October 29, 2023 • 17 mins
Trail Blazers President of Business Operations, Dewayne Hankins joined Dwight & Chad to discuss a new era, Root Sports, RSNs, and what to expect at Moda Center during the 2023-2024 NBA season. 10-26-23.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
We're right. Tomorrow night at MotusCenter, your Portland Trail Blazers will kick
off their home season, the homeopener against the Orlando Magic. Tip Off
is at seven. We'll have gameday starting at four point thirty here in
your home of the Blazers six twentyRip City Radio and joining us right now
is the Portland Trailblazers President of businessOperations. Dwayne Hankins is back on the
Rip City Drive. Dwayne, Goodevening. It's great to have you back
(00:22):
on the show. Thanks for yourtime. Yeah, thanks for having me,
appreciate it. Well, I wantto start out with this. Yeah,
I know what it's like for us. You know, we've been around
this team, Dwight and I amcovered it for a long time. So
it's kind of exciting with this newera and a young team and all the
different changes with the television broadcast crewand everything. But what's it like for
you to start this new era.How much excitement is there as you get
(00:42):
ready for the home opener? Oh? Yeah, Yeah, there's a lot
of excitement, you know. Ithink we're excited for the season. Our
fans have been incredible. I thinkthrough all this through the offseason, it's
going to be a great atmosphere atthe Modest Center tomorrow, incredible experience for
our new players. And it's alwaysyou know, this is my talk from
somebody today. It's my eleventh openingopening night with the Blazers, and it
(01:03):
should be a lot of fun.Like we were walking the concourses today,
we're looking at the opening night video. There's gonna be I think, a
lot of energy, a lot ofexciting tomorrow. Okay, do you have
anything maybe that people won't see everynight that's just reserved for opening night?
Anything special going on? Yeah,Dwight, good to hear from you.
(01:23):
By the way, you know,we will announce all the players, so
that's that's traditionally something that we doon opening night. I don't want to
spill too much, right because wewant to leave a little bit of surprised.
But obviously, yeah, the introwill be a little bit I think
special. You know, so fanswill want to get to their seats earlier
than typical. Okay, I knowthere's something they're going to see when they
(01:45):
walk into that bold Wayne, andit impressed me when I saw it.
You guys did a lot of workinside that bowl. This summer. Why
don't you tell me a little bitabout what you did and the impact it's
going to have. Yeah, sothere's a big obviously, I think the
biggest capital project that we've had inthat building in one in one swoop,
(02:08):
and it was replacing all of thesteel around the seats and the end zone.
So you're looking at a couple thousandseats that all or got changed out
this summer. It was it wasa sprint to get it done in the
three months. I think we talkedlast time, and we weren't able to
have any concerts or events in thein the in the arena this summer to
get ready for it. But theseats are incredible. Again, we were
(02:30):
in the bowl trying out all thesedifferent seats and checking them out. So
for the fans in those areas,I think it'll be a pretty tremendous experience.
And you know, yeah, we'refans will be looking forward to that.
I think that would be a reallyexciting thing. And then also just
for fans that are coming to thegame tomorrow, they'll be a T shirt
on every seat hurt of the Emota, So it should we should look really
(02:50):
good in there tomorrow. We're talkingto the Trailblazer's President of Business Operations,
Dwayne Hankins here on the Rip CityDrive. One thing that you guys always
do a great job of, Dwayne, as with each season is you know,
offering up new things at Motive,whether it be through food or experience.
So can you share some of thenew things that you'll have a MOTU
center this year for us? Surethings the Lardo is coming in. So
(03:12):
if you guys are Sandwich fans,that's yeah, we've already done a couple
of test runs and it's gone really, really really well with them. Obviously,
it's a whole different deal to tryto serve you know, twenty thousand
fans in the building, but they'vebeen a phenomenal partner. And you know,
all of our partners, whether it'sKillerberger or Fizzle Pie, they all
do a tremendous job and I thinkour fans really like to see that.
