Pacers give tickets away, set future

April 16, 2008
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jimmorrisThe Indiana Pacers are in a giving mood for tonight’s Fan Appreciation Night. The team is advertising that all lower level tickets will sell for $30, club level tickets for $20 and upper level tickets for $10. That’s quite a discount for the season finale against the New York Knicks. In some cases that’s better than a 50 percent discount.

But Pacers fans interested in going to the game, could probably do better. The Pacers are so bent on filling Conseco Fieldhouse, they’ve given handfuls of tickets away to just about every church, charity and not-for-profit organization in greater Indianapolis. Indianapolis Downtown Inc., a not-for-profit consortium of downtown businesses, this week has been advertising that it has 800 tickets to give away for tonight’s game. A number of area churches posted ads for free tickets in their bulletin this past Sunday. This marks the biggest ticket giveaway the Pacers have launched since moving into Conseco Fieldhouse eight years ago. With the team last in the 30-team NBA in attendance, ticket demand hasn’t been this low in two decades. But even this giveaway isn’t likely to get them out of the cellar in attendance. The Pacers trail Memphis, the league's 29th place team in attendance, by about 700 fans per game. The Pacers' great giveway will likely keep the team's average per game attendance above 12,000.

Attendance aside, Pacers management is looking ahead. Today at 2 p.m. the team has scheduled a press conference featuring co-owner Herb Simon, president of basketball operations Larry Bird, and Jim Morris, special advisor to the CEO and president. Though Pacers officials refuse to give a clue as to what this major press conference is about, NBA insiders said it will likely be about the team’s future leadership and direction. Morris figures to be central to this announcement. Curiously, the Pacers have a special advisor to the CEO and president, but since Donnie Walsh left the team to take over the New York Knicks, the Pacers have no CEO and president. Sources close to the team said Morris could be elevated within the team, possibly even to CEO where he would handle such critical matters as corporate relations, sponsorship and suite sales, marketing and communications, and the operation of the Fieldhouse. Pacers fans will have to wait until this afternoon to find out for sure.

So would Morris be the right man to take over Pacers Sports & Entertainment? And as it stands right now, would you want free tickets to tonight’s—or any—Pacers game?
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  • ChrisApril 16, 2008 11:15 AM
    Are they returning 50% of our season ticket price since they only gave 25% effort all season?

    We will pay more if they would get rid of Tinsley.
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment
  • PacerFanApril 16, 2008 12:49 PM
    I find it difficult to judge whether the Pacers only gave 25% effort all season..or less than full effort. But the team itself says that many times so I guess it must be so. After the Wizards game, Jim O'Brien:
    We didn't bring it, that's the bottom line. Danny Granger said: We finally turned it on in the fourth quarter.

    So Chris makes a good point - my STH renewal package sent to me last year had the motto: 48 MINUTES. 100 PERCENT. ALWAYS.
    So give away tickets to the game tonight, but STH's paid full price. and did not get what they were supposed to get this season.

    My advice to Pacers: Before you come up with a new marketing slogan, better be sure it's something you can live with.

    See you next year!
    Reply to CommentFlag Comment

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  1. liek the rest of America

  2. These quaint,obsessed musings by the stalkers are certainly entertaining, but I'm trying to figure out what, if anything, all the yelping below has to do with Zak Brown.

