Socker President Stops Newman Season-Ticket Sales Plan

Coach Ron Newman’s campaign to save the Sockers hit a snag Monday when team President Ron Cady told him and other staffers working on a season-ticket drive that they could not promise $100 season-ticket packages.

In a press release Tuesday, Cady set the low end at $150 and raised the mid-priced season ticket from $180 to $200 to coincide with last year’s scale.

Pledges for 53 $100 packages were received by Tuesday. Cady said those would be refunded.

“Yeah, I was a little miffed,” Cady said when asked about the front office instituting its own pricing system. “Last time I checked, I was still president of the team and Ron Fowler was managing general partner.”

Last week, Fowler announced he would not fund the club past June 30 and that it will fold unless a buyer steps forward to deposit the $500,000 letter of credit for next season and provide expenses. That announcement set Newman and the front office in motion in hopes of creating interest and attracting a new owner.

No one organizing the Save Our Sockers operation would speak for the record, but several voiced dismay about Cady’s recent decree. Points made most often included:

--The $100 season ticket was a way to fill seats that have remained empty for several years.

--Offering that price stimulated interest. “The bottom line,” a source said, “is that things were going nuts. I’ve never seen such a positive sales effort.”

--The $100 isn’t much less than income the club would receive if a salesman sold the same seat at last year’s price and took his salary and 15% commission.

Cady took exception.

“I think somebody is just making excuses because they don’t agree with someone who is in charge,” he said. “The concept of a hundred-dollar season ticket sounds great when you’re trying to sell season tickets, but it doesn’t sound so great when you’re trying to run a business.”

Cady pointed out that potential income is already down for next season because the league pared its schedule from 52 games to 40. The adjustment was intended to make season tickets more affordable.

Cady also said going back to last year’s prices shouldn’t affect the campaign.

“If that’s going to keep us from selling 3,500 season tickets at Thursday’s telethon, I don’t think so,” he said. “We’re looking for support here, not to sell hundred-dollar season tickets.”

Cady’s main argument for the change is that he doesn’t want to lock a new owner into a predetermined pricing philosophy.

Still, the Sockers’ employees worry that the change will stigmatize the drive.

“I guess it can be construed as a black eye,” Cady said. “But our policy is to confront problems and correct them. If a new owner comes in on July 1, he can drop the prices if he wants to, but we are not going to set prices when we know we’re not going to be running the club.”

Cady also said $100 season tickets can be purchased, but only for juniors (19 and younger) and charity groups.