With a new coach and a new stadium on the way, the
Seahawks are hoping to boost their season-ticket sales to
60,000 and "lift" themselves out of the NFL's bottom third
in revenues this year, according to M. Sharon Baker of the
PUGET SOUND BUSINESS JOURNAL. Due "largely" to the hiring
of head coach Mike Holmgren, the team's season-ticket base
has "jumped" to 54,000 from about 50,000 last season.
Seahawks President Bob Whitsitt said that he's "hoping" a
$300,000-plus ad campaign and a successful preseason "will
boost that number to 60,000 by the team's first regular
season game." This is compared to sales of 46,000 in '97
and a franchise-low of around 32,000 in '96. The Seahawks
and PR firm Publicis have created a $300,000, three-spot TV
campaign around the theme, "It's Now Time." Publicis
Principal Management Supervisor Scott Levy said that the
spots cost $300,000 to produce but "doesn't include" the
cost of media buys for newspapers, billboards and other
advertising. Whitsitt: "Obviously we're featuring Holmgren
a lot." The team has also seen an increase in corporate
sponsorships, "from virtually nothing to about" $3M last
year (PUGET SOUND BUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/16 issue). The
Seahawks reported that 862 season tickets were sold last
week, boosting total sales to around 56,000 (Seahawks).
