Kings Fan Advisory Board Day 1 - Comment and be heard

[Fireplug]

Mod Note: Fireplug has been nice enough to give us the opportunity to provide input to the Sacramento Kings Fan Advisory Board. Off topic discussion in this thread will be deleted.

On December 17th, I attended the first monthly meeting of the 2014-2015 Sacramento Kings Fan Advisory Board. As I mentioned to the Kings (and everyone) when I applied for the position, I wanted to bring the process online to the great social presence of Kings fans. I asked Director of Season Ticket Services, Robert Kingston, if he was OK with me doing so, and he gave me the green light. He also said that he would be interested in what you all had to say. So here is the first of what will be monthly updates on the meetings and what we discuss.

Couple things. A few of the things we discussed we were asked to keep to ourselves at the time. The reason being that they wanted a few opinions on ideas they were tossing around that weren't quite ready for public scrutiny. These I won't talk about here. Also, the Fan Advisory Board, and the people who ran the meetings, have ZERO say in basketball operations. Yes, they and we certainly know that the fortunes of the team go a LONG way in fan satisfaction, but that simply is not the scope of the Fan Advisory Board process. Thus, if the comments here just turn into a complaint fest on coaching, player and basketball decisions, I will see no purpose in continuing. There is a time and place for that -- this time and place ain't it.

Finally, I'm not going to tell you not to write in a frustrated fashion if that is your desire. I will tell you, these are nice people who will be reading these and if you want them to take you seriously, a respectful tone will probably get you further.

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So this is what we discussed:

1) What would you personally like to see START, STOP and CONTINUE as a season ticket holder?



What would make you happier as a season ticket holder. If you aren't currently a season ticket holder, this would be your chance to tell them what might make you one.



2) What would YOU do to implement NBA 3.0?



Majority team owner Vivek Ranadivé has directed the organization to enact a business philosophy coined "NBA 3.0," which focuses on investments in technology, globalization and deep community partnerships. Here is your chance to weigh in on what specific things you would like to see in these areas.



3) How do we make basketball the most popular sport in the world?

______________________________________________________

These were things in which the Sacramento Kings organization were genuinely interested in fans' opinions. We discussed these at length and many solid ideas were given and well received.

Now is your chance to chime in. I will take your ideas to the next meeting, January 28th. I have been assured that they will read them.

Ready, Set, Go...

 

[Glenn]

I am not a STH but would consider it if the team won. The rest of it seems to be Vivek's little dreams. I do not care about globalization, electronic gimmicks, etc.

I want a winning team. Everything is secondary and, in fact, might be a distraction to accomplishing the primary task of ANY sports team and that is to win.

 

[rainmaker]

Why is a losing franchise concerned with making basketball the most popular sport world wide? Leave that to Silver and the actual good teams to worry about. Of course, the first answer I thought of was India, as everything our team is doing appears to be geared towards capitalizing on that market with a "sexy" brand rather than worrying about this market. Maybe if they weren't so concerned with that they'd have recognized the good thing we had going.

Also, while I think the intent is good and I appreciate your efforts Fireplug, if people in the organization all the way up to Vivek want to know how the fans feel and what they want, they're just going to have to pull their heads out of their rear-ends, as it's not hard at all to figure it out. Social media, blogs, forums like this or STR, KHTK radio where callers call in every day, it's all there for them if they were the least bit receptive to it. That's one of their problems, they talk instead of listen. Started talking foolishness the day they took over by telling us fans what we want to watch.

Which tells me much like PDA going into KHTK, this is more smoke and mirrors. The answers to their question are sitting right there in front of them and any techie with half a brain knows that. If you want to bill yourself as a cutting edge organization, you can figure out twitter, forums and how to turn on your radio.

As for NBA 3.0, they can shove it where the sun don't shine as far as I'm concerned.

But, if people want to participate, please go right ahead. The more noise from the fan base, the better.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

I am not a season ticket holder. something they need to address before i consider becoming one, is the fact that for most games, the tickets end up being worth less than you payed for them. Only premium games like LeBron's team, Lakers, Warriors, etc you actually get a deal on......

