<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">How do you get fans excited about a team that went 33-49 last season, missed the playoffs, drafted nobody famous, and has made no sizzling player acquisitions during the off-season? How do you hang on to season-ticket customers, fill the cheaper seats, and attract sponsors to a team that, with Eric Snow gone, may have only one player left whom casual fans recognize? Those are the mind-bending questions the 76ers pondered Monday (the day before the Snow trade), when they gathered to brainstorm promotional ideas for the coming season. Most of the front-office staff assembled, in casual clothes on low leather chairs, on a mezzanine overlooking the Sixers' practice gym at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine on City Avenue. "This side can't control what the players do on the court," said Lara Price, senior vice president of marketing. "But the people here control everything else." There was Debbie Apalucci, director of the Sixers Dance Team, and Andy Speiser, chief financial officer. There were managers who sell season tickets and advertising and run the box office, those who control the music selection in the arena, and others who handle TV and community relations and database operations. There was Billy King, president and general manager in charge of player personnel, and Dave Coskey, president of team marketing, who has given fans items like the Allen Iverson Celebriduck and 76ers Gumby. Over the course of six hours, they tossed around ideas, like jump balls that could go either way, for in-arena amusements, sponsored events, outside promotions and fan giveaways. "There are no bad ideas," Price told the group. Though some came close. Usher-tainment? Sure, it would be sweet to be marketing the Miami Heat right now, after that team's acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal. Shaq rolled into town in an 18-wheeler, past a huge "Shaq in Black" (a Heat uniform color) banner, to receive the keys to the city. The team is selling O'Neal jerseys - and season tickets - without trying. It has already raised some ticket prices. In Los Angeles, perhaps no longer a title contender without Shaq, getting star-gazing Angelinos into the Staples Center could become a challenge. The Charlotte Bobcats can offer fans the novelty of cheering a brand-new team. Charlotte didn't support the Hornets, who fled the town in 2002. Will an ownership change make the city like the NBA better this time? That's certainly part of the marketing plan: Bobcats owners include the rapper Nelly, and hip-hop connections are going to be a big component of the team's push. For the Sixers, well, there's Iverson, the team's only star, the go-to guy for promotions and giveaways. The Sixers have gone above and beyond with giveaway goodies in recent years, thanks largely to Coskey, who works in the medium of bobbleheads and Beanie Babies the way Michelangelo worked in marble. In 1998, Coskey sold out a home game against Golden State by giving away Beanie Babies. He has delivered Alien Iverson and the now-bittersweet Eric Snow snow globe. He nearly succeeded in developing a promotional Mr. Potato Head of Matt Geiger. "We're working on getting a Bart Simpson in a Sixers jersey," Coskey told the group. But negotiations with Fox Television had become sticky. What else? Fans will get individually numbered shreds of game-worn player jerseys, like the ones the collector-card companies are selling.</div> <div align="center">Link</div> Interesting article you should read to kill some time.
