Will there BE....

[Diesel]

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So tell me Diesel, WTF are the marketing people supposed to do to gain fan interest?

I'm glad you ask.

For one... make a family plan that a family of four can go to the game, park, see the game, get Hotdogs, drinks, for $60.00. ASG has to pass along the cost to get the average joe into the stands to the corporate sponsors who will buy a luxury box.

Secondly.. TV ads that does not talk your ear off... but something very simple...

Like this....

I would show this video (first 1:00 Minute)...

Then have the camera pull away from a computer to Joe Johnson who is browsing Youtube and JJ says "Come Join us at the Phil this season"... then an announcer the run down ticket plan.

Third. I would get an official major sponsor... Like Wendy's. Every time the Hawks have a sellout and they win.. you can redeem your ticket at any participating Wendy's for a single meal... or something.

Next, you got to make your mark in Sportstalk Radio. Do something fan friendly that the radio people will eat up like Marks. Maybe allow invite the morning guys on 790 to have Josh Smith or Marvin Williams or Josh Childress to come in on a day when nothing is being promoted and spend the morning drive time talking to the sports guys and fielding questions. Maybe about 2 hours. Do the same thing that day at Lunch (same station different player) and the Same thing on the drive home (different Player). Do that 2 times in the summer... when nothing is going on. What this does is it gets the fans involved with the Hawks. I'm sure that there are several questions. Moreover, it's hard for these guys to talk a lot of s--- about the players if the players are there and are making relationships with the radio people. ASG don't have the money to quiet the radio guys (like the Redskins) so the next best thing is to befriend them.

Finally, instead of these cheezy NBA.com Q&A... the players and coach and GM and Owners ought to reach out to the fan messageboards. They don't have to live on the messageboards, but there's got to be some way that Sund's people can contact the Hawksquawk people and set up a Q&A that can be separated from the other forums (Like in the old days). Josh Childress shouldn't have to lurk on Hawksquawk. ANd neither should Patrick Sund.

[Swatguy]

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So tell me Diesel, WTF are the marketing people supposed to do to gain fan interest?

I'm glad you ask.

For one... make a family plan that a family of four can go to the game, park, see the game, get Hotdogs, drinks, for $60.00. ASG has to pass along the cost to get the average joe into the stands to the corporate sponsors who will buy a luxury box.

Secondly.. TV ads that does not talk your ear off... but something very simple...

Like this....

I would show this video (first 1:00 Minute)...

Then have the camera pull away from a computer to Joe Johnson who is browsing Youtube and JJ says "Come Join us at the Phil this season"... then an announcer the run down ticket plan.

Third. I would get an official major sponsor... Like Wendy's. Every time the Hawks have a sellout and they win.. you can redeem your ticket at any participating Wendy's for a single meal... or something.

Next, you got to make your mark in Sportstalk Radio. Do something fan friendly that the radio people will eat up like Marks. Maybe allow invite the morning guys on 790 to have Josh Smith or Marvin Williams or Josh Childress to come in on a day when nothing is being promoted and spend the morning drive time talking to the sports guys and fielding questions. Maybe about 2 hours. Do the same thing that day at Lunch (same station different player) and the Same thing on the drive home (different Player). Do that 2 times in the summer... when nothing is going on. What this does is it gets the fans involved with the Hawks. I'm sure that there are several questions. Moreover, it's hard for these guys to talk a lot of s--- about the players if the players are there and are making relationships with the radio people. ASG don't have the money to quiet the radio guys (like the Redskins) so the next best thing is to befriend them.

Finally, instead of these cheezy NBA.com Q&A... the players and coach and GM and Owners ought to reach out to the fan messageboards. They don't have to live on the messageboards, but there's got to be some way that Sund's people can contact the Hawksquawk people and set up a Q&A that can be separated from the other forums (Like in the old days). Josh Childress shouldn't have to lurk on Hawksquawk. ANd neither should Patrick Sund.

GeNIE Us.

D you are Geniousss, genous just genius.

I'm gonna call Arthur. Are you Arthur?

[Diesel]

Instead of $60.00..

I say $100.00...

I was feeling it a little much.

Still: Parking, Game, 4 Hotdogs, 4 drinks. = $100.00.

You'd sell out ever home game.

[josh_pwns_newbs]

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For one.

.. make a family plan that a family of four can go to the game, park, see the game, get Hotdogs, drinks, for $60.00. ASG has to pass along the cost to get the average joe into the stands to the corporate sponsors who will buy a luxury box.

I think you just described a program I've used with my family though it was 5 people for around 70 dollars. you get chick-fil-a biscuit, drink and tickets. no parking though

Big time sponsers? The lottery gave out free lotto tickets one night when I was.

agree with the other 2 tho

[Supporter]

ASG and free dont go togethar....

[Iman]

Yup Diesel, I think they pretty much already use most of the marketing you mentioned. Chic-fil-a as well as Home Depot are big sponsors. Two years ago every night a whole section would win a free burrito, I believe from Chipotle. I've received 4 or 5 Home Depot cards to redeem, only remembered to redeem it once and it was valued $1 which isn't worth bothering with but at least they tried.

