N.H: Many
fans are worried that they have already paid money for their season tickets for next
season but have heard nothing regarding next season’s games. What is going on?
N.M: We’ve
just received confirmation of the dates we have booked from the Manchester Evening News
Arena for next season, and they have been submitted to the league, but we will have to
wait now for the fixtures. We haven’t released any information yet because we do not
have the staff to deal with the phone calls. With the Giants effectively closing down in
May, we lost all the dates they had negotiated so we had to start from scratch.N.H: Will the playing court be in
the same position next season, i.e. in the middle of the arena?
N.M: The
court is going to move slightly towards one end, so fans who were sat in, say, block one
or four will no longer be behind the team bench so they may want to move to block two or
three or whatever. We will write to the fans and suggest seats to where they might want to
move. By the end of this week we want to have that sorted out so the fans should receive
their letter soon.
N.H: Will there be an
increase in ticket price next season?
N.M: There
will be a slight adjustment but it will be on a downward scale.
N.H: When will the games be
played?
N.M: We
are still waiting for confirmation but is something like eight Saturdays, three Sundays,
three Fridays and some midweek games but we have tried to put those games on bank holidays
so everyone can come. We will tip-off at 7.30pm on Saturday nights and 4 o’clock on
Sundays.
N.H: Do you have a sponsor
for next season?
N.M: I
have several appointments lined up but nothing definite yet. In principle, I have a boot
deal and a kit deal but there are one or two people on the peripheries whom we are also
trying to attract.
N.H: What are the Board’s
aspiratons for the future?
N.M: We want to continue
to be competitive - and we must stress competitive. Trying to repeat what you have just
achieved is difficult enough if you can bring back the same team but when you can’t
even do that it makes it even more difficult. We are under no illusions that there is a
difficult task ahead of us, but we are confident that we will be in a top four play-off
spot next season. In the future we want to dominate British basketball. Off the floor we
want to stabilise the business, draw a crowd and maintain a crowd. If we draw a crowd we
can significantly increase the value of our sponsorship.
N.H: Why is it difficult
for basketball teams to attract crowds?
N.M: I
think it is difficult because it doesn’t have the novelty value that, say, the ice
hockey had. Not a lot of people played ice hockey so it was a novelty. With basketball,
everyone has a pre-conceived idea about what basketball is, that it is the game you played
at school when it was raining and the football pitch was waterlogged. The pre-conception
is that it is played in a dusty old gym.
As a sport we
have been notorious in thinking that success will bring bums on seats and it doesn’t
happen. The thinking behind the marketing has not been deep enough. We have to go back to
square one and assume that people don’t know what it is. You have to access the fans
through various media, like the internet, TV and newspapers and I think great strides have
been made over the last few years in those areas. The whole sport needs an image change
and some better marketing.
N.H: How long will you be
in charge of the Giants?
N.M: We
have put in a three-year plan. This season we need to consolidate but we need to get to a
level where we can make the whole thing work based on 3,000 paying fans. We need to build
up a critical mass.
N.H: Will the Giants have youth
teams?
N.M: We
will not have our own youth teams, we will support other team in the area, such as Joe
Forber’s centre, which runs about nine teams of all ages. We are committed to
bringing English players through, but we will not put anybody in the side just because
they are English.
N.H: Have you
signed any players yet?
N.M: We
have signed Tony Holley which was brilliant. Now we have to build a team around him that
is going to compete.
Interview by Nina
Haigh of the Manchester Evening News Thank You Nina for uncovering some of our questions
about next season.
Source: Manchester Evening News |
