The Hurricanes will "target large corporations, small
businesses and the average Joe in an attempt to sell season
tickets for the team's first year in the Greensboro
Coliseum," according to Steve Politi of the Raleigh NEWS &
OBSERVER. The team currently has sold "only" 2,100 season
tickets, with a goal of 10,000-12,000. Hurricanes Ticket
Dir Jim Baldwin: "That's realistic." Newspaper ads will
begin running June 22, followed soon after by a radio and TV
ad campaign. Politi: "But the biggest push may come when
the team goes to North Carolina businesses to ask for their
support. With half the seats priced between $50 and $100,
Baldwin expects 60 percent of his customers to be
corporations." Baldwin said the team will go to "bigger
companies" with a marketing and advertising strategy.
Baldwin: "We'll ask them if they want an overall package,
including dasher boards, radio and print ads, and included
in that package would be season tickets." Seating priority
will start with season ticket holders of the AHL Monarchs.
Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford is targeting 16,000 season
tickets when the team moves into its new Raleigh arena for
the '99-2000 season (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 6/14).
