The Florida Panthers are trying to hold their third jersey "hostage," sending the media a note saying it won’t be revealed until Monday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at BankAtlantic Center. See the letter at left sent to media members with the teaser jersey swatch.

Players will wear the third jersey, which will have an alternate logo and colors, at 11 additional home games after Monday, including at next Friday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Fans can pre-order the jerseys and pick them up starting at 7:45 p.m. Monday. Call Pantherland at the arena 954-835-7025; Incredible Ice at 954-341-9956; or visit the Panthers’ Web site for more information.

Also, on Monday, Panthers fans can meet new majority owners, co-general partners Cliff Viner and Stu Siegel, who are scheduled to greet fans arriving at the game. The pair plan to be on the arena’s main plaza level.

Viner and Siegel, who were introduced as new majority owners this week after taking control from Alan Cohen, have been vowing greater accessibility to fans. They plan to hold regular town hall meetings and meet and greets, write blogs and make radio appearances.

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Boca Raton businessmen Cliff Viner and Stu Siegel officially took over as majority owners of the Florida Panthers this afternoon. They were introduced at a news conference on BankAtlantic Center's club level attended by Panthers employees and Sunrise city officials.

They become the third majority owners in the hockey team’s history and perhaps most important to fans, wrest control of team decision-making from Alan Cohen. Viner and Siegel, who become chairman and CEO respectively, have increased their investment in the team. Here's a letter Viner and Siegel wrote to fans about the purchase.

Cohen's stake shrinks, but he still retains a sizable portion -- just not the decision making. The transaction still needs NHL approval.

Cohen led the group that bought the Panthers for $101 million in 2001. The group was introduced with much fanfare, too, in the lobby of BankAtlantic Center. Cohen and his partners spoke about how they'd decided over some neighborhood barbecues to rescue a community asset and build the Panthers into a winning team.

But during Cohen's tenure, the team missed the playoffs every year, endured coaching and general manager changes and traded some of its best players. Even the group of partners grew fractious. So by this year, Cohen was ready, some say, to move on.

His attempts to merge the Panthers with a public company this summer fell through, but he'd clearly grown tired of the losing both financially and on the ice. He told me in an email last week when Viner and Siegel proposed taking control, he happily accepted. Here's what he said in a statement today:

"I want to thank Stu and Cliff for taking up this challenge. This is a great market and they deserve a winner. The team will be very successful when that happens. I had a lot of fun and I know I leave the organization in much better shape than it was when I took it over."

In fact, everyone was as gracious as could be about Cohen's tenure, however, they didn't hesitate to talk about a new era, an historic day for the franchise, a new way of doing business, accountability, discipline, accessibility and defending your actions.

"The guy's heart was always in the right place," Siegel said of Cohen. "He put a lot of devotion into this organization and still is a major partner here. We really want to thank him. Whether you view it as a success or not, obviously it wasn't a success on the ice. But we look to move forward."

When I spoke with Viner and Siegel last week they stressed they're changing the culture of the franchise, holding the coach, general manager and all employees accountable.

"We really have not unfortunately had a winning culture here for quite a while, just evidenced by the success of the team on the ice," Siegel said. "And I think the biggest thing we're going to through that professionalism and organization is really try to build a culture of winning here that we can sustain over a long period of time. It's not going to be easy, but we need to create that here."

Siegel added, "As much as we like to think we've been the ultimate professional organization, I think that in some ways, from a leadership standpoint we may have failed in that."

And this: "I think Alan had the right intentions. He put a lot of money into this thing, a lot of heart and soul into this," Siegel said. "In the end, obviously, we didn't have a winning culture here."

Siegel said where Cohen's reticence hurt him was that fans made assumptions about him.

"He wasn't out here accessible to fans, so they made their own judgments," Siegel said. "If you can only judge a team by what it's doing on the ice, and we're not doing well on the ice, then you have to judge how the organization is."

Viner and Siegel vowed change, accessibility and accountability.

"There is one thing that will change" Viner said. "Communication. There was very little communication between hockey ops and management, the president and ownership. There was very little communication. Now the lines of communication and are wide open and going to be open."

Viner and Siegel said they will be available to talk with fans and listen to their concerns. They also vowed to explain their actions.

"If we make moves that appear irrational, at least we'll explain to them why we did it as best we can," Siegel said.

You can watch the Panthers press conference introducing the new owners here:

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By January, there should be a JetBlue Airways tailfin on the plaza in front of BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, thanks to the Florida Panthers’ new sponsorship agreement with the airline announced last Friday.

Hugo Boss is outfitting the team’s television and radio broadcasters and even Coach Pete DeBoer. The in-arena host is known as the Celsius Girl due to the team’s deal with the Delray Beach company that touts calorie-burning beverages.

Despite not making the playoffs for eight seasons – the longest playoff drought in the NHL – and currently having a 5-9-1 record, the Panthers are still able to attract sponsors.

