JTrainDavis
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2006
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great effort by the Thrashers, case in point of what happens when a team quits on a coach, though. If not for the Dany Heatley crash incident, and all that followed, the Atlanta franchise was headed for great success...
Problem being, when putting a sport into an environment not familiar with the sport, putting a winner on the ice is paramount, as then fans will come out to see the "Home Team", fall in love with the sport, and spread the infectiousness of the sport.
The Atlanta team was well on their way to this, but the accident was awful, and as a result, their best player went way up north. yeah, he's an ******* for wanting to leave, after the support he was given by the fans there, but it hurt the franchise.
The Thrashers ownership should do a few things:
With the new salary cap, they should make tickets affordable. To EVERYONE. I was born and bred a Hartford Whalers fan. After they traded Ronnie Franchise, ticket sales decreased, as we, the fans (i was a kid at the time, my dad was the buyer) decided the franchise wasn't dedicated to winning. But to compensate for the decreased attendance, they raised ticket prices to meet the bottom line, without putting a competative team on the ice. True, the Whaler fans still went, but for the dad taking his kids to a pro sports event, the $33 worst seats were too much. This is in the mid-90's, mind you.
Don't worry about making money, just aim to break even. Make the tickets affordable to the point where it costs about the same for a date as a movie, dinner, and cocktails as it does for 2 seats and 2 beers apiece.
Building a fanbase as i said is the key. Here in New England we have 2 Original 6 teams, and youth Hockey is pretty big. Not so in the south, the NHL put teams there rather than Winnipeg or Quebec City, or Thunder Bay or Sault Saint Marie, for that matter, because of "the growing fanbase".
Spend your millions to fund youth hockey programs, teach kids the game, and go from there. Hockey is the most expensive sport for a parent, rather than talk about the lack of seats, start a youth league, and pay for sticks and pads, and have the Thrashers come give a clinic....The sport needs to grow there before it will flourish
Problem being, when putting a sport into an environment not familiar with the sport, putting a winner on the ice is paramount, as then fans will come out to see the "Home Team", fall in love with the sport, and spread the infectiousness of the sport.
The Atlanta team was well on their way to this, but the accident was awful, and as a result, their best player went way up north. yeah, he's an ******* for wanting to leave, after the support he was given by the fans there, but it hurt the franchise.
The Thrashers ownership should do a few things:
With the new salary cap, they should make tickets affordable. To EVERYONE. I was born and bred a Hartford Whalers fan. After they traded Ronnie Franchise, ticket sales decreased, as we, the fans (i was a kid at the time, my dad was the buyer) decided the franchise wasn't dedicated to winning. But to compensate for the decreased attendance, they raised ticket prices to meet the bottom line, without putting a competative team on the ice. True, the Whaler fans still went, but for the dad taking his kids to a pro sports event, the $33 worst seats were too much. This is in the mid-90's, mind you.
Don't worry about making money, just aim to break even. Make the tickets affordable to the point where it costs about the same for a date as a movie, dinner, and cocktails as it does for 2 seats and 2 beers apiece.
Building a fanbase as i said is the key. Here in New England we have 2 Original 6 teams, and youth Hockey is pretty big. Not so in the south, the NHL put teams there rather than Winnipeg or Quebec City, or Thunder Bay or Sault Saint Marie, for that matter, because of "the growing fanbase".
Spend your millions to fund youth hockey programs, teach kids the game, and go from there. Hockey is the most expensive sport for a parent, rather than talk about the lack of seats, start a youth league, and pay for sticks and pads, and have the Thrashers come give a clinic....The sport needs to grow there before it will flourish
