Skip to main content

Your Tuesday Morning Quickies

Big news for On the Forecheck coming tomorrow, but in the meantime...

1. Wheels are turning in Las Vegas to launch the construction of an arena near the Strip that is apparently destined for NHL hockey. James Mirtle breaks down the expansion scenario, as the NHL's Board of Governors prepares to meet in Toronto. Personally, I think this a fascinating possibility. While the locals may not be able to fully support a team there, I could definitely see a brisk business for people visiting there to catch their favorite team. Just ask yourself, would you rather pack up a few pals and follow your team to St. Louis, Edmonton, or Las Vegas?

2. One question I have is how expansion money might affect the Sommet Center lease agreement, which allows local ownership a buyout prior to 2012 if financial losses exceed $20 million. I know that when it comes to "Hockey Related Revenue" that drives the salary cap under the CBA, expansion fees (which may net each team $10-20 million if two teams join the league soon) aren't counted, but I'm not intimately familiar with the lease terms as to whether anything's different there. The reason that's important is that if expansions fees are considered part of the general bottom line (which I would consider likely), that may effectively take that 2012 buyout option off the table. I hate to even bring up lease stuff, but it's a thought that crossed my mind.

3. The Nashville Predators advertising campaign has kicked off, and it's good to see the team aggressively marketing themselves. When I moved to Nashville in the fall of 2005 I was suprised to see how little was being done in that area, other than a few incredibly lame billboards.

4. Puck Update highlights a fascinating occasion; a MSM columnist (Terry Frei) writes a column about Patrick Roy, gets blasted by readers for omitting comment about the infamous junior hockey brawl that Roy and his son were involved in, and then writes a followup that not only admits that he could have handled it better, but offers up a preferred version of his text. MSM "bloggers" aren't usually so interactive with their readers, let alone open to criticism and self-correction. Well done, Mr. Frei.

5. The Predators and "Our Team Nashville" are hosting a Rally at the Sommet Center all day Tuesday, September 23rd. It's a day chock-full of activities, with a radiothon running from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on 104.5 "The Zone". Just take a look at the happenings, and stop by at some point:

6-8 a.m.: FREE breakfast sponsored by Dunkin’ Donuts (mmm... donuts...)
10-11 a.m.: Hockey 101 Presentation (duck out of the office and tell your boss it's for an educational seminar)
11:00 a.m.: Nashville Predators Rookie Game
11 a.m. -1 p.m.: $5 Box Lunch Special
11 a.m. -12 p.m.: Nashville Predators Player Appearance (select players will be in attendance)
2:30-3:30 p.m.: Rookie Autograph Signing
4-6 p.m.: GNASH (Greater Nashville Area Scholastic Hockey) Senior Game
5-7:30 p.m.: Nashville Predators Foundation Silent Auction
5:45-6:30 p.m.: Beverley Mahood performing on Plaza
6:30 p.m.: Rally Begins
7:15-9 p.m.: FREE Public Skate (register at the Preds website beginning September 20).

The public skate on the Sommet ice sounds like a great idea. So if you work downtown, make your plans to stick around afterwards and catch some live music, get fired up at the rally, then do your best prat fall on the very ice where the Predators play.

Popular posts from this blog

Social Media, Internet Marketing, and Real, Paying Customers - it really works!

Applying the basic tenets of internet marketing (SEO best practices and social media network building) have helped me grow the readership and engagement over at On The Forecheck tremendously in recent years, but lately I've been wondering if those same techniques could be applied to small- or medium-sized local businesses, to help them drive real, tangible business results. I'm talking about not just drawing idle hockey fans looking to a blog so they can muse over line combinations, but helping businesses connect with potential customers in ways that otherwise wouldn't occur. Recently, I was able to help make just such a thing happen, and it shows just how great the opportunities are for small, local businesses which may not have the resources or skills available to extend their brand effectively on the internet.

Celebrating a milestone month

I've been remiss in providing regular updates on my quest to turn this whole sports-blogging hobby into at least something of a significant side income, if not a career, but good news has a way of prompting action. That, and I've been heads-down busy working on a few different fronts to push things forward...

My goals for 2011: Make sports blogging pay off

In my never-ending quest to figure out a model for making what is currently my hobby & passion into something bringing in at least a side income, I've decided to set a couple goals for myself to complete during the rest of 2011. Simply put, I plan to publish two products over the next few months, which I hope will provide real value to hockey fans, and that they'll be willing to pay for. Will it succeed? Will it fail? The only way to know is to put my nose to the grindstone and get these two things done (I'll keep the details under my hat for now). The important thing to note is that these efforts are in addition to anything I'm doing over at OTF . Taking away what we're doing over there and asking people to pay for it is a surefire lose-lose all the way around, because if there's anything we've learned over the last few years, it's that people love to read about sports, but only for free. I'm also optimistic about Hockey Gea...