I wonder if they prove distracting to the players and/or if that was considered in their introduction?

I'm sorry if this offends but the atmosphere (except first quarter) was rubbish. Look how many seats were empty last night. I bought a ticket in the top row but got the chance to move right to the front. I know it was a wednesday night but the prices are just too high. WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO LEARN. When the atmosphere is high (lots of people) the game is certainly much more exciting.

Theres my two cents worth

I agree to a degree, at fisrt I was distracted by them. Thing is we are just going to have to put up with them, in the NBA, every team uses them, so to be honest it shows that the Sixers may just be moving with the times, or atleast catching up.

Still we have no entertainment worth writing home about in the breaks!

Sorry that was off topic, if Isaac you could move my previous post to the latest crowd topic.

The signs were good but I agree with above that they need only change when stops in play. (Even though this means employing another person at games as they would be on a timer at present)

The signs are a lot more effective when watching it on tv. What I want to know is why is there a Channel Nine sign there when they don't give any coverage? When is basketball coming back to free to air! But that's another topic...

Well, the half-time kid is writing home, but it's a report on the aural experience only. ;)

The only real change appeared to be the rotating signs (as long as they don't move during play, I have no problem with them) -- but I don't think anything improved with regard to the experience for fans. When there's no NSL running and the AFL has finished, surely the Dome should be absolutely packed? Surely in six months and with sponsors like The Good Guys they could come up with something better that makes a difference to more people?

The Sixers will be unable to drop above-the-concourse prices while there are so many empty seats below it -- people would just buy the cheap tickets and move down to fill the empties. Now, that's great for the atmosphere, but I can't imagine those who actually bought full-price tickets would be too impressed.

Meanwhile, the Sixers site still hasn't posted news of the game on Saturday night, let alone last night.

plus the corporates who used to get their signs on tv in the front row are now blocked as the rotating sign are much bigger than the old foamies.....may pose potential injury issues for players diving after loose balls etc......but i do think it is a step in the right direction.

bring back the old $10 cheap seats and fill the dome up........15,000 to the soccer 4400 to the basketball...hell i do not even like soccer that much but went to games last year beacuse they were cheap....i then spent money on food and drinks whilst there....all money into the soccer kitty....would be good to see sixers bring back that attitude towards fans

Just a short comment on the signage.

Coming form a sponsorship background in the AFL, and a basketball background, I was very impressed with the scrolling signage last night. The signs were bright and colouful, and the 'distarcting' manner in which they swapped over brought about immediate attention to them (which from a corporate point of view is exactly what a company would be looking for).

Scrolling signage is used in the AFL at the MCG, Telstra Dome and I think Telstra Stadium (but I am happy for someone to correct me on that), meaning that it is used on some of the biggest sporting stages in Australia. You may argue that 'this is basketball' and we have different needs, however, its all professional sport in my opinion and innovative approaches to raising revenue should be commended.

AFL Clubs are moving towards scrolling signage for the 'impact' reason I have mentioned above, but also because it provides a more comprehensive view of sponsors logos in a certain part of the stadium (eg instead of one perimeter sign that sits dorment on a certain area of the court, you can now have a whole side of the court in a more eye catching display. Even though the total viewing time is less, the 'penetration' these signs can have in the viewers memory and recall can be greater with this method).

I guess all I am trying to say is give them a chance. I think the 36ers admin have had their share of bungles and problems, however, this signage issue is not one of them in my opinion. They are moving with the times to maximise profits (in this revenue stream - ticketing and pricing is a completely seperate issue that I dont know enough to commment on) and add value to the ability of companies to leverage their brands through NBL basketball. This issue is an important one if we are ever going to maintain the profitability of this compettion.

Cheers

I think if the changes are timed to coincide with breaks in play (and there are enough to do that I think), they'll be a winner.

They looked solid, so hopefully no player lands on one.

I'm pretty sure I saw one or two guys over near the opponent's player race who looked to be controlling the rotating. It might have been that they had full control or were just overseeing the opening night however.

On sponsorship, I didn't really see any changes to the corporate box holders. Since one of the dancers hooked up the Mitre 10 sponsorship, it could be cool if they had a Tool Time-style outfit -- Susie Wilks shorts, denim shirt, tool belt. Get a routine going to that Satisfaction song for which many would have seen the video clip (featuring girls operating power tools to the music).

Fair comment to make Isaac and Steve.

I am not sure you can sell signage on a 'breaks in play' basis. There are too many variables to quantify the value of signage for any given game if it is changed by this method(eg some games may have more breaks in play then others which means that some games give more value then others). These 'grey areas' can be confusing to sponsors and make it difficult to sell the signage or renew signage contractes in the offseason.

It is much more practical to say to a sponsor that they are locked in for a certain amount of slots each game. For instance, 50 x 30 second time slots every game is valued at $X, and 100 x 30 second slots is worth $2X (geez I am giving out lessons in algebra here!). With this way you can sell the signage at different price points which allows flexabililty in your negotiations with coporates.

There is also the issue of the 'manual' costs of having someone sit their during a game and the risk of 'human error' occuring (what if the signage guy is too busy looking at the cheer girls to concentrate on turning the signs over..hehe).

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so I am not at all saying what you guys a suggesting does not have merit. Just wanted to put some 'sponsorship' perspective on it.

I actually agree with Liam, and feel sixers management has done something right for once! As for it being distracting, I didn't find it that much of a problem and as the season wears on I'm sure regular attendees will find it to be second nature after a while.

And Isaac seeing that Satisfaction filmclip performed live is an idea i wouldn't oppose at all!!!

Just on the rotating signs the Tigers had them last year.

I think that the Kings and Hawks may have had them last year also also.

Havn't heard any player complain of distraction from them.

They looked impressive on tv, however the second row of signage (after the first corporate box) rotated at a much slower rate and was somewhat distracting on tv, just odd to have so much movement in the crowd during a game :-)

Cheers, DJ

If they were at all distractive to the players, its only the Crocs who were affected by them. The Sixers played a great game.

The signs are a good idea, but what about the North (I think) side of the stadium? All I saw all game was a long red block.

Input from a player was that the courtside ones weren't distracting, but the ones behind the first block of sponsor boxes were (rotating at a different speed). However, those ones seemed a little less visible behind spectators.