Quick back story: Michael Jordan mentioned in his hall of fame speech how he owned Bryon Russell in his game winner in the '97 finals. The owner of the Utah Flash, Brandt Andersen, offered $100,000 charity donation to the winner of a Russell-Jordan 1-on-1 halftime challenge at a Flash game. Jordan typically doesn't do stuff like this, but you never know. The Flash marketing team hyped it up, but never actually promised Jordan. The Flash realized that Jordan wasn't going to show, so they cooked up a Jordan impersonator and did a huge halftime intro and made it seem like the real Jordan was there. The fans felt betrayed and the Flash experienced backlash. Here is the explanation from the owner: http://dleagueutah.blogspot.com/2009/12/mj-vs-b-russ-challenge-didnt-go-like.html
My response to Brandt is here:
"I was there tonight. It was a really REALLY dumb marketing move. Here is why.
I had never been to a Flash game before tonight. I bought my tickets for 2 reasons: to maybe see MJ and to see a Flash game. I knew there was only a chance of MJ showing up. I figured that at the very least I might see a good basketball game. Something above college ball but not quite NBA level. I wanted to see a Flash game last year and never had the opportunity and I thought this was it.
As for the stunt, why lie to us? You can lead me on and tease me a bit, but you outright lied. I'm not talking about before the game, I'm talking about halftime. There was another way to handle this and still get the hype, but the halftime intro video montage, the announcer saying "his airness is in the building" and "a man who needs no introduction", and having the stupid impostor was just dumb. You alienated any potential fans, including myself.
The first half was fun and there was some decent ball. It has potential. But there is no way I'm going back. Why do you think fans threw the t-shirts back on the court and there was a mad dash for the exits? I honestly think that had this been handled properly the fans would have stayed after halftime and enjoyed the game. Instead there was a mass feeling of betrayal.
I feel bad for the players and B-Russ, but I'm not going back."
I had never been to a Flash game before tonight. I bought my tickets for 2 reasons: to maybe see MJ and to see a Flash game. I knew there was only a chance of MJ showing up. I figured that at the very least I might see a good basketball game. Something above college ball but not quite NBA level. I wanted to see a Flash game last year and never had the opportunity and I thought this was it.
As for the stunt, why lie to us? You can lead me on and tease me a bit, but you outright lied. I'm not talking about before the game, I'm talking about halftime. There was another way to handle this and still get the hype, but the halftime intro video montage, the announcer saying "his airness is in the building" and "a man who needs no introduction", and having the stupid impostor was just dumb. You alienated any potential fans, including myself.
The first half was fun and there was some decent ball. It has potential. But there is no way I'm going back. Why do you think fans threw the t-shirts back on the court and there was a mad dash for the exits? I honestly think that had this been handled properly the fans would have stayed after halftime and enjoyed the game. Instead there was a mass feeling of betrayal.
I feel bad for the players and B-Russ, but I'm not going back."
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