Suns committed to growing fan base

The newly-appointed Suns President of Business Operations Brad Casper joined Arizona Sports 620's Doug and Wolf for the final day of Newsmakers week and revealed how the lockout tapered the planning process from the onset.

"When this season started, obviously in the wake of the lockout, we wanted to do some different things and yet we had very little time to do it," Casper said. "From the time we learned we were going to play basketball until the time we tipped off against the Hornets, we had about three-and-a-half weeks."

Casper was formerly the CEO of Henkel Consumer Goods, Inc, the multi- billion dollar company that acquired Dial Corporation in 2004. Casper was hired by the Suns to succeed Rick Welts this past October. He has reportedly compared building a sports brand to selling soap.

Already he has faced his share of challenges due to restraints from the lockout.

Even with limited time for the planning stages of marketing this year, the Suns were able to make their mark in the community and interact with their home fans on opening night at US Airways Center.

"We did some things at Grand Canyon University, where the players were tossing the t-shirts and they were interacting with the fans," Casper told Doug and Wolf. "But then on Opening Night, something that hasn't been done in years, instead of just having the players run from the bench, let's have them come down from the portals, giving high fives to all the fans in the place."

Casper plans to continue finding ways to increase the Suns' presence and outreach in the community.

"We'll be staging through the rest of the season several events where we get the players to interact with season ticket holders and this tends to be lower seat holders that will be there," Casper said. "We'll have special, private events with marketing partners -- all the 12, 13 players will be there to hob nob with executives from leading companies and that is to create that experience."

There is also talk of creating an event equivalent to FanFest, which would touch a wider demographic of Suns fans, despite the fact that the season is already nearing the All-Star break.

Statistically, the Suns average one of the oldest season ticket holder fan bases in the league, according to Casper. So, one of his primary goals for the immediate future is to create new, innovative ways to get fans involved with the team at an earlier age.

"You always have to continue to fill the funnel," Casper stated. "We've got to find ways to bring young people back into the franchise.

While Casper acknowledged the fan base must grow organically, he and his team of executives still intend to make attending a basketball game economically friendly for young families in the near future.

"Next year we'll probably have more $10 seats than any team in professional sports," Casper enthused.

Business and basketball go hand-in-hand and Casper is confident the product on the court will soon match the fan-friendly entertainment experience at the arena.

"We want to be winners and have that club atmosphere as well," Casper said.