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CincinnatiFan
(The Next Level!)
USA
288 Posts |
 Posted - 04/01/2009 : 5:23:34 PM
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I don't want this to be a bashing thread but I would like to get everyone's thoughts. Dayton 2 years ago went to the Kelly Cup finals. Cincinnati went to the finals last year (and thankfully won). The teams are roughly an hour's distance from each other.
Why is Cincinnati's team growing in attendance while Dayton has been sinking?
What lessons should Cincinnati learn from what happened in Dayton?
What should Dayton learn from Cincinnati so that they can (hopefully) emerge from this suspension of operations and rebuild? What should Dayton do that Cincinnati didn't do?
Your thoughts? |
Get Clones instead of Clunkers.
Cincinnati Cyclones
League Champs 2008 and 2010.
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HECKLERFROMHELL
(Been Here Awhile)
USA
607 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2009 : 5:45:10 PM
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Honestly, for someone who lives in Cincinnati, it is hard to offer any opinion. We don't see the Dayton TV or papers to see if they are advertising at all. Someone in Dayton might be able to offer a better opinion. HEY JERICO...YOU'RE UP!!!
As for what Cincy can learn....
We already have learned from the past in our own town. The team is trying to get their name out there and offer entertainment at a cheap price. All the Clones can do is keep winning. That will make more money. Then with the more money will come better deals and more advertising. |
Welcome to Hell Frozen Over |
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bags
(Person With Nothing Better To Do!)
USA
2224 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2009 : 5:50:15 PM
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First thing comes to mind is real simple-be honest with everyone.Dayton's "inflated"
attendance gave people a false sense of urgency. Our management realized last year our
numbers were bad and did something about it. If not for the drop to $10,we might be in
the same boat as Dayton. That is what scares me about the raise to $12 next year.Unless
this economy turns around,that extra $2 coupled with the $10 parking lot may send people
to other "entertainment". Dayton's economy is worse than ours so they need to find a
cheaper venue. What about spending some money and rehab Hara for a few years.You could
reduce tickets down to $10 and my guess is the fans would come back. |
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TwoMinutesWellWorthIt
(The Next Level!)
139 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2009 : 7:08:00 PM
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| It also didn't help that the EJ Nutter Center was less than hospitable to the team, the fans, and the organization. |
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cloneinator
(Been Here Awhile)
USA
597 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2009 : 8:41:40 PM
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| I really don't think the extra $2.00 next year will hurt the organization. It's still cheap entertainment and they are doing better with their promotions and advertisement. The pressure will be on the organization to keep a winning product on the ice though. |
...And on the eighth day, GOD created the Cyclones! |
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mheck13
(The Next Level!)
USA
208 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2009 : 10:24:02 PM
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Cloneinator, I agree that $2.00 won't hurt that much to the organization. However, I believe that in sports each team is always trying to have a winning product (excluding a local team that start with a B and ran by Mr. B).
With that said, I really wasn't expecting this season to be the way it has (and is) going. Three cheers for our Clones and the entire organization. |
Cyclones hockey. A championship caliber team in a city of losers. |
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SteveMacD
(Rookie)
6 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2009 : 11:03:32 PM
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| It was a mixture of a bad economy (which affected fans and sponsors) and a bad deal with the arena. You guys don't have anything to worry about with that last point. |
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elvis77
(Loves To Post!)
1435 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2009 : 11:19:40 PM
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the 'clones have a good thing going witrh the fact that the team owners also own the arena....from what i've heard the lease agreement that the bombers had at the nuthouse was killing them.
as far as the quality of play, i think the loss of the affiliation really hurt dayton, while our affiliates depleted us this year there can be no arguing that the affiliations with nville/mil and mtl/ham were key to the success the cyclones had last year... |
"PBR can do that to you....1,2,3,12 beers and you're f**ked"
-oscar
"and i don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation" - joan jett
"beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy." - benjamin franklin
"is that a pulled pork sandwich i smell?"
"some things are just better without pants...."
www.cycwords.wordpress.com |
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CincinnatiFan
(The Next Level!)
USA
288 Posts |
Posted - 04/02/2009 : 12:27:36 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by elvis77
the 'clones have a good thing going witrh the fact that the team owners also own the arena....from what i've heard the lease agreement that the bombers had at the nuthouse was killing them.
as far as the quality of play, i think the loss of the affiliation really hurt dayton, while our affiliates depleted us this year there can be no arguing that the affiliations with nville/mil and mtl/ham were key to the success the cyclones had last year...
I hate to say it but U.S.B.A. owned the team during the 2003-04 season also and then suspended operations for 2 years. Ownership of the arena may help but it is far from a guarantee of team success. |
Get Clones instead of Clunkers.
Cincinnati Cyclones
League Champs 2008 and 2010.
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hrc666
(Loves To Post!)
1363 Posts |
Posted - 04/02/2009 : 12:34:35 AM
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The horrible lease and the lame facility didn't help. But, the numbers were so bad-$344,000 in regular season ticket revenue-that the situation was simply hopeless.
$344,000 comes to about $10,000 per game. At a $10 average ticket (groups) that's about 1000 paid per game. No one could make hockey work there IMO. The previous 4 owners couldn't either. The situation has just deteriorated very badly over the years.
Dayton has had hockey (on and off) for almost 60 years if one includes the Troy Bruins who played in the 1950s. People know about hockey there. They just won't pay for it. Obviously.
They'll pay for UD Basketball and The A Dragons in baseball. UD is a religion. The Dragons have been a very successful venture, but who knows where they'll be in 5 years? the Dayton area has been killed over the past decade. 20,000 GM jobs gone. 10,000 NCR jobs gone. International Harvester has lost thousands as well I'm told. Mead used to be a huge presence in Dayton. It isn't anymore. Drive through the city limits of Dayton sometime-I would suggest doing so armed. It isn't a hockey demographic. LOL.
The transition of hockey from a fight fest to a "develpmental" product hasn't endeared itself to many long time Dayton fans as well. Many whom were regulars over the years stopped attending after becoming disgusted with the patsy product on the ice. Minor league hockey typically has a large blue collar following (and younger people 18-30) who like to see fights. As the blue collar market was destroyed due to factors far beyond the Bomber's control, the playing style change has been a deathknell for broadening its appeal in a city like Dayton.
The Cincinnati market has a much stronger demographic for hockey in addition to being much larger. Still, the Cyclones made a radical decision to drop prices to unheard of levels. But they also attached a minimum worth to their tickets, something the Bombers and every Cincinnati franchise from the first Cyclones to the current Cyclones hadn't. People got used to getting tickets for free in Dayton. Once a market has had the exposure that Dayton had to hockey, the continuation of constant 'freebies' made getting people to actually pay for a ticket an impossible task.
I've heard that there are many Bomber fans blasting Costa Papista on their board. They should kiss his shoes for keeping the team alive for the past five years. Tim Reilly, the previous owner, told me that buying the Bombers was the dumbest decision that he ever made and that it was an impossible task to make it work. Costa was a dreamer. And thank God that there are people like him who dare to attempt do what others think is impossible. In the case of the Bombers, given the fact that Dayton is essentially a dying city, no one could have made that franchise work.
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"The only way David Desharnais will see an NHL game is if he buys a ticket".
--donnie hockey
"David Desharnais will be invisible during 5 on 5 hockey. IN THE AHL"
--donnie hockey
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