Bringing Hockey Back to San Diego Is No Easy Task

Dudes and dolls wearing jams and bikinis may cause a commotion in the dead calm of a Midwest winter, but it’s business as usual when you live in the sun-drenched West.

Don Waddell arrived in San Diego from Michigan in June, and it didn’t take the Gulls general manager long to conclude that his most successful marketing promotion--a beach night--would wash out here.

“It was our most successful contest in Michigan,” Waddell said. “It draws a lot of people and attention and sold the rink out every year we did it in February. Here, it probably wouldn’t draw as many people as in Flint.”

Given Waddell’s workload, the promotion was a minor issue in the bigger picture. Still, it was a gentle reminder that minor league hockey operations in a minor league city are as different as those in a major league city as the cities themselves.

“In a major market, things are more complex,” Waddell said. “Start with the media. (In Flint) I had one newspaper and three TV stations to work with. Here, there are so many more. I have to spend a lot of time to take care of everything they need.”

Newspaper coverage varies dramatically from market to market.

In Phoenix, the Arizona Republic’s hockey writer doesn’t travel with the team and files 12- to 15-inch stories for home games. From the road, they are 4-6 inches. The paper runs an average of two feature stories a month and a 30-inch hockey notes column, including NHL information, on Sundays.

The Peoria Journal Star is running a special hockey section, with eight stories devoted to the Peoria Rivermen. In addition to its 15- to 18-inch game stories--for both home and away games--the paper runs a hockey notes column on Tuesdays and at least one feature a week. Its writer travels with the team occasionally. Dealing with the media is only a small part of the battle to survive in a big city. Of the 11 teams in the International Hockey League, six are in markets where they compete with the loyalties of fans of major league professional teams. The IHL season, which runs from early October to early April, creates a tremendous overlap, and minor league hockey is always forced to share the spotlight.

The problem multiplies for clubs in cities with highly visible college programs as the prospective fan base shrinks further.

In Salt Lake City, the Golden Blades compete not only against the Jazz but against Division I basketball, according to Mark Kelly, public relations director.

“This is a big college basketball state,” Kelly said. “We have Utah State, Utah, BYU and Weber State, and they’re all within a radius of 65 miles. Sure we have our niche, our crowd, but when push comes to shove, in the media, for example, the Jazz get No. 1 priority.”

Milwaukee, the Western Division’s oldest member, is in its 13th year in the IHL. General Manager Phil Wittliff said the franchise’s success can be traced to the commitment of owners Lloyd and Jane Pettit, who had the Admirals’ 17,900-capacity Bradley Center built--the NBA Bucks also play there--and to management’s ability to get fans out to the rink.

“A lot of it is marketing,” Wittliff said. “We have to create a reason for them to come out and see a hockey game rather than anything else. One of the hardest things is creating an interest in the players because of the name-recognition problem. We’re in competition with baseball and football for that.”

Wittliff said the importance of public appearances can’t be discounted.

“We’ve had players and coaches making hundreds of personal appearances,” he said. “We go from Kiwanis club to speaking to preschoolers, and I wouldn’t want to say who was more important. We’re trying to create as much publicity as we can. It’s a continual battle.”

Waddell said that in Flint last year, his players made 137 appearances in a 185-day season. The possibilities in a city the size of San Diego more than triple.

“We could do that many and more,” he said. “It’s very important to get the players out in the community.”

In the smaller markets, where they are the only game in town, hockey players don’t have as much territory to cover, and they are as high profile as their major league brothers.

Take Muskegon, Mich., population 38,775. Lumberjacks owner and General Manager Larry Gordon said his players are well-known and well-loved in the community.

“The players care about the community, and the community cares about them,” Gordon said. “Everyone recognizes them on the street, and their pictures are in the paper every week. They’re held in very high esteem here. Because of the support, they want to give something back.”

Gordon said the small pickings of activities in the town keep the team focused, and enables him to keep a watchful eye on their social behavior.

“There are not a lot of distractions,” Gordon said. “There are no beaches and no Disneyland. If you get a bad apple, you can catch them right away. In a small town, you hear about everything before it happens.”

Before the Gulls can expect to lure more than transplanted Easterners or Midwesterners or the occasional curiosity seeker, they must educate the public.

“Most of our support is coming from transplants, people who know hockey,” Kansas City General Manager Tom Rieger said. “The next step is to convert non-hockey people. We’ve got to get them here and to learn the game. We have ‘How to Watch Hockey,’ booklets, clinics at the rink, and we talk to groups.”

Said Milwaukee’s Wittliff: “Americans don’t understand hockey like they do basketball, baseball and football. They don’t play hockey. That’s one of the battles we have.”

Like Kansas City, Milwaukee passes out a rule book at games, and players give clinics. Waddell said similar plans have been put on the back burner simply because he hasn’t had time, but he would like to see them implemented next year.

Along with San Diego and Albany, Kansas City is a new kid on the IHL block. The Kansas City situation mirrors San Diego’s more than anyplace’s, because both have professional baseball, football, soccer and hockey.

Kansas City drew 5,200 to an early exhibition game, a tribute, Rieger said, to the city’s hockey fans. To keep the numbers up, however, an advertising blitz is a must.

“The Chiefs and Royals have been here forever, and soccer has been here 10 years,” Rieger said. “We’re after the winter sports dollar, and now they have to make a choice. We’re new in town. That’s giving us an advantage. Our direct competition is the soccer team, but we haven’t heard from anyone that they haven’t bought hockey tickets because there’s a direct conflict.”

Waddell said the success of the Sockers might work in the Gulls’ favor.

“We’re talking about an area with a draw of 2.5 million people,” he said, “The more people we can introduce to the Sports Arena and sporting events, the more it’s beneficial to both of us. If someone comes out to watch a soccer game Thursday, there’s a better chance they’re more likely to come out and watch us Friday.”

NHL AFFILIATIONS Albany--Vancouver** Phoenix--Kings* Fort Wayne--Montreal**, Winnipeg** Indianapolis--Chicago* Kalamazoo--Minnesota* Kansas City--Edmonton**, Hartford** Milwaukee--Vancouver* Muskegon--Pittsburgh* Peoria--St. Louis* San Diego--Independent Salt Lake City--Calgary*

*--Primary affiliation, team receives parent club’s top non-NHL players

**--Secondary affiliation, another minor league team has priority for parent club’s top non-NHL players

IHL AT A GLANCE

Western Division Population ‘89-90 Att. Tickets Major Pro Teams Kansas City Blades 1,575,600 First Year $9-11 Chiefs, Royals, Comets Milwaukee Admirals 618,000 7,890 $2-9 Brewers, Bucks Peoria Rivermen 111,300 4,622 $4-8 None Phoenix Roadrunners 984,275 5,272 $6-12 Suns, Cardinals Salt Lake Golden Eagles 158,000 5,711 $8-11 Jazz San Diego Gulls 1,118,300 First Year $6-15.50 Chargers, Padres, Sockers Fort Wayne Komets 180,000 2,978 $6-7 None Indianapolis Ice 1,500,000 4,700 $6-9 Colts, Pacers Kalamazoo Wings 77,230 3,219 $7-8 None Muskegon Lumberjacks 38,775 3,201 $7.50-9 None Albany Choppers 100,000 First Year $8-12 None