past season, so I figured another 400 or so fans would be easily reached! Plus maybe will sell out the first round of the playoffs weeks before the games instead of 2 minutes before the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grcenter47 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Do you think it has to do with marketing or do you think it has to do with geographical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoArmySports Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Do you think it has to do with marketing or do you think it has to do with geographical Well our location doesn't help although the train does help people get to the Arena. It's just like the Nets and Knicks. When the Nets were making deep playoff runs and Knicks were winning 19 games the Knicks still drew better because they were in New York! Plus when you go to a Knick game these days at least a quarter of the crowd is from Europe anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grcenter47 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Well our location doesn't help although the train does help people get to the Arena. It's just like the Nets and Knicks. When the Nets were making deep playoff runs and Knicks were winning 19 games the Knicks still drew better because they were in New York! Plus when you go to a Knick game these days at least a quarter of the crowd is from Europe anyway. i was thinking more how the nets and devils struggled due to being close to new york and philly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin226 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 i was thinking more how the nets and devils struggled due to being close to new york and philly Well I can tell you my gf is from NJ but she lives 25 minutes from Wachovia Center and 90 minutes from Prudential so I can't blame her for being a Flyers fan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grcenter47 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Well I can tell you my gf is from NJ but she lives 25 minutes from Wachovia Center and 90 minutes from Prudential so I can't blame her for being a Flyers fan i agree with you. it seems like when you get to southern ocean county and down, all the sports fan support philadelphia teams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin226 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 (edited) i agree with you. it seems like when you get to southern ocean county and down, all the sports fan support philadelphia teams Yeah I mean I don't blame them.. I'd rather root for the team I grew up watching live at games and since Philly is closer to them it just makes sense.. In terms of North Jersey I think you find that people who's families were into hockey pre-Devils are Rangers or Islanders fans (yes, I know a few).. The Devils still have a young market.. Right now their outreach programs and clinics are getting kids to root for the team but they are too young to afford tickets themselves.. I went to 1 or 2 games a season before I got a job.. People who grew up during the team's first successful years are just now getting jobs but in this economy they still cant afford to spend a lot.. In 10 years, if the team is still competitive, I think we will see a ton more sellouts and merchandise sales will also be extremely high.. Remember, merchandise accounts for a huge amount of a team's income not just ticket sales Edited July 20, 2010 by Colin226 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chambers Scored Twice Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 Well said IceDog. I do hope that we will be able to secure maximum benefit from this both on the ice and in the office. The lack of marketing has always been one of the very few negatives to a very successful organization...on the ice that is. True. And you can rest assured that the marketing has already begun. Whether it has the impact we hope it will is another matter. I think the key is to make sure that people realise what a talent Kovy is. He's been pretty much hidden from the mainstream (by that I mean people who only have a passing interest in hockey, who, incidentally, are a marketeers dream) due to being buried under a pretty awful Trashers team for 8 years. ...the ridiculous over-hyped garbage that comes out of MSG year after year devoted to marginaly talented hockey and basketball teams... Amen. But then I'm only agreeing because I hate the scum as much as the next person here. The truth is that the marketing dep. needs to hype things up a bit around Kovy. Like I said, we all know who he is and what he's capable. But it is a case of letting the plebs know too. So we might have to endure some gringe-worthy ads along the way. Over-hyping is fine in my book. I know we all think that this deal is the biggest thing to happen in sport during the summer, but we are fooling ourselves. It is not the biggest deal and it is merely down to the fact that Kovy is not as recognisable as somebody, say, with a similar track record in baseball or football. I can't really explain why that is. Imagine how much coverage a hitter who had the most home runs since 2001 would get! As an additional anecdote, I was in Atlanta on business in November 2006 and even then all the posters advertising the Trashers games featured either Kari Lehtonen or Marian Hossa. To get bums in seats we need to - If we want to push towards 17k at each game - to convince "potentials" that it doesn't matter that there's a letter "k" in the name and that ends in -alchuk and not -echkin. We need to make sure people realise what a talent this man is. Can't wait for October. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overtime98 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 ...Jeff needs to fill the arena and he saw the need to have a marquee player beyond a goal tender who will bring out new fans to see live games. This is was a business decision, pure and simple, from ownership. Lou understands the economics but sees it as a team building transaction. Vanderbeeks sees it as the shot in the arm for revenue. Hopefully they won't blow this golden opportunity to really market and showcase one of sports most successful organizations. EXACTLY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robdeselich88 Posted July 20, 2010 Share Posted July 20, 2010 to be honest, riding the train and walking to the arena-newark seems so nice and pretty... DRIVE in, or walk behind the pru center and you got a whole another story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainScotty Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 I want to add an interesting viewpoint to this thread, I don't live in New York anymore. (in a sh!t town called Houston now). Why is that relevant? Well, me and a bunch of other younger guys like me, got shellacked when the financial markets collapsed. Just from my peers, I know a bunch of guys that were making good enough money to go to a number of games are displaced far, far away from our beloved devils. any expectation to grow this team's fanbase is going to be an uphill battle until we start seeing jobs and free cash flow. I plan on moving back if/when I can, but make no mistake, the economy, especially in the New York area, is in pretty damn poor shape (I'm a financial guy, so maybe I feel it more). While I am happy Kovy is on my team, my other half smacks with contempt at another player blowing the disparity between the brick layer, and puck player out of whack. At least investment bankers work around the clock 364 days a year (christmas, only guaranteed holiday) for their ridiculous salaries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.