Better half time shows, better dance teams, etc would help but mainly we just need more people willing to shell out big money just to see the Hawks. Avid fans probably wouldn't help as much as someone figuring out how to make Phillips for the Hawks "the place to be" and then the people who can afford it would come out. Getting more of the Atlanta famous faces and hot women in the stands would probably help as much as anything.

[crimedog]

The home attendance has been going up since ASG took over, even that disaster of a 13 win season saw a decent increase in attendance. This season we saw a 9% jump in attendance.

I think, as much as ASG and BK did wrong, that they put out a better product than what came before. The JET/SAR era was not fun at all. It was more fun to watch the kids dunk in the 13 W season that to watch the garbage that was going on before that.

We have more exciting players now. I talk ball with some folks around my office here in New York and they LOVE the Hawks - whenever we talk I hear things about how Joe Johnson is the most underated player in the league and how Josh Smith is the next superstar of the A or whatever. No one would say something like that about Rider, SAR, Terry, old Glenn R...

Now, if Smith gets signed to a max offer by LAC, I could understand why ASG wouldn't want to spend their money on that but they have to be prepared for the reprecussions of that, I know there are fans out there waiting to see what happens before spending their money.

[coachx]

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Now, if Smith gets signed to a max offer by LAC, I could understand why ASG wouldn't want to spend their money on that but they have to be prepared for the reprecussions of that, I know there are fans out there waiting to see what happens before spending their money.

I am one of those fans.

I too understand that Smith is not worth a $80 million contract. However, just b/c I understand that does not mean I will shell out season ticket money to see ZaZa start on Smoove's place.

For those complaing about parking. They only charge $5 in the lots underneath Phillips. Much cheaper and a much shorter walk then parking across from Olympic Park by the Tabernacle. Food in the CNN center is the same price it is at the drive through. You can get $10 tickets at stubhub all day long in the 300 sections. So you can actually take the family out for not much more then $60 any way if you just know how to do it. ( 4 tickets = $40 + $5 parking leaves $15.00 for fast food in the CNN Center to get 4 burgers and cokes. Not to mention if you park underneath Phillips you have protection from wind and rain on those cold, rainy, winter nights.

(By the way Stub Hub and the ASG are in the same freaking building 2 blocks from Phillips.) Stub-hub is definately tied into professional sports orgainzations and not an independent broker like some others. I think its just away for season ticket holders not to get pissed off at the organization for selling single game tickets at season ticket holder prices on the day of or the day before games.

[crimedog]

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Now, if Smith gets signed to a max offer by LAC, I could understand why ASG wouldn't want to spend their money on that but they have to be prepared for the reprecussions of that, I know there are fans out there waiting to see what happens before spending their money.

That is more than fair in my opinion.

Look, sports are entertainment. Enjoying a basketball team takes commitment - it takes a lot of time and a lot of money. Its fine that the Chi fans are so loyal to their team even when its terrible but I don't see why I should waste my time and money watching a game if I don't find the play or the players entertaining. I'm happy people didn't show up during the JET/SAR era, it probably made that era come to an end quicker.

People shouldn't be bashed because they don't want to waste their money going to see a team that can't put out a good product. You wouldn't go see a movie if it sucked just because one of the actors was from your home town, you wouldn't buy a CD just because the studio was in your city, I'm not going to blow $50 to watch a boring-ass team lose.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Coach, it definitely can be done. I park for $5 or $10 everytime i go to Philips. If people don't mind a little walking, you can always park down by the Aquarium for $5.

And you're exactly right about the CNN center food. Same prices as the drive-thru.

The fact is that if people REALLY want to go and see the Hawks, it can be done at a relatively decent price. This is the same issue that the Nashville Predators have. People want to see a top notch product out on the floor . . . for the absolute cheapest price possible.

Sorry folks, it just doesn't work like that. Everybody can't get the best deal.

If paying $10 - $20 for parking is going to be the dealbreaker in whether to watch The Hawks or not, you really have to question if watching the Hawks was that big of a priority in the first place.

But if you get creative, you can maximize costs like coach does.

But a fans #1 motivation should be to go watch the team . . period.

[Chris18]

If paying to park is that big of a deal than you should ride MARTA because it doesn't cost that much and you save on gas money.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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That is more than fair in my opinion.

Look, sports are entertainment. Enjoying a basketball team takes commitment - it takes a lot of time and a lot of money. Its fine that the Chi fans are so loyal to their team even when its terrible but I don't see why I should waste my time and money watching a game if I don't find the play or the players entertaining. I'm happy people didn't show up during the JET/SAR era, it probably made that era come to an end quicker.

People shouldn't be bashed because they don't want to waste their money going to see a team that can't put out a good product. You wouldn't go see a movie if it sucked just because one of the actors was from your home town, you wouldn't buy a CD just because the studio was in your city, I'm not going to blow $50 to watch a boring-ass team lose.

I agree crimedog. People don't want to go see a bad product.

