FloridaMan88
12-20-2009, 11:02 AM
I can't believe I haven't seen this posted yet. I also can't believe the arrogance displayed in this article by Denny Thum's right hand man, Mark Donovan who initially tries to acknowledge the team's lack of success as playing a role in Arrowhead's attendance going 1980's retro... but then later in the article is quoted as saying: “I believe it is the economy more than anything else,” Donovan said. “I know these fans will support us. It’s not that the fan base is dwindling, not that the brand is deteriorating.”
Memo to Donovan and the rest of Clark's henchmen at One Arowhead Drive... your so called "brand" has won NINE freaking games the past three seasons combined. If that isn't an example of a brand deteriorating I don't know what is.
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/1640925.html
Down economy and team losses toss Chiefs into tailspin
By BILL REITER
The Kansas City Star
The sad sight from the top of the hill told the story.
Stretched below were large swaths of asphalt where Chiefs fans should have been drinking and cooking and cloaked in a sea of red. The flow of cars failed to clog the lanes of incoming traffic. Arrowhead Stadium, which would hold only about 40,000 fans for that day’s game against Buffalo, had turned from a tailgater’s paradise to a testament to something less joyous: the seeming decline of the once-mighty Arrowhead Nation.
“It’s a little lonely up here,” Tim Swindler said as he eyed the empty hill on which he and his friends had, literally, staked their Chiefs flag and made camp for the morning. “Usually it’s jam-packed. Usually we have as many as 35 people with us, but today it’s just 15.”
There was a time when the finest fans on earth would fill this place, from the empty hill on which Swindler stood to the parking lot stretching in all directions. Those were the halcyon days, filled with barbecue smoke, an endless stream of red-clad fans and a unifying belief that if they didn’t have a Super Bowl to brag on, at least they had one another. Together they turned Arrowhead into one of the most difficult places for an opposing team to play.
Now, in a return to the bad old days of the Chiefs’ earlier years, Arrowhead is marked down as among the easier dates on a team’s schedule.
“It’s déjà vu all over again,” said former Chiefs general manager Jack Steadman.
For close to 20 years, the fan support never waned, even if the Chiefs’ fortunes on the field did. Teams that won nine games, or seven, or even four, were celebrated in a Sunday ritual that began at 8 a.m. and carried the city through the day. Sellouts were a given; fan loyalty as sure as the morning.
“I tell you what, those fans there are a huge edge when they come out,” former coach Marty Schottenheimer said. “There’s a tangible energy that’s a product of playing in an environment like Arrowhead.”
That environment was a point of civic pride. The Chiefs were the only team around that could unify this whole city, no matter your hometown or where you went to college. The cost of going to watch a Chiefs game didn’t seem like such a big deal. Everyone wanted to be a part of it.
“We got a little spoiled recently with the Chiefs situation,” said Kevin Gray, president of the Kansas City Sports Commission. “… It was the place to be in Kansas City. Not just because you were a fan, but because it was also a social event, and tailgating became a phenomenon in this market. You could experience the Arrowhead magic.
“And there’s clearly an economic impact. People would go the store, invite friends and family over, and you’d drive around and see five, six, seven cars deep at houses, and people at restaurants and bars. It became a happening for people.”
But losing breeds anger, and anger can consume even the most loyal fan base. Throw in a once-in-a-generation recession and the rising ticket prices required to feed rising player salaries and you have a recipe for the once unimaginable: the sea of red draining to more of a puddle.
“We’ve been a little disappointed with the fan turnout,” said Angela Cannizzaro, a 48-year-old fan from Tonganoxie, Kan., who is still going to games. “If fans don’t come out — if we don’t support them — things could get worse.”
This problem has not gone unnoticed inside the halls of power at One Arrowhead Drive.
“We understood the challenges facing our fans going into this season — our on-field performance and particularly the current economic conditions we all face,” said chairman of the board Clark Hunt. “We are working extremely hard to enhance every aspect of the fan experience at Arrowhead, and we have received tremendous feedback from our fans this season. I’m confident that we’re headed in the right direction and our attendance will reflect that in time.”
Still, there’s an acknowledgment among Chiefs officials that this is no small problem, as today marks the first local television blackout of a Chiefs game since 1990.
“It is a different place now. … We’re not shying away from that,” said Mark Donovan, the Chiefs’ executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We need wins.”
A Chiefs transition from celebrated cornerstone to Kansas City afterthought has happened before. Lenny Dawson and the boys once brought home a Super Bowl. Then they watched the legacy they had built bow under the weight of bad teams, ugly play and the sick sensation that only an empty NFL stadium can provide.
“We could revisit the ’80s if they keep losing,” Dawson said. “They could be there now. They need to win. … They still have a lot of die-hard fans, but the question is, how much are they going to take at the prices that have to be paid today?”
To escape the 1980s, the team turned to Carl Peterson and Marty Schottenheimer. They, too, entered a dire situation with little to work with. They, too, worked under the mounting pressure that comes with being the new guys in a town in desperate need of someone to believe in.
