Franchise Notes

Lynx Select Tangela Smith In Dispersal Draft Instead Of Local College Star

The Twins’ “This is Twins Territory” ad campaign won the best radio and print awards for ’06 in the National Sports Forum’s ADchievement Awards. The campaign was created by Minneapolis-based Periscope. The Twins have sold over 1,900 new full-season tickets this offseason (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 1/8).

VOICE RECOGNITION: The Grizzlies are partnering with Indianapolis-based Vontoo to deliver permission-based voice messages in order to “boost home game attendance within days of a game.” The messages feature players “encouraging fans to attend games.” Vontoo said that in one recent promotion, the team sold 1,500 tickets “resulting in $33,000 in sales with one call that cost $650” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 1/9).

GOPHER TRAP: The WNBA Lynx, after selecting F Tangela Smith in the Sting dispersal draft, spent part of a news conference yesterday “defending why they didn’t take” C Janel McCarville, a Univ. of Minnesota alum selected later in the draft by the Liberty. Lynx COO Roger Griffith said that he and the team “believe a winning product will be the catalyst to drawing fans.” The team ranked 12th out of 14 teams in attendance last year with 6,442 fans per game (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 1/9).