Bob Johnson Wants Help From Area Businesses

[Dunk]

Interesting article in today's Disturber about team owner Bob Johnson

http://www.charlotte.com/109/story/581387.html


There's a few interesting points here. Some of which I agree with, some I don't. Thoughts?

[davcbow]

Mr Johnson needs to do things that will make the other bussiness's want to take part in the Bobcat adventure. :g:

[spectre]

Firing the idiot and bringing in a Larry Brown type will do wonders as it'd allow us win and actually develop our players.

Larry Brown in = playoffs.

Playoffs = money for Bob.

[bizzlecatz]

I'm not trying to offend anyone on BCP, but the comments of this article from some of the Charlette residents make the city of Charlotte look like a city full of ingorant hicks. Why are they so bitter over an Arena, that was built for their enjoyment. It's laughable. This is coming from an outsider looking in. :)

[Alex]

If Bob Johnson wants to get money then he'll have to move his butt down here full time and work these business leaders to try and milk them for money. I mean this isn't some enormous city like NYC, LA or Chicago, you have to WORK to get your sponsors.

Bob Johnson has no idea what he's doing.

[walkerl]

I'm not trying to offend anyone on BCP, but the comments of this article from some of the Charlette residents make the city of Charlotte look like a city full of ingorant hicks. Why are they so bitter over an Arena, that was built for their enjoyment. It's laughable. This is coming from an outsider looking in. :)




Charlotte and the surrounding areas, are full of ignorant racist hicks.

[Dunk]

I've been thinking about this a bit today and I am starting to wonder if BJ knows what's going on. Revenue is a by-product of success and success in sports is defined by winning. Yeah, you did open up the pocket book for Crash and the beast known as J-Rich. However, you cut corners with a rookie coach when there were better options available (and have admitted that you were concerned about losing $800K by cutting him loose for next year).

Move down to Charlotte and make this thing work. Are Michael Jordan and Sam Vincent WORLD CLASS basketball guys that can take us to the promise land? Do you believe that in your heart of hearts?

And asking Wachovia for money after they just posted a loss and have to borrow $7B (as in billion) is not exactly good timing.

As for the comments in the Disturber...I don't even know what to say. People are idiots. I'm a transplant as are virtually all my friends here, so...I don't know...

[Mustachio]

they are pissed about having to pay for the arena in taxes. but its like taxi cab tax and something else that they more than likely dont pay. and they probably are just a few people who wanna see Charlotte stay the way they grew up with it. its stupid and it makes us look bad... but its a minority i feel like.

its stupid. dont think the observer website is any indication of Charlotte. the vocal few are the ones that are upset. they are also idiots. That observer website really brings em out and is poorly maintained .... just ignore it.


on the plus side for the observer... ol Rick Bonnell...sure is doin better huh. Im actually starting to like him.

[Mustachio]

I've been thinking about this a bit today and I am starting to wonder if BJ knows what's going on. Revenue is a by-product of success and success in sports is defined by winning. Yeah, you did open up the pocket book for Crash and the beast known as J-Rich. However, you cut corners with a rookie coach when there were better options available (and have admitted that you were concerned about losing $800K by cutting him loose for next year).

Move down to Charlotte and make this thing work. Are Michael Jordan and Sam Vincent WORLD CLASS basketball guys that can take us to the promise land? Do you believe that in your heart of hearts?

And asking Wachovia for money after they just posted a loss and have to borrow $7B (as in billion) is not exactly good timing.

As for the comments in the Disturber...I don't even know what to say. People are idiots. I'm a transplant as are virtually all my friends here, so...I don't know...


Charlotte is made up of transplants... there are like 8 original charlotteans left. you can count em...
it also hurts charlotte... because they bring their sport teams with them.. which is more noticeable during nfl season.

[Dunk]

We could certainly break this off if we need to but I've never understood the arena bitching. I moved down here, literally, the day it opened.

There already WAS an arena. This is a new one...The arena brings a multitude of things, including:

- A sports franchise which increase the appeal of the city to attract more people and businesses
- Entertainment
- Attraction of additional business
- MORE REVENUE due to increased sales of tickets, meals, alcohol, etc...

And, I could be wrong, but isn't the arena paid for by some sort of lodging tax that most of us aren't really affected by?

I'm not trying to be a douche but I really don't understand it. I see plenty of cities that would kill for a professional sports team. Look at OKC trying to get (steal?) the Sonics. I'm from Mass so I grew up with all the pro sports teams it would be baffling not to have a team.

[davcbow]

on the plus side for the observer... ol Rick Bonnell...sure is doin better huh. Im actually starting to like him.

Bonnell is that you? :biggrin:

[chabber]

It's car rental and hotel taxes. I can understand being against using tax payer money at all however you should be consistent.

Most of those people bitching about the arena are falling all over themselves waiting for the Nascar HOF which was pushed through just the same.

[TheBeagle]

Hmmm. I live about 70-75 miles north of Charlotte. I only venture to the Queen City to see the Cats and go to the Heroes ComicCon once every few years and to see Panthers playoff games (which averages to one game a century!). I'm totally ignorant of the politics, its pppulace, its populace's politics, etc. Therefore my input about the relationship between Charlotte and its sports comes only from assumptions and inferences.

