Sharks Season Tickets redux: It’s the whole package, people!

Chuq mentioned a couple of days back that this was the first year that we were both seriously looking at downgrading our tickets to a cheaper section. Yes, this was likely the first year it was seriously discussed, rather than the usual:

"Ticket invoice arrived"

(sound of opening envelope and digging out invoice goes here)

"(sudden exhale) whew!"

"Do we want to look at moving out of the club seats?"

"Nah, I like where we’re sitting"

Repeat over the past umpteen years, and you get the idea.

A couple of things happened this past year. Because I was hospitalized and then spent a lot of time getting over multiple surgeries, I didn’t go to nearly as many games as I did in previous years. I’d have to say that the last time I missed as many games, I was busily working on my MBA and working full-time, and that was a *long* time ago. But when you don’t show up as often, you don’t get into the "well, it’s always like this". And when you’re moving slower than usual, you tend to notice amenities that aren’t up to the level they should be.

And that’s where we get to the crux of the matter. The Sharks have been running their arena as if they expect to win the Stanley Cup. A noble cause, and I’d certainly like to see Stanley come to town before I leave, but hey–there’s a problem with this. Only one team wins the Stanley Cup, and let’s face it, even the team with the best betting line at the beginning of the season still tends to have the odds against them.  But, hey–if you win the Cup, people come for the hockey, and they won’t notice there’s some fraying around the edges. And if someone says the whole package isn’t worth it (we’ll get back to this in a minute), then there’s plenty more where they came from, right?

Right?

Um, no, there aren’t. Because like all the other teams who aren’t Anaheim this year, you didn’t win the Stanley Cup. You didn’t even get out of the first round. And Ganesh help ya, not only did you not get out of the second round, but the freaking Warriors appear to be on an upswing.  There’s not that many people who are willing to pay the price and show up, and you’re not delivering the expected product, and you have competition from up the Bay.

Reminder: you are ultimately in the entertainment business, and people will vote with their dollars. If you don’t offer the package, people don’t come back. And if you aren’t offering the Stanley Cup, then you have to make it up elsewhere. You don’t get the free ride on Stanley until *after* you’ve won it.

And the package includes the environs. And that means the arena is clean. Do you have any idea what the reaction is, when someone has been down for the count for six weeks, to totter back into their allegedly high-end seat, and finds that the floors are sticky from the last event? I do, because I had that happen last season. Or to realize some time around January that there’s no intention to clean the glass from the layers and layers of smears and cruft that’s building up over the season? Yeah, you cleaned the glass in the post-season for the national telecasts.  And then you let the cruft build up again until I’m guessing that the camera operators complained, and you cleaned them again.

Here’s the hint–that you did finally clean them indicates that they can be cleaned.  That you have to be prodded indicates you’re not going to clean them unless you’re forced to.

Drinks w/o lids–yes, that’s your vendor. So, who’s in charge of making sure they don’t chronically short-order supplies? Food that arrives lukewarm–not good.  Hot food shows up hot, cold food shows up cold.  That’s *health* standards, people.

And spend a few bucks on the plumbing in the women’s washroom in the club section behind 127. The eternally running toilet (interrupted by random geysers–if the thing went off with any more regularity, we could have the Park Service come in and run it) has been doing its act for over ten years now. Isn’t that a bit much?

Clean the arena. That means it gets cleaned-up even if there was a concert the previous night.  Even if there was a giant food-fight competition the previous night. If you want to have 300+ light-dates a year, then you need to plan for it. We both can do the math–having extra people in to clean so the floors don’t try to trap my shoes in primordial goo isn’t that expensive.

I’m going to stop this here–the non-hygiene (and it is hygiene folks–we’re talking about clean and safe, not exciting and entertaining) stuff gets handled in a bit.

But what it comes down to is this–running the arena as if you expect the Sharks will win the Stanley Cup every year will lead you to grief. Running the arena as if you expect the Sharks to stink on ice, well that’s the way to make sure you have happy customers. And happy customers return, even when the team is less than stellar.

You might also want to read:

1. some more thoughts on giving up the season tickets… When I posted that we intended to give up our season tickets after 20 years, it generated some interesting comments and a fair number of...
2. The Sharks off-season so far Happy American Independence day! (and a few days late, Canada Day, aka hockey player independence day.. I wanted to make  a couple of comments on...
3. Sharks start season 2-0… But it’s early! The Sharks have started the season 2-0, beating the Blues on opening night in OT 5-4 in OT, and the Islanders 2-0. Not a bad...
4. Notes on the San Jose Sharks season ticket holder Town Hall. By my estimate, 900 people were there, +-100. Greg Jamison, Doug Wilson, Ron wilson, Mike Ricci and occasional others sat up on a podium. Drew...
5. Sharks season ticket holder town hall Last night, the San jose sharks held a town hall with season ticket holders. For the folks on the sharks list that couldn’t make it,...