SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews has announced the winners of the league’s annual Team Business Services awards, recognizing outstanding achievements in a variety of categories including ticket sales, community service and fan experience.
These awards were announced Wednesday evening at a gala reception during the Board of Governors’ Annual Meeting at Hilton Head Island, S.C.
As part of its Team Business Services program, the AHL honored one club from each conference for top revenue growth in four areas during this past season: overall ticket sales, season-ticket sales, group-ticket sales and corporate sponsorship sales. The winners in overall ticket sales revenue growth were the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (Eastern) and the Texas Stars (Western). Winners for season-ticket sales growth were the Syracuse Crunch (Eastern) and the Rockford IceHogs (Western). The Adirondack Phantoms (Eastern) and the Oklahoma City Barons (Western) earned the awards for group-ticket sales growth, and the Providence Bruins (Eastern) and Hamilton Bulldogs (Western) were recognized for their corporate sponsorship sales growth.
Additionally, teams from each conference were selected for excellence in the areas of digital media, community relations and fan experience. The Manchester Monarchs (Eastern) and Grand Rapids Griffins (Western) were honored for digital media excellence; the St. John’s IceCaps (Eastern) and Charlotte Checkers (Western) earned the nods for exceptional community relations efforts; and the St. John’s IceCaps (Eastern) and Toronto Marlies (Western) were recognized for outstanding fan experience at home games.
The AHL also honored several teams and individuals for their efforts during the 2013-14 season at the league’s Marketing Meeting in Springfield, Mass., last month, including the St. John’s IceCaps as the sponsorship sales department of the year and the Grand Rapids Griffins as the ticket sales department of the year.
The Toronto Marlies were recognized for the most unique ticket sales promotion or theme night (“Girl Guides Partnership”); the Lake Erie Monsters were selected for having the most unique game operations, community relations or social media promotion (“Joe Haden Bobblehead Giveaway”); and the Charlotte Checkers were given the award for the most unique sponsorship package or entitlement (“Frigidaire ‘Frigid Air’”).
In operation since 1936, the AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 88 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and for the 13th year in a row, more than 6 million fans attended AHL games across North America in 2013-14.
