Grizzlies President of Business Operations Greg Campbell said that his staff "has shifted into extreme mode to capitalize on the team's playoff success, including printing up some 60,000 'Growl Towels' for fans to wave during games." The Grizzlies lead the top-seeded Spurs 3-2 in their Western Conference Quarterfinal series, and Campbell said that the "excitement surrounding the team's playoff performance has spurred intense interest in tickets for next year." New sales of season tickets "have skyrocketed 125 percent over what they were at this time last year." Campbell said, "The games are really driving a lot of traffic Downtown and everybody wants Grizzlies stuff. It's just an incredible atmosphere that's vibrating throughout our entire organization" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 4/26).
WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS: In Chicago, Paul Sullivan reports the Cubs "refused to postpone Monday's game" because the Rockies are making just one trip to Wrigley Field this season, and team management "didn't want to play another doubleheader on Tuesday." Instead, Cubs officials "made both fans and players suffer through a miserable evening." The Cubs are "losing between $200,000 to $250,000 in concession revenues per game because of all the no-shows this year," so perhaps team officials feel that they "can't afford to lose even more revenue with a postponement." But Sullivan writes, "Sometimes the principle should supersede lost revenues. Common sense needs to prevail once in a while" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/28).
GREEN WITH ENVY: In Green Bay, Tony Walter reported "fewer names will come off the Packers season-ticket waiting list this year than in the past two years." Packers officials Tuesday said that "55 to 70 tickets will be made available after the final processing of season-ticket holder invoices in the next couple of weeks." That is "fewer than the 130 names that came off the list last year and the 192 in 2009 and computes to a 99.8 percent renewal rate." The Packers "have more than 86,000 names on the season-ticket waiting list and about 32,000 ticket accounts" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 4/27).
LOOKING FOR RUNNING MATES? FORBES.com's Mike Ozanian reported there is "talk among sports bankers" that Bobcats Owner Michael Jordan is "looking for investors." Jordan's ownership group "purchased the franchise and the operating rights to Time Warner Cable Arena" from Bob Johnson in March '10 for $175M. Jordan also "committed to funding $100 million of operating losses" (FORBES.com, 4/27).
