| Arthur Blank fulfilled a 15-year
dream early last December when he purchased the Falcons for $545 million. While most
coaches and players leaguewide are chilling out big-time in advance of the opening of
training camps less than a month from now, Blank, who made a fortune as co-founder and
chairman of The Home Depot do-it-yourself retail chain, has been showing his new industry
partners in the NFL that he definitely means business.
On June 20, Blank announced that he was dramatically cutting ticket prices to Falcons
games, as well as embarking on a broad-based plan to improve the game-day experiences of
Falcons fans.
Within a week of the announcement, the Falcons increased their season-ticket sales by a
significant margin, compared to a year ago at this time.
What follows is an exclusive interview with Blank that touches on his ambitious
marketing strategy, as well as a number of different subjects pertaining to the Falcons:
Q: How did you arrive at the decisions to significantly reduce ticket prices to
Falcons games and make those games more attractive to attend?
A: We built The Home Depot around a lot of things. One of the major things was to ask
questions and listen to our customers. In this case, our customers are the fans of the
Falcons. Coming into a new industry with the same kind of principles applying, I thought
the most productive thing I could do — instead of trying to draw up plays and tell
people how I played football in high school — was to spend time with the players. On
the plane back from St. Louis following the last game last season, I met with them in
small groups, 3-4 players at a time, and I asked them to tell me what I could do to help
them win, and they all said the same thing. It wasn’t rehearsed, and they
couldn’t hear each other. They all said we just have to get the (Georgia) Dome filled
up. And they also weren’t sheepish about saying we haven’t had a winning season
back-to-back for 36 years, and that we need to play at a higher level. But, more than
anything, they wanted to know what we could do to create that 12th man on the
field. That’s a very distinct advantage they had seen in other teams.
When I got back to Atlanta, I started to read every single fan letter. I answered them
all, and we did some really in-depth focus studies with our fans. All those studies pretty
much pointed to the same things. The first thing was creating a little more competitive
team that would stay in the hunt and hopefully make the playoffs. The second thing, which
was really critical, were concerns about the whole game-day experience, from the time the
fans left their driveways, to the time they come home. Specifically, they brought up the
pricing of tickets and the experience when they got within a half to a quarter mile of the
Dome. How it felt to them as fans. Whether there was enough of an area for tailgating and
enough parking. Was there the right kind of family atmosphere? During the games, were we
putting the right kind of stuff on the Jumbotron? Were we playing the right kind of music,
both for players and fans? The Dome is a great facility to play football in, but it’s
very neutral, a very plain kind of setting that needs to feel like a special place.
And the third thing, which is a real passion of mind, was to create an organization
from a community perspective. It’s one of the things looking back at my 23 years with
The Home Depot that we prided ourselves on. Having an organization where our associates
and customers alike felt that it was a special place to work and shop, not just because
the prices were lower and the service was great and the assortment was broad, all of which
are very critical concerns. But also to create a sense of pride in every area of the
organization, where at the end of the day the players will say, "This is a place
where they listen to me and care about me as a human being, and everybody has real pride
in what they’re doing."
That’s the third leg of this triangle that’s very critical. I want a
situation where a player can nudge his agent and say, "Go out and give me the best
contract you can, but with all things being equal, try to keep me in Atlanta, ’cause
they treat me special there." I’ve talked to enough owners to know that that
kind of feeling is possible, and enough agents and players to know that that kind of
situation does make a difference to them.
Q: Hasn’t there been a longtime perception among Falcons fans that the team
acted like it was doing them a favor allowing them to attend games?
A: That’s exactly right. But in fairness to the Smith family (which had owned 88
percent of the team and had controlled the Falcons since June 30, 1965, when Rankin Smith
Sr. paid $8.5 million for the rights to bring an NFL franchise to Atlanta), I do give them
credit for a number of things. I’ve gotten to know Taylor Smith, and I really like
him. The team had choices to move if it wanted, and it did go after a top head coach in
Dan Reeves, and it did draft Michael Vick. But I don’t think they really subordinated
themselves to the fans, which is what I’ve done. What I’m telling the fans is,
"Listen, fans, I own the team, but this is really your team, and we have to respond
to issues that you’re raising."
Q: How did you arrive at the particular ticket-pricing structure you implemented?
A: We had the second-lowest stadium/dome facility in terms of seat utilization last
year, so when I acquired the club, the big question was how to fill the stadium up. I
needed to find out how you get the blackout rule lifted, since I thought it’s
essential to get your club on TV for 3 1/2 hours every Sunday instead of only half the
Sundays. It was something we had to do. I found out you could file a seating plan, or a
manifest if you will, with the NFL for a fewer number of seats than you have in your
facility. Let’s say you have 72,000 seats. You could file a manifest for 60,000
seats. But it meant that, regardless of who you were playing, you could never sell more
than 60,000 seats, which means your blackout policy would be forever measured against that
number.
But the preferable solution was to try to sell the dome out. I think that’s more
important for the players to hear a high level of noise, and that it’s better for the
fans and community. Because if you could sell those tickets and put people who ordinarily
can’t afford a game in those seats, you’re doing really good work for the city,
as well as pleasing those fans.
I was very blessed that Dick Sullivan, the senior marketing officer for Home Depot, had
retired right around the time we were in the middle of this search we were doing for an
executive vice president of marketing. Dick was on the street around the first of March
and was just planning on taking off some time and doing some consulting. I knew he loved
football and competition and that he wanted to travel less. After about 30 days, I was
able to convince him to join us. He started in mid-April, and he and I began to talk about
ways that we could structure the Dome, and he came up with a very creative strategy, which
has worked very well.