In all, the Panthers’ parent company Sunrise Sports & Entertainment has signed up 24 new sponsors for this season – for a value of more than $4 million annually. That’s on top of the already bursting roster of sponsor deals that total more than 100 – yes, that’s why so much signage! – for a value of more than $20 million a year.

The Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler signs that adorned the dasherboards and other parts of the arena have either been removed or covered, but there’s still plenty of advertising across the arena. New deals have been forged with Guinness, Lucas Oil, Mama’s Italian Ice, Bennett Auto Supply, Gran Thornton, Boar’s Head and HotelPlanner.com, among others.

SSE and Panthers President Michael Yormark is still hoping to sell the naming rights to the ice on which the team plays and to the team’s practice facility at Incredible Ice in Coral Springs.

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When Miami Heat season ticket holders arrive at AmericanAirlines Arena for tonight’s 2009-10 season home opener against the New York Knicks, they won’t be carrying traditional stock tickets with them.

Instead, they’ll have the print-at-home variety. The team has chosen not to print up ticket booklets to “reduce environmental contamination from harsh inks and chemicals used in the printing process,” according to a message sent to season ticket holders.

“What I hope is it’s one more step towards new technology that’s coming out hopefully in time for next year, where we can embed the bar codes into credit cards, licenses, whatever, so you don’t even need anything,” said Eric Woolworth, the Heat’s president of business operations.

Meanwhile, the Heat's also promoting recycling, by having the plastic bag that wraps the Miami Herald serve as a tool for getting ticket discounts. Bring the bag to the arena's ticket office for discounts of $10 off 300 level tickets ($30 or higher) or $15 off 100 level tickets ($85 or higher). That's the bags with the Heat ad on them that look like this:

The Phoenix Coyotes became the first NHL team to go to a paperless ticketing system and are using a swipe card for entry to games. Read about it here.

Read about the Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers experimenting with paperless ticketing here.

And here’s a story I wrote last year about sports – from golf courses to teams – making environmentally friendly changes in the name of going green.

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The Quad City Mallards of the IHL are promoting what they say is another professional hockey first: a logo in the ice in the goal. Not in front of the goal. Not near the goal. Actually in the goal.

It’s a logo for Hardee’s in honor of the quick service restaurant’s “Biscuit in the Basket” promotion, which will award select fans with free biscuits for Mallards’ goals. Fans in a randomly selected row of seats will receive a coupon good for a biscuit for each goal scored by the Mallards at home games at the i Wireless Center in Moline, Ill., this season. Fans in the entire section get free biscuits, if the Mallards score at least four goals.

Hardee’s will also sponsor giveaway items at several games. Mallards players will be visiting select Hardees beginning this morning to promote the partnership.

The Mallards, you may recall, are the team that when I wrote about the Panthers’ new “locker room” seats, which allow fans to get autograph sessions and email cards from a Panthers player, pointed out they let fans into the actual locker room up to 30 minutes before game time. The Mallards’ home opener is Oct. 24.

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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman attended the Florida Panthers' home opener against the New Jersey Devils Saturday at BankAtlantic Center. He met with reporters before the game and addressed a number of issues including the team's ownership. Read more about the Panthers on Steve Gorten's blog here.

Bettman said the Panthers are not being sold to a public company -- the team had been in talks this spring with public company Sports Properties Acquisition Corp., but an agreement was never reached. However, he expects the precise makeup of majority owner Alan Cohen's ownership group to change. He said that does not mean limited partners will change or be added, but their levels of investment and roles in the group could change. Stay tuned...

Here's how Bettman addressed a number of issues:

On Panthers' ownership:

I think that the group is in discussions to see about making some adjustments among themselves, and I think those discussions are ongoing ... I think the solution here is going to come out of perhaps a rejiggering of the existing ownership group, not necessarily somebody getting in or out, but just kind of a restructuring on the day to day.

On whether he's concerned about the ownership and financial health of the team:

I think the club needs to continue to work to improve its performance ... but they should be OK. Barring something extraordinary that nobody anticipated and I’m not suggesting that’s going to happen, they should be fine.

Performance on the ice?:

Listen it’s no secret the club’s gone eight seasons, nine years with out being in the playoffs. There’s a good fan base here and I don’t think anybody doubts that. I think with improved performance ... By the way, last year was the most points they had since the last time they made the playoffs.

On whether he's confident the team will be successful:

At some point in time, every team’s competitiveness or lack thereof has an impact and teams can go through rebuilding periods, but listen they’re a good core group of players here, good young coach. If they continue to develop the right way... listen there’s a lot of fans of this club that show up, this is a big building and I think with improved performance it will be easier for them to fill it. ... I think this is a franchise that has potential, has an opportunity, I think the issues they’re dealing with can be sorted and out and dealt with going forward ... I think they’re probably closer now to a resolution of the ownership issues than they’ve been.

