Franchise Notes

Grizzlies Launch New Marketing Campaign That Features Billboards In Multiple States

In Memphis, Marlon Morgan reported the Grizzlies have launched a new marketing campaign that "centers around building unity between the team and community," looking for ways to "get the city behind its only major league sports franchise." The Grizzlies are highlighting multiple players in the effort, which features more than 20 billboards across multiple states, including Arkansas and Mississippi. The team also placed ads on "buses and bus shelters" throughout Memphis, in addition to rolling out TV and radio spots. The Grizzlies said that season-ticket renewals are up 15% over last season, while new season-ticket sales are up 150% (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 10/5).

DOWN BUT NOT OUT: In N.Y., Ken Belson noted there are "tens of thousands of empty seats" at Jaguars home games this season, but Owner Wayne Weaver "does not appear to be in any financial trouble and he has rebuffed the occasional inquiries from people seeking to buy the team." Weaver: "There's no urge to move. It's easy when you become a poster child for people to pile on. We can’t survive with 45,000 people in our building. But I’m confident our economy will bounce back." He added that the team has "laid off a dozen employees but expected discounted group sales to double and had introduced half-season ticket plans" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/3).

HURRICANE WARNING: Hurricanes President & GM Jim Rutherford said that the team will "need to make the playoffs to have hopes of posting a profit." Rutherford said that "season ticket sales are flat" compared with the '08-09 season, but added that "some season ticket holders have downgraded, meaning that revenue is actually down from a year ago." While corporate sales are "about the same as they were last year," suite sales at RBC Center are "down from a year ago." About 15 of the arena's 66 suites are vacant this season (TRIANGLE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/2 issue).

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER: In DC, Thom Loverro noted Capitals fans for the team's home opener Saturday against the Maple Leafs "acted as if it were a Stanley Cup playoff game." The Capitals three seasons ago were a "last-place team and Verizon Center a morgue." But now the team has become "one of the most powerful teams in the league, and with that growth has come the remarkable turnaround of hockey" in DC. Still, the "fever pitch this team has reached among fans in this town has never approached what it was Saturday night" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 10/4). CSN's Lisa Hillary: “It was very much like a playoff atmosphere” (“Washington Post Live,” CSN Mid-Atlantic, 10/5).