Season Ticketholders Teleconference, Wild signs Chad Rau

http://www.stateofhockeynews.com/2010-articles/may/season-ticket-holder-conference-chad-rau-signs-two-year-deal-other-wild-news.html

Season Ticket Holder Conference, Chad Rau signs two-year deal other Wild news

Written by Derek Felska
Wednesday, 19 May 2010 21:26

In Minnesota, they are called the "Team of 18,000" who are lauded all of the time by the organization who originally coined the phrase shortly after retiring the #1 jersey and hoisting it to the rafters bearing "Wild Fans" as it namesake. While some may accuse me of being biased or being a homer, it is pretty tough to slam on that moniker since the organization has soldout every home game (of any kind) in franchise history. So its pretty safe to say the fans are pretty loyal right? Of course, but mediocre seasons combined with a lagging and very slow economic recovery means a lot of fans are not only frustrated by the lack of success but facing financial hardship. In a recent teleconference, posted on wild.com, where team majority owner Craig Leipold, Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher and season ticket sales representative Jamie Spencer answered questions from season ticket holders which ranged from issues over the quality of the food offered by the concession stands at Xcel Energy Center, a season ticket price increase as well as inquiries as to what we can expect in terms of acquiring talent to fill holes in the lineup over this summer. The questions were not just softball stuff from what you'd expect from some propaganda pitch. One fan commented how they felt disappointed in the product on the ice and said it was harder justifying to his family renew when he felt the team seemed content to be mediocre. Another who noted how her and husband just recently were laid off still wanted to renew but was wondering if the team could work with them so they could be there for what will be the organization's 10th season. So why would the team increase prices by about 13% to most season ticket holders at a time where the economy is still struggling?

The reasons Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher and Jamie Spencer gave were two basic points. One, the team is spending to the cap ceiling or very close to it and that makes it tough to make much money or as they worded it "business sense" to the Wild. Two, according to the Wild the organization has tried hard to keep prices down and to that end they announced that any fan who saw their season ticket prices go up can expect to see that price frozen for 2011-12. During the teleconference, one fan asked why have ticket prices gone up 60% since the lockout since most people's incomes certainly have not gone up by that same margin. It was a good question for which the organization sort of sidestepped and began talking about how the team responded to demands of the fans that this team spend the money necessary to put a quality team on the ice. I have many friends who are Wild season ticket holders, some from the very beginning and many of them are really finding themselves pondering whether its worthwhile to keep their tickets. For more than a few its due to changes in their employment and as we all know, when it comes to paying your bills or buying hockey tickets which way most people are going to go. It doesn't make them undedicated, its just the reality of the situation. Many of these same season ticket holders split their season ticket packages one or two ways just to be able to afford them. So while a freeze is nice for next year it does little to address the immediate problem of having to pony up more money for their tickets by the May 27th renewal deadline. The fact the team decided to address this via a teleconference is no doubt in response to the high amount of non-renewals. For an organization who used to openly brag about having 10,000 people in its "Warming House" waiting to buy season tickets certainly seems like a long time ago now. Another caller during the teleconference noted the team's uses of giveaways and big price reductions in attempt to keep the sellout streak which currently stands at 409 games. (click on the link for the rest of the article)

I think that it is very interesting to note that unless the Wild get off to a terrific start, the sellout streak will end. The amount of time that the Wild have called me in the past couple months is sickening trying to get me to get pony up for season tickets (been in the warming house for about 5 years now).

If it wasn't for my financial situation, I'd totally do it. Unfortunately, me and countless others don't have the extra spending money like we once did.

I'd say it ends a couple months into this coming season.

if we start strong we`ll be fine we can always `distribute` the last 1000ish tickets surveying the preseason is going to be harder