Canucks Sports & Entertainment: 10 keys to reaching 400 home game sellouts

After using late December to pass the Buffalo Sabres at 279 and the Los Angeles Kings' record of 282, the Vancouver Canucks reached their 300th consecutive home game sellout on Easter Sunday at General Motors Place, posting a 4-3 overtime win against the Minnesota Wild, the only National Hockey League team with a longer active streak (381 regular season and playoff games at the Xcel Energy Center).

A long playoff run could see the Canucks overtake the National Football League's Denver Broncos (309) this spring or early next season. Next up would be the Pittsburgh Steelers (317 as they head into the 2010 NFL season) and the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers (who sold out 319 straight at the old Spectrum between 1973 and 1981).

The Canucks could reach the even more exclusive 400 Club in 2012 by continuing to build on what they're already doing and consider these as the 10 key ingredients to potential box office supremacy in the NHL:

#10 - Acknowledge season ticket holders this spring with a tangible show of their appreciation for helping drive the remarkable streak of sellouts from November 14th, 2002 to April 4th, 2010. Selling out 300 games -- selling out more than a handful of games in a row for that matter -- is impossible without a large season ticket base. There is no more important factor in the Canucks' ability to navigate around the NHL lockout of 2004-'05, the recession of 2008-'09 and the Olympic year of Vancouver 2010 than a season ticket base capped at 17,000 in a building seating 18,810;

#9 - Push the envelope on season ticket holder benefits and continue to emphasize the preferential pricing advantage offered through subscribed tickets (full season, half-season and quarter-season Ice Paks);

#8 - Make the most of their 40th anniversary season in 2010-'11 with special events, promotions and incentives to consolidate their season ticket base, expand their priority waiting list of 4,000 and increase their already massive database to support group sales. Pump up the wait list! Think Green Bay Packers and their Lambeau Field-size season ticket waiting list of more than 70,000. A General Motors Place-size waiting list of 9,000 accounts representing another 18,810 season tickets would be the equivalent target;

#7  - Continue the two-pronged approach to regular and premium clients: Deployment of a team dedicated to suites and club seat holders not only helps retain those premium clients, it allows for optimal customer service for both segments. And on that note and of immediate priority, focus on contract renewals for luxury suites; a group of which come due after the current season...and develop contingencies (including suite-sharing packages) to replace those companies which cannot continue or otherwise choose not to renew.

#6 - Keep the product accessible: Ensure the vast majority of Canucks games continue to be available on Rogers Sportsnet at the regional level and TSN and CBC at the national level and resist the temptation to expand pay-per-view much beyond where it is at the start of the decade (and with some bias, continue to leverage the unrivalled power of all-sports radio and keep pushing the boundaries of http://www.canucks.com/ and social media to provide the widest possible access to all things Canuck);

#5 - Build on the power and clout of the Canucks for Kids Fund, making sure season ticket holders and the larger ticket-buying public fully understand the scope of its community philanthropy;

#4 - Ensure that We are all Canucks: The team's brand management and advertising are second to none in the marketplace (despite the team's identity crisis over which of its three logos should prevail as the primary mark). Maintain the advantage for the blue-and-green, especially with the arrival of Major League Soccer in 2011 and the leverage the BC Lions will have in hosting the 99th Grey Cup at a newly-renovated BC Place;

#3 - Exercise extreme prudence on ticket price increases, avoiding the mistakes made by the Detroit Red Wings in 2007 (when steep playoff ticket premiums offended many season ticket holders and left thousands of seats unsold during the team's playoff run). The Red Wings streak of 452 ended that spring;

#2 - Provide strong value through game presentation and amenities, an entertaining on-ice product and by pushing the NHL to repatriate a more balanced schedule in which all 29 other teams visit Vancouver at least once per regular season. Seeing Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and emerging young stars such as Steven Stamkos once each season adds significant value to every season ticket package;

#1 - Win....win the Stanley Cup.

Contending might be enough to get the Canucks to 400 if all other things remain strong, including the economy. But none of the box office champions and sellout record-holders in North American professional sport (the NHL's Avalanche, the Portland Trailblazers of the NBA, the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball and the Green Bay Packers of the NFL) got there without winning the Stanley Cup or its equivalent at some point during their streak.

Winning in 2010 or 2011 would not only clinch 400 in 2012, it would go a long way to making 500 in 2014 an entirely achievable target for Canucks Sports & Entertainment.

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