1. Like most all of the South, it cherishes its college sports more dearly than pro teams.

2. There is still massive enmity with the NBA about what went down with the Hornets...and probably always will be.

3. Generally speaking, racism is definitely still prevelant in the area, and having a team managed by a signifcant number of blacks makes the team a lightning rod for controversy....BUT these morons have no effect on the team in reality; I find it hard to believe that any racist would have ever been interested in the NBA in the first place, so they were likely never Hornets fans either, and if so, they are fans I'd soon as not have. These braindead jacklegs, though, are in the minority, and like all hate mongers, they only only their mouths to spew venom (and give each other the occasional BJ.....sorry had to get that in there :P ) so take all that you read/hear with a grain of salt...I know I do.

4. With a contending team, and respectable media coverage, both local and national, I doubt there will be a problem getting 19.2K into the arena on a consistent basis.

5. We live in a rude and hostile world, yet ironically, people have as much of a need as ever to feel a sense of belonging and to be a part of a group. I think this figures into the response the Bobcats have recieved; basically, instead of being a part of something new and giving it a chance, they'd rather subvert together and hate on the NBA because that's what everyone else is doing. I could be wrong about this, but I really get this impression when I listen to the occasional sports talk radio, notably Primetime on WFNZ, and the pleebs that call in and trash anything that's not college or football related for no reason. I guess think of it as "mob mentality." Obviously, these people can be easily swayed because when it becomes trendy to talk about the NBA and the Bobcats, these same people will be the ones saying they were on the "bandwagon" from day one.

6. Bob needs to chill out and realize there's a brutal economy out there right now. A billionaire whining about losing money to a fanbase that is mostly middle class comes off in poor taste. Like one of the interviewees indicates in the article, a winning team will bring about more interest in both casual fans and potential investors.

7. As long as MJ gives equal time to his business as he does his personal, I have no problem with him remaining in cognito. Now, if he were majority owner, or even the titled GM, I'd expect to see more of him in Charlotte, but he's in charge of basketball operations, not media relations, not community relations. I know I'm in the minority on this, but I don't see how he has any obligation to Charlotte outside of putting a winning team on the court; just let him do his job.

8. Last point. I don't understand why there is the concern about attendance thus far in the team's history. I think it would've been terribly naive to think that you take a winning team out of a city and dump another expansion team in its place that you'd get sell out crowds automatically. The NBA is nothing new to the area, so there is no novelty in it (a la the Oklahoma City experiment). I'm impressed with 24th out of 30, to be honest, especially considering the disappointment this season has been. Hell, there's 6 teams with worse attendance, and there's 7 teams with a worse record than us, as of now, so I think that's acceptable.

[fatlever]

well said beagle.

[ohara831]

+1 Beagle. Fantastic all around arguments. I cannot say I disagree with any of your points in that post.

[Icky Thump]

I wish I could feel sorry for Bob but I don't. He knew the situation he was coming into and should have understood we needed to show major progress by our fourth season if he wanted to win the city and fans over. Add the crappy tv deal to our lack of major progress and thats where we are right now...

Maybe he'll see we have to do something to make this venture get up and go.

Bottom line.... "Winning Cures All Ills"

[BIGCatBobcat]

I haven't read the article, I will because it has stirred up more Bobcats talk in this city than the Boston win really.  Hell it's bigger than anything since drafting Ray and May.  
As an answer to what I've heard on the radio all day and the guys in the office(all Observer loyalists), what I've read on here:
 
The arena, Nascar HOF and I think a bit of light rail are to be off set by a hotel tax.  It's 17%.  If you can find a hotel room uptown for less than $120 a night you're doing ok (not counting the Days in on Tryon, scary!).  I got one real late at night and I thought I was getting a deal at $99 then she said that'll be $116 and I almost fell out.  Seriously, we can get over the arena.  It's a great venue, I think it's paid for itself probably, between the CIAA, ACC and NCAA not to mention concerts and those pesky Globetrotters with their $100 tickets.  The arena had to be done, it just did.

  Everyone not in the NFL in Charlotte is having a hard time getting butts in the seats.  Since giving tickets away to clients is like giving them a burden of paying for parking right now, you aren't going to get businesses ponying up for a box, buying blocks of season tickets or putting their name in the arena as a corporate partner.  It's just not going to happen for the Cats, Knights(good luck uptown in a couple years seriously), Checkers and 49ers are all fighting for their piece of the pie, something has to give.  Namely wins or some other excitement(wins with lots of dunks).  

