With season ticket sales "stalled" after hitting the
3,000 mark this month, NHL Hurricanes officials are
"optimistic" that interest will "heat up" as the season
draws nearer, according to Todd Taylor in the Greensboro
NEWS & RECORD. The team launched a new cable TV ad "blitz"
this week which complements an on-going print and radio
effort. The spots will use a "wrap-around" technique, in
which two 15-second ads "bookend an unrelated," 30-second
commercial. The first of the spots, from NC-based Rockett,
Burkhead, Lewis & Winslow, emphasize that the first season
is history in the making while the second spot will focus on
the experience of attending a hockey game. Taylor adds the
team "is counting" on walk-up sales to boost its numbers,
and game-day sales should be "spurred" by promos such as
"Student Rush," where students can buy half-price seats 30
minutes before a game (NEWS & RECORD, 7/29).
NO COMPETITION? The UHL Winston-Salem IceHawks, who
play 30 minutes from Greensboro, are touting their games in
radio ads as, "The return of working man's hockey ... I'm
talking about body-crashing, puck-screaming, helmet-
cracking, gloves-dropping AMERICAN HOCKEY." Team Marketing
Dir Dave Snuggs said the ads are "just a reference to the
way the game is played in Canada" (NEWS & RECORD, 7/29).