But there are rammifications if you don't go support the team during bad times. Ask the Memphis Grizzlies. These owners just aren't going to spend top dollar to put a great product on the floor, if they're not sure if the majority of fans care in the first place.

The fact is that with the Hawks, they won over 60% of their home games last year, regardless of what their overall record was. At home, they definitely played like a playoff caliber team. That should be enough for them to have tremendous support going into this season.

This year, if everybody is brought back, there should be no excuse for Philips to be sold out all of November, and part of December . . . if . . . Hawks fans show up and support the team.

People can spin this all they want, but that is the real issue here. Will you support the team by being there, or won't you? Will you sacrifice some of the money that we all waste in a particular week, to pay $50 to see the Hawks? IF it means not eating out for a week, just to have extra cash for tickets, are you willing to do that to support the Hawks?

It's about passion people. Passion for your team.

[ATLBob]

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It's about passion people. Passion for your team.

Exactly. Diehards support their teams through the lowest times because they know that every game might become a turning point, and because when things do begin to turnaround and wins start to mount, it feels incredible.

Before the past season, the roster hadn't exactly been too rosy for the Celtics, but ... well, we saw what happened.

Ask Patriots fans which win they cherished the most, and I bet it was Super Bowl 36, that first one when they weren't supposed to have a chance against the mighty Rams.

And I bet Red Sox fans look at that 2004 ALCS as the shining moment, and the championship as a natural extension of that moment.

Hold on, let me get past that momentary malice toward New Englanders ...

And since we like winning, we continue to watch, but if we're honest with ourselves, our fandom follows the law of diminishing returns: that 4th championship tastes sweet, but not quite as sweet as that 1st one.

When you have long established loyalty to a team, no matter how much its tested, you somehow feel like a part of that team, and when they finally breakthrough, you get to feel like a part of that too.

Sport mimics life, and in the end its really all about hope. Hope for today. Hope for tomorrow. Each new game could mark a new beginning. A continuing dominance. Or a setback. The start of a downslide or collapse. You move forward, and as the wins and losses aggregate, you celebrate victories, suffer losses, and hope that the next day, the next year, the next time, there will be more of the former.

[ATLBob]

doesn't really tie into the thread overmuch.

Got a little carried away there.

[crimedog]

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It's about passion people. Passion for your team.

Exactly. Diehards support their teams through the lowest times because they know that every game might become a turning point, and because when things do begin to turnaround and wins start to mount, it feels incredible.

Cost/benefit man.

The Patriots and Sox were fun enough to watch those seasons, thats why they made it to the Superbowl and World Series.

When our team was winning 28 games and fielding a roster full of unenthusiastic, unexciting players, there wasn't that cathartic-hope-filled experience. To me, watching games was the equivalent of going to a Dane Cook movie - you knew it would suck and just being there made you resent who you were watching.

Now, we didn't even reach .500 but people started to come. The product was better, the players were likeable.

I'm all for supporting Atlanta sports teams. Thats why I am a Hawks/Falcons fan even though I haven't lived in Atlanta for 6 years. I just won't watch a basketball game if I don't think there is a good chance of being entertained.

[coachx]

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But if you get creative, you can maximize costs like coach does.

I wish I had that discipline.

Just b/c I told you how to do does not mean I have that discipline myself (I wish I did but the Hawks are my "vice." )I have to buy 2 or 3 beers and a GIANT hot dog at every game. I even burned some money so I could propose to my GF at center court. I normally get better seats too b/c I just go with a buddy instead taking a family of 4. Not to mention the hats and shirts I bought me and the little lady.

I have no problem spending money on the team if the ownership also spends money on the team. No more of this bottom 3 in the league in payroll crap. As long as the owners are cheap the fans will be cheap too.

When they upped the anti and got Bibby I uppped my anti too.

If they resign Smoove I wil call the same day to order 2 season tickets !

[crimedog]

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But if you get creative, you can maximize costs like coach does.

I wish I had that discipline.

Just b/c I told you how to do does not mean I have that discipline myself (I wish I did but the Hawks are my "vice." )I have to buy 2 or 3 beers and a GIANT hot dog at every game. I even burned some money so I could propose to my GF at center court. I normally get better seats too b/c I just go with a buddy instead taking a family of 4. Not to mention the hats and shirts I bought me and the little lady.

I have no problem spending money on the team if the ownership also spends money on the team. No more of this bottom 3 in the league in payroll crap. As long as the owners are cheap the fans will be cheap too.

When they upped the anti and got Bibby I uppped my anti too.

If they resign Smoove I wil call the same day to order 2 season tickets !

That is a good attitude.

Have you called in and told them that? It could help.

[Boomer]

[quoteI have no problem spending money on the team if the ownership also spends money on the team. No more of this bottom 3 in the league in payroll crap. As long as the owners are cheap the fans will be cheap too.

Exactly. We live pretty close to The Phil now and went to probably about 15 games last year. Usually just bought the ten dollar tickets. If the ASG spends some dough and keeps the Joshes, it's going to be real tempting to save up for season tickets. I really hope Bibby and Law come back healthy too.