Twolves to move to Saint Paul?

I had read a small little tidbit from Charley Walters this morning in the Pioneer Press about the possibility of the Twolves moving across the river to the Xcel Energy Center.

Well, essentially what he said is that the Xcel Center would welcome the Wolves over in Saint Paul if they ever became dissatisfied with the Target Center. It's been 20 years, and the Wolves haven't really complained very much about the Target Center.

But, the arena is getting older. It's not as young as it used to be. However, I had some thoughts of my own about a possible move of the Wolves over to the Target Center. Click on "Twolves to move to Saint Paul?" to see the full article.

Hope all of you had a great holiday season, and here's to a wonderful 2011.

What are the Vikings to do?

Hopefully we've all had a chance to relatively recover from the worst snowstorm in almost 20 years. And, the biggest casualty of the storm seems to be the Metrodome and the Teflon-coated fiberglass roof.

This has happened before. A lot. The dome deflated shortly after crews inflated it for the first time while the stadium was under construction. In 1982, a snowstorm took the dome down again. In 1986, a severe thunder/wind storm tore a hole in the roof, leaking rain and wind on to fans watching a Twins game (I remember the news reports from that day).

Oddly enough, the roof never caved in under the 28 inches of snow left by the Halloween blizzard of 1991. Of course, back then, the Dome wasn't even ten years old. Now, almost to its 30th birthday, it might be time to do something about it. And, this may have been the motivation needed for the Legislature to finally push a bill through.

Click the title of this post to go to an article I wrote (in fun, of course) about what could be done about the Dome.

Black is back for the Wolves

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

I had said in my last post that the Timberwolves needed some serious marketing help to promote yet another re-building team. They did one marketing move (which I had heard little about, until a few days later), and that was to unveil a new "alternate" jersey.

Many teams have three or more jerseys. There's a standard home jersey, and a standard away jersey. In the last few years, many teams find it fun to unveil a third jersey that is very different from the usual.

Sometimes the alternate jerseys look better than the standard ones. Sometimes the alternate jerseys are so unwelcomed by fans, that the team ends up scrapping them. One such instance was the NBA's Dallas Mavericks a few years ago. They had released an alternate jersey that had a very droll color scheme; and the fans showed their discontent in no uncertain terms. The team wore the jerseys once, and never wore them again.

The Wolves re-vamped their entire uniform a couple years ago. They had shortened "Timberwolves" to just "Wolves" on the front of the home jersey (from their early franchise days), and on the road jersey, exchanged "Timberwolves" for "Minnesota."

Just recently, the Wolves unveiled a black jersey. Everyone loves black. Black is a slimming color, and complements many other colors nicely. This is the second time in franchise history the Wolves have donned a black jersey. I liked the old black jersey better than the new black jersey.

Several years ago, the border on the jerseys was a black border with green pine trees, similar to the primary logo. With the latest uniform re-design, they scrapped the pine trees, and eventually took all the green out entirely. With the new black jerseys, a little green might improve things a bit.

At this link: http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/pressrelease_Wolves_Unveil_New_Black_Alternate_Uniforms_2010_11_23.html
you can see what the new jersey looks like. Personally, I think it's just a little too bland. Instead of complementing the colors, I think the black intermingles with them. There's no contrast.

Maybe that's in tune with the whole team's attitude, though. The Wolves have been nothing short of bland the last few seasons. Attendance has dropped, players come and go, there's more losses than wins. If the Wolves were looking to generate some excitement with this latest marketing ploy, I think they came up a bit short.

Kermit the Frog once sang, "It's not easy being green." In this case, a little green might help.

Thanks for reading.

Wolves need some serious marketing help

I have to admit, I've lost all interest in the Timberwolves. I can't even remember the last time I actually paid to go to a game. The last game I went to, I had received free tickets from the Timberwolves promotions department.

If you've watched any of the pre-season games on TV, there's empty blue seats everywhere. Not like it was when Kevin Garnett was here, there wasn't an empty seat in the house.

