Franchise Notes
Lions Dir of Premium Sales & Marketing Matt Schul inadvertently sent an e-mail to Lions season-ticket holder Kevin Furlong about Furlong's "ordeal with the Lions ticket office," which read, "F--- 'em until next year." Schul intended to send the e-mail to Lions Assistant Dir of Ticket Sales Lance Powser after Furlong "felt compelled to cancel six season tickets worth more than $5,000" for the '08 season. The Lions were "trying to convince" Furlong to renew his tickets. In Michigan, Pat Caputo wrote the Lions "take their support for granted," and to "believe there isn't a trickle-down effect from the top to throughout the remainder of the organization would be naive." But Lions and Ford Field Exec VP & COO Tom Lewand "vehemently disagreed with [Caputo's] contention." Lewand said to Caputo, "If you write that, it will be factually incorrect and bordering on slander. And I will come after you" (OAKLAND PRESS, 5/16).
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Hornets' Playoff Run Helps Build
Ticket Base For Next Season |
ON A CRESCENT ROLL: USA TODAY's Chris Colston reported the Hornets' season-ticket renewal rate for the '08-09 season is at 90%, and the team already has sold "more than 3,500 new season-ticket packages." Additionally, "fewer than 1,000 lower-bowl seats remain available for next year." Hornets Owner George Shinn: "We were told that it didn't make sense to come back to New Orleans. They said we wouldn't make it and would fail. And we've proven our critics wrong" (USA TODAY, 5/19).
ALL ABOUT SOUL: AFL Soul co-Owner Jon Bon Jovi appeared on CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday, where he discussed the team. CBS' Steve Kroft asked, "Does the football team make enough money for you to be doing all this stuff in their name?” Bon Jovi: “No.” Kroft: “Does it make any money at all?” Bon Jovi: “No, but we’re not losing a lot of money either. I didn’t do it to make money. In fact, on paper owning a sports team doesn’t make any sense to anybody. ... It’s not economically viable.” Kroft noted that Bon Jovi has “aspirations of one day owning part of an NFL franchise, which is one of the reasons he decided to buy'' the Philadelphia Soul (“60 Minutes,” CBS, 5/18).
NOTES: Celtics Senior VP/Ticket Sales, Marketing & Service Shawn Sullivan said the team Sunday sold out of tickets for Games One and Two of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons "in just 15 minutes." Sullivan: "The demand far exceeds the supply. There were just over 1,000 seats available" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/20)....The Pirates-Cubs game Friday night drew an announced attendance of 40,537 to Wrigley Field, which pushed the Cubs over 1 million tickets sold through 25 home games this season, the "fewest dates in franchise history it has taken for the Cubs" to reach the mark (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/17).
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