|
August 20, 2005
National Post
A free autographed puck to one fan every time Dallas scores at home. A Luc
Robitaille-signed jersey to season-ticket holders in Los Angeles. Dollar hot
dogs in Nashville. A barbecue with the Bruins in Boston. Five-hundred free
tickets to each of 15 Tuesday night games in Montreal.
Sacre bleu!
NHL teams are romancing their fans. Hey, Tampa Bay's season-ticket holders
even get a re-engagement ring -- a replica of the one Lightning players
earned for winning the 2004 Stanley Cup.
It's all part of each team's marketing effort after the first work stoppage
in history to wipe out an entire pro sports season. Each franchise devised
its own strategy, and most started with a rollback in ticket prices.
The NHL is in uncharted territory when it comes to persuading fans to
reconnect with a sport that many found they could live without over the past
14 months.
A league-wide marketing campaign kicks off next month, NHL vice president
for communications Bernadette Mansur said, and much of it will involve
online interaction. Until then, each team decides for itself how to win back
fans.
"Each club knows what the hot buttons are in their market," Mansur said.
Across-the-board price cuts, for example, "aren't realistic when some clubs
have suffered more than others under the past CBA."
Much is at stake: Despite all the economic changes in the new collective
bargaining agreement, the league still relies more on gate receipts and less
on TV revenue than any other pro sport. It can't afford to bungle things.
"What I'm waiting for," says Jim Boone, co-founder of the NHL Fans
Association, "is something on a macro level from the NHL, something that
will be a significant gesture to the fans that says I'm sorry and this is
what we're going to do for you."
(San Jose Mercury News)
| 