I was reading Patrick Reusse's column in the Star Tribune today (click post title to read full article), and he believes the T-wolves need some serious marketing to go along with the new shooters that are part of a team that seems to be in a constant state of re-building.

They've done their best in the past couple years in the area of branding: re-designed jerseys, a re-designed logo (which looks awful) and a new Target Center court. They've done some new things in the ticketing department as well. Last season, according to Reusse's article, the T-wolves had an abysmal season ticket base of 5,000.

When Garnett played here, I remember it being almost impossible to get a seat in the lower seating bowl of the arena. The lower level at Target Center seats about 8,300 people (total capacity is just shy of 20,000). What's even worse, is the team expected to lose another 10 percent of that base from last season.

It may not be the team, however. People still are loving the Minnesota Wild on the other side of the river; even though the Wild's consecutive sellout streak at the Xcel Energy Center has come to an end. And, let's not forget all the hype about the Twins this year with Target Field opening and the overall excitement that was re-generated for the Twins. An excitement, only to be squashed away in three games against the Yankees.

The T-Wolves started things off late last season when they decided to cut season ticket prices. I don't remember too much about that particular campaign, and I can't remember whether ticket prices were cut across the board, or just for new season ticket accounts. Even before that, the team has touted a season ticket up in the far reaches of the arena, that goes for about $300-some-odd a season.

And, apparently, it's worked. The Wolves, instead of losing another 10 percent of their season ticket base, have actually GAINED about 2,000 season ticket holders. Well, that helps, but for the most part still leaves the Target Center well below half-capacity.

If you have 7,000 season ticket holders (banking on the fact that they'd all show up for every game), and 3,000 unlucky fans decide to walk up to the ticket office ten minutes before the tip-off to snag a ticket, that's only 10,000 people. Which leaves the remaining 10,000 or so seats unoccupied.

Granted, the Wolves surprisingly had a decent pre-season. But, that's happened before. I remember getting so excited one year when the Wolves went 7-1 in the preseason. Hardly did anything after that, and to my recollection, didn't even win 35 games that season.

In seasons since Garnett's departure, it's felt very much like the expansion year of 1989 all over again. Only problem was, in 1989, people were so excited to have NBA basketball back in town after an almost 30-year absence, they didn't care how bad the team was.

Now, 22 years later, people do care, and they seem to be proving it by placing their allegiances elsewhere. Even Reusse commented that the one replica jersey he saw in the stands at the Target Center the other night was an Adrian Peterson Vikings jersey. But, if this Wolves team is really as good as it seems, or as Reusse postulates, then the Wolves need to get some serious marketing work done to make these lower ticket prices pay off.

Pepsi, Snickers, Vikings?

The Vikings merchandising department is trying something different: installing a vending machine at the Mall of America.

Interesting concept, to use something that most people associate with pop and candy to sell team merchandise. Of course, it isn't unusual either. The Minnesota State Lottery for instance has vending machines around the Twin Cities for its scratch-off tickets.

The Minneapolis Business Journal says that the team is doing it to better track automated merchandise sales. It is a first-of-its-kind merchandising ploy in the NFL, and if it is successful here, could be a model for other markets.

Best Buy also has used vending machines to sell Apple products, like the iPod.

But, if you want to go buy a Favre jersey, wouldn't you rather see it in person to check out the size and color, rather than have it dispensed to you from a vending machine?

The team however, believes that it is a "viable and economic" means of selling merchandise with the purple and gold on it.

We shall see.

T-wolves and Lifetime Fitness

Well, I think I've just about done the Target Field review thing as far as it can go. Now, I think it's time to get back to the main focus of the blog, sports and marketing.

The latest issue of the Twin Cities Business Journal had an article about an expanded partnership between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lifetime Fitness. Lifetime has been a sponsor of the team for some time, as well as had its name on the Target Center's fitness club since 2006.