But unlike current general manager Scott Pioli and head coach Todd Haley, the Peterson-Schottenheimer tandem churned out quick results: an 8-7-1 record in year one and a jump to 11-5 in year two.
“By year three, we were entrenched and the sellouts began,” Schottenheimer said. “It’s going to take some time (to get the fans back). If they stay the course, they’ll be fine.”
That turnaround in the 1990s also instilled in Chiefs officials a need to connect with the fans they had drawn back to the fold. On top of the recent losing, some folks sense that component has faded.
“Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith and Dave Szott and I, we really enjoyed being around the fans,” said former Chief Tim Grunhard. “I remember going tailgating with people after the games. That was Kansas City. You don’t see it, and I’m not sure why that is. There’s security issues and the world’s changed, but I think that’s something they need to get back to. They have to realize the people sitting in the seats are paying their salaries.
“The people need to believe the Chiefs are their team, and I don’t know if they do right now.”
Chiefs officials say that they are well aware of fans’ needs and that they believe the famous loyalty remains intact. Other issues, certainly, have conspired to make 2009 a particularly difficult year to sell tickets and drum up support.
“I believe it is the economy more than anything else,” Donovan said. “I know these fans will support us. It’s not that the fan base is dwindling, not that the brand is deteriorating.”
Donovan points to other markets as proof this isn’t just a Kansas City issue.
“Our record clearly plays a part in the situation, but this is going on in markets like ours where teams have a better record and in some where they are division leaders,” he said. Those include San Diego, Cincinnati and Arizona, which rank in the bottom third for NFL attendance.
Nonetheless, empty seats and angry jeers are not good signs for the future, even in December, a difficult time for bad teams to sell tickets.
“It’s been so long since it’s been this way,” Dawson said. “I remember going out to Arrowhead with 8,000 or 10,000 people in that stadium. But it’s the first time I’ve heard some boos in a long time.”
Joel Thorman, who co-founded the blog Arrowhead Pride, sees both sides — the danger of letting something as powerful as the sea of red dissipate and the reality that this is a rare time for Kansas City and the country.
“I’d say it’s more of the perfect storm right now,” Thorman said. “The economy is terrible. It’s been in the mid-’80s since they’ve had a three-year drought where it was this bad. It all came at once.”
Everyone agrees on this: Win and all will be well. The underlying question is, how long will that be true?
Outside Arrowhead before last week’s game, Brett Dunbar and his 13-year-old son were saddened by the lack of support they saw but were committed to standing by — and spending money on — their team.
“Oh, we’re fans and we’re still coming out,” said Dunbar, 42. “We’ll stick with it.”
His son, Jamie Crockett, nodded.
“I don’t care how bad they are, I still want to come out here,” he said. “But I do see a lot of kids come to the game with Denver hats and jerseys. It’s sad.”
Memo to Donovan and the rest of Clark's henchmen at One Arowhead Drive... your so called "brand" has won NINE freaking games the past three seasons combined. If that isn't an example of a brand deteriorating I don't know what is.
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/1640925.html
Down economy and team losses toss Chiefs into tailspin
By BILL REITER
The Kansas City Star
The sad sight from the top of the hill told the story.
Stretched below were large swaths of asphalt where Chiefs fans should have been drinking and cooking and cloaked in a sea of red. The flow of cars failed to clog the lanes of incoming traffic. Arrowhead Stadium, which would hold only about 40,000 fans for that day’s game against Buffalo, had turned from a tailgater’s paradise to a testament to something less joyous: the seeming decline of the once-mighty Arrowhead Nation.
“It’s a little lonely up here,” Tim Swindler said as he eyed the empty hill on which he and his friends had, literally, staked their Chiefs flag and made camp for the morning. “Usually it’s jam-packed. Usually we have as many as 35 people with us, but today it’s just 15.”
There was a time when the finest fans on earth would fill this place, from the empty hill on which Swindler stood to the parking lot stretching in all directions. Those were the halcyon days, filled with barbecue smoke, an endless stream of red-clad fans and a unifying belief that if they didn’t have a Super Bowl to brag on, at least they had one another. Together they turned Arrowhead into one of the most difficult places for an opposing team to play.
Now, in a return to the bad old days of the Chiefs’ earlier years, Arrowhead is marked down as among the easier dates on a team’s schedule.
“It’s déjà vu all over again,” said former Chiefs general manager Jack Steadman.
For close to 20 years, the fan support never waned, even if the Chiefs’ fortunes on the field did. Teams that won nine games, or seven, or even four, were celebrated in a Sunday ritual that began at 8 a.m. and carried the city through the day. Sellouts were a given; fan loyalty as sure as the morning.
“I tell you what, those fans there are a huge edge when they come out,” former coach Marty Schottenheimer said. “There’s a tangible energy that’s a product of playing in an environment like Arrowhead.”
That environment was a point of civic pride. The Chiefs were the only team around that could unify this whole city, no matter your hometown or where you went to college. The cost of going to watch a Chiefs game didn’t seem like such a big deal. Everyone wanted to be a part of it.
