Hello Wendy. I'm not trying to be confrontational either......To everyone else who weighed in on this subject, I guess I'm looking at this in a different way than apparently most people do. I'm not even saying that anyone is wrong that disagrees with me. I'm looking at it from the point of view that one-fourth of the seating capacity goes empty each year. If, and I know it is a big IF, just for the sake of argument the K's could fill half of that void they would realize another $500,000 in revenue from increased ticket sales. I guess some of my bewilderment comes from the fact that some say the outlay of money to do this would be a business loss. Well, yeah your right. You would have to spend some money. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. Isn't it, though, just another form of advertising? We see billboards, see TV commercials, hear radio commercials to get their name out in front of people. They probably have done a study to see how effective those are but I think even if they lost some money they realize it is a necessary cost of doing business. Finally, I never said they would be free. Maybe 50% off or something. The gamble is that you want to expose your product to a group of people who normally would not go-but may enjoy the experience so much that they would return as a full price customer. There are plenty of nights to choose from. For example, and I don't have the schedule in front of me, there is a Tuesday night game this year. There are Wednesday night games that don't draw as well as the weekend nights. The initial backlash was kind of stunning to me. And finally, yes I know that the K's and the TinCaps are competing for the same entertainment dollar, and yes I know that disposable income is down, but I still think these two strong minor league systems could cooperate for the betterment of both. Or at least explore the opportunities.
Dschebig
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 10:09am
me78--It wasn't very long ago our leader "Blake" had some shots of favorite old sweaters. The Frankes's have changed it several times in their 20 years. Orange and Black have been here for all of those 20 years. We had Blue and orange for a while. We had flames a few years ago that were really cool ( I thought) Logos of all kinds from the Fort to Bears and the State of Indiana shape.. The Fireball was brought back by the Frankes. We even had the K-Man in his space suit. Maybe we can get Blake to put a link to those old time sweaters for you. How about it Blake?
Alan---You are preaching to the choir. Preach it to Scott Sproat. Than he would be the man with the plan.
me78
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 11:41am
ok so they have tweaked them in recent years but its still the same idea.....
Burgee
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 12:01pm
If I got reduced rate tickets to, tin caps, football team or mad ants I wouldn't go. Those are just not things the family are interested in. The komets have a great entertainment package that has something for each one in the family. Yes we have been to the other sports but not enough interest to go back. The komets spoil the fans and it is hard to beat.
Wendy
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 1:08pm
Okay, well, I don't really believe in the whole "parent club" system, either, but yes, I know what you mean about the minors. Of course, even in the minors we teams like the Komets and the Hershey Bears who have been around for decades and probably wouldn't dream of changing their names at this point (knock on wood!). Yes, the logos get changed, though I prefer tweaking the details while maintaining the same basic design. We all know what you eventually get when you keep redesigning the darn thing... Buffalo Slugs! :D
As for promotional ideas, I've heard enough jokes about teams in the NHL's southeast division giving away tickets in happy meals that I would never presume to judge. Whatever puts behinds in the seats, so long as it doesn't get ridiculous, is good.
Steve
Wed, 10/21/2009 - 9:04pm
Several years ago I was on one of my occasional trips up north, I'm pretty sure it was the summer of 1991. The previous hockey season two memorable things happened. The NHL locked out its players and the Komets lost the Turner Cup finals to I think Peoria.
My daughter and I were staying at a motel and a family from Toronto noticed the Komets plate on the front of the car. The father and son were familiar with the Komets, they had watched the playoff series on TV in Canada. Since there were no NHL games they picked up the Komets broadcast off a satellite.
I know a lot of hockey people around know of the Komets but these were Hockey fans who happened to remember the name and logo from having seen it on TV.
I think there is a lot to keeping the same name.
Andrea
Thu, 10/22/2009 - 7:03am
Good Morning. After re-reading the posts, I decided that maybe my points/thoughts have been too vague. Please forgive me, it's been along week chasing 300 freshmen around a building.
My whole point with the name in the beginning was to not knock on it (the TinCaps that is). Granted, probably like everyone else when I heard that name, I began to think of other, not so nice or appropriate names to call them. After being a season ticket holder and moving those tickets to the new stadium, and being a host family, I would hear comments some of the guys would make about how people were critical of them due to the name of the team. They didn't take any offense to it, but thought that it was interesting that some people couldn't see past the name and look at the accomplishments of the team.
I agree with Steve that there is a lot in keeping in name. While going to spring training last year in Phoenix, the group I was with, all hockey fans, decided to go to the Roadrunners game. While there, one gentleman came up to us with a Komets jersey (one in our group was wearing his) and began talking about the Komets. The usher said he was from Muncie and went to Komets games as much as he could when he lived in Indiana, and the people behind us were originally from Indiana and would also attend Komets games. It was great to be 1600 miles away from Fort Wayne, and have people say nothing but positive things about the Komets.
In my opinion, being able to own the team, and not have a higher level telling you what to do does help in this situation. Parent clubs come and go in cities and name changes happen more often than people would like to see in sports like baseball. It is what it is. I'm gald that the Komets and all of their owners have kept the name the same. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen.