As for the team. Quit screwing around and trying to make the team fancy and exciting. Get a coach that can get the best out of the roster, and our star player DeMarcus Cousins, and stop worrying about which style it is.

 

[CruzDude]

Was a member of the very first "Kings Fan Forum" setup by the VP Operations of the Kings at the time, early 1990's. Several other Kings Operations/Admin staff but no basketball related types. Activities similar to that above PLUS we could present questions on the team knowing it was a one-way street in, and back only if they choose, which they seemed not to. Wrong venue for that anyway.

Main items we discussed were seating situations such as cup holders or not, pre-game activities, fan individual or group complaints or suggestions we got during games, non-arena team events, T-shirts, etc, etc. Remember back then they were in middle of 12 year losing streak yet selling out every game and with a ownership by committee with no strong leader.

So this V3.0 may seem a good idea to Vivek or FO but maybe near zero interest to fans in general.
Item 3.0 above of little or no interest. We are fans of the Kings in Sacramento.
Item 2.o casual interest for the technology side only.
Item 1's answer is 100% about team play and winning. More winning and making progress = more ticket sales. Otherwise whole idea is bad timing for right now.

P.S. Seconded by Mrs CruzDude as well

 

[macadocious]

I am a partial STH

1. It's about the product and honest communication from the FO. I would not give the Maloofs my money the last half decade. Last year I had no problem giving it to this group, I am close to not trusting them again and not wanting to give them any money. It's really that simple. I also don't like seeing seats next to me being sold at 50% of face value when I am forced to buy pre-season games (maccabi, really?).

2. I don't care. I want to go to a game and watch the game. I don't want 95 different things to do on my phone during the game. This might fit here, but being able to order food and drinks from the phone and have it delivered would be really nice, but not necessary. Not if it makes my tickets prices double.

3. I don't even understand this questions and why it is directed to STH, how does that have anything to do with us?

 

[CruzDude]

Having said that about 1, 2 and 3, here is an item of interest to get more fans to Kings games.

I live in Southern California along with about 50-60 other known Kings Fans from whom I recruited 30 fans a year beginning 2010-2012 to attend a Kings game at Staples arena vs. the Clippers. One year we requested and received a batch of Kings T-shirts from Kings FO and fan stuff to use at the stadium. In following years nothing. Then the Clips got good and we got stuck in the side room of Animal House fraternity (where undesirables went during rush) getting really crappy seats. Working level folks in FO tried but no supplies for us. No support for us going to road Kings games.

Making available KINGS FANS T-shirts for various geographical venues (Southern California, Bay Area, Phoenix, Denver (was large group of Union Pacific railroad folk who transferred there from Sacramanto back in the 90's), Boston, New York, etc would go a long way to increase support for the Kings on the road. Phoenix is a 4-hour drive for me now and we go every November when the Kings play Phoenix and I see quite a few Kings fans there as well.

 

[CruzDude]

Answer to all 3 questions can be found at:

http://www.kingsfans.com/threads/what-is-it-we-fans-want.58997/

 

[kingsboi]

the only thing that should be relevant here is eliminating the idea of NBA 3.0....they need to put themselves out of this misery and maybe then the team can move on and be a winning franchise.

 

[bajaden]

I suspect that this might be the last time Fireplug starts this thread. He made a request and virtually no one did as he requested. Anyway Fireplug, I appreciate your attending the meetings and giving us what info you can. I was going to respond to your questions, but why bother at this point.

 

[Glenn]

I can answer these as asked:

1: I am not a STH so have no input.

2: I have no interest in investments in technology, globalization and deep community partnerships.

3: I don't think it is the place of an individual franchise to try to globalize the game.

There. In my answers you may find why I could not answer the questions better. They seem to involve actions and ideas applicable to the FO and not the fans.

 

[lwc]

All I care about its wins. Just win baby.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

I suspect that this might be the last time Fireplug starts this thread. He made a request and virtually no one did as he requested. Anyway Fireplug, I appreciate your attending the meetings and giving us what info you can. I was going to respond to your questions, but why bother at this point.

Out of respect for the purpose of this thread, I have split off the discussion of season ticket prices. Let us return to the topic at hand!

