Phantoms fire VP of Business Operations

I am sure Tim will have better insight, but I have thought the team has not been marketed very aggressively. Everyone has blamed the poor attendance on the start we had at the gate, which is true. But since they hired Paterson, they have been solid – middle of the pack in our division since the holidays. But the marketing of the team is poor at best. Few kid played, player promotions, extending to markets that other teams here have drawn fans – Saratoga, Vermont, etc….. I am sure the Brooks are looking for another 500 per night on average.

There really isn’t a negative impact by having the Phantoms up here in the Adirondacks. Obviously, it is ideal to have your farm team close by, but the team was sold. Attendence up here hasn’t been ideal. They’ve been saying they want 4000 a game, and on a given night were getting about 3000. Tough to blame Thompson for it, because its tough to sell a losing team to a small market. That being said, the team for the most part is adored here by the fans that show up night in and night out. These players won’t get front page newspaper coverage in Philly, so it is good to prepare them for the pressures they’ll get should they make the NHL.

I’m sure you guys in Philly would love to have them back, but the plan has been stated over and over again by the Brooks’ that they are moving them to Allentown. Until then, I hope they stay up here as long as they can.

Since I am fresh off last week’s lecture to unsuspecting undergraduates on basic principles in developing a firm’s strategy, let me give you insight into one of the definitions of a “business model” that I think most on this blog will get:

Revenues – Costs = Profits.

If your firm is profit-challenged, then you have to either (1) lower costs or (2) raise revenues. I suspect, given the low attendance in Glen Falls, that their revenues were in the cellar, or perhaps headed toward Earth’s crust. The VP was given the boot, and the new guy was given these marching orders: raise the attendance, raise the ticket prices, find some other revenue, or some combination of the 3. From everything I’ve read, the previous guy tried the other fix to the business model, lowering costs, and that foray on the cheap apparently did not work.

While this is fun for me to post, and is entirely relevant to this thread, it is not directly relevant to hockey, other than the fact that more fans turn out when a team wins, giving more revenue. But you knew that part already. The firing itself is otherwise likely irrelevant to most BSHers.

I heard that the Phillie Fanatic guys were in charge of the design of the new mascot.