  3. It's evident that Moffett was pushing the right buttons and corporate America is now trying to squash him. He just wanted to withdraw the free pilot services provided to the company by the pilots to try and put some pressure on a company that has not been interested in negotiating a contract in over 5 years. The company does not provide a contract because not having one has saved them a bundle of money. Shame on any Republic pilots not standing behind their union leader just because things are getting tough, can you not see such strategic moves by the company as putting the last union president in a corporate position and into THEIR pocket. Do you really believe the last union president is so appalled at the attempts by Moffett, do you not remember his oppositions to the company? We stood behind him. It has been proven over and over again for thousands of years without fail, a man cannot serve two masters. Anyone that believes people vote contrary to their paycheck and livelihood deserve to be taken advantage of, the recent statements by the former union president are laughable as he denounces the current union president from his new corporate position. Have you ever seen a drafted sports player score points for his previous team, it cannot be done, he is not on the pilots side anymore, he gets his money a different way now than you and I do, and he should not be allowed to remain on the seniority list. A drafted player brings strength, credibility, tactical knowledge, and a strategic advantage to his NEW team, he would not be drafted or paid were it otherwise. We are all forced to choose only one side to play for and support, not doing so has many references in life such as insider trading and shaving points, all illegal for good reason. This basic fact is why corporate moguls, scientist, and engineers all sign non-discloser agreements and non-compete clauses, as protection in case they are lured into switching sides as our former union president has done. No NFL coach ever drafted a player so that both teams could benefit and better understand each other, they are recruited to win the game against that former team, period. Likewise the company does not recruit the former union president by accident or mutual understanding, its strategy. Don't confuse playing the game with good sportsman-like conduct in support of common business and prosperity goals, with the requirement to only play for one side. Good men we all love and favor fall subject to this manipulation, often without their knowledge, and it is not a betrayal of their friendship to oppose them when they switch sides. If we did not love and trust them, they would not have been chosen and lured to the other side in the first place. The deception by the drafted player is not made at a conscious level, it's just human nature and it's all about money and power which corrupts our ability to be objective and loyal to two masters. This is why our court system created the defense attorney, and why our military created counter intelligence. Its strategy and its propaganda, and it works, and that's why the "powers to be" manipulate the chess pieces by sometimes changing their colors. Some players know they are being manipulated when their color is changed, but it brings them more money and power so they do not care. The rest have good intentions but do not even realize they are being manipulated. This tactic is also known by another name, Divide and Conquer. In battle sending an imperfect message with an imperfect team is obviously not ideal, but it's still being sent by YOUR team, your union leader, a leader that has common goals and common rewards with you, they are the best, because we have elected them to do a job for us. If you are not backing Moffett but believing the spin by those that have recently switched sides, you are taking food out of your own mouth. Showing unity and backing an imperfect situation still results in taking just as much ground, it's about unity and bargaining power. It's not necessary to wait around for that perfect attack because it will never come, the company will spin and attempt to destroy anyone that gets in their way. Ultimately it's not about any specific attack anyway, ASAP or whatever it makes no difference, it is and always has been only about power. If this company cared about safety it would not build pairings with 8 hour overnights, come on, are you that naive? Besides, do you really think Hoffa cares, no, he got a call from corporate America and was squeezed into denouncing Moffett. If he didn't they would spin the safety card against him and the Teamsters National with implication for truckers, future contracts, insurance rates etc...saying something like the Teamsters use safety as a bargaining chip, blah blah blah... Do you really think any pilot is going to do something unsafe for the contract, absolutely not, the only ones threatening safety here is the company with reduced rest, fatigue, and poverty. Do you not find it odd that Hoffa and the Teamsters are opposing a Teamster president publicly? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and work with one of their own? Why did they not sit down and help him strategize, correct any mistakes, and charge ahead? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and leverage a contract for all those pilots that have been paying Teamster dues, isn't that why we have all been paying Teamster dues in the first place? I sure haven't been paying dues so that the Teamsters National could come along and write this kind of an article undercutting our union leader and our unity. Whose side is the Teamsters National really on, it's obviously not the Republic pilots side.

  4. No matter what Moffatt does the company is going to spin it like he is the terrorist and brainwash people like you into believing it, wake up, back your players that are trying to change things for you and your livelihood. Where has Hoffa been for the last 6 years, except collecting our dues. Seriously, do you really think an FO going for upgrade, signed off by a checkairman ready for the upgrade, who then fails, is not even capable of returning as a First Officer.

  5. whoa!

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