Well, the bell just rang, and there are some freshmen in the hall I need to chase into their rooms. I'm sure they will have some interesting names for me when this is going on. Have a great day everyone.
Comments
Hello Wendy. I'm not trying to be confrontational either......To everyone else who weighed in on this subject, I guess I'm looking at this in a different way than apparently most people do. I'm not even saying that anyone is wrong that disagrees with me. I'm looking at it from the point of view that one-fourth of the seating capacity goes empty each year. If, and I know it is a big IF, just for the sake of argument the K's could fill half of that void they would realize another $500,000 in revenue from increased ticket sales. I guess some of my bewilderment comes from the fact that some say the outlay of money to do this would be a business loss. Well, yeah your right. You would have to spend some money. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. Isn't it, though, just another form of advertising? We see billboards, see TV commercials, hear radio commercials to get their name out in front of people. They probably have done a study to see how effective those are but I think even if they lost some money they realize it is a necessary cost of doing business. Finally, I never said they would be free. Maybe 50% off or something. The gamble is that you want to expose your product to a group of people who normally would not go-but may enjoy the experience so much that they would return as a full price customer. There are plenty of nights to choose from. For example, and I don't have the schedule in front of me, there is a Tuesday night game this year. There are Wednesday night games that don't draw as well as the weekend nights. The initial backlash was kind of stunning to me. And finally, yes I know that the K's and the TinCaps are competing for the same entertainment dollar, and yes I know that disposable income is down, but I still think these two strong minor league systems could cooperate for the betterment of both. Or at least explore the opportunities.
me78--It wasn't very long ago our leader "Blake" had some shots of favorite old sweaters. The Frankes's have changed it several times in their 20 years. Orange and Black have been here for all of those 20 years. We had Blue and orange for a while. We had flames a few years ago that were really cool ( I thought) Logos of all kinds from the Fort to Bears and the State of Indiana shape.. The Fireball was brought back by the Frankes. We even had the K-Man in his space suit. Maybe we can get Blake to put a link to those old time sweaters for you. How about it Blake?
http://fwnextweb1.fortwayne.com/ns/sports/allkomet/
Alan---You are preaching to the choir. Preach it to Scott Sproat. Than he would be the man with the plan.
ok so they have tweaked them in recent years but its still the same idea.....
If I got reduced rate tickets to, tin caps, football team or mad ants I wouldn't go. Those are just not things the family are interested in. The komets have a great entertainment package that has something for each one in the family. Yes we have been to the other sports but not enough interest to go back. The komets spoil the fans and it is hard to beat.
Okay, well, I don't really believe in the whole "parent club" system, either, but yes, I know what you mean about the minors. Of course, even in the minors we teams like the Komets and the Hershey Bears who have been around for decades and probably wouldn't dream of changing their names at this point (knock on wood!). Yes, the logos get changed, though I prefer tweaking the details while maintaining the same basic design. We all know what you eventually get when you keep redesigning the darn thing... Buffalo Slugs! :D
As for promotional ideas, I've heard enough jokes about teams in the NHL's southeast division giving away tickets in happy meals that I would never presume to judge. Whatever puts behinds in the seats, so long as it doesn't get ridiculous, is good.
Several years ago I was on one of my occasional trips up north, I'm pretty sure it was the summer of 1991. The previous hockey season two memorable things happened. The NHL locked out its players and the Komets lost the Turner Cup finals to I think Peoria.
My daughter and I were staying at a motel and a family from Toronto noticed the Komets plate on the front of the car. The father and son were familiar with the Komets, they had watched the playoff series on TV in Canada. Since there were no NHL games they picked up the Komets broadcast off a satellite.
I know a lot of hockey people around know of the Komets but these were Hockey fans who happened to remember the name and logo from having seen it on TV.
I think there is a lot to keeping the same name.
Good Morning. After re-reading the posts, I decided that maybe my points/thoughts have been too vague. Please forgive me, it's been along week chasing 300 freshmen around a building.
My whole point with the name in the beginning was to not knock on it (the TinCaps that is). Granted, probably like everyone else when I heard that name, I began to think of other, not so nice or appropriate names to call them. After being a season ticket holder and moving those tickets to the new stadium, and being a host family, I would hear comments some of the guys would make about how people were critical of them due to the name of the team. They didn't take any offense to it, but thought that it was interesting that some people couldn't see past the name and look at the accomplishments of the team.
I agree with Steve that there is a lot in keeping in name. While going to spring training last year in Phoenix, the group I was with, all hockey fans, decided to go to the Roadrunners game. While there, one gentleman came up to us with a Komets jersey (one in our group was wearing his) and began talking about the Komets. The usher said he was from Muncie and went to Komets games as much as he could when he lived in Indiana, and the people behind us were originally from Indiana and would also attend Komets games. It was great to be 1600 miles away from Fort Wayne, and have people say nothing but positive things about the Komets.
In my opinion, being able to own the team, and not have a higher level telling you what to do does help in this situation. Parent clubs come and go in cities and name changes happen more often than people would like to see in sports like baseball. It is what it is. I'm gald that the Komets and all of their owners have kept the name the same. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen.
Well, the bell just rang, and there are some freshmen in the hall I need to chase into their rooms. I'm sure they will have some interesting names for me when this is going on. Have a great day everyone.