Freep article regarding Violetta

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...5/71211011/1053

Yet another article regarding the "lack" of attendance. Violetta could be the answer according to Mr. Illitch.

BTW......great point at the end. If St. Paul or Buffalo is the "new'' Hockeytown, then why dont their fans pack over a quarter to nearly half of opponent's arenas? Hockeytown isn't only a "marketing" gimmick.....i'ts an attitude.

Edited December 11, 2007 by Hockeytown0001

[JayUp88 1]

I go to every game because i'm a first year season ticket holder but i must say its empty sometimes. If you go to the pistons game you almost always get something for free and its a whole experience. You don't get much for buying season tickets. other teams i see give away a jersey with season tickets or tons of other stuff. I wouldn't have minded a free jersey with my tickets.

[OsGOD 3]

haha yeah Jayup we have already talked about this... I was so pissed when we were in Columbus as were hearing that season ticket holders get an automatic 20% TWENTY PERCENT discount on their tickets... Bite me Mr. Moneybags!!!

I love this quote from the article:

The impact of Michigan’s sluggish economy didn't just dawn on Ilitch  the Wings say they haven't raised ticket prices in six years. but the empty seats did fuel the urgency to get a top-notch business-side executive.

Boo freakin' whoooo LOWER THEM ... Jobs are being LOST who gives a s*** if you keep them the same price???? Way to bleed us of our ability to go to games!

I can't sell tickets i WON'T LOWER THEM... lets hire a top notch exec to figure out why.... are you that dumb Mr. moneybags? Seriously are you that Dumb???

As Ilitch has shown with the Red Wings over the years, winning begets more winning, as jacked-up revenue from the playoffs helps the team afford to pay star players year after year.

Yeah no s***... 500% markups on seats with out a finals appearnce in now 4 years... give me a break

Edited December 11, 2007 by OsGOD

[Jwo 7]

Do you get free tickets with your season ticket's? I know it's not helping Nashville on how they give their season ticket holders a lot of free ticket's to the games but the Wings could give away at least two or four games worth of free tickets to it's season ticket holders.

[OsGOD 3]

Do you get free tickets with your season ticket's? I know it's not helping Nashville on how they give their season ticket holders a lot of free ticket's to the games but the Wings could give away at least two or four games worth of free tickets to it's season ticket holders.

Free tickets for season tickets... NO ... you get Face value (plus a convience fee) and if you really want to be special you can pay $690 MORE to get a parking pass for the games.... ($15 a game... pssst... what regular people pay)

Oh but you can skate at the Joe and go to closed practices... but as a former ticket holder i get that also i am finding so really NO BENEFITS at all for being a Wings Season Ticket Holder...

Would i do it again.. down the road yes, but i had my fun for 2 years.... it was worth the 10year wait for that first years for sure!

Edited December 11, 2007 by OsGOD

[JayUp88 1]

Oh but you can skate at the Joe and go to closed practices...

Really when does this happen?

We get hockeytown Magazine too but it never comes on time and i usually get mine at the end of the month. Does anyone remember when they had Crosby handing out their season ticket holder packages to people? they got a whole box thing and everything. i would love to see someone walk up to my down and give me my season tickets.

[OsGOD 3]

Really when does this happen?

We get hockeytown Magazine too but it never comes on time and i usually get mine at the end of the month. Does anyone remember when they had Crosby handing out their season ticket holder packages to people? they got a whole box thing and everything. i would love to see someone walk up to my down and give me my season tickets.

I have had 2 invites to the practices since Training camp... Via E-mail on file..

The skate at the Joe and locker room tour is like in February... They will give you about 24 hour notice if you are lucky... all of the sudden a letter in the mail will come with tickets saying HERE YOU GO ON SATURDAY from 11:00am - 11:45am and saturday is usually THE NEXT DAY!!! so just be on the lookout... then again that was the last 2 years, who knows with the new dude now what they are going to do.

[auxlepli 17]

I don't like the idea of selling more corporate seats that's for sure. Typically corporate fans are unenthusiastic fans who are more interested in wining and dining clients than attending a game. Selling corporate tickets also denies the Wings the ability to grow their fans. Meaning that young children can't attend because tickets are too expensive.

