STH Townhall Recap 2016 - Homer Presentation

[Poulin20]

For our 3rd installment of 4 we will go to our erstwhile GM (now team President)  Paul Holmgren, who with the help of the COO Shawn Tilger presented the business portion of the STH meeting.

 

Homer began by thanking us fans for all we have done for the team in the past and noting that they will continue to need to count on us in the future.  He also said that it is good to be back for another townhall, however the session that they had with the first group of fans was rough, the second, not so bad and he hoped aloud that we would go easy on them.  He continued on to say that he is only in his second year in this role and he "doesn't know about a lot of these things so Shawn will take the lead in answering most of the things being asked" (I was surprised by this statement because who admits to your paying customers that you don't know what you are doing as team president?)  Homer then reiterated that "without the fans the Flyers are nothing" and that he loved playing in front of passionate fans and full buildings during the Spectrum years.  From there he segued into the fact that they did re-price the entire building for next year noting that some of us got an increase while others got a decrease in pricing (if you are wondering I got a slight increase but many of the rows in front of me got a big decrease so the net effect was that I upgraded my seats 9 rows forward for only $5 more per game than what I would have been paying in my current seats!).  Homer attributed it to the vauge "we are trying to do business in the NHL" and we have a young and up and coming team that is trending upwards over the next few years.  He stated that we were 10th in the NHL in season ticket prices and he felt that with the Flyers playing in a major US market that this is "entirely within reason" (In this case I actually agree with him as we Flyers STHs get a lot of bang for our buck.).  Homer then played the dumb card again and basically said he doesnt know a lot about it all but hopes we have some good questions and that he appreciates us attending this meeting.  Homer then asked us to "Fire away".

 

The first guy up complained about the TV coverage of both the Flyers and Phantoms.  He was from the Lehigh valley stated that his cable company does not provide The Comascast Network (TCN) which is a 2ndary Comcast channel (this comes into play when a 76ers or Phillies game is airing concurrently) or ANY of the Phantoms games and he asked Homer work with the cable companies to get this straightened out.  Tilger grabbed the mic and said that while it frustrates them that a portion of their fanbase is being blacked out they cannot influence the cable companies to pick up the games on TCN.  They said that they are contractually obligated to have a certain number of games on TCN which is 1 issue and the other issue is cable companies dont like to pick up these 2ndary stations.  Tilger ended the response by saying, "I know this is a bad answer, but you guys have to get on your cable providers about this".

 

Next guy up claimed to be a charter member of the Flyers STH ranks.  He thanked the brass up and down for the way they have treated him over the years and said that they run a "First Class Operation, and that the other 3 teams in town could take a lesson from them and if they did they would keep their seats full".  He then went on to complain about the sound in the building and how in the upper level it is hard to hear announcements and interviews on the Jumbotron.  He also complained about the quality of the Wifi in the building.  Tilger responded by by thanking the guy for his sentiment and put it all down to Ed Snider and how he wants things run.  He said that they are aware of the sound issues and are trying to play with the speaker direction in order to fix it.  He also said that they invested a lot of money in upgrading the Wifi in the building and it should not be a problem and joked that maybe because of the bad sound the guy never heard about it. 

 

3rd STH addressed Homer and firstly thanked him for drafting Ghost and then asked him if he has any say whatsoever on the hockey side of things.Homer immediately said that Hexy is in charge of all hockey operations and while he keeps Homer informed as to what is going on he does not "meddle or stick his nose in there as it is not right to do that".  He said that he put Hexy in that position for a reason, and thinks he is the best man for the job, that he is doing a great job, and that all of us should be truly excited for the future of our franchise as it is "tremendous".  Another fan mentioned how they need to sell more Ghost jerseys in the Flyers Store.  Homer quipped back, "but what if he has a different number next year?"

 

Then we had a question from a fan asking if they could provide any details on the outdoor game that is scheduled for next year.  Tilger said that it has been the worst kept secret that the Flyers have been actively chasing a game and while they can confirm that it will not be at Penn. St we will have to wait a few more months for details following the league's lead.  He said that every STH will be guaranteed a crack at tickets before anyone else.  There was another question on the outdoor game pricing scheme and who sets that and why the Flyers forced us to buy the alumni game too.  Tilger replied that this is the League's event and they price it as they please and that the Flyers no longer forced us to buy all the events as a strip (probably due to the class action lawsuit that we won against them).

