First of all, this was a great game tonight. Not only did we get the win, but the gameday experience was elevated…CBJ actually gave out T-Shirts and Jets to different sections this game!
Here’s the negative part, which I hope someone from CBJ sees so changes are implemented:
Tonight was a season ticketholder night where we were invited to a happy hour ahead of the game.
1. We have 5 season tickets on one account.
2. The gift last year was a SINGLE fanny pack, for 5 tickets. Our feedback last year was that if we have 5 tickets under one account, why would we not get 5 gifts? If we had 5 separate accounts, we would get 5 gifts. This was echoed by people in the line tonight. This year, they elevated the gift to a framed plague (which is awesome!) but again…one for 5 tickets. There is ZERO recognition from CBJ in regards to their season ticket holders.
2. We each got a drink ticket…with “Mixed Drink” crossed out. Not only did they make a decision to not include a single mixed drink, they couldn’t even reprint the tickets. They had someone go through and manually use a marker for each ticket.
3. They had a single bartender for hundreds of fans coming through resulting in a massive que.
4. The experience after getting your drink was a room with popcorn and nothing else happening. There was a CBJ “step & repeat” at the far end of the room for photos.
I have had a better experience as an ECHL season ticket holder. This felt like it was run by an intern without any help from the marketing/ticketing department.
With the product on the ice, combined with this experience…how on earth does CBJ expect renewals from us? I love this team, but the CBJ staff needs to do a revamp on their approach to ticket holders. It felt embarrassing. Just comp me $13 for a beer during a game without needing to wait in a 20 minute line, because this experience tonight was the equivalent.
I have worked on events globally for over a decade providing much more ROI for less fan investment than what I experienced tonight.
Here are photos of the “event”: https://imgur.com/a/YPxgFCB
by Bobonthemove
14 Comments
I completely agree. I’m a 1/4 season holder and I’ve argued the same point. I opened my plaque tonight and it’s nice put the frame and plexiglass are cheap and mine has cracks and scratches. So now I have to try and get with my ticket rep to try and get a new one. Which is difficult in its own because for 1/4 season you are bottom of the barrel. I’ve had half a dozen different reps atleast in the 5 years I’ve been a ticket holder. It’s crazy.
> This was echoed by people in the line tonight. This year, they elevated the gift to a framed **plague**
I know the team is bad, but damn.
This is so sad to hear. I’ll probably never be able to get season tickets but now I don’t know that I would even want to. Most franchises are pretty good to their STHs. Sorry this was such a poor experience for you. This franchise needs to really reevaluate what they’re doing both on and off the ice.
Wait so your only gift as a STH is cheap merch? We’ve gotten so many things for being Monsters STHs – we just got free tickets to the Cleveland Zoo winter lights tonight and our yearly gift was a hoodie (next year is a jersey woo)
I’ve been a full STH for 5 years, each year they phone it in more and more. Where are the STH vests that I used to see all the time? Why not even upcharge each seat by $25 and get us a jacket or a hoodie or literally anything? It’s free advertising that fans would wear in public all the time… should be a no-brainer.
The STH appreciation nights (edit: not the autograph signing days. Those are still fun) used to be awesome but now they’re pathetic. The past few years they have been a ticket for one standard beer can (like seriously?? We don’t even get an arena tall beer?? We get the gas station 30 rack size?? The arena has thousands of tall beers in supply) and a box of popcorn. The first year I went they had all kinds of prepared food and drink options at what used to be Great Lakes in the arena. Must have gotten too expensive so they scrapped all of it. I get that they want to make money but can they not shell out just a little bit as a Thank You for one happy hour? Popcorn is as lavish as we’re going to get?
For our two full season seats, the gifts last year were a single 12oz mini-tumbler, a single ply 5×5 blanket (too small for a full person. More like a pet blanket), or a cheap plastic fannypack that you’d win in an arcade. This year they somehow made it worse and took the options out of it and we all get a single cheap plaque. It’s embarrassing when you see what other teams in the league or other sports do for STH appreciation.
When JG signed, CBJ announced that they set a record for season ticket holder sales. The abysmal product on the ice since then paired with 0 effort from the STH office the past 2 years makes it seem like they really don’t care about retaining those newcomers. Like at all.
My wife and I met at a CBJ game and are die hard fans but every year we come closer to canceling our tickets. Quickly running out of reasons to keep them. If anyone in the marketing team is reading this… do better.
This is the 3rd NHL franchise that I have been a season ticket holder with. I can say, without hesitation, that this franchise treats STHs poorer than the other 2. I have 4 full season tickets. The event last night was pathetic. When asked if I could get a promotional giveaway from earlier in the year that required a ticket purchase I was told I could have one for $20. I’m not cancelling, NHL is my passion, but each year I complain about how their ticket base is treated.
Honestly, everything off the ice at NWA is subpar. The food for the price is ridiculous, intermission entertainment is a joke (we had a “DJ” for half an intermission?), the Chick Fil A cows were dropped specifically into the boxes. I saw a lady had 5 COWS! Now don’t get me wrong, i don’t care about the prize as much as the fairness of getting it. Dumping 500 cows into the same spot is just stupid.
Aside from that, I’d really like to see some upgrades made to NWA. Sound system, upgraded jumbo, something. It just feels lacking.
Everyone in this thread is dead on. As time goes on it becomes harder to justify the expense. Gifts are cheap and damaged, the events are recycled and get cheaper each time. One thing that bugs me as a veteran is that I’m not allowed to participate in the veteran events if my season tickets fall on that game. They want me to pay again.
I am a full STH for the monsters since I live in Cleveland. At the beginning of the year you get a choice of jersey, with monsters hockey club logo and year on it, or a jacket/sweater something. (per seat)
Throughout the year you get little promos like tickets to local events, cavalier tickets, zoo tickets, etc etc. (per seat)
On appreciation night we usually get a pretty cool gift. Last year’s was a set of really nice monsters branded coffee mugs. The year before was two tall monsters logo beer glasses with a couple cans of local brewery beers. (these gifts are for the holder only)
Been a 1/4 season ticket holder for 3 years. I buy tickets to watch hockey, anything else is just a bonus. Sorry to say, but you guys sound like spoiled brats lol
Listen up CBJ corporate. Your STH’s are the backbone of your revenue and they are clearly tired of your nonsense. You can get away with this for only so long before your base decides enough is enough. Wake up.
I was a STH for one year (well technically two because my quarter season was the year of COVID and they rolled it to a half season). Like you said there was really no ROI.
Ticket prices for this team are almost always cheaper on the secondary market, and for every guaranteed “big game” you got to go to you also found yourself at the arena on a very cold Monday night in February playing the Sharks.
That year especially sucked because we didn’t even get the autograph event for STH. Our gift was an Adidas duffel bag, which was actually pretty nice and I use a lot but we didn’t really have any extra perks at all.
That’s BS that the gifts don’t scale by the amount of tickets you actually have. I have 2 season tickets for the Crew and I got 2 separate gifts (A Crew scarf). They distributed them via digital tickets in my account they scan when you pick them up.
I was a 1/4 season ticket holder last year and my ticket rep changed 3 times… I get people change jobs or leave but that was confusing to begin with and then the appreciation event was the same last year. One beer, small popcorn, and a photo opportunity with Boone Jenner while crammed in a small area.
My high school gave out better pep rally items than CBJ. Not to mention sitting in the upper deck they never gave any promo items except for one game to the upper deck. No pizza, no shirts, etc…
Honestly the ushers are so bad you can buy a ticket for the upper deck and squeeze down in the 100s if it’s a weekday game or not against Pittsburgh.
The entire organization needs a fresh start.