Crusaders/Season Tickets Update

Thumbs up Crusaders.

This really stood out from the press release:

Sounds like Lamar not only has committed himself to this project, but his throwing his considerable clout around to make sure it gets done.

Good luck in reaching the goal and going beyond.

 

I have been saying all along, I have the utmost respect for Lamar and my respect has grown by leaps and bounds since becoming a Crusader and hearing his efforts he is putting in to make this a successful drive. He is the man. I talked with Tony Meola at one of the Crusaders meetings and he told me that it is amazing going to these corporate meetings with Lamar. He said he basically speaks and everyone is sold. On top of all that the man is so freaking geniune for someone with so much money. Not what you would expect from most millionaires. At the first Crusaders meeting, he was there shaking every persons hand as they enterered the door and introducing himself as Lamar Hunt as if nobody knew who he was. He is the man.

 

Ever the pesimist on this subject I have to ask a couple of questions.

1. The old saying is that stats can be manipulated to say whatever you want them to say. 4001 season tickets: is that full season passes; combine full season, half season, 6 game packages; combine full season, half season, 6 game, and corporate packages? I assume its the last option.
I fear that the organization, Lamar included, is more interested in the number of tickets sold and not the number of butts in seats, because (from my own words on here before) Lamar is a businesman first. These two numbers differ by quite a lot on many occasions.

2. Numbers can be made to appear impressive, but will it show in the atmosphere of the game. Because when the games become more fun and exciting, 6 game packages turn into full season packages. Lamar may be selling tickets to the corporations, who in turn give the tickets away at company parties, but will that help in the long run? One side says yes, they will become hooked, and buy tickets next season. The other says they see it as a cheap night out, and never come back.

Its Lamar, Curt and Tony's job to put a positive spin on every angle of this program. I'm not going to blindly follow. Instead I'll remain skeptical and hope that this is not all a mirage.

 

i'm with andy. one of the major complaints is not enough money - for advertising etc. so lamar goes out to personally sell tickets to the people that can directly impact how much money the team makes (and thus can spend), but now that's not good enough because he's not getting the loud/chanting/singing fans?

you may not think the families and corporates are loud enough, but remember - they all pay. and they like to pay a few bucks extra for a nice seat a midfield.

the historical facts point out that the loud/chanting fans are small in number. until that changes, lamar will focus on the large reward opportunities.

 

Paul what Ben saying is that the Wizards game needs to be an event that people will remember and want to come back.

 

What exact historical facts are you talking about? In KC, yeah, but you have to admit the Cauldron has done nothing but grow over the last 3 seasons, including getting sections of the "Wiz Zone" to join in.

Some MLS side have considerable sized sections (DC, Chicago). Spoon was right in what I'm saying: Atmosphere matters most to me as a fan. I'd sacrifice 100 Crusaders and a few season tickets if the asmosphere alone could begin draw people in.

 

I think that it is a catch 22 any way you look at it. Atmosphere is great but we need more people to do that. As for getting people to return to games after they have used their company's tickets is the key issue here. Without the atmosphere, the people won't come back. I agree that we should focus on the people that are there and get them into the game. I would love to get everyone chanting or singing and that way when we do get more butts in the seats, they will want to come back. However, if we don't get the word out around town into every company, organization, and neighborhood then we won't have anyone to try and convince to come back. It's sort of the chicken or the egg scenario-What is needed first to get the other one going?

 

i want better atmosphere. i even requested that the chant thread here would be a sticky so that EVERYONE who reads here would see it - not just the regulars who remember there was once a chant thread. i also wish there were more mystics. and yes, the mystics are growing, but they are still very small.

now to better explain my original point - lamar is doing what he knows how to do. there is a proven formula in sports for building a successful organization, and that is selling tickets to whoever will buy them. the families and suits will buy them, so he's selling them. being skeptical about this strategy is ridiculous. if he knew how to get fans on their feet and create a great atmosphere, he'd do that too. unfortunately, that's basically a mystery on how to motivate that many people who attend games for various reasons. if there was an easy way to create better atmosphere, it would be done. since there's not, how can you be skeptical of a guy who is taking the only "known" repeatable pattern - selling to intereseted buyers. if he didn't sell to interested buyers, then people would be skeptical if he had a brain at all. now that he is, they're skeptical because they're not the "energetic" interested buyers.

 

"if he knew how to get fans on their feet and create a great atmosphere, he'd do that too. unfortunately, that's basically a mystery on how to motivate that many people who attend games for various reasons. if there was an easy way to create better atmosphere, it would be done. "

I said I was skeptical of the numbers they release to the public, and how great they say this program has been. Is there a direct correlation from Crusaders to season ticket sales? Maybe, maybe not. Just last week I pointed out on these boards that we've been told over and over the numbers of Crusaders but no season ticket numbers. Now we got them for the first time in a long while.

I'm not skeptical of Lamars business knowledge or ability by any means. But you are very wrong on one point, he does know, or can hire people who know, how to create a better atmosphere for sporting events.

The Chiefs, his pride and joy, packed stadiums in the late '60s and early '70s. They took a nose dive in on field quality until the late '80s. Lamar brings in Carl Peterson. Carl gets better quality on the field and simultaneously changed how things ran at Arrowhead on game day. They introduced many of the ideas that made game day more exciting then, and have since been copied by teams aruond the NFL.

So if you're going to tell me that Lamar and his thinktank are only capable of being salesmen and nothing more having to do with atmosphere of events, I have to disagree.

 

we all agree that winning brings better atmosphere. however, that has been a problem over the past two years. so without that solid atmosphere that comes from winning, lamar is selling to interested buyers in hopes of having a better atmosphere because of larger numbers in the stands. what kind of fans he gets in the stands is not his choice - he'll take anyone given the generally low attendance in kc.

 

To quote Gus Grissom in The Right Stuff:

"F***in'a, bubba"

 

So then what new ideas do you have oh wise adviser to the grandpooba?

 

Sounds good. We wont have to suffer through those pathetically, embarrassing 5 thousand fan games again at KC this year.

 

Ben I can't completely answer your questions because I don't know the break down. But it was explained to us at the first Crusaders meeting that the 6 packs had to be added together I think to make a full season ticket. For instance if you sold 4 6 packs it equaled something like 2 Full Season equivalants. Group tickets that are sold are divided by 18 (for number of games) and count as Full Season equivalents. So it is probably a combination of actual full season tickets and combined 6 packs and group ticket sales too. I believe they also said that was the way MLS counted season tickets and not a Wizards policy. Not positive of that though. Tonight at the Crusaders meeting, Lamar said that as of today they had sold to 53 companys what he called premier level purchasers(he did not go into what premier level was except to say they have different levels of purchase levels for coporations to participate) as a result of a Crusader making an introduction of Lamar and the Wizards. Whether you are skeptible or not, you have to admire the work that Lamar is putting in. He is going to every corporate meeting and helping sell tickets. Not just relying on someone else to do the work. The man is an absolute treasure.

 

Bump!


Any new word from the horses mouth at Weds night meeting at halftime?

 

The paper this morning said season ticket sales are up to 6009 sold now. That is outstanding.

 

I think everybody thought that 6000 would be the mark to say that this program was a huge sucsess.