Merged: Grantland - Free Agency Winners and Losers

[ViperXX79]

A lot of Vick fans did just ship but it was like the Cavs with Lebron. While the Cavs lost some Bron fans, Vick like Bron gave them more fans. Before Vick, the Hawks had a more reasonable fanbase and they didn't have much of a fanbase. Vick took a lot of those Broncos, Packers, and whatever was hot at the moment fans in Atlanta and turned them into Falcons fans and they stuck with the Falcons. 

And that was my point.  if they were truly just "Vick fans" they would of jumped ship.  They became Falcons fans and that's what is important.

[NBASupes]

And that was my point.  if they were truly just "Vick fans" they would of jumped ship.  They became Falcons fans and that's what is important.

They did. We went from constantly being blacked out to sell outs with 70k on the waiting list for season tickets. The Dome was the loudest place in US sports at the time. We lost a lot of fans but gain so many new ones as well. 

[JRid]

I haven't seen it mentioned much, but I'm curious what people think of Steve Koonin(new CEO). I heard him on the radio a few months ago and he seemed really excited about making the Hawks more relevant, etc. He also mentioned they will be doing a lot of things to make the fan experience much better.

 

I read some things about him and he seems legit. I think/hope he will have some great ideas and really help out.

 

Also, one thing I think that hurts is all the corporate seats that are sold. I know it's great to sell them and you have to, but those seats don't get used a lot of times. A friend of mine works for a company who has 8-10 seats that are down close to the floor. He sometimes takes his son to a game and uses 2 of the seats. He said every time he goes he is the only one sitting in those seats and when he watches on TV those seats are usually empty.

 

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/basketball/breaking-hawks-to-hire-turner-executive-as-ceo/nfY4T/

“Steve Koonin’s reputation as a game changer in both marketing and media makes him the ideal leader to usher the Atlanta Hawks into a new era. He has created a legacy as an expert in sports marketing, television, branding and digital media,” Hawks co-managing partner Bruce Levenson said in a statement. “The Hawks are thrilled that Steve is joining the ownership group as both our CEO and a partner.”

[Guest]

Great, another franchise you don't seem to know a lot about. Yes Turner helped but he ran the team for a while and it was a big joke until he finally hired Cox and JS to fix. Remember most experts and teams would not of picked Chipper number one overall but Bobby saw something in him. Trading for Smoltz, choosing Maddux over Bonds, and literally a thousand other things those two did. Turner just signed the checks which I'm grateful for but once again the right people were finally hired to do the job right. To just say "Ted Turner and a little bit of luck" shows a complete lack of knowledge of the infrastructure that was built for a team you claim to be a fan of.

So the parallel to the Hawks is that the A$G had their imprint all over the Hawks. Now they've hired DF who hired Bud, Kooning is onboard and the owners (Gearon the moron) have be shoved in the background and is speaking with one voice (Levinson). Let basketball people do basketball things.

This is 2 years in.

[Admin]

I haven't seen it mentioned much, but I'm curious what people think of Steve Koonin(new CEO). I heard him on the radio a few months ago and he seemed really excited about making the Hawks more relevant, etc. He also mentioned they will be doing a lot of things to make the fan experience much better.

 

I read some things about him and he seems legit. I think/hope he will have some great ideas and really help out.

 

Also, one thing I think that hurts is all the corporate seats that are sold. I know it's great to sell them and you have to, but those seats don't get used a lot of times. A friend of mine works for a company who has 8-10 seats that are down close to the floor. He sometimes takes his son to a game and uses 2 of the seats. He said every time he goes he is the only one sitting in those seats and when he watches on TV those seats are usually empty.

 

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/basketball/breaking-hawks-to-hire-turner-executive-as-ceo/nfY4T/

“Steve Koonin’s reputation as a game changer in both marketing and media makes him the ideal leader to usher the Atlanta Hawks into a new era. He has created a legacy as an expert in sports marketing, television, branding and digital media,” Hawks co-managing partner Bruce Levenson said in a statement. “The Hawks are thrilled that Steve is joining the ownership group as both our CEO and a partner.”

 

I'm exited about Koonin. I don't know a lot about him but he's worked for some huge companies and I love his vision and excitement for the team. Time will tell if anything changes, but I hope it does. 

[JRid]

I'm exited about Koonin. I don't know a lot about him but he's worked for some huge companies and I love his vision and excitement for the team. Time will tell if anything changes, but I hope it does. 

Yeah, I'm feeling good about it too. There are things that can be done and I'm happy the organization realizes that and is addressing it. I think we can at least expect some improvement because he seems to know what he is doing.

[MaceCase]

So the parallel to the Hawks is that the A$G had their imprint all over the Hawks. Now they've hired DF who hired Bud, Kooning is onboard and the owners (Gearon the moron) have be shoved in the background and is speaking with one voice (Levinson). Let basketball people do basketball things.

This is 2 years in.

But I want my championship now!  I don't want no logo rebranding!  I don't want no supposed All Star I don't care about advertised in new and inventive ways!  I most certainly don't want to win any contests to go hang out with this guy, whoever he is!  And I definitely don't want to see a bunch of guys give a shit every night and compete!  I want my super star and my championship to celebrate now!