Blazers Look To Fill Seattle Fans' Void Left By Departure Of Sonics
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Blazers Will Look To Tap Into
Sonics-Less Seattle Market |
The Trail Blazers' "top execs will study ways to better infiltrate the now NBA-less" Seattle, as the NBA "prepares for the post-SuperSonics age," according to Andy Giegerich of the PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL. Trail Blazers President Larry Miller said, "We were one of two teams that voted to keep the Sonics [in Seattle], but now that they've moved, we want to see what we can do to provide professional basketball for NBA fans in Seattle. We think there's an opportunity to make ourselves into the team of the Northwest, but we're still seeing what makes sense up there." Some strategies could include "seeking television contracts that would air Blazers games on a Seattle station." Vulcan Sports & Entertainment Senior Adviser Mike Golub "will also work the Blazers into Seattle's fabric." Meanwhile, the Blazers' "financial picture has likely improved because of better on-court performance, fewer off-court problems and the loss of several bulky player contracts." With just less than two months before opening night, sponsorship dollars "are up 43[%]," and Miller said that "most of the money comes from sponsors who've renewed their support at higher levels." Providence Health & Services Exec Dir of Marketing & Communications Lynda Werner, whose company is a new team sponsor, said, "They approached us every year, but we put them off because of the players' behavior. This year, because they've turned things around, we decided to look at what they're doing in the community." Ticket sales, including season tickets, "have spiked so much that Miller expects the team to sell out all 41 home games." The team is "about 150 sales away from meeting its season ticket sales goal," and for each game, the Blazers "plan to hold 500 tickets for same-day event sales." Miller said that "if the economy picks up, the team could fill every suite next season." However, the "next challenge will come as the team tries to bring Portlanders more access to televised games." The team's deal with Comcast "essentially allows non-network TV games to air only on the Comcast cable network and on two other smaller cable systems." Miller: "It just works out to whether Comcast will make deals with other carriers. We need to continue to push them, and we will" (PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/29 issue).
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