It's Always Like This
With another home loss Tuesday night at BankAtlantic Center, the Panthers can’t be too pleased about their ad campaign that reads: “It’s Always Like This.”
It’s Always Like What? Always another loss? Always in last place? Always a less than capacity crowd?
The Panthers (10-17-6) are again in last place in their division with a home record of 7-8-1.
As you might expect, Panthers brass say the ad campaign is about BankAtlantic Center, not the Panthers.
“It really refers to the entertainment experience, when you come to the venue, whether it be for a game or a concert or a show,” Panthers Chief Operating Officer Michael Yormark says. “The goal and objective of the campaign is to create something around BankAtlantic Center…We’re selling the experience.”
The Panthers experience isn’t much fun these days if you’re looking for a winning team.
“People are going to read into it,” Yormark acknowledged.
NEW IMPROVEMENTS
Meanwhile, arena officials are working to keep the venue state of the art.
The county commission agreed late Tuesday to loan Sunrise Sports & Entertainment, the arena’s operator, $9.5 million to help pay for new signage and club seating. Two LED video panels to hang above the goal areas for advertising and event promotion and two outdoor marquees are planned in the first phase. The second phase includes a second Eastern Financial Club on the 400 level across from the existing one; a “bunker suite” of premiere seating under the lower level that comes with event level seats and a new center-hung scoreboard.
The improvements, expected to be completed by early 2008, are aimed at keeping the building “fresh,” Yormark says, and generating more advertising and sponsorship revenue. The county helped pay for the WCI Club and the LED ribbon board – improvements it says have generated $10.3 million in revenue during the past two years.
CRAIG DAVIS In more than 33 years at the Sun Sentinel, Craig Davis has written about a wide variety of sports topics from baseball to yachting, fishing to triathlons, and also worked as a copy editor and page designer. Recently he reported on local sports, including running, swimming, cycling, equestrian and beach volleyball. He enjoys sports as a participant as well as a spectator, is active in the South Florida running scene plays in the curling club at Saveology Iceplex. This blog offers a glimpse at the business side of sports in the interest of enhancing enjoyment of the games and sporting options as a spectator as well as a participant.