1) What would you personally like to see START, STOP and CONTINUE as a season ticket holder?

I am not a season ticket holder. Currently my decision to not be a season ticket holder is 100% financial - it is not an option for me at any price point. If I had the financial means (and the time) to be a season ticket holder in the lower two-thirds of the lower bowl, I would strongly consider it. However, I do find that my enjoyment of the game experience in general is lower for seats that are too removed from the game. I find it nice to come to a game several times a year for the atmosphere but often I find that the actual game-watching experience is better at home in HD. I don't have any easy solutions to improving the in-arena game-watching experience for the seats further from the floor - they can't be moved closer, and no matter how big the jumbotron is, I'm not going to watch on that instead. Though I would say that the frequency that replay is shown on the jumbotron should be very much increased.

2) What would YOU do to implement NBA 3.0?

I don't know if I have any specific ideas towards the goals of NBA 3.0. However, I do think that perhaps the most important thing might be to note that conceptually, "NBA 3.0" has taken a pretty serious branding hit. As you describe it, NBA 3.0 means "investments in technology, globalization and deep community partnerships". To many fans, NBA 3.0 means "The stupid Pace Pace Pace, Run-and-Gun, 4-on-5 defense ideas that made our stupid front office fire our favorite head coach and I hate it." Obviously there is a sharp disconnect between what the Kings' organization means by NBA 3.0 and what the public perceives it to be. The first order of business is probably to make sure that the purpose of NBA 3.0 is effectively communicated to the public so that these sorts of ideas don't get immediately rejected out of hand. Who hates community partnerships? Nobody, but if people don't understand what NBA 3.0 is about and what it is not about, it may be difficult to get support behind worthwhile things like community partnerships under that label.

3) How do we make basketball the most popular sport in the world?

Blow up all the soccer fields? But seriously, one reason soccer is so popular is that the fundamental aspect of the game (kicking a ball) can be enjoyed by kids of any age, any socio-economic status, anywhere - even without a soccer field. Basketball requires only two things - a ball and a hoop - but the latter is a bit of a stretch for a large proportion of the world's population. It's a long-term vision, but investment in installing basketball hoops throughout the world (and by that I mean tens or hundreds of thousands) - even if it's only one hoop on a wall and not a court proper - would probably go a long way towards instilling a love of the sport in kids, and they'll keep that love as they grow up. Make it available, and kids will play. Kids who play will be adults who are fans.

 

[Spike]

I used to live in the area, a long time ago, but now I live in Denver. Despite that, I have given it some thought in terms of answering these questions.

1) What would you personally like to see START, STOP and CONTINUE as a season ticket holder?

There needs to be some value towards being a season ticket holder. It's pretty tough to see someone sitting right next to you who purchased the tickets at a deep discount a day before the game. Does that tie into a winning product? Well, yes and no. If you really want to revolutionize (which leads to #2), this is the place to do it. Special access to garlic fries? You need to truly differentiate a lot more than what is currently done. Let STH know that their investment really matters, and a lot of little things go a long way. Because STH have ponied up the dough ahead of time, there is a greater investment, both monetarily and emotionally. How are you going to truly treat them better?

2) What would YOU do to implement NBA 3.0?

Honestly, here is where I thought Vivek would take the lead. He's the business innovator, and this (his area of expertise) is the area he needs to focus on. What's really going to revolutionize the game is what's going to happen before the game and after the game. Not during the game. Are we up to date on the latest and most efficient ways to keep players healthy? How is our scouting department? Are there more efficient ways to comb the planet and the college ranks so that we're not just relying on drafting "the player that dropped?" I mean, crowdsourcing prior to the draft was a novel idea, but are you really listening to the people?
When I'm at the game, I'm not really on my phone. Basketball is such a fast paced sport that I wouldn't want to look down to see anything, especially given the jumobtron. A well-tailored Kings app with scoring updates and the ability to direct tweet? Does that exist? Probably.
Community partnerships? The Sacramento community rallies around its local sports team, so the sports team should rally around its community. Bring in more local craft brew into the arena. (Personal thing.) Bringing players out and about is already something that's done - keep that up.
Even though I'm in Denver, I'm a Kings fan. Is there a way to show my allegiance? Can you brand yourself somehow in other markets? I dunno, something like, "Mile High Kings Fan" t-shirts, or gimmicky stuff like that, if I buy my tickets through a Sacramento portal? Is that something the NBA would allow?

