Hi -
 
On Wed, 20 May 1998, Erik Biever wrote:
> Brian Morris writes:
>
>> Of particular interest to the Hockey-l fraternity is a plan which would
>> allow people to buy the same seat location for the 2,000 East Regional
>> and the 2,001 Frozen Four, (which was identified by the T-U, in what
>> could become a landmark trademark infringement case, as "the Final Four").
>> "It gives people an opportunity to secure great seats for both events,"
>> Belber said.
>
> Well, this stinks.
 
  It stinks less for those of us here in the East, but were I in Erik's
place I'd be mighty steamed too .... Western ticket buyers with only
marginal interest in personally attending the East Regionals will be at
a severe disadvantage over Eastern attendees who presumably will most
benefit from this arrangement.  Will Western buyers who only want Phinal
Phour tickets be placed in a different ticket pool (with a different
selection of seats) than the "preferred" buyers buying East Regional tix
too ?? That's a pretty sleazy wqy to grow the gate: force Western buyers
to buy East Regional Tix (that in many cases will presumably go unused)
just so they can get into the better ticket pool for the Phinal Phour
lottery.  10,000 seats might be sold this way, but the attendance will
likely reamain ca. 8000 - unless a local team is participating, thereby
boosting walk-up sales.  "Event bundling" is GREAT for the venue, but hits
the customer right in the wallet; not that this concerns the Arena manage-
ment in the least.  For Eastern fans it's a nice touch and a convenience,
but for Western fans it's a slap in the face - they're gettinmg screwed.
Is this any way to market/promote the game beyond it's provincial roots ??
 
  Shaking his head in Solomons - Jim
 
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