Isaac
Years ago
Funny NBL Season Tickets promotions
Around the NBL, teams are entering their pre-season training with rosters almost finalised. With the season due to begin in late September, the huge thing for the clubs would be attracting season ticket holders. I've mentioned before that the web is one place that basketball fans are turning to for research and discussion.
I ran around the NBL club sites to see how heavily season tickets were being promoted:
Cairns
No promo. Link to a PDF in a sub-nav item called "Tickets". The PDF discusses 2003/04 Season Memberships.
Melbourne
Well-sized "Membership update" promo visible if you scroll down. Links through to information, prices, map and an application form. Another promo nearby mentions an NBL tipping competition for 2002/03.
Townsville
Terrible site, but small promo for "Get your game tickets now!" No wording for "Season tickets" though. Tickets page does, however, include information, map and pricing and ETA for purchases.
West Sydney
No promos. Link to "Membership" says "Details available end of June, 2004"...
Sydney
Promo (second down in latest news). Not given much focus. Link in fourth column to "Membership packages". Intro message from Goorjian, but any other info is hidden in a 1MB PDF (better than nothing, but full info should be HTML and then the application form only should be PDF if it can't be a web form.
Wollongong
No promos, but prominent link in sidebar shows a decent map, and pricing options. Purchasing only available by phone.
Brisbane
No promo at all, but link in sidebar. Minimal info, no map, and prices TBA "mid 2004".
Hunter
Good promo for the 2004/05 roster, but nothing about season tickets. Under "Come to the game" and "Tickets" there are prices for 2004/05 season tickets, a map and a downloadable application form.
New Zealand
No promos (but their new stadium is going to have a 4-panel video cube!). "Tickets" link doesn't mention season tickets.
Perth
Bland promo in sidebar, link in navigation, and a poll on ticket pricing (results say that people are fairly evenly spread on whether they're value, reasonable or too expensive, and 71% say that prices will influence their decision on signing up -- poorly worded question I think).
Adelaide
Link to buy season tickets and prominent sidebar link (2nd spot). Photo of new recruit, but doesn't link anywhere. Season ticket section shows a cramped, but prominent map and prices within an order form. No indication of whether the prices give anything bar the seats themselves (other teams explain how many home games, bonuses, events, etc).
NBL.com.au
Generally updated with relevant news and polls but no overall call-to-action for fans to buy tickets through their clubs for the coming season.
Overall: less than ideal, but could definitely be worse. In the off/pre-season when there's no MVP voting, no NBL games to review, preview or discuss and limited off-court action, web sites should be dominated by news (however waffly) and ticket marketing. Ticket marketing on the Sixers site (for example) is limited to only two text links out of a full screen of texture and links.
Have a look at the Miami Heat website for a good example of off-season presentation (not the greatest design, but content is king). The masthead is "Shaq in black" telling fans that a big name is coming to town. The top promo is for Season Tickets (prices, group tickets, and so on). The second promo is about Shaq being welcomed to Miami (photos, Shaq merchandise for sale, a feature on Shaq's potential impact, etc). There's also a big promo of being able to view your seats online with an interactive seat finder.
Yes, the NBA has a huge budget and their site gets a lot of money, but it costs virtually nothing to put up more than a photo of a new recruit, to write a feature on their future impact, and to very heavily promote tickets online. If tickets are selling well, tell everyone so that they feel a need to join the huge atmosphere and buy before they sell out.
I think it's fair to say that every NBL site has work to do in this area. I think it's also fair to say that the Miami Heat mascot looks ridiculous. Murray/SamDunk/whatever does a good job, so hopefully he makes a return in 2004/05.