Since the Panthers opened in Finland, are there other European cities the league is considering for NHL games:

We’ve played in London. We’ve played in Prague. There are a variety of opportunities in Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia and maybe perhaps as we continue this, some more traditional European cities, [but] non-traditional hockey cities, such as Paris, Barcelona. We would like to continue to expand our European presence on a regular basis. By that I don’t mean franchises on the ground, I mean more and more clubs, more and more games to open the season, so maybe we’re in seven or eight cities at the same time, to open the season because if you were there you know there’s tremendous interest in our players and our game.

On other leagues watching what happened in court with ownership of the Phoenix Coyotes:

Everybody was watching what happened in the legal proceedings very closely, because the, and you’ve heard me say this before, two most important issues for any sports league, are who owns the franchises, who’s going to be a partner, and where franchises are located. And the concern those rules could be circumvented, was one all of the sports leagues took seriously, which is why early on in the proceedings the other leagues intervened.

On whether the lockout has improved the financial health of teams:

It has ... We don’t run the 30 franchises, every team has to be accountable for its own on and off ice performance. The system has made it much better. The competitive balance has never been better. There are always going to be situations. Phoenix didn’t belong in bankruptcy ... That was an attempt by two people to circumvent our rules.

On the economy impacting ticket sales:

I think it’s market by market, but our season ticket renewal in this market league-wide was about what it was last year, before the economic downturn. We’re not expecting to be down, based on the preliminary projections we have this year in revenues…We’re flat to up a little bit is my best early guess as to where we’re likely to be. I know over the last few months, there was a lot of speculation the [salary] cap’s going to go down 20 percent. That’s absurd, that’s just made up, it isn’t going to happen. Business is much stronger than that. Our attendance last year, through the recession set another record, our revenue set another record, revenues were up about 5 percent in local dollars, not accounting for the decline in the Canadian dollar ... In real dollars, we think we’ll at least be flat, if not up a little bit. In attendance, including so far this season is at least flat, if not up a drop.Our fans are very connected to the game. I’m not suggesting the recession isn’t having an impact. Like for example, I thought last year I thought we’d be up 7 percent, we were up 5 percent. Listen, I don’t foresee dramatic growth, but a lot of people say the new up is flat. There’s been some erosion ... The speculation of 10, 20 percent decline, I don’t see that at all.

On how the economics have changed since the league locked out players in 2004-05:

We’re not paying out 76 percent of our revenues, on one element of our expenses. Teams by and large, and there are going to be outliers, when you look at competitive balance, everybody can afford to be competitive [with] the combination of the [salary] cap and revenue sharing. Last year it took 1,220 out of 1,230 games to have the first playoff matchup determined, it took 184 out of 186 days of regular season to know who was going to be in the playoffs, and we didn’t know the matchups overall until after the last game was played. When you look at also the range in points between the middle of the pack making the playoffs and who didn’t make the playoffs, I think a handful of points separated whether or not you made it. Virtually, if not all, of every game in the regular season had some impact as to how this is all going to wind up in terms of making the playoffs. You hear players, you hear coaches talking about every game is like a playoff game particularly down the stretch. That’s a function of the way the game’s being played and it’s a function of the fact that teams Feel that they can compete. That there are no easy games any more. While our economic circumstance has changed by about 19 percent what the cost the actually is, which probably equates to about 25 percent, you have the fact, we have a system, where teams are better off and can compete and you’re seeing it.

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After studying the issue and surveying fans, the Panthers are reducing season ticket prices on thousands of seats for the 2009-10 season and offering tickets in the upper bowl for as low as $7 a game and in the lower bowl for $35 a game.

The team had promised to freeze season ticket prices, but is instead reducing prices in 11 of 14 seating categories across BankAtlantic Center, marking what Panthers President Michael Yormark calls the “most aggressive price reduction we’ve had in the history of this franchise.”

Price reductions for full season ticket plans range from $2 to $17 a game. Among the reductions: Terrace level seats are dropping from $9 to $7 a game; Goal Zone from $17 to $12; Lexus Club from $60 to $55; Lower Bowl Sidelines from $77 to $65; and Premium Plaza Middle from $82 to $72. Half-season and mini-plan prices are also being reduced.

“The goal is to get fans to come to more games,” Yormark said. “We think we’ll also be able to attract the casual fan.”

The team sold close to 9,000 season tickets last season, Yormark said, meaning there’s still plenty of inventory. He says he wants fans who attend a couple of games a season to come to five or six; those that came to a half dozen games to purchase a mini-plan, for example.

