Aside from having to "revamp" radio and TV ads featuring
team members, "it appears to be business as usual" when it comes
to marketing the Mavericks during the lockout, according to David
Moore of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Moore says that "numbers
provided by the Mavericks show the lockout has done nothing to
visibly dampen the enthusiasm generated by this past season's 36-
46 record." Season ticket renewals are at 94% for next season,
compared to 72% for last year at this time; there are 1,500 fans
on the priority list for new season tickets, "5 1/2 times the
number of people on the list at this time last summer"; and of
those bond-holders who attained 25-year rights to seats by
purchasing Reunion Arena bonds in '80, owners of 500 seats who
chose not to buy season tickets for '94-95 have said they will
purchase season tickets for '95-96 -- the "highest total" since
'84 (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/30).
NO BLUES FOR THE JAZZ: Season tickets for the Jazz are
being renewed at a rate of 90-92%, "which is normal," according
to Steve Luhm of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE. Jazz VP of Marketing Jay
Francis: "We're optimistic. It looks like we'll get through
this (labor strife). ... Right now, nobody seems to be
panicking." Francis says October 15, when the exhibition season
is scheduled to start, is "the key date." Francis: "Until then,
we don't have to put a team on the floor, so we haven't failed to
deliver anything. That's why, from a business standpoint, this
July hasn't been different than any other July" (SALT LAKE
TRIBUNE, 7/29).