(03:34):
The other thing we're trying are thesejust walk out stands, and so you
might have seen these if you guyshave been up in Seattle or Climate Pledge
or at Seahawks at loom and Fieldwhere you scan your credit card on the
way and then grab what you wantand then just walk out basically, So
if there's cameras and tracking software thathelp make sure, they make it a
really easy process. So for fansthat don't like waiting in line, they
(03:57):
just want to grab a beverage orhot talk or something really quick. It's
an actually really neat thing. Wetried it last night. We opened two
of them for the Hosier concert andit went really really well. So looking
forward to I think spans were alittle bit confused at how the process works,
so it'll take some time for folksto get used to it, but
it's a pretty neat thing. Well, they had that up at the Mariners
game when I took my daughter andshe goes, Dad, we got to
(04:18):
try this out. I didn't evenknow how it worked, and she goes,
give me your credit card. Idid. We walked in. I
couldn't believe that we walked out withthe items and it knew what we got
and they got the order exact.It was amazing. Yeah, it's pretty
crazy when you're in there and you'retrying it out, because yeah, like
you said, it just it justhappens to work. You feel a little
bit like your shoplifting, but youknow, yeah, I planned to grab
(04:42):
Chat's credit card and take that inand I pretty well, there you go,
Yeah, that's my plan. Iwant to talk to a little bit,
and people have texted me and askedme to ask you about this.
I think it's not real clear sometimeswith Blazer fans. But the whole situation
with Comcast changing tears of Root Sportsand how that's impacted you. Uh,
(05:03):
did you see it coming? Didyou know what was going to happen?
What's the story from your point ofview on that happening? Yeah, And
I think we found out pretty muchthe same time everyone else did you know.
So it's just tough for our fans. I will say that, you
know, our goal is always tomake our games more available for our fans.
You know, when we moved overto Root Sports, it wasn't an
(05:25):
easy decision, but you know,we knew and believed that we would be
in more households than we were onNBC. And you know, obviously things
can change throughout those that process andthroughout the years, and it's something that's
affecting the entire RSN industry. Ifyou're not paying attention in other markets,
you know, they're struggling with thisas well. And you know, we're
talking almost every day about what thismeans for our not only our our our
(05:48):
business and our industry. But thesethese games really serve as two and a
half hour commercials for our fans,So making them as available as we can
it is really really important. Youknow, we want to create the next
generation of Blazers fans. We wantwant people to be able to see this
exciting young team. So yeah,it's something that we're that we're going we
actively love to try to solve tomake our games easier to watch. And
(06:09):
Dwayne, I've talked to you aboutthis a little bit in the past,
and I'm curious, uh, thiswhole idea that Phoenix and uh, Salt
Lake City, the Utah Jazz aregoing to that direct to consumer model where
they're putting the games just on freeover the air television. Uh are you
guys monitoring that? I mean,what do you see as an upside of
(06:30):
that and a downside of that?How are you looking at it? You
know, we we produce our ownbroadcasting house. It's something that we've done
since you know, as long asI can remember, and it's been it's
been great for us because we havethat muscle, we have that capability,
and that's that's helpful. So forus, it's just tell us where to
tell us where to put that broadcast, and we have been selling the ads
(06:51):
as well. So we'll monitor UtahPhoenix really really closely. You know,
those two teams are also teams thatwe're doing our own broadcast, so it
was easy for them to make theswitch. It was also time for them
to make the switch because you know, their their agreements had ended and they
wanted to try something new. Sowe'll definitely watch what they're doing. We'll
watch their ratings. You know.The upside, I think you know you
(07:14):
have one hundred percent penetration. That'sgreat. You always want to be able
to have your games as available aspossible. The downside, of course,
is is all it's all business related, but it's obviously the right see the
teams get and so you know they'reyou know, again, this industry is
in constant evolution. It's happening beforeour eyes, and so, like I
said, we'll monitor that one reallyclosely. We're talking with Dwayne Hankins,
(07:36):
Trailblazer's president of business operations here inthe Rip City Drive. I know that
you've added someone that Dwight and Iare familiar with, Tom Habistro to the
television broadcast, who brings great insightand he's got the analytical mind. But
also you guys are debuting a newproducer, Greg Fonseca, also director Russ
(07:56):
Jennish and studio producer Kyle Rotosa.So just give me some insight on the
new crew with the television and whatyou guys are hoping to accomplish. Yeah,
you know, it's something I saidat Media Day, but our goal
is really to have a national feelto our broadcast, you know, as
a team that again gets to produceit on their own, we want to
try to be you know, headand shoulders above our competition in that.