The cheapest seats in the lower bowl are the Lower Bowl End Zone, which are dropping from $50 a game to $35. The seats in the shoot once end in sections 105 to 114 Rows 18 to 28, are being redesigned and renamed the “Panthers Locker Room.” Sections of the seats will be named after individual players. In keeping with the team’s effort to provide fans more value with their tickets, fans who buy tickets in those sections automatically become members of that player’s fan club, receiving benefits such as merchandise, birthday cards from the player, pre- or post-game autograph sessions and a learn-to-skate clinic.

“It’s a way to get fans a little closer to the product,” Yormark said.

The team has also renamed the first row and Panther Club rows 2-4, the Premier Lounge and is making it a new all-inclusive club with dining and lounge location. The first row stays at $207 a game, but the Panther Club drops from $132 a game to $115.

Fans who have already purchased season tickets have been informed of the reductions and will receive either refunds or other benefits such as BankAtlantic Center bucks good for concessions, Yormark said.

As part of their plan to market the price reductions, the Panthers have enlisted the help of NFL super agent Drew Rosenhaus. Rosenhaus is appearing in TV, print, and radio ads to promote the team. The ads break today:

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Got your attention, right? That’s the idea.

If he can negotiate the price of ESPN talent’s lunch in an ad for ESPN’s SportsCenter (see ad below), then why can’t super NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus help out the Panthers fan with his or her ticket prices?

OK, to be clear: he has not really been hired by fans to negotiate ticket prices – who, after all, is going to pay for that? -- but he is being used as part of the Panthers’ plans to market the team for the 2009-10 season.

He tweeted about it - in all seriousness - earlier today.

“As a longtime Panthers fan and a person who believes in giving sports fans the value and the atmosphere they deserve, I am absolutely thrilled to represent the Cats faithful at the bargaining table,” Rosenhaus says in a press release issued as part of the campaign. “That said, this a unique situation for me to represent the fans as opposed to professional athletes. But as a passionate Cats follower, I’ve got my finger on the pulse of the BankAtlantic Center faithful.”

Panthers President Michael Yormark said he's gotten just the kind of response he'd hoped: attention and national media calling to talk about the "negotiations."

"We wanted to create an out of the box, unique and different type of ticket marketing campaign," Yormark said late this afternoon. “It’s getting us top of mind, we haven’t even launched our campaign yet."

Rather than just send out a press release with new ticket pricing that might languish in emailboxes, the Panthers wanted to create a buzz. And figured, why not have Rosenhaus, a well-known South Floridian, help start it?

"What we’re trying to do is raise awareness for this announcement of our new pricing. We don’t expect Drew Rosenhaus to sell tickets for us, what we do expect is Drew Rosenhaus is going to help us introduce new pricing," Yormark said. "He opens up doors for us, we might not have been able to open ... You want people thinking about your product, thinking about the Panthers."

Rosenhaus will be appearing in TV, print and radio ads on behalf of the Panthers set to break next week. That's when we'll learn about the new ticket prices, too.

Apparently Rosenhaus is a Panthers fan, so does it make sense to have one of the region’s most recognizable figures in sports promote the Panthers? What do you think?

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The new business developments keep coming from the Dolphins and Land Shark Stadium. OK, this one isn’t about a celebrity (Jimmy Buffett, Gloria and Emilio Estefan) or added technology (Kangaroo TV handhelds for premium seat holders).

It’s a multi-year marketing partnership with Premiere Global Sports to provide travel packages to Dolphins home and away games and special events. The company is designing packages for Dolphins away games that start at $245 and include two-night hotel stays, game tickets and a game-day souvenir. The packages for fans from out of South Florida for home games start at $345 and include two nights at the Courtyard Fort Lauderdale Beach, game tickets and a souvenir.

For more information and to book packages, visit sportstravel.com/dolphins.

The company has worked with a number of teams, including arranging trips for New York Rangers fans to Prague for the team’s opening series last year and is arranging trips for St. Louis Blues fans wanting to attend the opening series against the Detroit Red Wings in Stockholm in October.

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We don't yet know if a public company's proposal to buy the Panthers will result in a deal. But talks between Sports Properties Acquisition Corp. and the team are ongoing. And the clock is ticking.

Sports Properties is what’s known as a "special purpose acquisition company" or SPAC. It raised $215 million from investors last year and has until January to use the money to buy a sports or entertainment asset. If the money isn’t spent it must be returned to investors with interest. The SPAC signed a non-binding letter of intent last month to purchase the team for $230 million, but it still could be some time before an agreement is reached.

What makes this story interesting right now is the role of Sports Properties president and CEO Tony Tavares. Tavares is a long-time sports team executive, who has run the Anaheim Ducks, as well as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Montreal Expos and the Washington Nationals. He also headed venue operating company SMG.

Tavares is also linked to a group that is bidding to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes out of bankruptcy at auction and keep the team in Arizona. That group includes Chicago Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and is completely separate from the SPAC. Reinsdorf’s group is expected to put in a bid on Friday with the auction to be held Aug. 5, assuming the bids are qualified and accepted by the bankruptcy judge.

