this is pretty cool. apparently he announced at the mavs game last night (fan appreciation night) that every fan there gets an american airlines ticket to pretty much anywhere they wanna go. (out of love field though, so its not like people can fly to africa or whatever) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/19/AR2006041902858.html
I hate Cuban but that a promo!! I was listening to 1300 The Zone in Austin and some guy from Houston was in Dallas and decided to catch the Mavs/Rockets game. Obviously he thought it was going to be sold out but went ahead and tried to buy a single ticket at the start of the game. He said the Mavs have a promo that if there are single seats available right before the game, they give you a HUGE discount just to fill the seats. He said he sat in $150 seats for $35!! Like I said, I hate Cuban but Les and the Toyota Center could learn a thing or two.
I was raised in dallas, but I know this blasphemy I'm a mavs fan. Of course rockets first, but I've always enjoyed cuban and his antics unless they were directed towards us. (us being rox)
Ehh, here's the scoop on whats really going on from deadspin.com Last night, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban got himself and his team all kinds of good press by giving away round-trip plane tickets to all fans on Fan Appreciation Day. And, let there be no doubt, it was a magnanimous move, the type of headline-grabbing, everybody-wins move that we’ve come to expect from Cuban. It’s still instructive to read the fine print, regardless. First off, the flights have to be booked by April 30 and taken by November 12. That’s not such a big deal though. The real kicker is that they must be from Love Field from American Airlines, which only flies to four cities: Austin, San Antonio, Kansas City or St. Louis. So it’s a flight, but not really. Though we suppose if they had announced, “For Fan Appreciation Night, we’re send you all to Kansas City!” it wouldn’t quite have had the same oomph. Of course, the real story is that American Airlines agree to the promotion because it’s in the midst of a fierce battle with Southwest Airlines to make sure limited numbers of flights continue to go out of Love Field, which, ultimately, hurts the consumer. (It’s called the Wright Amendment; you can read all about how it’s escalating prices and hurting travel at that link.) We don’t blame Cuban for this, who, after all, is just making his fan base happy, which is his job. But so you know: This was not some kind-hearted deal from American Airlines; it’s a way to make you hopefully forget how they’re screwing you over. deadspin With that said, it's still free tickets so it's still cool.
The funny thing is that some of the Rockets middle management consider his methods "unreasonable and pointless." Until the Rockets decide that Robert Boudwin and the rest of the Middle management are the reason for such a poor home atmosphere, our attendance and ingame entertainment will continue to be horrible... They lack creativity and ambition... They are set on one man deciding what's cool and what's not... Anyways... Cuban is a fan's owner and will continue to change ownership in professional sports.
What's preventing people from connecting through KC? Was it specifically a one-stop ticket? Technically couldn't someone fly from Love through Kansas to, say, Chicago? Also Cuban's got a lifetime pass on American so he can go anywhere at anytime. I thought that was pretty cool.
While that is a good point, since none of the four markets are hubs (STL might be since TWA is part of American now) they could only connect with another AA hub as their final destination (unless you wanted double connections - not fun) so markets like Chicago and Miami are possibilities.
If that's true I wouldn't mind Les selling the team to an owner like Cuban. Ticket prices are ridiculous and yeah, the empty arena thing is kind of a bummer too.
What exactly is Robert doing to hurt home atmosphere? I think he does a pretty damn good job and so do his peers.
Tickets are only free on the first leg, meaning only the trip to those aforementioned cities are free, after that your on your own. I'd imagine a return trip from the aforementioned cities is free, but only from that city. Good pr stunt, but not all that.
Anyone who hates Cuban is merely a hater, the guy changed the fortunes of that entire franchise and got the city to rally behind them. He's a great owner and a fan favorite even from many non-Mavs fans' perspective. I love Cuban the owner despite the fact that he owns the Mavs, I think he's forced the league to be a bit more 'lively' and 'fan-friendly' and continues to push the creativity threshold. I think he's been good for the game and good for the league, not to mention good for the fans. I can only hope that we have more Cuban-like owners in the league; I like the Maloofs as well.
