The View From Wisconsin

Just a random set of rants from a Sports Fan from Wisconsin.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

What To Do

Here are a handful of ideas for Mr. Turer to consider after the sale of the Admirals has been completed:
  1. Work out a better deal with the Bradley Center. Right now, the Milwaukee Admirals have a very one-sided lease agreement with the Bradley Center and the Milwaukee Bucks. The Ads get nothing from concessions or souvenir stand revenues. If the team is going to remain viable, they need to change this. Under the old regime, this was time saving, because the Ads didn't have to hire (and pay) the extra warm bodies to staff the stands. Now, there's no excuse. And, if the Bucks or the BC do not want to change the terms – start talking to the people over at the Wisconsin Center about moving back across State Street to the Cell. Or, start looking at other venues, like the Kern Center.
  2. Get the team on TV. It doesn't have to be WTMJ or WISN, but get them back on TV somewhere on the dial. With the plethora of cable channels out there (WMLW and Fox Sports North, for example), there's got to be someone who'd be willing to put down money to put together a production crew for games. Make sure it's more than just a 10-game shot, too; you need to have a good chunk of games on the tube for people to notice that you're playing hockey in this town.
  3. Get the team on a better radio station. WJYI-AM Joy 1340 is a wonderful station, and they have some great people and great programs. However, they are not geared towards hockey. And, their signal is forced to power down to next-to-nothing at night, which is when the Ads play 90% of their games. There's a logical alternative to this, and it's such a slam-dunk, obvious move that I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't happen within a year: move the games to WSSP-AM 1250 (the former WEMP). Having Chuck Garabidian and the crew from Fox Sports Radio on hand to accentuate Admirals games can only improve the team's presence in the community. Of course, if WISN wants us back, that wouldn't be a bad thing, either. Just don't go to 1510/1290 AM; their signal (and the split-station format) is the worst in Milwaukee.
  4. Expand the front office. First order of business: call Fran Eddy and beg and plead with her to get back to her old job as the team ticket manager. Second: tell Phil that it's been nice, but the front office needs people who actually live in the 21st Century. Third: dump Wojo for someone who actually knows how to market hockey – heck, someone who knows how to market sports. Get some people in the front office who love the sport and are knowledgeable about the team.
  5. Design and unveil a new third jersey. There's no need to redesign the main jerseys – or the Admiral Head logo – but adding a third jersey would add to the marketability of the team. Maybe have the Admiral Head on a solid-color jersey (or maybe a throwback-style, with the anchors and shoulder color of the old jersey), and go with it. Fans will eat it up.


# posted by Joseph Houk @ 7:41 PM - 0 comments