Storm, You Still Need To Market Too!

[Ken, Steelheads fan]

Where is Chris Webber's money? Is he still associated with the team since his brother is no longer on the roster?

http://www.mlive.com/sports/fljournal/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1106324583287170.xml

I don't think certain CBA types get it. The affordable entertainment on the court won't market the team alone. I also don't think a direct association with the NBA is the answer either. An association like that may only bring-in an extra 10 to 20 more (hard-core) fans per night...if that many. Kobe, Shaq, and Iverson still won't be coming to play in the CBA.

CBA owners and staffers need to pay more attention to what's going on in minor and independent league baseball. The more established baseball leagues seem to have their marketing acts together.

...and regarding the Storm--Get your foxy (and tatooed) dance team more exposure (pun intended). They alone have got to be worth a few extra fans.

[Sam Hill]

I would be curious to know how many staff people the Storm actually have working the phones to sell tickets instead of sitting around wishing that tickets would sell themselves.

The hockey team can sell tickets, why can't the basketball team?

[Houston Caldwell]

There is an EXCELLENT sports marketing/promotions weekly newsletter (and it is FREE) that anyone can subscribe to by e-mailing DSell@verticalalliance.com; I reccommend it highly to anyone in the front office of a minor league sports organization (I will e-mail an issue to any reader of this message board who sends me an e-mail requesting that I do this). This newsletter gives capsule descriptions of every new sports promo they find out about.
If you can't offer Barry Bonds, Kobe or Peyton Manning at your games, PROMOTION IS IMPORTANT.
And Ken, you're right; minor league baseball seems to understand this better than the minor league versions of the other pro sports (I highly reccommend a book by Josh Lewin called GETTING IN THE GAME, which goes into some detail on the business end of Minor League Baseball).

[patmc16]

That was an odd article. The author missed the target a few times. First, maybe they should have left the team in Flint or moved it to Saginaw, instead of putting it in between. Birch Run is a city people come to to shop at the outlet mall, or to get off I-75 on the way to Frankenmuth. These people are not likely to say "hey there's a basketball game, let's stop a see it," especially when they don't have any way of knowing it's there. The population in Birch Run is much less than Flint or Saginaw so there is less of a fan base to draw from.

Second, bringing in corporate sponsers does not translate into sucess at the box office if those corporate dollars are not used to market the team. The outlets are just across the road. They provide areas for other attractions to distribute promotional info. I've never seen anything for the Storm there. Also, I've never seen anything outside of BREC letting anyone know the team is there. I don't usually see the local newspaper, so they may advertise there, maybe. BREC was originally built as the first of what was to be a chain of NHL Skate facilities. I mention that because, other than removing the large NHL shield from the front of the building and painting the puck the same color of the building, it still looks the same. The entrance looks like a huge hockey goal with an even larger hockey puck forming the roof over the entrance. There are blue and red lines around the building, like on a hockey rink. See for yourself: before: http://www.andrusarchitecture.com/Birch_Run_Exterior.jpg and after: http://www.birchrunexpos.com/ It doesn't exactly scream basketball. Why not put a logo on the front of the building, where the NHL logo was? The front of the building is exposed to traffic on I-75. It would be great advertising.

Third, he is missing the point when he takes a jab at the Flint Generals and their level of play. The Fuze/Storm are in their 4th season. I might be wrong, but I don't remember pro basketball ever being in Mid-Michigan before that. There is a long history of hockey in Flint, quite a bit of it at the IHL level which, too, was as close to the top league in it's sport as you could get. They have a much more established fan base. Also, it doesn't matter if the team is "A" level or "AAA" level. If it is promoted properly and is in the right location and is entertaining to watch, people will come.

It will be too bad if they do fold or relocate but, I was surprised they ever moved there in the first place.

The affordable entertainment on the court won't market the team alone.

You hit the nail on the head.