Gladiators Set Home Game Start Times With Fans In Mind

5/24/2006
Late Afternoon Memorial Day Game Start Time to Allow for Fan Travel
Plans

Gwinnett County school children aren=3Ft the only ones that are excited
about the fact that school lets out for summer this week =3F the Gwinnett
Gladiators Professional Hockey organization is equally as thrilled. The
Gladiators have advanced to the ECHL Kelly Cup Finals for the first time
in franchise history and will take on the Alaska Aces in a Best-of-Seven
series to determine the national champion of minor league hockey=3Fs
premiere AA league. With home games scheduled for Memorial Day Afternoon
(Monday, May 29th) as well as Wednesday night, May 31st and Thursday
night, June 1st, the Gladiators are glad to know that they won=3Ft be
battling early morning school times as a deterrent for fans to make the
games.

=3FIt doesn=3Ft take a rocket scientist to figure out that our fans are
predominantly made up of families,=3F said Gladiators President and
General Manager Steve Chapman. =3FDuring the regular season, we normally
have triple the attendance on weekend dates than we do on weeknights
when school is in. We=3Fve put our collective marketing heads together and
determined that early morning school hours might have something to do
with that. Although we weren=3Ft lucky enough to land a prime Friday or
Saturday night date for one of our finals games, we were pretty
fortunate in the fact that school lets out the week before we play.=3F

As such, the Gladiators altered their normal regular season starting
times in order to help fans get out to the games. With Game One falling
on Memorial Day, the Gladiators placed their start time at 5:05 PM to
allow fans ample time to return from their vacation plans or family get-
togethers. By the same token, the mid-week games on Wednesday and
Thursday were moved back to 7:35 PM to allow fans who normally commute
more time to handle any potential traffic.

=3FWe considered a number of options for the game on Memorial Day,=3F said
Gladiators Director of Marketing Chris Peace. =3FAs everyone is off of
work, we kicked around the idea of a matinee start time. At the same
time, though, we also realized that some fans will be traveling out of
town and we didn=3Ft want to deter them from returning for the game by
playing the too early. By starting at 5:05, we hope to allow fans the
time to take advantage of their normal holiday plans, while at the same
time providing a great event for the day.=3F

No matter what the start time, the Gladiators expect a solid turn-out
from fans that will come out and support the team in their quest for the
Kelly Cup. The Gladiators are one of the league=3Fs top-drawing teams
during the regular season and, so far, rank #8 out of the 19 ECHL teams
that made the post-season.

=3FSure, we would have appreciated a weekend date or two,=3F says Chapman.
=3FBut, hey, this is the Kelly Cup. We=3Fre competing for the national
championship of our league. I realize that we have some warmer weather
and a few more recreational options and distractions this time of year
than they probably do right now in Anchorage. But I also know that we
have a rock solid base of fans and that they appreciate what this team
has done. Some teams never get this chance and some fans only wish for
the opportunity to watch their team compete for the championship. We
believe in our team and we believe in our fans.=3F