From what I’m told, Tavares does not plan to do both deals. If Reinsdorf is successful, it’s quite possible Tavares could be installed to run the Coyotes. In that case, he'd most likely resign from the SPAC.

If the Panthers deal occurs first, it’s unclear if Tavares would have a position with the team.

The NHL does allow minority ownership in more than one team: Panthers limited partners, Fort Lauderdale advertising executive Jordan Zimmerman and St. Louis orthopedic surgeon Rick Lehman bought into the Tampa Bay Lightning, too, last year.

It’s unknown how large Tavares’ interest would be in the Panthers or Coyotes, but it’s unlikely the league would allow an executive (and owner) of one team to invest in a second team.

So, we’ll have to keep watching and waiting to see how this all plays out.

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After looking at dozens of sports and entertainment properties to acquire, Sports Properties Acquisition Corp., has zeroed in on the Panthers and is working with Sunrise Sports & Entertainment to try to finalize a deal.

Last month, the two entities signed a non-binding letter of intent to reach agreement on the sale of the team for $230 million, but sources say it could be weeks before a deal is signed. As I explained in a story last month, Sports Properties Acquisition Corp., a public company formed to buy a sports or entertainment asset, has been searching for a property that offers an upside. The company has examined other hockey teams and made an unsuccessful bid for the Chicago Cubs.

What makes Sunrise Sports & Entertainment attractive is not just that it owns the Panthers, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2000, but that it operates publicly-financed BankAtlantic Center and has plans for City of Oz, a massive mixed-use retail and entertainment complex surrounding the Sunrise arena.

So, details are still being worked out, but the NHL is aware of the negotiations and the non-binding letter. It’s possible an agreement could be reached by late June, but unclear if it could be ready in time for the league’s Board of Governors meeting later this month. It could be months before the deal closes, sources said.

Sports Properties Acquisition is what’s known as a "special purpose acquisition company" or SPAC. The SPAC raised more than $200 million from investors last year and has until January to use the money or it must be returned to shareholders with interest. Shareholders would also get their money back if a deal is reached but rejected. Any deal must receive approval of NHL owners and the SPAC’s investors.

SPACs gained notice in the 1990s, but their modern version did not surface until 2003. They are mainly an investment vehicle for hedge funds. While SPACs are formed to purchase all sorts of companies, Sports Properties Vice Chairman Andrew Murstein said last month his SPAC was the first to delve into the sports industry.

Panthers owner Alan Cohen and his partners would receive stock in the company in the deal and the team would be public once again. The Panthers, who were an NHL expansion franchise in 1993, were publicly held from 1996-2001, but became a private entity when H. Wayne Huizenga sold the team to a group led by Cohen for $101 million.

The makeup and operation of the team under the new company, is unclear. Although he could still have a role with the team, don’t be surprised if Cohen isn’t calling the shots in the future.

Sports Properties has plenty of sports experience among its board and advisors.

The company's board of directors includes Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron and former New York governor Mario Cuomo. Ex-Buffalo Bills Quarterback Jack Kemp, who died last month, had also served on the board. Murstein had said it was Aaron who suggested the company consider buying a sports team.

Company President and CEO Tony Tavares’ resume includes stints as president of the Anaheim Ducks and the Montreal Expos and head of venue operating company SMG.

And Game Plan LLC, an investment banking firm that handles team sales and acquisitions and is advising Sports Properties, was one of a pair of companies that together made an offer to buy the entire NHL in 2005 during the lockout.

The offer from Game Plan and Bain Capital never advanced, but was for $3.5 billion (roughly $116 million a team) and was presented to the NHL. The idea was to run the industry as a single-entity league in which no team had a particular economic advantage. Traditional television contracts would have been replaced with coverage by regional sports networks.

Anyway, stay tuned…

And just a reminder that I’m now on Twitter. Follow me: @sarahtalalay

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Catching up from a couple of days away:

+ As you no doubt know, items from old Yankee Stadium are now up for auction through July 24. The auction includes 1,500 distinct pieces, ranging from stadium signs to the dugout bat holder to the actual seat Jeffrey Maier occupied during the 1996 playoffs. New pieces will be added each week. Visit auctions.steinersports.com to register and check for updates.

Other items for sale include 1 square foot pieces of live sod for $120; pairs of stadium seats from $1,499 to $1,999; and bricks from Monument Park in a glass case for $150.

+ And SI.com says South Florida is lucky enough to have two of its four pro team owners included among the worst five owners in the four major sports.

The Web site placed Panthers owner Alan Cohen as second worst among NHL team owners ahead of only MLSE (Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment) owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Web site says Cohen hasn’t connected with fans and made the “wrong hire” with Jacques Martin.

