June 8, 2001
In a McDonald's parking lot just a strong throw from Pacific Bell Park, Wayne Bak and Greg Hubley are pitching tickets for that night's Giants' game against San Diego. It's not going well.
The problem's not just the four-game series against the lowly Padres, said Bak, one of a handful of licensed ticket resellers who operate around Pac Bell Park. It's also been games against teams like Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Montreal and Colorado.
Unlike last year -- when a spanking new ballpark, a solid on-field team, sellouts and an economy willing to shell out massive amounts of money made grand social occasions of Giants games -- big profits from resold Giants tickets are no longer a lock.
"Everybody's hurting out here," Bak said.
Yet, Giants officials say attendance will drop off only slightly from Pac Bell's first year -- from 3.3 million to 3.2 million -- and it's the first ticket sale that matters most to them.
"You're never going to have as much excitement as in the first year, but people have been very solid and loyal to this product," said Larry Baer, the Giants' chief operating officer.
But even the Giants have noticed a fall. More than 300 tickets failed to sell for the April 24 game against Cincinnati -- the first time in 90 home games that had happened. It's happened five times in the 20 games since.
Showing posts with label 2001. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2001. Show all posts
Friday, October 09, 2009
MVP pitches
March 30, 2001
Jeff Kent and Jason Giambi are two of baseball's best hitters, and have last year's Most Valuable Player trophies to prove it. Now they are working on becoming better pitchers.
But the approaches to corporate endorsements taken by the Oakland A's Giambi and San Francisco Giants' Kent are as different as a fastball and changeup. Motorcycle-loving Giambi parlayed his MVP award into national deals with Pepsi, video-game maker Electronic Arts and menswear retailer Ermenegildo Zegna; workaday family man Kent has picked up mostly smaller, baseball-related offers.
Different people, different endorsement paths.
"I've got tattoos and ride a Harley, and he's got a John Deere and farms," Giambi said. "It's just different personalities."
Jeff Kent and Jason Giambi are two of baseball's best hitters, and have last year's Most Valuable Player trophies to prove it. Now they are working on becoming better pitchers.
But the approaches to corporate endorsements taken by the Oakland A's Giambi and San Francisco Giants' Kent are as different as a fastball and changeup. Motorcycle-loving Giambi parlayed his MVP award into national deals with Pepsi, video-game maker Electronic Arts and menswear retailer Ermenegildo Zegna; workaday family man Kent has picked up mostly smaller, baseball-related offers.
Different people, different endorsement paths.
"I've got tattoos and ride a Harley, and he's got a John Deere and farms," Giambi said. "It's just different personalities."
Developers wage P.R. battle for waterfront project
March 16, 2001
Standing on the edge of Pier 29, Mills Corp. executive Ed Vinson was painting the shopping mall developer's waterfront vision to a crew of television cameras, when a public relations handler surreptitiously motioned to a mural behind him.
Vinson wheeled, "And the mural there on Pier 31 will be restored."
It was the perfect planning of a spontaneous moment -- and one meant to capture the hearts and minds of San Franciscans as Mills Corp. and Chelsea Piers duke it out for Piers 27-31, the biggest chunk of available San Francisco Bay real estate in years.
Standing on the edge of Pier 29, Mills Corp. executive Ed Vinson was painting the shopping mall developer's waterfront vision to a crew of television cameras, when a public relations handler surreptitiously motioned to a mural behind him.
Vinson wheeled, "And the mural there on Pier 31 will be restored."
It was the perfect planning of a spontaneous moment -- and one meant to capture the hearts and minds of San Franciscans as Mills Corp. and Chelsea Piers duke it out for Piers 27-31, the biggest chunk of available San Francisco Bay real estate in years.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Cabbies gripe: No fare!
June 22, 2001
Joe Fazeli cruises in his Yellow Cab through the streets of San Francisco, looking for fares in places he shied away from a year ago, taking passengers places he wouldn't have gone, and making less money in the process.
"In the late '80s, there were problems with the bad economy, but we had like 800 cabs. Now we have over 1,300. I cannot make a living," Fazeli says, camped inside his cab late one afternoon in front of the Bank of America building on California Street.
"I work eight to 10 hours a day for maybe $6 an hour."
It's a common complaint among cabbies as the dot-com-fueled economy sputters. The boom put the pedal to taxi demand, and the subsequent bust continues to siphon off ridership. And if plans for an additional 500 city taxis are approved -- a measure given a tentative green light late last year -- cabbies worry that supply will speed past demand and kill their livelihood.
Joe Fazeli cruises in his Yellow Cab through the streets of San Francisco, looking for fares in places he shied away from a year ago, taking passengers places he wouldn't have gone, and making less money in the process.
"In the late '80s, there were problems with the bad economy, but we had like 800 cabs. Now we have over 1,300. I cannot make a living," Fazeli says, camped inside his cab late one afternoon in front of the Bank of America building on California Street.
"I work eight to 10 hours a day for maybe $6 an hour."
It's a common complaint among cabbies as the dot-com-fueled economy sputters. The boom put the pedal to taxi demand, and the subsequent bust continues to siphon off ridership. And if plans for an additional 500 city taxis are approved -- a measure given a tentative green light late last year -- cabbies worry that supply will speed past demand and kill their livelihood.
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