“We got a little spoiled recently with the Chiefs situation,” said Kevin Gray, president of the Kansas City Sports Commission. “… It was the place to be in Kansas City. Not just because you were a fan, but because it was also a social event, and tailgating became a phenomenon in this market. You could experience the Arrowhead magic.
“And there’s clearly an economic impact. People would go the store, invite friends and family over, and you’d drive around and see five, six, seven cars deep at houses, and people at restaurants and bars. It became a happening for people.”
But losing breeds anger, and anger can consume even the most loyal fan base. Throw in a once-in-a-generation recession and the rising ticket prices required to feed rising player salaries and you have a recipe for the once unimaginable: the sea of red draining to more of a puddle.
“We’ve been a little disappointed with the fan turnout,” said Angela Cannizzaro, a 48-year-old fan from Tonganoxie, Kan., who is still going to games. “If fans don’t come out — if we don’t support them — things could get worse.”
This problem has not gone unnoticed inside the halls of power at One Arrowhead Drive.
“We understood the challenges facing our fans going into this season — our on-field performance and particularly the current economic conditions we all face,” said chairman of the board Clark Hunt. “We are working extremely hard to enhance every aspect of the fan experience at Arrowhead, and we have received tremendous feedback from our fans this season. I’m confident that we’re headed in the right direction and our attendance will reflect that in time.”
Still, there’s an acknowledgment among Chiefs officials that this is no small problem, as today marks the first local television blackout of a Chiefs game since 1990.
“It is a different place now. … We’re not shying away from that,” said Mark Donovan, the Chiefs’ executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We need wins.”
A Chiefs transition from celebrated cornerstone to Kansas City afterthought has happened before. Lenny Dawson and the boys once brought home a Super Bowl. Then they watched the legacy they had built bow under the weight of bad teams, ugly play and the sick sensation that only an empty NFL stadium can provide.
“We could revisit the ’80s if they keep losing,” Dawson said. “They could be there now. They need to win. … They still have a lot of die-hard fans, but the question is, how much are they going to take at the prices that have to be paid today?”
To escape the 1980s, the team turned to Carl Peterson and Marty Schottenheimer. They, too, entered a dire situation with little to work with. They, too, worked under the mounting pressure that comes with being the new guys in a town in desperate need of someone to believe in.
But unlike current general manager Scott Pioli and head coach Todd Haley, the Peterson-Schottenheimer tandem churned out quick results: an 8-7-1 record in year one and a jump to 11-5 in year two.
“By year three, we were entrenched and the sellouts began,” Schottenheimer said. “It’s going to take some time (to get the fans back). If they stay the course, they’ll be fine.”
That turnaround in the 1990s also instilled in Chiefs officials a need to connect with the fans they had drawn back to the fold. On top of the recent losing, some folks sense that component has faded.
“Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith and Dave Szott and I, we really enjoyed being around the fans,” said former Chief Tim Grunhard. “I remember going tailgating with people after the games. That was Kansas City. You don’t see it, and I’m not sure why that is. There’s security issues and the world’s changed, but I think that’s something they need to get back to. They have to realize the people sitting in the seats are paying their salaries.
“The people need to believe the Chiefs are their team, and I don’t know if they do right now.”
Chiefs officials say that they are well aware of fans’ needs and that they believe the famous loyalty remains intact. Other issues, certainly, have conspired to make 2009 a particularly difficult year to sell tickets and drum up support.
“I believe it is the economy more than anything else,” Donovan said. “I know these fans will support us. It’s not that the fan base is dwindling, not that the brand is deteriorating.”
Donovan points to other markets as proof this isn’t just a Kansas City issue.
“Our record clearly plays a part in the situation, but this is going on in markets like ours where teams have a better record and in some where they are division leaders,” he said. Those include San Diego, Cincinnati and Arizona, which rank in the bottom third for NFL attendance.
Nonetheless, empty seats and angry jeers are not good signs for the future, even in December, a difficult time for bad teams to sell tickets.
“It’s been so long since it’s been this way,” Dawson said. “I remember going out to Arrowhead with 8,000 or 10,000 people in that stadium. But it’s the first time I’ve heard some boos in a long time.”
Joel Thorman, who co-founded the blog Arrowhead Pride, sees both sides — the danger of letting something as powerful as the sea of red dissipate and the reality that this is a rare time for Kansas City and the country.
“I’d say it’s more of the perfect storm right now,” Thorman said. “The economy is terrible. It’s been in the mid-’80s since they’ve had a three-year drought where it was this bad. It all came at once.”
Everyone agrees on this: Win and all will be well. The underlying question is, how long will that be true?
Outside Arrowhead before last week’s game, Brett Dunbar and his 13-year-old son were saddened by the lack of support they saw but were committed to standing by — and spending money on — their team.
“Oh, we’re fans and we’re still coming out,” said Dunbar, 42. “We’ll stick with it.”
His son, Jamie Crockett, nodded.
“I don’t care how bad they are, I still want to come out here,” he said. “But I do see a lot of kids come to the game with Denver hats and jerseys. It’s sad.”