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria was ranked fourth worst among MLB owners. Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos was worst, followed by Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks, and Kansas City Royals owner David Glass. The Web site says Loria may have overseen a shocking 2003 World Series championship over the New York Yankees, but blames him for letting go of his young talent when it gets too expensive.

Do you agree with SI.com’s assessments?

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H. Wayne Huizenga bid farewell Tuesday to nearly two decades of sports team ownership, including 19 years with his favorite team, the Dolphins.

When he completed the sale of the Dolphins to New York real estate developer Stephen Ross last month, Huizenga’s remarkable tenure owning three professional sports franchises - including two expansion teams that took the field and ice within six months of each other - came to an end.

His biggest regret: that his Dolphins didn’t win a Super Bowl. He also said in hindsight perhaps he should have waited a year to dismantle the Marlins after they won the 1997 World Series.

He oversaw a tumultuous period, bringing South Florida into the major leagues: owning three teams and taking two of them to their sport’s championship, investing in a regional sports network, selling naming rights to a stadium, and overseeing the construction of a 20,000-seat arena. It was a period the likes of which will never been seen again. If you’re interested in reading a longer view of Huizenga’s tenure in sports, click here.

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Twin brothers and sports team execs Michael Yormark (Panthers) and Brett Yormark (New Jersey Nets) often try to take credit for each other’s creative marketing ideas. This time, the pair is trying to offer each other’s fans a break.

Introducing the first-ever “Snowbird Ticket Exchange” program: Panthers season-ticket holders who happen to be in the New York/New Jersey area can cash in unused Panthers tickets for a seat at a Nets game. Nets season-ticket holders in South Florida can do the same to get with unused Nets tickets for a Panthers game.

You just need to prove you’re a season-ticket holder and provide five days’ notice.

“This innovative program represents yet another way for us to add value to being a Florida Panthers season-ticket holder,” Panthers President Michael Yormark said in a statement. “As I am sure many of our fans regularly visit the New York metropolitan area for business or pleasure, they will have an opportunity to add a Nets basketball game to their itinerary.”

Of course, Nets fans might be getting more value at BankAtlantic Center than Panthers fans at the IZOD Center — the Panthers are in the playoff hunt at 24-18; the Nets are lagging at 23-27.

The brothers, however, are also known for their creative sponsorship deals. Maybe they should get JetBlue to sponsor this promotion.

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Taking a page from Disney, the Panthers will launch a collectible pin-trading program at Sunday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche at BankAtlantic Center.

Ushers and other team staffers will be wearing collectible pins on lanyards that fans can trade for with their own NHL- and hockey-related pins they bring with them or that they purchase at the game. Pins will be sold for $6.95 and $12.95 at a pin stand at Section 125 of the arena.

Panthers President Michael Yormark came up with the idea this fall when he saw pin trading occurring during a visit to Disney World with his daughter, Sophia. He said he “was amazed at the reaction from children of all ages. I do believe it will work here and potentially pull more families and children to our Panthers games.”

The Panthers have been boosting family-friendly activities and areas at the arena, including the Kids Korner, which launched last season and features games, activities and kids’ menu items, including mini-pizzas and caramel apples.

Additionally, IT’SUGAR, the chain of candy stores, has partnered with the Panthers this year and opened a store on the plaza level, where fans can buy old-fashioned sweets in bags by weight.

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What a difference a lousy year makes.

Turnkey Sports & Entertainment released the results of its second annual Team Brand Index survey last week of all 122 NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams. The survey, which is purchased by teams and sponsors, measures the brand strength of each team based on the perceptions of fans in those markets.

The company surveyed 12,000 sports fans in 47 U.S. and Canadian markets on their perceptions of the team’s entertainment value, players, ownership and other factors. All four of South Florida’s teams fell in fans’ estimation between the 2007 and 2008 studies, especially the Heat, which was ahead of the Dolphins in the 2007 study. Here’s where the teams rank among the 122 in this year’s survey compared to last year:

Team 2008 rank; 2007 rank
Dolphins: 55; 42
Heat: 65; 33
Marlins: 78; 70
Panthers: 103; 99

THE TOP 5
Green Bay Packers
Boston Red Sox
Pittsburgh Steelers
New England Patriots
Indianapolis Colts

THE BOTTOM 5
New York Islanders
Indiana Pacers
New Jersey Nets
New York Knicks
Seattle SuperSonics*

*The survey was conducted before the SuperSonics moved this season to Oklahoma City

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The Panthers wouldn’t say how many tickets were sold at discounts of 30 percent to 50 percent during their one-day sale from midnight Thursday to midnight Friday, other than it was one of the team’s most successful selling days in the past few years.

Around pro sports, Black Friday was a good day.

The NFL recorded an 85 percent increase in sales at NFLShop.com on Black Friday compared to 2007, making the day the league’s third highest grossing sales day. The biggest day was yesterday (Thanksgiving Sunday), followed by Thanksgiving Sunday in 2007.

