Superstar Doubleheader Weekend on Tap for January 16th and 18th
January 2, 2004 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Vancouver Ravens News Release
VANCOUVER (December 31st, 2003) â With the National Lacrosse League's 2003-2004 regular season heading into its second weekend, the Vancouver Ravens Lacrosse Club have turned the spotlight on single game ticket sales, their home opener Friday, January 9th, 2004 against the Calgary Roughnecks and a franchise first weekend home doubleheader Jan. 16th & Jan. 18th, 2004.
The home opener Friday, Jan. 9th, will get underway at 7:30 p.m. and will also be shown live on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific. It marks the first of four critical regular season showdowns against the Roughnecks, who are shaping up as key Western Division rivals for Vancouver. The Ravens defeated the Roughnecks 13-10 in the Northern Cup pre-season classic Dec. 5th in Prince George.
For the first time in the history of BC's pro indoor lacrosse franchise, the Ravens will be hosting a weekend home doubleheader at General Motors Place. Billed as the "SuperStar Doubleheader Weekend", lacrosse fans from throughout British Columbia will have the chance to see John Tavares and the Buffalo Bandits, Friday, Jan. 16th at 7:30 p.m. and Gary Gait and the Colorado Mammoth, Sunday, Jan. 18th, at 4:00 p.m.
It will mark the first-ever NLL pro appearance in Vancouver by Tavares, a 3-time league MVP and generally recognized as one of the finest players in the history of the game. On Sunday, BC fans will be treated to the third Vancouver appearance of Gait, the 2002-2003 NLL MVP who is on Sports Illustrated's list as one of the top 50 pro athletes of the last half-century.
"It's not only unusual in that we're running two home games on the same weekend at General Motors Place, it's unusual in the calibre of superstars who will be involved," said Tom Mayenknecht, Governor of the Vancouver Ravens. "It's a special treat for hard core lacrosse fans, but it's also an exciting opportunity for new fans to sample the World's Best Lacrosse."
The SuperStar Doubleheader Weekend was first conceived in early November as a way to promote the early home season for the Ravens and reach out to fans from outside of Vancouver. It has become more important given the delays associated with the protracted CBA negotiations last fall, which ultimately resulted in a 12-day Professional Lacrosse Players Association (PLPA) strike action in early December.
"We're working hard to bring our systems back on line and make up for lost time in our pre-season marketing campaign," said Brandi Wilson, Director of Sales for the Ravens. "Placing the emphasis on our home opener and the SuperStar Doubleheader Weekend is part of what we need to do to use January to market our full season in a way we would have normally been able to do in October, November and December. With three straight home games, it should do much to set up the rest of the home schedule at General Motors Place."
Single game tickets are now on sale at TicketMaster at (604) 280-4400. Full Season Tickets and Half Season Tickets are available, along with special group offers, at (604) 899-GOAL, beginning at $49.50 for half-season tickets in the Lower Bowl at General Motors Place
"We'll have some special offers to kick off the new year and we're excited about our home opener and the SuperStar Doubleheader Weekend," said Wilson.
The Ravens, who were founded April 9, 2001 with a commitment to work in partnership with the BC Lacrosse Association to help promote and develop the sport here in British Columbia, re-launched their season ticket campaign December 19th (the day after the resolution of the PLPA strike action) with a special offer to lacrosse families from throughout the province.
Families of BCLA-registered players have the opportunity to receive a rebate of up to 40% of the value of their season tickets to help pay for their minor lacrosse registration fees for the 2004 box and field seasons. The offer applies to new season ticket purchases and is being made available to all lacrosse-playing families from throughout the province.
"The offer will benefit not only the lacrosse-playing families themselves, but the minor box and youth field associations they play for," said Wilson. "For every dollar a family saves on registration by buying Ravens season tickets or half-season tickets, there will be more money available for minor association raffles, jersey purchases, equipment drives and travel fund-raisers. We're very excited about the impact of the offer and we're extending it into January."
National Lacrosse League Stories from January 2, 2004
- Superstar Doubleheader Weekend on Tap for January 16th and 18th - Vancouver Ravens
- Bandits Sign Gurtler as Play-by-Play Announcer - Buffalo Bandits
- Mammoth to Hold Practive at Pepsi Center - Colorado Mammoth
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