This latest phase of partnership will put Lifetime's logo on the team's practice jerseys, as well as other areas within the team's practice facility, which is within the in-arena health club, including the court, backboards and media backdrops.

Lifetime will also have naming rights of the practice facility.

Team members will wear the jerseys in post-game interviews, which will create more visibility for Lifetime Fitness. Coaches will also wear Lifetime apparel during post-game interviews.

This is a good, solid partnership for a team that hasn't performed very well either on the court or at the front gate.

Lifetime also has had some ticket promotions with the Timberwolves that have included a pass to a local Lifetime Fitness.

Standing Room Only

I decided I’d take in one more Twins game this season, and take them up on the latest ticket offering: standing-room only.

I went on Friday night, the day after the Twins unexpectedly swept the Chicago White Sox. I also went into the game thinking, ‘the Twins just swept the White Sox. Logic dictates, they’ll lose a game to the lowly Oakland A’s.’

It sounded like a fun thing to do, to have a ticket for the game and just be able to walk around our brand-new ballpark. A couple of the ushers told me that it’s very likely they could easily sell 1,400 standing-room only tickets.

I also wanted to be able to scope out different views of the stadium that I had previously not explored; predominantly out in the left field and center field area. I had started out in the main concourse before the game started. And my plan was, by the end of the game, to be as close to the main gate as possible, to promise a quick exit.

A note of caution if you decide to go the standing-room only route: avoid the main concourse. It is incredibly crowded and very noisy down there. I had my fill after about the second inning, and I went searching elsewhere. Also, with many of the standing-room locations on the main concourse, you will not be able to see the video board, as the club level overhang will block your view.

However, over between sections 101-103, you will get a much more open view of the action on the field. Of course, you’ll miss things, with people sitting in front of you and walking up and down the aisles.

The upper level was quieter, but the view isn’t incredible. One fun location was the Twins Pub, an enclosed “warming house” if you will. It’s a good place to get warm (or stay cool, depending on when you go). You get a relatively good view of the field from up there. It wasn’t a bad location.

The Twins Pub is also where the ballpark’s organist, Sue Nelson, sits.

The plaza out in right field is an OK spot to be. This is where Fox Sports Net does its pre-and post-game shows. I did catch a glimpse of Roy Smalley (and took his picture) getting ready for the broadcast. But, this is also where 85% of the people enter the ballpark. So, you’ll be pushing your way through quite a bit.

I spent a good chunk of the game up in the Batter’s Eye, which is in center field. It also is much quieter up there, as there aren’t many seats. You do get a nice view of the field and the game. Down below is another story. One level down is the big wall in center field, and you can stand back there, but you will find yourself peeking over the wall to get a glimpse of the action. Good place to pull aside and eat your hot dogs and cheese curds, but probably not to get a great view of the game.

Although I hadn’t planned it, I ended up down behind the Powerball Pavilion out in right-center field. Not a bad place to be. You’re just steps away from the exit, and you do get a very nice and surprisingly close view of the field. You will not be able to see the scoreboard from this location; however, there are LCD televisions mounted that have all the information right there.

And, making good on my plan, I actually did end up with a very quick exit from Target Field. It didn't take me more than two minutes, and I was out. Not like the Metrodome where you had to exit single-file out the revolving doors.

I am glad that the Twins added this ticket option for this year. Word to the wise, you'll feel sore by the end of the game. You might regret actually doing the standing-room only option. But for $22 (cheaper for mid-week games), it's not a bad option to get yourself into the game.

Reports are indicating that because of the Twins' great performance this year, and their road to a very good run in the playoffs, tickets could be even harder to come by next season. Especially would that be true if the Twins do in fact win the World Series.

Charley Walters from the Pioneer Press said last Sunday that season-ticket renewal is expected to be close to 100%. And, existing season-ticket holders have first dibs on buying extra tickets before everyone else.

Who knows, next season, standing-room only might be your ONLY chance to get a ticket into Target Field.

Click the title, "Standing Room Only" for pictures from the game.