I can't think of an example in hockey so I'll use college basketball. Where are the students fans at Cameron Indoor? Near the court. Kelvin Sampson at IU said the students need to be closer the court, so the move was made. Using this analogy alumni is to corporate as students are to rabid fans. In one move if the Wings lower prices in sections closer to the ice, the atmosphere increases, more people attend games, and they will increase their ability to grow fans.

[Bluedevils_13 0]

Ya, I went to 3 Jackets games last year and I received (for free) an awesome knit hat, gloves, and cards. The year before that I went to a game and got a free baseball hat that I still wear. This year they also had $1 hot dog night.

My point being, WTF WINGS?

[OsGOD 3]

^^ thats another reason why the BJ's are my 2nd favorite team in the West! Loved the Arena, love the ability to meet the players after the game in the concourse... love the FREE program.

I remember the lady passing out the programs was handing me one, I took out my wallet and was just about to ask her how much and she was like, no no they are free... take one. FLOORED ME! SOmething free? for the fans?

[Kp-Wings 3]

That article made me burst into laughter. Illitch is the most clueless idiot about this situation I've ever seen. It's plain as day that Michigan's ass backwards economy has been going nowhere fast for about 5 years now, and he admits it, yet makes absolutley no attempt to lower ticket prices and charge them at affordable levels. And then, to top it all off, he acts like he has no idea why the games don't sell out! I'm telling you, this guy is becoming more and more of a jackass every day.

I'm going to put this very simpily: LOWER THE TICKET PRICES. It's really as simple as that. Hiring Steve Buttf*** or whatever his name is from Nashville isn't going to suddenly put asses in the seats. This guy isn't a household name at all. In fact, it worries me that he's even been hired in the first place. His NHL expierence comes from 3 horribly unstable organizations: Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Ottawa. All 3 were in danger of moving at one point or another in their respective history's, so it possibly seems that Violin doesn't have the savvy business marketing skills that the Wings organization thinks. I could be wrong, and I certainly hope I am, but the numbers aren't making much of a case for this guy. His past history doesn't look too great.

It's not just the ticket prices, either. The parking at JLA is a f***ing ripoff. $20 for parking? That's a joke. I remember going to a game back in '96 when I was only 12, and the parking was like $5. With as expensive as everything is down there (food, beer, programs, souvenirs, all of which are highway robbery) you'd think they could compromise and at least keep the parking at affordable levels. But no, Illitch has to continue to squander all the money he can out of us fans to spend on his casino empire (which is not that at all) and his bad tasting pizza. It's really getting old, just like everything else as far as the Wings are concerned.

The most frustrating thing out of all is the way he runs the Tigers. It's not that he runs them badly, which he doesn't. He does a great job at running the Tigers. Their a great fan-friendly, affordable team and a great organization. The problem is that he does a great job running one of his teams, but not with the other. I have to ask: why? I mean, I know Illitch is a baseball guy first and foremost, which is fine by me. I love baseball, it's my favorite sport next to hockey, and I'm glad Illitch cares about the Tigers. But, at that same time, I'm getting pissed off over his recent neglecting of the Wings attitude towards the fans, which is downright terrible. It's come to the point that I don't even go to Wings games anymore unless it's right there for me. I live too far away (Bay City is not exactly a stones throw away from Detroit), and I can save the money that I'd spend at a Wings game for better things. I could go to about a half-dozen or more Tigers game, have a great time, and spend about as much as I'd spend as going to one Wings game. It's really not a priority for me to go to these games, because it's too expensive; a lot more than it has to be.

I wish Illitch would get it together and fix the Wings problems the right way, not what he's doing now. Cheaper tickets and concessions, autograph signings, fan giveaways, and other stuff like that. It's not asking that much. Considering Illitch can seem to find all this money to fund a large casino and a chain of pizza company's, it's not too much to ask that he does a little for the Wings to make them more fan friendly. If he want's to fix the attendance problem, he could start by doing those things.

Edited December 12, 2007 by Kp-Wings