Carolina Hurricanes

Professional Ice Hockey

Date Submitted

April 4, 2012

Prepared By

Thomas Feeny

BUS 360 SECTION 001

Revised 8/11

Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

Table of Contents

COMPANY OFFERING PRODUCT/SERVICE...............................................................................................1

Company Description 1Company Location(s) 1Other Products Offered 1Market Areas Sells To 2

PRODUCT/SERVICE BEING MARKETED....................................................................................................3

Description of Product 3Features and Capabilities 3Product Life Cycle 3

MARKET OF PRODUCT/SERVICE.................................................................................................................5

Customers for Product 5Why Product Needed 5How Product Used 6When Product Bought 6

PRODUCT/SERVICE POSITION .....................................................................................................................7

Competitors Offering Products 7Competing Products Features/Capabilities 7How Competing Products Different 8Competing Products Evaluations 8All Products Market Share 9

PRODUCT/SERVICE MARKETING CHANNELS ......................................................................................10

Current Product Marketing Channels 10Competitor(s) Marketing Channels 10Advantages/disadvantages of Current Channels 10Possible Alternative Channels 12

PRODUCT/SERVICE MARKETING PROGRAM .......................................................................................13

Overall Marketing Program 13Program Changes Made 13Product Advertising Program 13Product/Service Branding 14Product/Service Marketing Success 14

INFORMATION SOURCES..............................................................................................................................15

Individuals 15Web Sites 15Other 16

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

Company Offering Product/Service

Company Description

The Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team of the National Hockey League (NHL)

The team is a member of the Southeast Division and Eastern Conference Of the four major sports (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL) , the Hurricanes are the only top tier

professional sports team in the triangle region of North Carolina The franchise relocated from Harford, Connecticut to North Carolina in 1997

oFormerly known as the Harford WhalersoThe Hurricanes played their first two seasons at the Greensboro Coliseum (1997-

1999) The team won the Stanley Cup in 2006

oAwarded to the winner of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Company Location(s)

The Carolina Hurricanes are based in Raleigh, NC The team plays their home games at the PNC Arena located at 1400 Edwards Mill Road

oFormerly known as the Entertainment and Sports Arena (1999-2002)oFormerly known as the RBC Center (2002-2012)

During the completion of the Entertainment and Sports Arena, the team played at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina

Other Products/Services Offered

The Eye is the official store of the Carolina HurricanesoThe Eye has two store locations:

The North End of the PNC Arena at 1400 Edwards Mill Road, Raleigh The Crabtree Valley Mall food court at 4325 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh

oThe Eye sells replica team jerseys, hats, t-shirts, other apparel, banners, flags, and framed photographs

The Carolina Hurricanes official online store is available at www.shop.nhl.comoThe website sells mostly Carolina Hurricanes apparel, as well as watches, luggage

bags, wallets and other items with the team logo The Carolina Hurricanes’ games are broadcasted on Fox Sports Carolinas in high

definitionoThe games can also be heard on 99.9 The Fan

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

Market Areas Sells To

The Carolina Hurricanes sell to several markets and try to segment their marketing as much as possible

The organization concentrates most of its marketing locally and decreases its advertising outside of the triangle

oThe total market area includes: Downtown Raleigh

Several streets in downtown Raleigh are lined with banners that read “Welcome to Canes Country”

Raleigh or Cary The Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) The Piedmont region Charlotte North Carolina South Carolina Parts of Georgia and Alabama

The game’s television broadcasts on Fox Sports Carolinas can be seen in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and parts of Alabama

The radio broadcast can be heard on 99.9 The FanoLocal signal includes areas close to:

Raleigh Durham Cary Smithfield Dunn

oDistant signal includes: Henderson Rocky Mount Goldsboro Clinton Fayetteville Sanford

oFringe signal includes: Roxboro Burlington Southern Pines Kinston Greenville Tarboro

The Carolina Hurricanes’ minor league team moved from Albany to Charlotte in 2010oPlayers on the Charlotte Checkers may be called up to the Carolina Hurricanes

roster to join the team

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

Product/Service Being Marketed

Description of Product/service

The main products offered are tickets to attend NHL home games The ticket packages include:

o Full season ticketso 26 game planso 12 game planso Group ticketso Individual ticketso Special promotions

The games are broadcasted in high definition on Fox Sports Carolinas The games can also be heard on 99.9 The Fan

Features and Capabilities

The main focus of the product is the actual play that occurs during the game The entire entertainment package includes:

o The on-ice performanceo Promotionso Musico Games on the video boardo Interaction on the concourseo Food and beverage

Full season ticket holders and 26-game plan holders who purchase by April 30 will receive food and beverage gift cards valued at ten percent of their total ticket purchase

