David Robertson

What Is Atlanta Spirit Thinking?, 2008-2009 season edition........ We need a thread that calls out this corrupt organization. I couldn't find one specific to AS. Keep in mind the TOS disallows us to talk personal smack about Atlanta Spirit, LLC or any of its sponsors, so watch what you say and don't get this thread closed. First off, there's a serious lack of common sense in the office. You STHs remember the town hall meeting where it was announced that season ticket prices would be increased. The whole Levenson "deal with it" mess. First of all, it doesn't matter how the economy is or how cheap tickets are compared to others. You do not raise ticket prices for a poor product in a dying economy. In 2006, we were 23rd in the league for attendance. In 2007, we were 21st. In 2008, 22nd. Now, we're thinly above Columbus, Nashville, and the Islanders. If teams with financial issues like Phoenix and Florida are above us, that should be a major red flag. This poor attendance is due to: -Atlanta Spirit's unwillingness to put a winning team on the ice. -Atlanta Spirit's either complete lack of or corny/no effort advertising and marketing. -Atlanta Spirit raising ticket prices despite a clearly poor product and already dwindling ticket sales. And to that last point, that is the common sense of the situation. If you have to make up for lost revenue, you keep the current ticket prices, maybe add a slight increase in concessions, and market the**** team! Advertise! Half the city of Atlanta has never seen a hockey game! You can't just expect the quantity of ticket holders to stay the same. That's lazy, and any CEO of any company would fire a marketing manager with such a philosophy. In 2007, we raised a banner. It's amazing what performance does to sales, revenue, and attendance. In 2006, after the lockout, Tampa Bay had the 2nd highest attendance and less than 1,000 people under Montreal. In (essentially) one offseason, they went from 12 to 2. Anaheim went from 20 to 15 between 2007 and 2008. Carolina went from 21 to 15 between 2006 and 2007. Atlanta could have increased attendance in 2007-2008, but starting off with a 6 game lose streak, firing Hartley, and trading Hossa really hurt our average for the season. We raised a banner and our attendance went right back down. Something's not right. I have never heard of an organization or owner that was honestly content with piss poor performance, but it seems Atlanta Spirit sleeps well every night. I also have to ask...why did Atlanta Spirit buy this team? Do they want the team to succeed or do they want a little incentive to go with the Hawks success? At that, why, with the revenue of Philips Arena and media, does the organization continue to penny pinch? They clearly can put financial energy into the Hawks who are now 9-1 in their last 10 games with a substantial winning streak. Ownership is not the problem with their performance, but something's definitely up with their attendance. With 7 playoffs games, they ended up 20th in the league in attendance. Currently, as a team leaps and bounds better than last year, they stand at 21st in the league. What's going on, here? As far as the Thrashers, maybe it's our GM. With that said, how is Don Waddell, the one constant since franchise inception, still completely secure in his job? I don't know the numbers and figures, so feel free to correct me...but Atlanta Spirit has to be losing money on the Thrashers. Then there's the usual questions. Why didn't we try to re-sign Savard? Somebody already said it on these boards (step up and take credit), but with all the players that have come and gone, we could have had a Stanley Cup team. We're on pace for one of our worst seasons since inception after we were promised we'd be a better team this season and last season. I'm done buying into the promises of Waddell, and shame on me for believing it for a second this last offseason. Don Waddell will NEVER earn my trust ever again. My point of this thread: maybe it will, maybe it won't grab the attention of somebody in the AS office. I also want to keep this specific to the administration and not our roster. We've been calling out our lack of talent lately, but our unsung villain and reason behind our lack of talent is our ownership and management. Let's give them a little recognition, no? Atlanta Spirit is disappointing the holy**** out of its fans of both the Thrashers and the Hawks. It's never been a secret even though the organization pretends it is. Yeah, I know we've heard this a million times before, but somebody needs to buy the team. The lackluster performance of the Thrashers has gone on long enough; I'm tired of it. Enough empty seats, empty performance, empty promises: the organization and Don Waddell owes us fans the truth as to why this franchise has seen NO success in 7.5 seasons before he has no fans to explain it to. Too many questions directed to the organization and not enough answers. We want the truth. You guys reading this: do a little of your own research. Notice correlations between success and the following season's attendance. NBA Attendance NHL Attendance These are my own thoughts. I could be wrong on anything, but I would like your honest input and evaluation on our ownership and management specifically. Enough trade proposals and calling out specific players on our roster. Evaluate the Thrashers front office.

my plan is plan is to buy both teams and to own Philips Arena. and make both teams contenders for the playoffs

do one of the owners come on here? Atlanta Thrashers and Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena

do one of the owners come on here? Atlanta Thrashers and Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena

it is time for the Atlanta Thrashers and Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena to be for sale. anyone agree with that.