No fishing.

• Author: Schley, Stewart
• Position: SPORTS biz

BEN RIFKIN REALIZED THE DENVER Cutthroats had an image problem.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"Two or three times a day we'd get phone calls from people asking about the fishing trade show," says the affable president and general manager of Denver's newest professional sports team, which is poised to begin its second season in October. The culprit was a two-word tag line displayed on the Cutthroats' website and on a large banner hanging from the side of the Denver Coliseum. It said, "Go fish!"

For a little-known team in a competitive sports market, it was a confusing line that failed to get across a basic idea: The Cutthroats are a hockey team. One of Rifkin's first moves was to banish the "fish" slogan and replace it with the more direct line, "It's a great day For Cutthroats hockey." that will appear on advertising and promotional materials this summer.

That's just one of the changes Rifkin, who previously headed marketing for die USA Pro Challenge bike race, has instituted as the front-office leader of a team that went from formation to ice in six months. Rifkin took the job in March, succeeding Brad Lund, a longtime hockey executive who helped Cutthroats majority owner and Ball Corp. CEO John Hayes launch the team.

As the Central Hockey League team looks forward to season two, Rifkin is counting on a more intimate connection with fans and a more nuanced marketing approach to help fill seats and attract corporate partnerships. In last year's inaugural season the Cutthroats attracted slightly fewer than 100,000 fans over 33 home games at the Denver Coliseum, building a base of loyalist drawn by a blend of competitive hockey and a high level of player accessibility. Rifkin says it was eye-opening to see how many fans came to games bedecked in Cutthroats jerseys-a sign he takes as a positive indication that the mix has potential.

On a good night, like the Cutthroats' Dec. 1 game against the Wichita Thunder, close to 6,000 fans came to the Coliseum to cheer on a leant that ended its first season making the CHL playoffs and exiting in the first round after losing to the Allen (Texas) Americans. On the flip side, only 1,200 showed up a Nov. 25 game against Rapid City.

For the coming season, a season ticket base of 2,000 would be considered a huge success, Rifkin says. That means most sales will come from single- or...