Full-season and 26-game plan holders who have been with the team for 6-10 years will receive 15 percent off at The Eye team store

o Fans who have had their plans for more than 11 years receive 20 percent off at The Eye

Twelve-game plan holders will receive food and beverage gift cards valued at five percent of total ticket purchase

Season ticket holders will continue to receive long-time benefits including ticket vouchers, the ticket exchange program, playoff priority and playoff discount pricing

o Designated season ticket holder entrances on the East and West sides of the building exclusively for season ticket holders

o Season ticket holders who purchased by March 23 will be invited to attend a preseason cookout party with select Hurricanes players

Product/Service Life Cycle

The life cycle is roughly ten months per year

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

The regular season lasts from October to April and playoffs can extend the season into mid-June

Regardless as to how long the team’s season lasts, the organization does not begin paying for advertising until late August or early September

o The NHL schedule is usually not announced until late July It is impossible to market individual games until the announcement is

made It is easier to market mini-plans when dates and opponents are known

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

Market of Product/Service

Customers for Product/Service

The primary customers are the fanso Dedicated hockey fans who follow the team game to game and frequently attend

gameso Interested fans who follow the team during the course of the season and often

attend gameso Fans who are aware of the team and will occasionally attend games o Fans who follow the team, but only watch the television broadcasts of the games

and rarely, if ever attend gameso Fans who are aware of the team and are interested in attending a game for the first

timeo People who are not familiar with the sport of hockey, but have recently become

aware of the Carolina Hurricanes For marketing tickets, the team first focuses on the season ticket packages, which are

marketed to:oBusinessesoFamilies o Individuals

For individual games, the organization segments the market into:oSmall businessesoFamilies oCollege StudentsoYoung adults

Why Product/Service Needed

The Carolina Hurricanes are located in what some pundits have referred to as a “non-traditional market”

The team allows people who may not have been exposed to the sport the chance to discover how entertaining professional ice hockey can be

In the last year, the Carolina Hurricanes have been part of 375 community events and donated 750 items to local schools charities and churches, including:

o The Kids ‘N Community Foundationo Pick up a Book and Reado Eric’s Entourageo Cam’s Champso The Cane’s Playroom at Rex Hospital

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

o Hurricanes Hallway at Duke Children’s Hospitalo PNC Arena toy driveo Food Drive Nighto USO of the North Carolina Military Driveo Hockey for Huggieso Donation Driveso St. Baldrick’s Night

How Product/Service Used

Fans present their tickets to the ticket collector when they enter the PNC Arena and make their way to their seat to enjoy the game

o NHL games are three periods long, with each period lasting 20 minuteso If the game is tied at the conclusion of three periods, the game enters sudden

death overtimeo If the game is still tied after overtime, it is decided by a shootout

Fans can watch the games in high definition on Fox Sports Carolinaso The channel varies according to the cable providero If the Carolina Hurricanes are featured as the nationally televised NHL game of

the night on NBC Sports, they will be blacked out on Fox Sports Carolinas Local fans can listen to the Carolina Hurricanes on the radio by tuning in to 99.9 FM Carolina Hurricanes’ gear and apparel can be purchased at The Eye and online at

www.shop.nhl.com

When Product/Service Bought

Tickets to games can be purchased throughout the NHL season For individual games:

o Tickets are sold from early September until April, but may be available into mid-June

Depends on when the NHL releases its regular season schedule Contingent on how far into the playoffs the Carolina Hurricanes reach

For season tickets and mini-plans:o Season tickets must be purchased by April 30th to receive the full benefits packageo The final deadline to purchase season tickets is usually in late May

For the 2011-2012 season, the deadline was May 30th

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

Product/Service Position

Competitors Offering Products/Services

The Carolina Hurricanes are the only top tier professional sports team in the triangle area of the four major sports

The team views anything that strives for the entertainment dollar as a competitor, including:

o College sportso Professional basketball o Professional footballo Minor league baseballo Minor league soccero Dining outo Watching movies at the cinemao Attending plays

Competing Products/Services Features/Capabilities

College basketballo North Carolina State University

1975, 1983 NCAA Championso University of North Carolina

1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 NCAA Championso Duke University

1991, 1992, 2001, 2010 NCAA Championso Wake Forest University

Final Four appearance in 1962 College Football

o North Carolina State University 11 Conference Titles

o University of North Carolina 9 Conference Titles

o Duke University 17 Conference Titles

o Wake Forest University 2 Conference Titles

Professional basketballo Charlotte Bobcats

Postseason appearance in 2009-2010 Professional football

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

o Carolina Panthers Postseason appearance in 1996, 2003, 2005, 2008 Super Bowl appearance for the 2003 season

