How the Otters Did it

[slocoma]

Here's a good article written in 2005 for the Times News about how the Otters built their fan base.

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Article published Sep 29, 2005

Hockey scores in Erie
Otters begin 10th season at Tullio Arena tonight

By Victor Fernandes
[e-mail]

What would make Ron Sertz attend an Erie Otters hockey game?

Sertz, the Otters' co-owner and director of operations, has based a decade of trial and error, hits and misses and, ultimately, the Otters' record-breaking popularity on that question.

Since moving to Erie nine years ago from Niagara Falls, Ontario, the team has built a fan base that topped 150,000 last season, set club records the past five years and extends beyond Erie County.

Answering that one question opened a path for the Ontario Hockey League team into the hearts of Erie people, even nonhockey people like Sertz once was.

"You can't just get somebody to go to a hockey game," he said. "We had to get people involved. We thought if we could create something above and beyond the sport, and they would connect it with Erie, we could get them down (to Tullio Arena)."
As the Otters celebrate their 10th anniversary season, "Erie has more than adopted this team," Sertz said. "They've taken ownership of this team. They feel this is Erie's team."

Club officials quickly theorized that families, not individual hockey fans, were needed to form the foundation of their fan base. It was a different, and risky, approach to marketing, Sertz said. Blue-collar hockey fans had watched Erie's professional teams, the Blades (1975-82), Golden Blades (1982-87) and Panthers (1988-96). That had to change for the Otters to thrive, Sertz said.
It has. Since the inaugural 1996-97 season, Otters attendance has increased from 100,158 to 150,562 in 2004-05.

"We knew it wasn't going to be an easy ride," said Don Marinucci, former assistant general manager. "But that really propelled the Erie Otters into the hearts of people in the city."
Building the foundation
The Otters began making connections with young fans through programs such as Adopt-A-School and minor hockey leagues. The Otters believed their players, ages 16 to 20, could become role models who through interaction with children would draw them to games, and with them their parents. One day, those children will become parents who will take their kids to games.

The Otters also educated potential fans on the OHL, regarded as North America's best junior league. The 25-year-old league consists of 17 clubs in Ontario; the team in Erie; and two teams in Michigan. The National Hockey League annually selects dozens of OHL players in the NHL Entry Draft.
Sherry Bassin, Otters' managing partner and general manager, said, "We thought when (fans) heard the word 'junior,'they might think of little 10-year-olds running around. But I thought it would be accepted once they got to know us."

The fan base now stretches east to Jamestown, N.Y., west to Ashtabula, Ohio, and south to Meadville, and beyond. Brandon Fisher, 33, brings his 1-year-old daughter, Elyse, from Pittsburgh for Saturday games. "It is nice to see kids interested in the game of hockey," he said.

The Otters have gained fans'trust, said Marinucci, now the general manager/consultant for the North American Hockey League's Santa Fe (N.M.) Roadrunners.

He recalled a telephone call from an unhappy hockey fan who wanted a guarantee the team would stay in Erie beyond the first season. "We're not leaving next year," Marinucci told him. "The next day, he bought his season tickets. He still is a season-ticket holder."

Season-ticket sales have more than doubled, from 984 in the first year to about 2,100 this season.
The Otters discovered how much trust had grown during their run to the 2001-02 OHL title. Ticket lines extended onto French Street during the playoffs. Games sold out in 20 minutes. Then in 2002-03, the Otters missed the playoffs, yet attendance improved to 145,140 from 133,015 the previous year.

"I don't think the team would have survived (without attracting new fans)," Sertz said.
Reaping the benefits
The team's value clearly has increased with its successes, leading some to wonder if the Otters will leave Erie, especially since they moved training camp from Tullio Arena to the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena in Jamestown in 2004.
"There was never any intention of leaving," Bassin said. "We have a good relationship here."

The club's marketing plan has grown to nearly 300 pages, Sertz said. The budget has grown to about $1 million, comprising mainly trades with local organizations. The club lost about $200,000 a year in operating costs from 1996 to 2002, but the Otters have worked at the break-even point three of the last four years, Sertz said.

Besides, Sertz said, he knows a good thing when he sees it.

Not only has the fan base grown, but total sponsors have grown from 40 or 50 in the first year to about 250. Those deals are valued at about $500,000, Sertz said. Their advertising reaches as far as Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo, N.Y. Along with games broadcast on radio and the Internet, the Otters will unveil Hamot Hockey Night in Erie, a 20-game television schedule on the Image Sports Network.

