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).