The best sellers since Thanksgiving? Brett Favre’s replica men’s green jersey and youth green jersey, followed by Giants-custom hooded sweatshirts and Eli Manning’s replica men’s blue jersey.

Meanwhile, the NBA said its online store recorded its best Black Friday sales ever, more than doubling last year’s figures. Sales at NBAStore.com were up 95 percent for the full weekend. Together, sales at the online store and at the NBA Store in Manhattan rose a combined 38 percent from last year.

Chris Paul’s jersey was the top seller over the weekend, followed by NBA team logoed T-shirts.

And the league kicked off a 12 days of deals promotion at NBAStore.com today. A new discount will be announced each day.

MLB.com, which sold select jerseys at 40 percent off, said sales were up 25 percent compared with 2007.

The NHL said sales at Shop.NHL.com were up 67 percent on Black Friday compared to 2007 and that sales were up 25 percent from a year ago on Cyber Monday. For the full weekend sales rose more than 10 percent from 2007 at the NHL Store in Manhattan.

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Apparently a minority ownership stake in one NHL franchise wasn’t enough for Fort Lauderdale advertising executive Jordan Zimmerman and St. Louis orthopedic surgeon Rick Lehman.

Zimmerman and Lehman, who are both investors in the Panthers, bought into the Southeast division rival Tampa Bay Lightning last month. They are part of an eight-person ownership group led by Hollywood producer Oren Koules and former Panthers player Len Barrie. And as odd as it sounds, the league says: “multiple minority ownership interests are permitted by the NHL Constitution.”

“It hasn’t been done,” said Zimmerman, founder of Zimmerman & Partners advertising in Fort Lauderdale. “We’re the first.”

The partners say they’re just improving their odds of winning.

“If I make enough investments, I’ve got a better chance of winning a cup and a ring,” Zimmerman said. “Why be typical? I built a whole ad agency of being untypical.”

Zimmerman said he was approached by Koules and Barrie about investing in the team: “I thought this was an opportunity to get involved in another team, help them build some of their ancillary revenue streams … my skill set is truly on the business side.”

He approached Lehman about joining the group.

“The first one was such a good idea, I figured I’d invest in another one,” said Lehman, who specializes in sports medicine. “They called and were looking for people to look after their medical in Tampa. I did it for the Panthers for a while.”

What will they do when the two teams play each other a half dozen times next year?

“In my arena, whoever wins," Zimmerman said, "that’s the team I’m rooting for."

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The Panthers are offering up the chance to turn a room in one fan’s house into a Panthers’ lair, known as “The Captain’s Room,” complete with signed memorabilia and other team souvenirs. Through a partnership with Sports Interiors, fans can enter to win the “Ultimate Florida Panthers Room.”

The company creates custom team- and sports-focused offices, bars, and spare rooms, turning them into a sports fan paradise with everything from photos to jerseys to team-logoed furniture.

Panthers Captain Olli Jokinen will appear for the Panthers room unveiling. “Sports Interiors promises that the winner will be the envy of Panthers fans everywhere,” a press release states. Fans must be 21 and live in Broward, Palm Beach or Miami-Dade counties to enter.

Enter at Panthers’ Web site or at sportsinteriors.net.

The winner will be announced at the Panthers final regular season home game on March 29 against the Washington Capitals.

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Newly installed NHL Players Association Executive Director Paul Kelly says for hockey to be successful in the United States, NHL games must be on ESPN. He said he and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman plan to begin meeting after the holidays with Versus and ESPN about altering the sport's current contract with Versus. He says with a national TV contract, the sport, which is seeing increased revenues, could solve a lot of its exposure, marketing and attendance problems. Kelly has been visiting all 30 NHL teams. Last week, he met with the Carolina Hurricanes when they were in South Florida to play the Panthers. He’ll visit with the Panthers on the road in January. Here are his answers to a few questions:

Q. You think the NHL needs to be back on ESPN?
A. "I’m not going to second guess what’s gone here, but in retrospect not having this sport continue on ESPN was a big mistake. I understand the reasons for it, and it was a very difficult business climate at the time, Gary [Bettman] did what he thought was best for the NHL … Now times have changed. In my view ESPN needs us. I think they’ve saturated their airwaves with stuff frankly people have become tired of. You can only watch so many college basketball games, before it becomes a blur. You can put so many card games on poker games. I think our sport translates, particularly in high definition, very well on television. The sport is being played better than it’s ever been played in the past. When we were on ESPN, we not only had great games, including the Stanley Cup playoffs. We had the regular hockey tonight program on ESPN2. We had much greater presence on SportsCenter broadcasts and on the advertisements done by ESPN. We’re missing that."