 

I then was able to ask Shawn about renovations to the building that he mentioned approximately 3 STH townhalls ago and I wanted to know what the status of these were.  He thanked me for the layup and said that all the suites are being renovated now (which I could care less about) and that in the next 3 years we will see upgrades to the scoreboard and all digital signage including those signs on the concourse as well.  The premium areas are also being renovated so it is not just club boxes and suites but also "boutique products that can accommodate smaller groups".  Tilger also mentioned that the STH lounge (which is a concept they have been testing the past season) will be upgraded in a major way (they had some concept pictures to back up this claim.  Shawn finished by thanking me for calling him out on that topic.

 

The next questioner complained about the smoke wafting in from the Cigar Club to the STH lounge (this is true, it is a major inconvenience).  Shawn said they are aware and will work to change the ventilation system to keep the wafting from occuring.  She also questioned them on why some seats saw increases and other saw decreases.  Tilger said it was all based on demand and that over 40% of the  STHs saw decreases and they tried to increase a few people as possible and by no means did they want to price anyone out.

 

Then there was a question about the Flyers ever getting the All Star Game and if the World Cup of hockey and if it will interfere with the 2016-17 season or all star game.  Tilger answered that the Flyers have tried to get an ASG but they had great concerns with it as many STHs would be shut out from getting tickets as the ASG is very corporate and as a result many of the tickets needs to be allocated elsewhere.  For this reason the Flyers focus more on outdoor games and events like the draft.  Tilger said they really dont want it to be an occasion to aggrivate the STHs and that they would love to have an ASG but it has to be on their terms before they bid on one. As far as the World Cup goes Homer said that training camp for that would start around labor day and that the tournament would go till early October.  He said that there will be an NHL ASG and that people who participate in the World Cup will likely miss their own team's training camp.  There was a final question about why the World Cup was only being played in Toronto and not in various venues and if there was a possibility for it to be held in Philly again?  Homer reiterated what Shawn said that the Flyers are always very active on bidding for most events.  They tried to get this World Cup but they could not make the dates work.  Tilger said that next year we can expect some sort of hockey tournament here but could not specify which (I should have asked if he meant the Stanley Cup Playoffs!)

 

That concluded the business portion of the meeting.  So we just have 1 installment to go, that would be the session with Chris Prior the director of scouting....till then.....

[OccamsRazor]

1 hour ago, Poulin20 said:

For our 3rd installment of 4 we will go to our erstwhile GM (now team President)  Paul Holmgren, who with the help of the COO Shawn Tilger presented the business portion of the STH meeting.

 

Homer began by thanking us fans for all we have done for the team in the past and noting that they will continue to need to count on us in the future.  He also said that it is good to be back for another townhall, however the session that they had with the first group of fans was rough, the second, not so bad and he hoped aloud that we would go easy on them.  He continued on to say that he is only in his second year in this role and he "doesn't know about a lot of these things so Shawn will take the lead in answering most of the things being asked" (I was surprised by this statement because who admits to your paying customers that you don't know what you are doing as team president?)  Homer then reiterated that "without the fans the Flyers are nothing" and that he loved playing in front of passionate fans and full buildings during the Spectrum years.  From there he segued into the fact that they did re-price the entire building for next year noting that some of us got an increase while others got a decrease in pricing (if you are wondering I got a slight increase but many of the rows in front of me got a big decrease so the net effect was that I upgraded my seats 9 rows forward for only $5 more per game than what I would have been paying in my current seats!).  Homer attributed it to the vauge "we are trying to do business in the NHL" and we have a young and up and coming team that is trending upwards over the next few years.  He stated that we were 10th in the NHL in season ticket prices and he felt that with the Flyers playing in a major US market that this is "entirely within reason" (In this case I actually agree with him as we Flyers STHs get a lot of bang for our buck.).  Homer then played the dumb card again and basically said he doesnt know a lot about it all but hopes we have some good questions and that he appreciates us attending this meeting.  Homer then asked us to "Fire away".

 

The first guy up complained about the TV coverage of both the Flyers and Phantoms.  He was from the Lehigh valley stated that his cable company does not provide The Comascast Network (TCN) which is a 2ndary Comcast channel (this comes into play when a 76ers or Phillies game is airing concurrently) or ANY of the Phantoms games and he asked Homer work with the cable companies to get this straightened out.  Tilger grabbed the mic and said that while it frustrates them that a portion of their fanbase is being blacked out they cannot influence the cable companies to pick up the games on TCN.  They said that they are contractually obligated to have a certain number of games on TCN which is 1 issue and the other issue is cable companies dont like to pick up these 2ndary stations.  Tilger ended the response by saying, "I know this is a bad answer, but you guys have to get on your cable providers about this".