3) How do we make basketball the most popular sport in the world?

It's already been mentioned, but more hoops. How can you fight a sport played on grass? How will you love basketball if you can't play it? Will you be able to draw in kids if they can't pretend to be "like Mike?" This is a good design thinking exercise. Build a basketball that handles well on grass.


Overall, though, I think there is a trust issue stemming from the FO to the people, and I think, despite their best efforts to split the discussions, it will bleed into other aspects of basketball life, including answering these questions. Is this another example of the powers that be already knowing what they want, and pretending to listen so that we feel we have a voice in things? I know the FO rightfully is trying to separate the issues, but the more the owner puts himself as front and center of basketball operations, the less he will be able to separate himself as being "the innovator who wants to use NBA3.0 to market the team and revolutionize basketball" from being "the meddler who really doesn't understand the game of basketball." He needs to take the reigns off the court first. Take a note from Mark Cuban - hands off until you understand how all of the dynamics work.

 

[CruzDude]

Thanks Spike and Capt for the "respectful" answers many of us emotional fans could not provide in the first responses. While NBA 3.0 is a good idea the timing getting fan responses was very bad. First things first and getting the team back on a winning way is and should be the first and only concentration for the near future. Then you will be able to get fans attention on 3.0. I've worn a Kings shirt in a number of other countries during business and vacation travel. When they began winning in 1998 and up through about 2005, the response was amazing everywhere I went: France, Mexico, Egypt, Taiwan, China, Germany, etc., someone would make a comment about the Sacramento Kings! They were winning and they had a star in CWeeb. We have a star now but....

 

[LPKingsFan]

I can't add much, not being a STH, but I appreciate the thoughtful responses from those that took the time to do so. A poster on Sactown Royalty thought of a couple other tech-minded suggestions that could improve the game experiece, such as STH only parking entrances and the ability to buy concessions in advance from the Kings app. Of course, the product on the court matters the most, but there's not much Granger and his side can do about that, so I don't mind that they are trying to do what they can to improve on their end.

Edited by a mod to retain on-topic material

 

[ESP47]

These questions make me depressed as a fan.

Our owner has his sights set on everything other than winning.

 

[Glenn]

I stayed on subject. I wanted to explain why it was so darn hard to answer the question without being angry. I guess that note was deleted. The FO needs to understand that at least one longtime fan has different priorities than their owner. The owner is off topic as far as I'm concerned.

 

[bajaden]

Well done Spike and Capt. I know that people are angry, and want positive change. And this forum is the place where you can vent those emotions. But if you want your message to be heard, you have to say it in a respectful way. Believe me, they know your upset. They get that. And I'm sure they know that they screwed up in the way things went down. But if they reach out to us in any way, then we should seize that opportunity to voice our feelings, but in a respectful way.

They asked three questions, and I realize that those three questions didn't address many, or any of the things at the top of my list, and probably yours. But my hope is, that this is just the beginning of a dialogue. And if you truly want your voice to be heard, then here's the opportunity. Just for the moment, put your anger aside, be thoughtful, respectful, and let your voice be heard. Or not! Up to you...

 

[Spike]

These questions make me depressed as a fan.

Our owner has his sights set on everything other than winning.

While, yes, a winning team does affect everything, the FAB (and, in essence, Chris Granger - right?) is trying to work on the things they can control. Perhaps it may actually be an attempt to move NBA3.0 into the non-basketball side of things...I hope.

 

[Glenn]

Well done Spike and Capt. I know that people are angry, and want positive change. And this forum is the place where you can vent those emotions. But if you want your message to be heard, you have to say it in a respectful way. Believe me, they know your upset. They get that. And I'm sure they know that they screwed up in the way things went down. But if they reach out to us in any way, then we should seize that opportunity to voice our feelings, but in a respectful way.