Q. So how do you do you change the existing contract?
A. "You have to have delicate discussions with all the parties and frankly right after the holidays we will have those discussions … And hope to receive some kind of accord with all within the next couple of months."

Q. Will there just always be some non-traditional hockey markets where only a small, passionate fan base will follow the team?
A. "In Florida, obviously, you need to win to keep people coming and when you start to struggle and even play .500 hockey, you’re going to lose some element of your crowd. That having been said, I think it’s important for the game, if we’re going to regain the prominence on the national sports scene in the states, if we’re going to regain our national TV contract in the states, we absolutely have to be in certain markets. We’ve got to be in Florida, we’ve got to be in Atlanta, we’ve got to be in southern California, we’ve got to be in Texas. So there are non-traditional hockey markets, we have to work at. It’s tough on the owners, they’ve got to be more creative, they’re got to charge less for tickets, it’s tougher on the players, although the players they get called upon to do more. And as I understand it, the Panthers they do more than any other single team in terms of activities and interaction with the fans. They don’t seem to mind that, they understand it comes with the territory, it comes with the geography that they’re in."

Q. Doesn’t the contract require a partnership under which the players must help with marketing the game?
A. "That’s the spirit of the contract, the partnership. The reality is it’ll never be a true partnership. These guys own teams and we’re employees, but the way that everybody succeeds in this business now, in a cap system, that is revenue based and with a revenue sharing component to it, is to work together. If we drive the revenues collectively, the owners will do well, the players will do well, they get a bigger piece of the pie. If we drive the revenues over $2.5 billion, we get 57 percent of those revenues in salaries. If the revenues are under $2.5 billion, we only get 55 percent. So it’s in the interest of players to work with together with ownership to get more fans in the seats, to sell more luxury boxes, to get better TV contracts."

Q. But this is a team that hasn’t even made the playoffs since 2000.
A. "A general manager once told me a team really needs to be going either up or down, and a team that’s kind of going in a straight line has a real problem, because they get stuck in that straight line and they can go year after year after year without making the playoffs … It appears Florida has fallen into that rut. What do they need to get out of it? I don’t know. Maybe a blockbuster trade, bringing in a big scorer or another star to help rally the troops. There’s no easy fixes in this game, unfortunately."

Q. Are you satisfied with where the game is?
A. "I think we can do better. I think we can generate more fans, I think we can generate more revenues, I think we can put more people in the seats, not just in Florida. Other than the Canadian cities that are selling out every game already, I think in some of the traditional markets, Philadelphia, Denver, Dallas, Boston, Chicago, I think we can do better. But I think a lot of it does start with television. I think if we can reestablish a national TV presence in the states, a lot of these other components will increase as well. The revenues of the sport are up. This year’s revenues are projected to be up $200 million over last year. They’ve gone from just over $2.3 billion last year, this year they’re projected to be over $2.5 billion. So we’re doing something right, I think within a couple of years, we will be on the doorstep of $3 billion in annual revenues, and that will be very good for owners, for players and for fans. One thing is the international game. We have 30 percent of our players that are from Europe. We have a natural connection to that market place. We support international events, we support participation in the Olympics. We support the creation of a kind of recurring World Cup of hockey in the off two years of the Olympics. We support opening the season in Europeans cities, next year in Stockholm and Prague. The following year the plan is to open in six different cities with 12 teams in six cities including Munich and Helsinki, I think there’s an untapped market over there. The day will come in the next five or six years, you may well see NHL teams based in Europe. It wouldn’t surprise me to see an entire division of five or six cities host NHL franchises. Five years may be ambitious, but 10 years for sure. I think it’s a natural. If you have to fly from Miami to Vancouver, you can fly from Miami to Frankfurt."

Q. But what if you have to go from Vancouver to Frankfurt?
A. "You’ve got to spend a couple extra days."

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It's not often that Panthers President Michael Yormark and his twin brother New Jersey Nets CEO Brett Yormark will give each other credit for developing a creative marketing or sales technique.

The twin brothers -- thought to be the only twin brothers in executive positions at sports teams -- are very close, but enormously competitive. They both work hard to be innovative in their approaches to gaining new season ticket holders and sponsors.

They borrow each others' ideas routinely, but it's hard to know which brother is responsible for the original idea. For example, which came first: "Pancakes with the Panthers" or "Pancakes and Hoops?" Both were breakfast meetings between players and lapsed season ticket holders in the hopes of bringing the former ticket buyers back into the fold. Both have launched "influencer" parties aimed at getting season ticket holders to encourage their friends to buy tickets.

But this season, Michael Yormark called new mascot "Mini Stanley," the "best idea I ever stole from my brother." Mini Stanley, which is about half the size of the Stanley C. Panther mascot, skates with its counterpart to the delight of kids who find the new mascot closer to their size. Michael Yormark said his brother Brett created a mini Sly to accompany the full-size Sly the Silver Fox at Nets games.

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