Bad record, worse economy a tough combo for Lions to sell winless club to fans

Just win: Simple way to bring back Lions fans

DETROIT — Unemployment in the city and its suburbs is twice the national average.

No NFL team drew fewer fans last year, or played its home games before a bigger share of empty seats, as it staggered to the first 0-16 season in league history.

The Detroit Lions have been dealing with a marketing nightmare, and the organization has responded by turning up its efforts to create buzz and put bodies in the seats of Ford Field.

The Lions have cut or frozen ticket prices, aired a TV commercial drawing on Detroit’s blue-collar character, piqued fans’ interest with the team’s first overall No. 1 draft choice since Billy Sims in 1980 and rolled out other public relations gambits.

But first-year coach Jim Schwartz knows the sizzle doesn’t count for much if the steak is spoiled.

Appearing earlier this month at the Lions’ annual kickoff luncheon, hosted by the Detroit Economic Club, Schwartz was asked what he could say to raise fans’ hopes.

“Can’t say anything,” he told the audience. “It’s actions — actions speak louder than words. You guys don’t need a new slogan. You don’t need a new billboard. That stuff doesn’t last. It’s doing the right thing, having a well-arranged plan, having a vision.”

Schwartz knows Detroit deserves better than a team that has lost 18 straight games going into Sunday’s home opener against Minnesota. But he and the front office face a tough task.

The Lions, who last won an NFL title in 1957, are trying to negate both the recession and memories of their 31-98 record going back to 2001. The 45-27 loss at New Orleans in the season opener tied them for the NFL’s third-longest losing streak ever and drew them closer to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ all-time record of 26.

“I have been a Lions fan, and I’m still a Lions fan,” said Janice Georgen, a stay-at-home mom from Clinton Township and the only customer in the Ford Field retail store the morning after the loss to the Saints.

“I was hoping this was going to be the year they turn it around,” Georgen said, reciting the longtime mantra of the Lions fan.

“I’m reminded of the Broadway show ‘Damn Yankees’ — the perpetual losing,” said Ben Goryca, a 75-year-old retired salesman from Dearborn Heights. “They absolutely have to get better than they were last year, because last year was the most pathetic professional football I’ve seen in the last 50 years.”

Between the economy and the infamy that was 2008, the Lions have had to sell their fans something besides the on-the-field product:

—Lower prices on about 4,400 of Ford Field’s 65,000 seats and frozen prices on the rest. Some season tickets were offered for just $30 apiece per game.

—”All You Can Eat Seats” offering unlimited hot dogs, bratwurst, nachos, chips and soft drinks for as little as $57 per game.

—A tweaked logo that adds what the team calls “muscular accents” to the outline of their Honolulu blue Lion.

—A TV ad showing assembly line workers, construction crews, a schoolteacher at a blackboard and Lions slamming a blocking sled as a voiceover intones, “The Detroit Lions will work as hard on Sunday as you do all week long. … Because you deserve it now more than ever.”

—An effort to raise the profile of top draft choice Matthew Stafford, although it was delayed when Schwartz didn’t announce until six days before the season opener that he’d chosen Stafford as the starting quarterback over veteran Daunte Culpepper.

Front-office executives for the Lions declined to be interviewed for this story. But Schwartz is one of many to recognize discounts will only go so far.

Cheaper seats and nonstop nachos are responsible reactions to the troubled economy, said John Caponigro, founder and CEO of Sports Management Network, a Bloomfield Hills-based management and marketing firm. “But the fans will still want to see a first-class product on the field, evidenced by a skilled and well-prepared team that demonstrates a consistent maximum effort and an ability to win,” he said.

Last year’s catastrophe stretched the limits of fan devotion, even by Lions standards.

According to the NFL and Sports Business Daily, Detroit in 2008 ranked last among the league’s 32 teams in average home game attendance (54,497), had the biggest drop in average home attendance from 2007 (11.1 percent) and, perhaps most tellingly, had the worst average home attendance as a percentage of stadium capacity (84.5 percent).

Detroit failed to sell out five of its final six home games in 2008 after selling out the first 50 after Ford Field opened in 2002. Sunday’s game against the Vikings was another marketing struggle. The Lions narrowly avoided a local TV blackout, getting an extension from the NFL and selling the last 1,700 tickets before a 1 p.m. Friday deadline.

Audrey Wilinski, a 25-year-old bartender at the Elwood Bar & Grill, misses those fans. She said crowds — and tips — were down in 2008 from her first two seasons working at the bar across the street from the stadium.

“People would rather go and buy a case of beer, a case of hot dogs” and watch the game at home, she said.

The stay-at-home fans include Goryca, who had season tickets in the 1970s and 1980s but hasn’t been to a game in at least 10 years. He’s content to watch games on his 42-inch high-definition TV, record them on his DVR or even watch them streamed on his laptop.

Goryca said fans aren’t asking for much.

“We want to be able to see a decent game,” he said. “If they play well and they lose, OK. And if they play well, they’re not going to lose all the time.”

Marketer Caponigro said that’s the kind of forgiveness the team needs to capitalize on: “If the Lions can show marked improvement this year and give the fans something to really cheer about, the fans will forget about last year’s won/loss record and get solidly behind the Lions.”