Minor league baseballo Durham Bulls

Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rayso Carolina Mudcats

High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indianso Charlotte Knights

Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox Minor League Soccer

o Carolina Railhawks FC North American Soccer League

Minor League Hockeyo Charlotte Checkers

AHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes

How Competing Products/Services Different

The Carolina Hurricanes are the only top tier professional sports team in the triangle region

o The franchise is also the only NHL franchise in North Carolina Of the four major sports (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL) in North Carolina, the Carolina

Hurricanes are the only franchise to have won a championship o The Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2006

Competing Products/Services Evaluations

There are fewer stoppages in ice hockey compared to the three other major sports The NHL is the top tier league for men’s professional ice hockey in North America

o Many consider it to be the most competitive ice hockey league in the world Attending a Carolina Hurricanes’ game is comparable to the cost of attending an NFL,

NBA, and college sporting evento The ticket prices to college basketball and college football games are similar to

the prices of top tier sports The Carolina Mudcats, Durham Bulls, Charlotte Knights, Charlotte Checkers and

Carolina Railhawks have cheaper ticket prices, but do not offer the same talent level The PNC Arena offers a variety of food to choose from which can be found on the

concourse The Carolina Hurricanes encourage fans to arrive to the game early and tailgate in the

parking loto This tradition is frequently seen before other sporting events at the PNC Arena as

well

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

All Products/Services Market Share

The Carolina Hurricanes are the only NHL team in North Carolinao Compared to professional sports in the area, the team dominates the market share

The next closest NHL team is the Washington Capitals, who are 282 miles away Charlotte is 150 miles from Raleigh, which is about a three hour drive

o Home to the Charlotte Bobcats and Carolina Panthers

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

Product/Service Marketing Channels

Current Product/Service Marketing Channels

The main marketing tools used by the Carolina Hurricanes include:o Television

Fox Sports Carolinas NBC Sports

o Internet www.carolinahurricanes.com

o Social media Twitter Facebook

o Radio 99.9 The Fan

o Billboardso Online editions of the newspaper

www.newsobserver.com

Competitor(s) Marketing Channels

The main marketing tools used by the competitors of the Carolina Hurricanes include:o Televisiono Interneto Social mediao Radioo Billboardso Magazineso Hardcopy newspaperso Venue sponsorship

Advantages/Disadvantages of Current Channels

Advantageso The internet is the best source for tracking the return on investment (ROI)

Fans can watch highlights of the team on www.nhl.com and www.carolinahurricanes.com

Fans can visit the team website to learn about a vast amount of information regarding the team

Fans can also purchase tickets online to see upcoming games

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

The internet also allows fans to post questions and make comments about the team

They can also interact with other fans to discuss the team’s performance

o Television raises the awareness of the team and allows fans to watch games from home

Fox Sports Carolinas aired 65 of the 82 regular season games for the 2011-2012 season

Starting in the 2013-2014 season, all 82 regular season games will be broadcasted

The current television contract includes pregame and postgame shows in addition to the games

The most recent agreement allows all regular season and postseason games to be shown in high definition

Games shown on NBC Sports are televised nationally and give the team more exposure

o Social media allows the team’s management and players to interact with fans This allows the team to talk “with fans” not “at them” Employees can provide good customer service by quickly answering fans’

questions Players can interact with fans on a more personal level so that fans feel

more emotionally invested with the teamo Radio allows fans to follow games if they cannot watch it on television

All preseason, regular season, and postseason games are aired under the current contract

The current radio deal also includes a pregame and postgame show for every broadcast

Fans can call in and ask questions or make comments about the team

If games are not available on television, radio is the only option to follow the game live

o Billboards raise awareness of team and promote star players, making them more recognizable

o The online edition of the newspaper can be updated to show current news and final scores

Disadvantageso It is difficult to quantify the ROI from television and radioo Local radio faces strict competition with satellite radioo Not every game is aired under the current television contract

65 regular season games will be aired for the 2012-2013 seasono The Carolina Hurricanes are not usually televised on NBC Sports and do not

receive as much exposure as the larger markets

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

o ESPN does not own the television rights to the NHL and consequently gives the league considerably less exposure than other sports

NBC Sports owns the television rightso Many people use DVR to skip commercials

They skip commercials advertising upcoming gameso Those who only use the hardcopy edition of the newspaper will miss the most

recent team newso Social media is usually used by the most dedicated fans

Not a marketing tool for drawing the casual fans Players may come under criticism for posting unprofessional remarks Employees may alienate fans by ignoring their questions on social media

o The effectiveness of billboards is questionable in the current technological age