  Charlotte is a city that is really a metropolitan area, lots of bedroom towns outlying.  Mooresville, where I grew up, Cornelius and Davidson (the latter 2 in the same county as Charlotte) weren't on Time Warner.  Still technically aren't it's all messed up but whatever back to the point.  They are arguably where a large chunk of "Charlotte's Money" sleeps.  They havent been able to watch the Bobcats on tv except for 8 games a year, maybe?  Huge mistakes on Bob's part with C-Set and that lead to what he was hamstrung with the News 14 deal.  Seriously bold and you could argue egotistical for him.  The big TV genius billionaire comes in to town and shows us how it's done in a completely off the wall way.  "You'll get used to it, or suffer from not being allowed to watch my team on my channel."  Which was in a separate more expensive sports tier.  People, other than us, weren't, still aren't, clamoring for NBA basketball.  It's nothing like taking the Yankees off whatever and getting their own channel.  You have to go to the people and openly offer them your product.  Which brings me to my next point.

  Marketing, sorry Michael Thompson, has been this team's worst area.  I am not a casual Charlotte sports fan.  I have never been a sideliner in the Bobcats from day one.  I was so excited to get a fresh owner, not the ML Carr group.  I have been waiting on this team from the moment the Hornets left town.  So I really don't know what it's like to not be a diehard NBA in Charlotte fan.  I can guess, yes I felt burned, much like the people of Seattle soon will, when the NBA enabled the scum we had as an ownership group before to leave town when things didn't go just their way.  So yeah, people in Charlotte, a: weren't here in Dunk and many other's case, b: didn't care at all, or c: felt burned.  So, how do you market to that?  It's hard, very hard.  But you get the best product you can on the floor, show everyone with eyes what you've got.  Get in front of everyone you can in the Business community.  Answer all the questions, be likeable, want people to like you and what you have.  Make the apathetic excited however you can.  Try and heal those Hornets stings(couldn't resist).  There is no easy way to do it but to get into it with your sleeves rolled up and work, everyday, locally.  For months in the beginning Bob was all Bob had, him and people that are gone, his development group and starting out the front office, more on them in a min.  He simply wasn't here.  I don't know if he owns property in Charlotte.  I take that back I've heard he owns one of those massive condos down on College i think.  The first day he was awarded the team instead of the Carr group, he came to town for the announcement and I remember distinctly him calling WBT radio on a crackly cell phone when he was headed to the airport.  He couldn't even make the time to get on local tv.  All he did when they unveiled the Jerseys was make scene on the square, talk down to people and they couldn't even get the covers off the statues.  Poorly done from the beginning.  Then this comes out?  Egg all over his face really, and sadly the team.  


This is way too long, but as the Bobcats representative in my office I've had to answer for a lot of this stuff.  Like I said I've been a Bobcats fan before they were the Bobcats, or even before they were Bob's team.  I understand where people come from when they are very fringe and they don't know much about what is actually on the floor because they haven't seen it, can't watch a game, don't know or have checked in at one point and got a bad taste in their mouth.  Honestly for me this team can do no wrong, they will be my team, it's not even Bob's team, it's my team, our team Charlotte's team.
I'm bigcatbobcat and I approved this message.

[BIGCatBobcat]

Hate to keep going about this but I am really wound up.

The Observer, as we all know, is a joke. I was just thinking today where have I heard this, or where does this come from all of a sudden? And it occured to me that I glanced at the Charlotte Business Journal when it came to the office last week. Their website requires you get the journal in print to read old articles but I'll post the link anyway http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2008/04/07/story4.html but the biggest thing that jumped out at me was Bob's quote:

"I'm thinking of this notion that if I've got a team that's building, maybe I give people a building-team price," Johnson says. "And say, 'Stay with me while I'm building; here's what I'm going to give you.' And then when I get there, can I come back to you and say, 'We said we were going to do what we did, would you be willing to step up a little bit because we stepped up a little bit?' That's what I'm toying with."

Is he contradicting himself? We're a building team, going into their 5th year with 2-possibly 5 nationally recognized star type players and he wants to lower the prices, to turn around in 3 years or whenever they start winning and ask for more money? He doesn't even sound like he knows what he's talking about. The article is by Erik Spanberg who might be the best reporter/writer in Charlotte news right now.

So, lower prices, but the businesses in Charlotte have failed the team and him personally to the tune of $50mil?

Bob, what do you want, expect, need, hope for. Could you recognize every player on our team?

[spectre]

Don't we have some of the lowest ticket prices in the league?

[amour217]

What he needs is help from Waste Management....to take his worthless butt out of Charlotte and sell the team to a useful owner

[Muttley]

I don't understand why there is the concern about attendance thus far in the team's history. I think it would've been terribly naive to think that you take a winning team out of a city and dump another expansion team in its place that you'd get sell out crowds automatically. The NBA is nothing new to the area, so there is no novelty in it (a la the Oklahoma City experiment). I'm impressed with 24th out of 30, to be honest, especially considering the disappointment this season has been. Hell, there's 6 teams with worse attendance, and there's 7 teams with a worse record than us, as of now, so I think that's acceptable.


All things considered, I think this is right on. This is the Bobcats' fourth year in an area that had been burned by the NBA before and is now naturally wary another team. Every time I read an article on ESPN about us, we're labeled the "lowly Bobcats." Well, there's 7 or 6 teams more "lowly" than us - depending on which numbers you're looking at!

Very well said Beagle.