We reduced our season-ticket pricing on 23,000 seats, with half the tickets being
offered in the $100 range. In the first week, we increased our season-ticket sales by
close to 50 percent above where we were a year ago, which is really remarkable, to do that
within a week. When people asked if I was shocked by the response, I said not really. We
talked to the fans, and they said the pricing was a problem. By the way, prior to our new
strategy, we had the lowest average ticket prices in the NFL — $37.81, which is about
25 percent below the next-lowest. The normal reaction from most owners in the NFL would
be: How do you raise your prices? My thing was: How do you get the dome filled? We’ll
worry about raising the prices at a later date, but let’s get the blackout raised and
create some excitement for everybody. Also, a third of the new ticket orders are coming
off our Web site, which is kind of neat.
Q: Arthur, are you having fun in your new capacity?
A: Absolutely. I’ve spoken to a number of owners, and I’ve gotten to be
friendlier with some owners more than others. It was really interesting back in December,
before we closed the transaction. I had breakfast with (Patriots owner) Bob Kraft in New
York. And he was telling me about an experience that was "not fun at all" for
him. He said, "Just remember when you do this, you want to have a winning team and do
the right thing. But you want to have fun too. Just think about that as you’re making
your different football decisions. So far it’s been terrific fun. You know, I realize
I’m 0-0 and tied for first place and in pretty good shape at the moment, and I’m
sure it will be a little less fun when we lose some games we’re supposed to win.
Right now, though, we’re getting great support from the media.
Q: What other owners have you gotten close to?
A: I’ve spent a lot of time talking to Wayne Huizenga in Miami. (Steelers owner)
Dan Rooney has been very helpful as well. So has (Browns owner) Al Lerner. I’ve dealt
with Bob Kraft from a different perspective. He’s very much involved in a nonprofit
organization called "Take the Field," which is something we want to bring to
Atlanta. I have to tell you, Dan, that it’s a lot different from the old industry I
was involved in. Back in the old days I had a very good relationship with the senior
management at Lowe’s, which was our major competitor. Lowe’s Bob Strickland and
I would talk about a variety of things in terms of what was right for the industry, and we
would help each other, but we were serious rivals who competed against each other every
day, with our stores often across the street from one another.
In professional football, what you really have are 32 owners that, in a sense, given
the revenue sharing, really own about 3 percent of every other team. The owners that are
really progressive understand that. They really are a pretty cooperative group of folks.
Q: You raised a lot of eyebrows with your recent hiring of well-known agent Ray
Anderson to be your executive VP/chief administrative officer. Can you talk about that
hiring?
A: Ray’s a very talented guy. He’s an extraordinarily bright guy with a
poli-sci degree from Stanford and a law degree from Harvard. When it comes to smarts,
he’s got ’em in spades. Even more importantly, he has a solid reputation, both
at the league level as well as with players and coaches. He’s been involved in some
difficult kinds of situations where he’s had to appease both sides. He’s a
win-win-philosophy kind of guy. He’s very engaging, and certainly in terms of the
major function of his new job, he’s got great experience. He also happens to live in
Atlanta and has the same kind of values as me in terms of community involvement and
community leadership. And I think he’s a great hire.
Q: How much help have you gotten from Bobby Beathard?
A: Bobby’s been fabulous. Terrific. His title is senior advisor, and he’s
been very important, because there are things that are unique in the pro football
industry. In addition to Dan Reeves, he’s been extremely helpful with those kinds of
things. He’s kind of keeping me between the ropes. I ask him lots of questions, and
he gives me guidance. He’s also been very helpful to Ron Hill, our senior VP of
player personnel. He’s given me some sage counsel. It’s great when you have
people with that kind of experience and success record to give you guidance.
Q: What’s the latest on your search for a new general manager?
A: We’ll probably begin the search again in the late summer and early fall, and we
would like to have somebody elected by the end of the season, so whoever it is could hit
the ground running at the start of next postseason’s activities. I think what happens
sometimes in these kinds of searches, and I’ve done enough of them, that they get to
such a frenetic pace, it almost becomes like shark fever, and they’re not really
productive. I think we needed to take a step back and take a deep breath. It’s not
like we have a crisis situation, especially with Bobby helping us.
Q: Are you surprised at how fleeting the NFL’s offseason really is?
A: There have been a couple of surprises, and that’s certainly one of them. But
that’s fine with me.
Q: Talk about the kind of team you think the Falcons will be this coming season.
A: I really think we can be competitive. I like the changes we made, starting with the
hiring of six new coaches, the most significant being the hiring of defensive coordinator
Wade Phillips, who has one of the best defensive minds in the league. When you talk to our
defensive players, like Keith Brooking, they will tell you that the level of confidence is
so much higher because they’re being led by a coordinator who has achieved a high
level of success. And that instills real confidence in the players. They know he knows
what has to be done and the adjustments that have to be made. They’re very excited
about that.
People keep telling me that Dan Reeves is more enthusiastic and excited than he’s
been in a number of years. I like the free agents we signed such as Warrick Dunn, and Todd
Weiner, who is going to be helpful in securing the right side of our line, which is
critical for a left-handed quarterback. The cutting of Chris Chandler was a major
decision, but the early judgment is that Michael Vick is stepping up, both in terms of his
playing ability and his leadership. Michael knows he’s got he ball now and is anxious
to show what he can do. As far as the draft goes, I believe T.J. Duckett, Will Overstreet
and Martin Bibla will all have a major role on the team this year. The team seems to me to
be a lot more solid, certainly on defense, and I think on offense too.
For more on Arthur Blank and his plan for reviving the Falcons, see the columns by Dan
Arkush and Jerry Magee in the July 2002 print edition of Pro Football Weekly, on sale this
week at newsstands and bookstores throughout the country. For information on how to
subscribe to Pro Football Weekly, click here. |