Possible Alternative Channels

The Carolina Hurricanes used Pandora radio for the first time this year The franchise relies more on the online editions of the newspaper than the hardcopy They have also reduced their investment on local radio because it faces stiff competition

with satellite and online radio

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

Product/Service Marketing Program

Overall Marketing Program

The marketing effort includes the grassroots efforts to promote hockey that is put forth by the community relations team, promotions team, and the Foundation

The marketing effort uses television, radio, social media, and other channels to showcase professional hockey to North Carolina

The team promotes many charities and community events o Creates a positive image of the organization

The recent use of social media allows the team to develop a more personalized relationship with the fans

The organization wants to expand the current fan base by introducing the sport to people who may not have been exposed to it growing up

The marketing focuses heavily on families, especially those with younger childreno The offseason carnivals, charities, and in game video displays cater to childreno Attending a game is a family friendly event that will draw families to returno The grassroots effort to promote the team at younger children will payoff in the

future when the children grow older and will be fans of the team

Program Changes Made

The most significant change in the marketing program has been the addition of social media

o Social media allows the team to talk “with the fan” not “at the fan”o Social medial also allows employees to quickly answers questions and interact on

a more personal level The Carolina Hurricanes have invested less in local radio and hardcopy newspapers and

more in internet and social media marketing tools

Product/Service Advertising Program

The Carolina Hurricanes have focused their commercials on local television newso One of the few pieces of programming that crosses all broadcast options (Time

Warner, Direct TV) It is typically watched live and not recorded

o The commercials are mostly aired during the morning news broadcast and at 6 PM

They have also advertised commercials during NHL games, NFL football and children’s programming

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

The organization invests most of its advertising budget in internet ads, followed by television and radio at a distant third.

The use of DVR has caused the organization to consciously shift resources towards internet advertising because television commercials are often skipped

Product/Service Branding

In 2008, the Business Journal voted the Carolina Hurricanes as one of the strongest brand names in the state

A controversial survey performed in 2008 by Public Policy Polling revealed some concerning information

o 18% of correspondents replied that they did not know there was a hockey team in the state

o 19% of people in Charlotte reported that they had not heard of the teamo 28% in Rocky Mount claimed that they did not know the team existedo However, 94% in the Raleigh area said that they were aware of the team

Product/Service Marketing Success

The season ticket base continues to grow despite the team missing the playoffs for the three straight seasons

In 2009, ESPN the Magazine ranked the Carolina Hurricanes as the second best franchise overall of the four major sports in their “Ultimate Rankings”

o They cited: Reasonable prices Fan-friendly experience The season ticket freeze promotion Accessibility of the players to the community Practices that are open to the public The playoff run of 2009

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

Information Sources

Individuals

Doug WarfSenior Director of Marketing and Executive Director of the Kids ‘N Community FoundationCarolina Hurricanes1400 Edwards Mill RoadRaleigh, North Carolina, 27607http://www.linkedin.com/pub/doug-warf/0/330/657http://twitter.com/#!/dougwarf

Web Sites

Carolina Hurricanes www.carolinahurricanes.com The Eye Store http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=46161Promotions and Fan Development http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=45619Community Relations http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=46111New Season Ticket Holder Benefits for 2012-2013 http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=78483Fox Sports Carolinas announce 2011-2012 TV Schedule http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=587961St. Baldrick’s http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=60003Fan Zone http://hurricanes.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=45192

NHLhttp://shop.nhl.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=3176610The Carolina Hurricanes Official Shop

Multichannel Newshttp://www.multichannel.com/article/82011-Fox_Sports_Launches_Regional_Nets_In_Tennessee_Carolinas.phpFox Sports Carolinas

Radio Locatorhttp://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WCMC&service=FM&status=L&hours=UPredicted coverage area for 99.9 FM in Holly Springs, NC

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Thomas Feeny Carolina Hurricanes

News and Observerhttp://www.newsobserver.com/2010/02/11/332041/river-rats-will-move-to-charlotte.htmlRiver Rats move to CharlotteCanes reach new TV deal http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/03/29/1967819/canes-reach-new-tv-deal.html

ESPNhttp://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=4289483Ultimate Standings 2009: No. 2

Bleacher Reporthttp://bleacherreport.com/articles/39309-carolina-hurricanes-survey-saysmarketing-needs-a-boostCarolina Hurricanes: Survey Says…Marketing Needs a Boost

Yahoo Sportshttp://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Carolina-Hurricanes-respond-to-recent-survey-tha?urn=nhl,94709Carolina Hurricanes Respond to Survey

Other Sources

Canes Countrywww.canescountry.comCarolina Hurricanes Blog

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