A can of worms

[Gray Mule]

I love the Hawks, as most of you know. There has been

a lot of talk about attendance for Hawk games.

I don't want to stir up trouble and don't take me the

wrong way, because, as I said, I love my Hawks.

The next time you look at the 12 man roster for the

Hawks, ask yourself, "How many white players do the

Hawks have?" I believe Crawford and Maloney are all.

The top 10 are all black.

I know, the coach is a white guy but none of the key

players are. I know that the N.B.A is predominately

made up of non white, american grown players. Most

of the white players are from overseas.

This doesn't bother me. I could care less. I just want

my favorite team, the Hawks to win every time that

they take the floor. This could be a problem with some

of the fans, however. It is a shame, but some people

want to judge a person by the skin that covers the body

and not by what is on the inside of the person.

What do you Hawksquawk posters think? Could this

be a problem for the Hawks?

I want the best players possible on the floor for the

Hawks. Teams don't trade away a player or trade for

a player because of race. {At least, they better not

try something as stupid as that}

Your thoughts ????

[Diesel]

I doubt that racism plays a role at all as far as attendence goes.

For instance, if the Hawks traded Theo for Shaq. CC, and Maloney for Iverson today...

Do you think with:

JT/Iverson/Big Dog/SAR/ and Shaq on our squad that attendance wouldn't be overflowing? Do you think that the Atlanta fans would say...

Ah, that's a team full of Black guys, I'm not going!

Here's the two secrets to getting fans out.

1. Atlanta has to get somebody that's marketable on a national level.

SAR and Big Dog are really good... However, they are relatively unknown on a National level. Iverson would be a great pickup... Because he is the most marketable player in the NBA right now... (until Jordan gets Washington in Contention).

2. Atlanta Needs a gimmick.

Atlanta is a city of transplants. The one constant has been that whenever a team developed a National Gimmick...

(2 Legit to Quit, Tomahawk, Dirty Bird)... The City reluctantly gets behind them. It's sorta like a winner's strut... Right now, the Hawks don't have one.

[Traceman]

I think that part of the problem with the Hawks marketing strategy is the fact that those in control have the same fears that you so eloquently articulated. I think that the majority of those in Hawks management believe that if they market the team the by celebrating the culture of its players, they will alienate middle class white America and lose the few fans they already have. Let me explain.

As a whole, the NBA is marketed as a "Hip Hop" league. The NBA markets guys like AI, Vince Carter, Shaq, Kobe, T Mac, KG, Steve Nash, Steve Francis, C Webb, J Kidd, Jason Williams, etc. using hip hop culture. Look at all the commercials featuring NBA players. Whether the commercial is promoting the league, shoes, clothes, video games, fast food, etc., virtually every commercial is set to a "hip hop" soundtrack. The music of artists like Nelly, Ja Rule, Jay Z, Jermaine Dupri, Ice Cube, etc is always on display. You rarely, if ever, see the NBA marketing any of its products using so called "mainstream" type music or as the Hawks marketing department says "music that everyone wants to hear." If the NBA was losing fans because of the lack of American born white players, do you think they would focus all of their marketing efforts around the hip hop culture?

I think part of the problem with the Hawks marketing strategy is that in trying to cater to "everybody", they miss out on one of the biggest things that makes the NBA popular other than the game itself, its connection to hip hop culture. The Hawks warm up to and are introduced during "mainstream" music, the dance team dances primarily to "mainstream" music and the "Fan Jam" segment (a segment that happens during a timeout where the fans are asked to get up and dance) is ususally set to "mainstream" music as well. The players have even asked mangement to change the music to hip hop while they are warming up but management has refused to do so. Meanwhile on TV (and in the other four arenas I've visited), the vast majority of the music is of the hip hop variety. In addition, the only REALLY successful post game concerts the Hawks have had in recent years involve hip hop acts (Run-DMC, Doug E Fresh, Sugar Hill Gang, etc.). It is my personal opinion that if the Hawks were marketed like the rest of the NBA, the team would draw a lot more interest. We need to get JT some theme music set to a smooth, funky hip hop beat. He loves to dance anyway and if he had his own theme song that played as he was introduced, he would probably get the crowd fired up with a few dance moves before the game. I know I'd love to see it! The same thing goes for Reef, Big Dog and Theo. Get the player hyped up and the fans will follow.