(08:20):
And so that's not just things likestatistics and analytics and making sure fans are
getting things that they wouldn't normally seein the box score, but it's also
just the storytelling and the things behindit. If you guys haven't had a
chance to check out our docu series, The Trail, you know, we
did eight episodes last year. Thenew season here starts pretty soon, and
it's you know, really really importantfor us to tell the story of what's
(08:43):
happening on the court and not justyou know, not just play that play
and analyzing and Tom, you know, Kevin. Tom's going to add to
that. Kevin and Lamar and Brookto a tremendous job of that. But
how can we bring that experience tofans who aren't able to come to the
arena? So we're really going tointo the storytelling aspects of it. The
folks that we hired are you know, national level talent, spend time at
(09:05):
ESPN, have have incredible credentials.Were really lucky to get them, and
I think it's really going to showin the in the quality of a broadcast.
Okay, I seem to be askingyou all the tough ones today and
I apologize for that, but thatwouldn't be that would be normal, do
I I was gonna say it.I don't expect to surprise you with that,
(09:26):
but I've always appreciated how willing youare to speak about these things.
This is not a big deal,but it's a controversy all the time with
all the teams in the league.And that's the city edition uniforms. And
it's funny. I think I havethe same feeling a lot of fans do.
Dwayne, You've hit on some reallygood ones. I think personally,
(09:46):
I like the Oregon ones. Itsaid Oregon. I love the kind of
cream color home jersey. You keptthe team colors on it, but I
just love that jersey. But youchange those every year, and and some
people like them every year, somepeople don't like them? What's the deal
on that? And do any ofthem ever come back? Is there?
(10:07):
Are you contractually obligated to do it? And if so, how long?
What's the story on those jerseys?You know, I actually really like them,
because you know, you have youhave your you know, your basic.
Don't call them home and Note anymore, but icon and association. Those
are the black and the white ones. And we have the statement one which
(10:28):
we launched last year, which wasthe red one with the pinwheel on it.
And then you have this city onethat you get to do every year.
And where I like about it isthat we get to change change it
up. And so if there's anelement that fans really really like about a
jersey, we get that feedback andmaybe that's something we can incorporate into a
new jersey later or an updated versionof another jersey. So it kind of
(10:50):
provides you this testing ground to beable to just try things. You know.
It's funny you mentioned the brown one. I like that one a lot
too. Obviously we picked it,but a lot of fans it was it
was it was one that was,you know, pretty volatile in terms of
fans liking it or not liking it. The PDX carpet one that we did
last year was the biggest success you'veever had in terms of UH City jerseys.
(11:13):
So you know, we're coming offof a year in which they've been
you know, we had pretty incrediblesuccess with them. I mean, I
you know, I think it's it'sgot to be a lot for teams to
change the room every year, butbut I kind of enjoy it. I'll
enjoy the innovation. Hey, Dwayne, I was wondering if you can give
us a background on a couple ofnights coming up at MOTA in early November,
with the two games against Memphis onthe third and the fifth. I
(11:35):
love this. There's going to bea plaid out on the third against Memphis,
and then the fifth will be celebrationof Hispanic and Latin heritage X night.
Yeah. Yeah, So the platout is obviously to kick off the
nd season tournament and wearing of theCity edition jersey, which I think will
be really, really fun. Ilove the nd season tournament again. I
think it provides an opportunity for theleague to innovate and do things differently.
(12:00):
Uh. I think it's going tobe a lot of fun. Uh And
you know, we'll be along forthe ride on that, which I think
is cool. And then LATINX andHeritage Hispanic and LATINX Heritage Night is really
you know we do. We dosix or seven Heritage Nights every year.
