Written on July 1, 2009

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Dave Berryman

How does a minor league hockey team sell out a building on New Year's Eve?

When presented the 1996-1997 schedule by the ECHL, the Louisiana IceGators were to host a game against the South Carolina Stingrays on New Year's Eve. At first glance my staff said, "I guess we don't make any plans for New Year's Eve" and secondly how will we be able to compete in the local market as people make all sorts of plans for New Years. The Louisiana Icegators were a very unique phenomenon in minor league hockey and was featured in Sports Illustrated, CBS This Morning and Hockey Night In Canada. The IceGators on given nights were outdrawing teams in the NHL with the team playing in a community of 188,000 people and had drawn nationwide media attention.

However, having a game on New Year's Eve was a challenge if we were to continue our sellout run. We looked at changing our start time to 6PM that would allow our fans to come to an early game and still be able to make other plans. However, after much thought, I decided to go toe to toe with our competition for the New Year's entertainment dollar as we had a loyal fan base and we could turn that evening into a one stop shop to celebrate New Year's.

Knowing that people have different agendas on New Year's Eve, the young families, the young and the restless and the elderly, we had to reach each demographic in our strategy. The Cajundome's capacity was 11,433 so it was going to be a challenge to sellout. I consulted with the facility manager and presented to him my strategy to see if he would be in agreement and that he was. In developing our strategy and creating a one stop evening of fun, we incorporated the following events within the event itself.

Pregame- outside of the Cajundome we planned a pregame pep rally featuring the Gator Girls, the Horn Dudes, player autograph signings, Miss USA Ali McGraw, live radio remote and local news coverage starting at 5PM. At 6PM, when turning dark, we had a fire works show.

Premium Giveaway- each fan was to receive a complimentary New Year's Hat and horn.

Game Ops- we planned two in between period light shows and our on ice "live gator show"

Post Game- we planned a post game skate with the players for the kids, a kid zone stocked with every amusement available for the kids, baby sitting service, a piano bar room and two different rooms featuring a Cajun Band and another Hip Hop band. We coordinated with the building to have ample bars set up throughout the building to service our customers. At New Year's Eve countdown we had every television in the concourse and the Vision Board showing the live event from New York. In addition, we made arrangements with the local newspaper to provide comp newspapers as the fans left the Cajundome and the local television stations did live newscasts from the building at 10:00PM.

In putting this strategy of a "one stop evening of fun" together we were hoping to reach all of the demographics, the drinkers, the non drinkers, the young, the old, the hockey fan and the non hockey fan a place to be and be seen and be able to leave the Cajundome saying what a great New Year's.

Result: People in Lafayette, Louisiana still talk about this night. It was estimated that close to 14,000 people attended the New Year's Eve celebration and the party closed down at 4:00am. Needless to say, the local hotel and bar owners weren't the happiest with the Gators. I can't remember who won the game, but I do remember that everyone had a great time and it beat the prices of other entertainment alternatives.