Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- The Syracuse Crunch are looking to fill up the War Memorial as much as they can and their new marketing campaign should help.
The team is doing its part, sitting on top of the overall league standings with the most points in the AHL, but Crunch officials know that sometimes they need another way to draw fans to the games.
"Anytime you can break through the clutter that is out there and get a message across it’s neat, it's a nice feather in our cap and it’s all in good fun,” said Crunch Chief Operating Officer Jim Sarosy.
The new campaign is a follow up to the one featuring model Carol Grow that started the season. The difference is the racy billboards up around town now are a much more family friendly version with a tongue and cheek tag line.
The billboards (pictured) feature Crunch tough guy Eric Neilson in a rather sexy pose with text that reads: For a good time call 473-4444.
"I'm just glad people like it and they get the humor in it and it was a lot of fun to shoot,” said Neilson, billboard model and Crunch right winger. “I'll tell you what, I have a lot of respect for models because I was in there for an hour and I was sweating with the gear on and trying to make that sexy pose face, trying to look at the camera."
Calling the number on the billboard will get you to the Syracuse Crunch office where you can buy tickets to a Crunch game.
"Unless every single one of these blue seats is filled there's always room for improvement. I know it’s borderline cheesy, but that's what we're trying to do,” Sarosky said.
They say it’s not false advertising because Crunch games are a good time.
Sarosky says the billboards have even caught the attention of two national media outlets – CBS Sports and USA Today.
