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CAPS LOOK FOR WAYS TO SOLVE ATTENDANCE WOES AT MCI CENTER

          Despite moving into the new MCI Center, the Capitals
     are averaging 14,676 tickets sold per game for the season, a
     7% decline from last year, according to Thomas Heath of the
     WASHINGTON POST.  In 12 games at the MCI Center, the team
     has averaged 15,643, and Heath writes the Caps "often have
     been playing before a quiet, half-empty" arena, while the
     Wizards are averaging 19,329 in the 19,740-seat venue. 
     Washington Sports President Susan O'Malley said that "better
     days are ahead and attendance will build as the season
     progresses."  O'Malley: "We're getting the Caps going.  Next
     year we are going to see an explosion."  Heath writes that
     the Capitals "left behind a chunk of their family-oriented
     and individual fan base" in the MD suburbs when they moved
     from Landover, MD, to the MCI Center downtown, and that the
     "most dramatic drop" has been among those fans who purchase
     tickets individually (Thomas Heath, WASHINGTON POST, 1/15).
          SOLUTIONS: To remedy the situation, the Capitals hope
     to bring in an extra 3,000 fans per game through discount
     ticket promos or on special nights such as "College Night"
     and "Adam Oates Weekend."  The team will then follow up the
     fans' visit through direct mail and phone calls that invite
     them to join a 10-game ticket plan.  Then they try to move
     the ticket holder to a 20-game plan and eventually to season
     tickets.  O'Malley: "We're going to do the same thing with
     the Capitals that we did with the Wizards."  But several
     marketers said that the team "needs to develop more passion
     among fans through image advertising."  Bruce Zalbe,
     President of MD-based Hot Events: "I just don't see
     advertising for them anywhere" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/15).

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