The bottom line is that I think that the fans who are there now would be there REGARDLESS of how the team is marketed but if the team wants to increase it attendance, I think marketing the team using the same proven formula of success that the NBA is currently using is the way to go.

[Guest]

business.[censored] the players know that stuff isn't

going to draw fans.As I said before,the team

is poorly marketed and Lee Douglas or whoever

needs to be fired.

I don't think the color of the players makes alot

of difference in this case.

As far as attendace goes,you have wonder alot of

people we told we would make the playoffs and we

didn't.You have to wonder if that has a effect on

this years attedance aswell.

[Nurlman]

I want a team that wins with character. The music, the halftime entertainment, the gimmicks -- it's all irrelevant (well, except the Dance Team). I don't think race matters. (Actually, it probably will always matter in a profound way to a minority on both sides of the fence, but you can't worry about that stuff. Move on.)

I want to see good guys grow together, enjoy their gifts, develop their defense, continue to work hard and eventually compete for the NBA crown.

I think a lot of that puzzle is in place right now. Stay patient, hang in there, spend as much money on 'em as you can afford, maybe they need another player or two, but they're absolutely headed in the right direction.

From a basketball and a marketing standpoint, I think they need a focal point with leadership and charisma and game and personality. I think that guy is JT, and he seems reluctant at times. I'd like to see him assert himself as the leader of the team - I think he's capable and commands the necessary respect.

Go Hawks!

[BlackHawkDown]

Well if you are white and want to enjoy a sport other than Hockey, especially Football and Basketball, I recommend losing a desire for the great white hope. Their a few top tier white players in basketball, the reasons for that are another discussion, so it follows that few white fans should go into a sport looking a an "all america white boy". But after viewing this site for a while I see the desperation for the Great White Hope is huge amoung white males. Point being I am sure any second tier white all star would gather a million white fans but fact is it isnt happening. Dirk Diggler, Pau , and Peja von Stupavich are the only white players of note, and none by themselves are of particular interest. But winning teams are. Bring Shaq/Kobe and showtime to Atlanta and I gaurantee a sell out. Gant/Justice/Pendelton not C.Jones brought big crowds to Fulton County Stadium. But looking at those in attendence it is disportionately white. ATL is 85% black metro ATL is 40% black and GA is 35% black so race doesnt seem to be a contributing factor. Vick is more interesting than Chandler. Terry is more interesting than Matt Maloney. Most fans/Teams are interested in winning. So put a known winner on the floor and watch attendance soar. Also consider ATL is a new city 70% of people in metro ATL arrive only in the last 10 - 15 years so there isn't a huge base of native fans.

Give it until next season if the Hawks are East Champs and cant fill Phillips then trade for a white hope.

PS White colleges like UGA, GT, FLA, FSU, Ala, Aub, ND, etc. have nearly all black teams and fill their stadiums every saturday.

[mrhonline]

The Great White Hope? I was starting to miss your posts, but this one takes the cake...I would caution you from making statements like this one, because then you really open up a "Can of Worms..."

I would agree with the spirit of this thread, though, I don't think race plays a role in the attendance problems...

Speaking of race & attendance, I was in Seattle for a Mariners' game the summer that Ichiro arrived, and the entire town was abuzz...I have never seem so many different cultures nor heard that many different languages - and it was a dozen times funner than any Braves game (and I have gone to Braves games since I was a kid). You could feel an 'electricity' in the air everytime something happened...

The Mariners were going to give away Ichiro bobble-head dolls the next day and there were hundreds of young Japanese-American girls sleeping on cots outside the stadium 24 HOURS before the game. Contrast that with the Braves' paltry attendance and I think it's hard to deny that Atlantans are spoiled...