 

Next guy up claimed to be a charter member of the Flyers STH ranks.  He thanked the brass up and down for the way they have treated him over the years and said that they run a "First Class Operation, and that the other 3 teams in town could take a lesson from them and if they did they would keep their seats full".  He then went on to complain about the sound in the building and how in the upper level it is hard to hear announcements and interviews on the Jumbotron.  He also complained about the quality of the Wifi in the building.  Tilger responded by by thanking the guy for his sentiment and put it all down to Ed Snider and how he wants things run.  He said that they are aware of the sound issues and are trying to play with the speaker direction in order to fix it.  He also said that they invested a lot of money in upgrading the Wifi in the building and it should not be a problem and joked that maybe because of the bad sound the guy never heard about it. 

 

3rd STH addressed Homer and firstly thanked him for drafting Ghost and then asked him if he has any say whatsoever on the hockey side of things.Homer immediately said that Hexy is in charge of all hockey operations and while he keeps Homer informed as to what is going on he does not "meddle or stick his nose in there as it is not right to do that".  He said that he put Hexy in that position for a reason, and thinks he is the best man for the job, that he is doing a great job, and that all of us should be truly excited for the future of our franchise as it is "tremendous".  Another fan mentioned how they need to sell more Ghost jerseys in the Flyers Store.  Homer quipped back, "but what if he has a different number next year?"

 

Then we had a question from a fan asking if they could provide any details on the outdoor game that is scheduled for next year.  Tilger said that it has been the worst kept secret that the Flyers have been actively chasing a game and while they can confirm that it will not be at Penn. St we will have to wait a few more months for details following the league's lead.  He said that every STH will be guaranteed a crack at tickets before anyone else.  There was another question on the outdoor game pricing scheme and who sets that and why the Flyers forced us to buy the alumni game too.  Tilger replied that this is the League's event and they price it as they please and that the Flyers no longer forced us to buy all the events as a strip (probably due to the class action lawsuit that we won against them).

 

I then was able to ask Shawn about renovations to the building that he mentioned approximately 3 STH townhalls ago and I wanted to know what the status of these were.  He thanked me for the layup and said that all the suites are being renovated now (which I could care less about) and that in the next 3 years we will see upgrades to the scoreboard and all digital signage including those signs on the concourse as well.  The premium areas are also being renovated so it is not just club boxes and suites but also "boutique products that can accommodate smaller groups".  Tilger also mentioned that the STH lounge (which is a concept they have been testing the past season) will be upgraded in a major way (they had some concept pictures to back up this claim.  Shawn finished by thanking me for calling him out on that topic.

 

The next questioner complained about the smoke wafting in from the Cigar Club to the STH lounge (this is true, it is a major inconvenience).  Shawn said they are aware and will work to change the ventilation system to keep the wafting from occuring.  She also questioned them on why some seats saw increases and other saw decreases.  Tilger said it was all based on demand and that over 40% of the  STHs saw decreases and they tried to increase a few people as possible and by no means did they want to price anyone out.

 

Then there was a question about the Flyers ever getting the All Star Game and if the World Cup of hockey and if it will interfere with the 2016-17 season or all star game.  Tilger answered that the Flyers have tried to get an ASG but they had great concerns with it as many STHs would be shut out from getting tickets as the ASG is very corporate and as a result many of the tickets needs to be allocated elsewhere.  For this reason the Flyers focus more on outdoor games and events like the draft.  Tilger said they really dont want it to be an occasion to aggrivate the STHs and that they would love to have an ASG but it has to be on their terms before they bid on one. As far as the World Cup goes Homer said that training camp for that would start around labor day and that the tournament would go till early October.  He said that there will be an NHL ASG and that people who participate in the World Cup will likely miss their own team's training camp.  There was a final question about why the World Cup was only being played in Toronto and not in various venues and if there was a possibility for it to be held in Philly again?  Homer reiterated what Shawn said that the Flyers are always very active on bidding for most events.  They tried to get this World Cup but they could not make the dates work.  Tilger said that next year we can expect some sort of hockey tournament here but could not specify which (I should have asked if he meant the Stanley Cup Playoffs!)

 

That concluded the business portion of the meeting.  So we just have 1 installment to go, that would be the session with Chris Prior the director of scouting....till then.....

 

Great job once again for taking the time for filling us in. I feel like i was there!

[pilldoc]

@Poulin20

 

as usual...great stuff!Thanks!

[AJgoal]

Awesome, Thanks @Poulin20!

[Samifan]

4 hours ago, Poulin20 said:

I was surprised by this statement because who admits to your paying customers that you don't know what you are doing as team president?

 

That's our Homer, LOL!

 

Another great write up, THANKS! As an out of state fan, its great to get some of this inside coverage of the Flyers.

[RJ8812]

good stuff! much appreciated.

 

Not surprised someone complained about the FREE wifi in the building...first world problems!