Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

Franchises

Franchise Notes

In Nashville, Allyn & Cooper in a front-page piece report there is "reason to believe that fans could turn out like never before" when the Predators begin postseason play next week. The team would not disclose how many playoff tickets have been bought, but Predators VP/Sales & Marketing Chris Parker said that sales "have been brisk." He also "predicts a sell-out crowd for at least the first couple of games." Allyn & Cooper note sales "have been bolstered this year, in part because the team has long known the playoffs were in sight." The Predators last year "knew it was headed to the playoffs just a few games before postseason started." Parker said that the timing "made it difficult to plan a marketing campaign and gave fans a shorter notice about purchasing postseason tickets" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 4/6).

HOPING FOR A NEW TRAIL: In Portland, Jason Quick wrote judging from “the pockets of empty seats” at Wednesday’s Nets-Trail Blazers game, “more and more fans are losing confidence" that the Trail Blazers' management team will "give them a reason to renew" their season tickets before the April 12 deadline. However, Trail Blazers President Larry Miller said that he has “made 'progress' on his search for a general manager.” Miller knows that the candidates he is interviewing “will be in position to make a splash this summer.” He added that the current management team “has a plan for this summer, and the plan is to instantly transform the Blazers back into a contender” (Portland OREGONIAN, 4/5).

POPULAR PEOPLE: In Chicago, Danny Ecker noted a Scarborough Sports Marketing survey of 4,100 Chicago-area households showed the Blackhawks' fan base “had the largest percentage growth among all teams in the four major sports leagues over the past five years” in the area. The survey showed 43% of respondents “watched, listened to or attended a Blackhawks game during the 2011-12 season, up from 8 percent in 2007-08.” The Hawks' level of fan participation is now “fourth-highest in the NHL,” behind the Penguins, Sabres and Red Wings. The survey showed the hockey team “falls short” of the Bulls' fan reach of 46%, the Cubs' 50% and the Bears' 65%, but tops the White Sox' 40% (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 4/4).

POTENTIAL MOVE? In Oakland, Marcus Thompson II wrote if the Santa Cruz City Council “approves the funding of a 3,200-seat temporary facility downtown," the Warriors NBA D-League team will move to Santa Cruz next season. The plans call for Santa Cruz to loan the estimated $2.5M cost of the project to the Warriors. The Warriors would “provide $500,000 in basketball-related equipment and guarantee half of the loan, which is expected to be paid back in full through revenue from the D-League team.” If the project is not approved, the D-League team will stay in Bismarck, N.D. (IBABUZZ.com, 4/4).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2012/04/06/Franchises/Fran-Notes.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2012/04/06/Franchises/Fran-Notes.aspx

CLOSE