While overall NBA attendance is down 1% from last year,
the 27-20 T'Wolves are "running up numbers in the front
office" as same-day and group ticket sales have doubled, and
corporate sponsors are "finding new ways for [Kevin] Garnett
and brethren to hold up their products and smile," according
to Aron Kahn of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS. In an effort to
boost the T'Wolves brand name, the team has sent a video to
about 100 sports marketers around the nation, which shows
"an amalgam" of clips of NBC announcer Bob Costas and other
sports broadcasters "raving" about Garnett and the T'Wolves.
Team Senior VP & CMO Chris Wright: "We're trying to tell
the world what's going on here." Local corporate sponsors
such as Papa John's, Pepsi and Nestle's Crunch, have been
"stepping up" their partnerships with the team "in an
attempt to bathe in the starshine of a winner." Wright said
that if the T'Wolves make it to the second round of the
playoffs this year, the team could net 3,000 more season-
ticket sales on top of this year's total of 10,000. The
team is also trying "capture a large share of the local
sports dollar" before the NHL Wild begin play in the fall.
T'Wolves Owner Glen Taylor: "The real potential for getting
people in this year is to get them (to buy) season tickets
for next year. It's important any year, but it's even more
important now because of the Wild" (PIONEER PRESS, 2/15).
