Hey South Florida: Evidently you're not doing enough

The Islanders have Canadiens fans busing down to a home Islanders-Canadiens game, and they ran a promo on the lines of “Don’t let them take over our building.” A lot of people were complaining about this sort of thing at the town hall meeting last year, but the organization doesn’t care about the fans. They only care about selling concessions.

And players like Horton have the audacity to complain about the fans when the team is advertising to fans of the visitors. Maybe they can have a Canadiens fan ride the Zamboni in his Habs jersey at the period break.

Two sided sword. You have to get people in the seats to pay the salaries and the bills. If you can take advantage of that, you might as well go for it. This has been an issue in Phoenix for a long time now also.

The other side? Atlanta had 8,400 or less in their building tonight to watch what turned out to be an entertaining game but probably a little disappointing for the home side. Get a few {or, in their case, a lot} of visiting fans in and it makes for a more lively building, but I wouldn’t be real happy if I were a STH and these seats next to me were being sold and marketed to visitors at less than half the price that I paid for them…

Unfortunately, hockey is still a business, and the first premise is more important to the bottom line than the second above. But, then you wonder why you can’t sell Season Ticket packages…

Back off the soapbox.

I can’t blame them, it’s the rebuilding process, it’s going to take a couple of years, and South Florida fans won’t fill out the stands unless the team’s good (read: The Miami Heat).

No team wants to have stands that look the Phoenix Coyotes.

And it’s not like they haven’t tried, the current promos that I’ve received so far are:
Buy one set of season tickets get another set for free…
Buy five fall games, get another five spring games for free…
Calls from inside sales reps with really aggressive pricing, i.e. $30 dollars would get you in the lower bowl.

Likewise, the offers above, the Panther’s fans who call in have been getting the same offers since the beginning of the season.

I totally understand this promotion from the business point of view.

But I’d argue that part of the reason this team has such a hard time selling tickets to hometown fans is that it is being run as a business first and foremost instead of as a hockey team first and foremost.

Anyone else notice Michael Frolik on the right hand upper corner? Much as we all collectively love the guy, he was benched earlier this week. Is it normal to promo recently-benched players?

What’s the difference; Montreal fans aren’t passionate enough to catch that.

The Canadiens fans who live and vacation in South Florida already know how ridiculously cheap and easy it is to invade the confines of the BankAtlantic Center. They already know that our franchise is considered among (if not THE) worst in the history of the league. They already know that when they walk through our doors, our team’s store will be full of Habs merchandise, and they already know that our management would do anything short of icing a winning hockey team to make a dollar. This ad was absolutely UNNECESSARY and all it does is humiliate the core of the Panthers’ fanbase even further. We have been beaten down on multiple levels, and this is just the latest in a very long line of serious insults. I’ve seen some disgraceful things come out of this three ring circus, but THIS takes the cake… The person responsible for this ad campaign is a soulless rapscallion who wouldn’t know dignity if it came up and slapped him in his smug little face.

This ad strikes at the very soul of the Panthers’ lack of respect in the National Hockey League, and it shows clearly why we will not be taken seriously, ever.

And… Why did they choose to use the hallowed logo of this franchise for the first time this season on THIS ad? Why not use that ridiculous joke of circular monstrosity that will adorn the chest of our proud players tomorrow night? After all, it’s been in every single other advertisement since the “King James” ads this summer…

But we all know one thing to be a fact……If it weren’t for the opponents fans buying tickets to see “their” team….There WOULDN’T be a franchise here. When this team becomes competitive …the fan base will show up. They did way back when……But until they become a winner again…..we need the opponents fans buying tickets…..The alternative is NO TEAM IN SOUTH FLORIDA and you ALL know it!

Seriously, Horton has been asked and quoted in Boston about how the crowds were often for more of the visitors team than the Panthers.. and here is the marketing department proving him correct. WHY offer the visitors a discount? Why not sell all the tickets at face value for those games? Why not set up an autograph session with JM when you buy a ticket? If your going to kick STH while we are down, why not go for broke on it….
Can someone call Dale and ask him to speak to the marketing department on this one? Maybe he can draft some new players for that team too!

Worst ad ever.

The TRUTH is that opposing fans already show up. In droves around holiday time. No coincidence that you have eastern teams like Boston, Pittsburgh and the Rangers in here for Thanksgiving. To my knowledge, Montreal has always been down here around Christmas/New Year.

The point is that the ad is superfluous. It’s unnecessary. Those fans are already coming in for the games. The New Year’s Eve game will be sold out/oversold. Thanksgiving week will be near capacity. It’s a waste of ad space.

Further, they can take their “blue out” and shove it up their collective asses.

I would buy every stinkin ticket they have available for those games, give them out to Panther fans and burn the rest. I really wish one of our current players would speak out to this. I wonder if they’ll make it rain confetti if the Habs win too…what a joke.

First and foremost this is a business and without people in the seats, it becomes pretty tough to pay salaries. That ends my positive spin:)

That said, the entire idea is disgusting and a slap in the face to every season ticket holder who has stuck with this team through thick and thin. And we all know there’s been more thin than thick.

If you put a winning product on the ice, then this crap doesn’t happen. Look the economy is what it is here, and there are a lot of people who have decided that they can’t afford to come to these games. I would bet a certain percentage of those people would change their mind if the team started winning. As far as I’m concerned I don’t want to spend a nickel here other than for my tickets. I love the game of hockey and cannot imagine living in a city where there isn’t any, and I have put up with the losing long enough.

The reality of it all is that when we start putting a product on the ice that’s respected, then our hometown fans will show up. Until that time we will continue to be a bottom feeder and these types of advertising antics will continue to be compared to car dealers.

That is what I feel like we’re getting.

I bet Jon Hamm could come up with a better promotion!

I’m well acquainted with the concept of ‘Habs fan invasion’ of our home rink. Habs fans bus in and take over every time they play here. Its not at all fun for home fans and I’d be pretty annoyed with my team’s marketing if they pulled something like this.

That said…

If it gets Florida through lean times and helps them build a competitive team that’ll bolster the fanbase, it’ll be worth it in the long run.

Interesting that George Richards doesnt see an issue with it. I think it’s hard to see things from a different point of view when you’re not investing your own personal time and money into something. http://miamiherald.typepad.com/flapanthers/2010/11/panthers-play-the-price-is-right-come-on-down-see-your-team.html

I get where they are trying to go with this ad…..by appealing to the opposing team’s fans, that buy tickets to the games against the Panthers, they are hoping to entice them to go to other games as well. BUT there is no need to be so splashy about it.

Just like when the opposing team scores a goal, it is very monotone & brief….not loud & joyous when the Panthers score. The emails to the opposing team could be simple…..stating that when they call to get tickets to their team’s games, that they have a great offer to them…..not the splashy advertisement “Party City” spectacle.

Yes, this is a business to make money & sell seats, but don’t be so blatant for the opposing team. All this does is just point out that they can entice opposing fans to come to our games moreso than Panther fans….pouring salt into the wound.

have been doing this type of advertising for 20 years. It’s nothing new, and a franchise has to do whatever it can to survive.