But the club's success stems back to giving the Erie community a reason to believe in the Otters. And the team's work isn't done, Sertz said.
"I don't think we'll reach the vision we had (nine years ago) until this place is sold out every game," he said. "We're always going to try to be the best."

VICTOR FERNANDES can be reached at 870-1716 or by e-mail.
FIRST THINGS
Erie hockey fans waited through five road games before getting the chance to see their new OHL team play a home game in 1996, the Erie Otters' inaugural season.

The anticipation turned out to be the best part of the Otters'first-ever home game on Sept. 29, 1996, a 3-0 loss to the Detroit Whalers, now known as the Plymouth Whalers.

The Otters managed 34 shots on goal, but couldn't beat goaltender Robert Esche, who these days is the No. 1 goalie for the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers.

The Otters may have been just as excited about their home debut as the sellout crowd of 5,422 at Tullio Arena, then-coach Chris Johnstone said. "We were squeezing the sawdust out of the sticks."
A CLOSER LOOK
The Erie Otters have set season attendance records five consecutive seasons:

Season tickets attendance
Season Total attendance
Games
Average attendance

1996-97 984 100,158 33 3,035
1997-98 1,011 100,038 33 3,032
1998-99 1,091 104,412 34 3,071
1999-00 871 98,054 34 2,883
2000-01 1,184 119,160 34 3,505
2001-02 1,397 133,015 34 3,912
2002-03 1,985 145,140 34 4,269
2003-04 1,987 145,429 34 4,277
2004-05 2,117 150,562 34 4,428

Note: The club has sold approximately 2,100 season tickets this season.

[slocoma]

I thought this article had some really good points/tips.

Club officials quickly theorized that families, not individual hockey fans, were needed to form the foundation of their fan base.

I think the Freeze need to realize this. Stop having Chiller/player events at bars. Start having events at Chuck E. Cheese and McDonald's where families can attend.

The Otters have gained fans'trust, said Marinucci, now the general manager/consultant for the North American Hockey League's Santa Fe (N.M.) Roadrunners.

He recalled a telephone call from an unhappy hockey fan who wanted a guarantee the team would stay in Erie beyond the first season. "We're not leaving next year," Marinucci told him. "The next day, he bought his season tickets. He still is a season-ticket holder."

Fans need to know this team (whatever league they are in) is going to be around year after year.

The club's marketing plan has grown to nearly 300 pages, Sertz said. The budget has grown to about $1 million, comprising mainly trades with local organizations. The club lost about $200,000 a year in operating costs from 1996 to 2002, but the Otters have worked at the break-even point three of the last four years, Sertz said.

Marketing... it's been said many times.

[TNmike]

Club officials quickly theorized that families, not individual hockey fans, were needed to form the foundation of their fan base.

I think the Freeze need to realize this. Stop having Chiller/player events at bars. Start having events at Chuck E. Cheese and McDonald's where families can attend.

I see nothing wrong with chiller/player events at bars but they do need to start attracting more families to the games and you can't do this with one event at the mall and the rest at bars with the chillers in skimpy outfits so guys can get drunk and lust over the chillers the whole night. This show the freeze are only concerned with single men then families. They need to start having more family events and start now.

Having the mascot go to Erie Days after the season over is a small start but not many people are going to think of this once the season starts.

I also see otters players visiting schools (seawolfs to) and giving discount game tics to schools. This is something the freeze should consider doing.

[Free Agent Fan]

The players and coaches go to schools. They did last year also. They read to the kids.

[TNmike]

Just wondering, which schools did they go to?

[slanky]

Prior to the johnstown game, coacj Arnold and several player visited approximately 8 schools in a 4 day span the week of the game. They all did this on the own free time, taking the time to visit the students (from grades K-30) all over the city of Erie. During this time they read to the students, participated in classroom activities, and answered every question the kids had about the team, football in general, or anything else a 5-8 year old could think of. The Saturday morning prior to the game approximatley 20 players plus Coach Arnold drove out to Edinboro to visit sick children at a benefit put on with students from Edinboro University. The coach and players are great ambassadors, not only for this team, but also for the community that many of them come from. I personally would like to thank them for this effort. An effort many of us would not do ourselves.