Title-town
Did I miss the parade? All championship-winning teams have parades, right? With convertibles and ticker-tape and the Mayor and the trophy and all that hoopla? Did I miss it?
Yes, Memphis is now on the sports map. Problem is, it's the map of the minor league of the minor league teams. The Memphis Xplorers claimed their version of the Super Bowl by winning the Arena Cup 2005 game. The ironic thing was that their opponent was a longtime Memphis sports rival--Louisville.
Attendance at their games was apparently notoriously and embarassingly low. Of course, there might be several reasons for this. They play in Desoto County, at the Civic Center. That's quite a drive for somebody from, say, Collierville or Germantown or Cordova. Granted, seeing the Grizzlies downtown isn't a short distance either, but if I were a bettin' man, I'd guess that the Mississippi venue is at least 50% further. Would attendance be better if the games were at the Forum? I guess we'll never know.
Who knows, perhaps arena football fans in town (all 3 of them) still feel scorned since the Memphis Pharaohs packed up and left town several years ago. OK, that's far fetched.
Honestly, I contribute it to marketing. Period. Maybe the schedules are all over Southaven and Hernando--I don't know. From my standpoint, I have seen NOTHING to remind me that they are playing, no reminders during game week, and certainly no incentive to go. You know, promotions and stuff. Put schedules on billboards. Or on the counter at Mapco or Exxon. Do SOMETHING so that if I'm even remotely interested, you reel me in. Heck, you can go to Logan's and see a poster with the Titans schedule. Or the Grizzlies' current month schedule. Stuff like that. But if all you're doing is flashing "Game Today" or something like that on the marquee in Southaven, then maybe you should change the name and get Memphis off of it. Heck, maybe THAT'S where the parade was.
Yes, Memphis is now on the sports map. Problem is, it's the map of the minor league of the minor league teams. The Memphis Xplorers claimed their version of the Super Bowl by winning the Arena Cup 2005 game. The ironic thing was that their opponent was a longtime Memphis sports rival--Louisville.
Attendance at their games was apparently notoriously and embarassingly low. Of course, there might be several reasons for this. They play in Desoto County, at the Civic Center. That's quite a drive for somebody from, say, Collierville or Germantown or Cordova. Granted, seeing the Grizzlies downtown isn't a short distance either, but if I were a bettin' man, I'd guess that the Mississippi venue is at least 50% further. Would attendance be better if the games were at the Forum? I guess we'll never know.
Who knows, perhaps arena football fans in town (all 3 of them) still feel scorned since the Memphis Pharaohs packed up and left town several years ago. OK, that's far fetched.
Honestly, I contribute it to marketing. Period. Maybe the schedules are all over Southaven and Hernando--I don't know. From my standpoint, I have seen NOTHING to remind me that they are playing, no reminders during game week, and certainly no incentive to go. You know, promotions and stuff. Put schedules on billboards. Or on the counter at Mapco or Exxon. Do SOMETHING so that if I'm even remotely interested, you reel me in. Heck, you can go to Logan's and see a poster with the Titans schedule. Or the Grizzlies' current month schedule. Stuff like that. But if all you're doing is flashing "Game Today" or something like that on the marquee in Southaven, then maybe you should change the name and get Memphis off of it. Heck, maybe THAT'S where the parade was.
posted by Eric C at 3:34 PM
1 Comments:
It doesn't help that "Memphis" isn't even in the Arena league but the Arena 2 league, whatever that means. Here in Atlanta, the Georgia Force draws well and is promoted heavily. It helps that the owner of the Falcons also owns the Force.
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