The Lions have "raised ticket prices" by 7.8% for the '16 season, and it "seems they are not done yet," according to Kyle Meinke of MLIVE.com. Lions President Rod Wood on Thursday said that the club "ranks 24th in average ticket price" for '16 and would "prefer it to be around 16th." Wood said, "I would like to get to the point where we're at least average, because unless we're average, we're going to be struggling to compete nationally with other teams that have more resources from investing in things that help the football team." Wood said that he "won't make decisions on ticket prices based on wins and losses" (MLIVE.com, 4/1). Meanwhile, Wood said that the team's uniform color changes "won’t be drastic." Wood: "We still love the Honolulu blue and the silver and the lion.” Wood, speaking to about 2,000 people at the Lions Member Summit at Ford Field, went on to call the team’s logo “one of the greatest logos” in the league. As for '17, Wood said that the team is “'looking at an update' to the home and road jerseys, and there could be a throwback jersey" (DETROIT NEWS, 4/1). Wood also confirmed that the Lions "will wear Color Rush jerseys for a Thursday game, be it Thanksgiving or on a Thursday night, this fall." Wood said, "All teams that play on Thursday this year will wear a Color Rush uniform. The roll out of the Color Rush uniforms for all teams will occur when they announce the schedule and when we know whether we’re playing a Thursday night game or we’re playing just Thanksgiving. I’m hoping we have another Thursday night game in addition to Thanksgiving. And we will wear a uniform that I can’t describe yet because the NFL won’t allow me to" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 4/1).
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Wood also addressed the team's new front-office structure, saying that new GM Bob Quinn "won over" him and Owner Martha Ford in the first interview they held the Tuesday after the season, a meeting that Lions consultant Ernie Accorsi "also attended." Wood: "(Quinn) came in as a first-time interviewee and I was a first-time interviewer and he was incredibly prepared. ... After the interview Ernie asked us what we thought and both Mrs. Ford and I were very honest and made comments. And Ernie said, 'Well, I’ll tell you what I thought. That’s the best general manager interview I’ve ever done.' And he’s done a lot of them. I don’t know if Bob’s ever heard that" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 4/1).