They asked three questions, and I realize that those three questions didn't address many, or any of the things at the top of my list, and probably yours. But my hope is, that this is just the beginning of a dialogue. And if you truly want your voice to be heard, then here's the opportunity. Just for the moment, put your anger aside, be thoughtful, respectful, and let your voice be heard. Or not! Up to you...

You are assuming they know we are upset. I have seen no acknowledgement from the Kings that they know we are pissed. THAT'S the problem for me. They are just blasting past my issues and want us to address somethings that are of no interest to me.

 

[bajaden]

You are assuming they know we are upset. I have seen no acknowledgement from the Kings that they know we are pissed. THAT'S the problem for me. They are just blasting past my issues and want us to address somethings that are of no interest to me.

Come on Glenn, you can't actually think that they don't know that the fan base is pissed. Of course they do! Why else would PDA have gone on the Carmichael Dave show? These questions came from Granger whose on the business side of the organization. So naturally his questions are going to pertain to the business side. If the issues have no interest to you, then don't answer the questions. But if were going to throw rocks at any Kings official that sticks his head out, especially one that probably had little or nothing to do with Malone's firing, I don't think its going to be very productive. But hey, its a free country, do what you want.

 

[Bricklayer]

Okay:

1) does not apply

2) a brief tech note: Mac's idea of being able to order food and have it delivered is a good one. The key thing is not to be intrusive. If you are planning an arena where everybody has google glasses so you can catch me picking my nose and put it on the overhead, and my ticket stub tracks me as I go to the bathroom, then I'm not going to be in your arena. On the other hand, at home I always have a tablet open next to me with the running boxscore on it and am not infrequently on a messageboard as well. Making that sort of thing convenient in the arena itself would be a bonus. Or how about being ambitious and trying to create a Kings arena app or somesuch. A single place with tabs for the boxscores, other Kings info popping up, food delivery, even an arena specific chatroom or twitter type messaging? Ralph in 218 says "Boogie beastin'". Sarah in 111 says "too many TOs though". Whatever. Something where fans WHO CHOOSE TO, note capitals, can participate and help unite the arena. Maybe multiple chat rooms, or topic specific, given # of people in the arena.

3) globalization and selling the NBA worldwide go hand in hand. And here the basketball side of things cannot pass without mention. Where on earth did this ridiculous idea that more more more running more more more dunks and threes and spectacle was the key? Think about this for a moment: what's the number 1 sport in the world? Soccer. What's the #1 sport in India? Cricket. CRICKET! Are these sports the most popular for billions of people because they have the most action and dunks and running and...of course not. And any changes you tried to make basketball more like them would 1) show no confidence in or love for your own product; and 2) be massive rules changes invalidating past stats, and at a league level, not local. So what is the key? How can cricket be #1 in India? Why is soccer so popular everywhere? Same sport as hockey, lacrosse, polo, but slower. The key? Kids. Kids grow up playing soccer. Its easy, just needs a ball. There is some advantage there in that soccer or cricket players do not have to be physical specimens, so anybody can hold onto the dream longer than they can in basketball, American football etc. But still, kids play it. And you grow up to be a fan of what you learn early (mostly, soccer was one of my first sports, but I don't like watching it). You want to make basketball the #1 sport in the world? Recruit the kids. That's why China is such an emerging basketball market. Playgrounds all over the country where kids play the sport. Get into Indian communities. Build some courts. pass out balls. Heck, pass out purple Kings balls, or cheap gear, or have players visit. Get them thinking basketball from a young age, and it will pay dividends for you a decade from now. This idea that you are going to excite your way into the hearts of 40 year old consumers is silly. They aren't watching the sports they are out of excitement or spectacle. They are watching them because they grew up on them and have an innate understanding of them,

Oh, and one last thing, send a missive to the basketball side to quit messing with the product on the floor. You want the influence and money to do any of the above? Just win baby. A team that rips off 5 straight titles winning games 75-65 is going to be infinitely more famous and influential than a team that spends 5 years winning 40 games while losing 105-110 every night. Win, get the kids, market your star.

 

[Fireplug]

Thank you for participating in this. Second meeting is tonight. I will pass these on.