I think it's really important as uhas the city's actually the state's largest gathering
place. You know, we havemore than two million people that come to
(12:20):
the to the Motor Center in theRose Quarter every year. So I think
for us, it's always really importantto make sure everyone that comes here feels
welcome. And so we really putyou know, put ourselves out there and
make sure to have these nights andcelebrate these these these different backgrounds and things
like that. One thing I didn'twant to ask. I got a question
from a listener and I don't knowthe answer to it. But during the
preseason on the jumbo tron. Therewere captions that were on the jumbo tron.
(12:45):
He assumed it might be like anAI test, But can you give
us some back to ask I wouldhave. I just forgot. I'm glad
she had remember though, because itwas pretty funny. Really. Yeah,
it's a it's a unfortunate right,I mean, you never want those those
you know, the mistakes to happen. Yeah, we were trying a different
kind of software we had. Wehad been using a different source before and
(13:09):
we're trying something new, so youknow, we're going to go back to
the old model until we get thatfigured out. You know, in the
preseason, that's where you want totry things and and and work out all
the kings for the season. Andyou know, nothing more than that on
our end, I this is somethingI've wanted about to Dwayne. You've done
some things inside the building. Anychanges in mind long term for the whole
(13:33):
Rose Quarter area. Do you haveanything that you'd like to do or you're
planning or thinking about doing. Yeah, that's another area to White that we're
talking about an awful lot. Imean, if you're paying close attention to
downtown Portland, you know you're seeingdevelopment opportunities happen, you know, across
the street the Broadway Bridge where wherethe post office was. He's having some
(13:56):
really development, big development discussion.You know, we're working a little bit
closer than we ever have with alBlinnavision Trust here in the neighborhood to try
to figure out what the future ofthis district can look like. And then
you know the Void Center as well, so that that's uh, you know
that development is happening around us.You know, I think about our district
that's sort of the front door forfor Portland. Like your first impression,
(14:18):
You've got the Convention Center here,which obviously draws a lot of people out
of out of town. The MotiveCenter and the Rose Quarter draw a lot
of people from out of town,especially for our concerts, and so there's
a real opportunity here, you know, for the for the next generations that
really build something that could be alive district, and we are wanting to
be at the center of those discussions. I actually sit on the Governor's task
(14:41):
Force to talk about, you know, the central City value proposition, and
the thing I keep bringing up ishow important sports are and if you look
at other cities that have these reallygreat entertainment districts. It's really caused a
lot of great development to spur aroundthose those buildings in those those areas.
So that's that's something that we're talkinga lot about for sure. And Dwayne,
for those who may not be familiar, I know a lot of people
(15:03):
know they can go ahead and getsingle game tickets, but can you give
us maybe some details on some ofthe packages. I know Dwight's wife has
got a ticket package, and youI know that you guys tailor some things
to meet the needs of what thefan may be looking for. For sure,
we do. Yeah, So youknow, there's obviously full seasons,
if folks, one and a halfseasons, quarter seasons, we have mini
packs, all different kinds of games, and you know, season tickets have
(15:26):
been selling well. As I mentionedat Media Day, renewal was really high,
highest we've seen since twenty nineteen,and it's just such a credit to
our fans. But you know,we're up in a lot of different ticketing
areas at least as that relates toyou know, those mini plans quarterbacks,
I think you're seeing fans wanting tochange their behavior during this post pandemic time.
But there's still a lot of excitementfor the team, for folks to
(15:48):
be able to see this team.So that's that's been really good. And
of course the game against the MilwaukeeBucks in late January is a hot,
hot ticket as well. Yeah,you know, Dwayne, my wife has
the big Game Package. I thinkit's called something like that, and she
was looking through it just the othernight and she was looking through it.
She said, man, these aregood games. And then she said,
(16:08):
Orlando, why are in that package? Why? Why are they I said,
that's opening night, that's a biggame. That's exactly right. But
she's very satisfied with that package.Way, that's great. Well, Dwayne,
we appreciate your time and it's alwaysgreat to catch up with you,
and I'm glad you were able toshare some of the inside of what we
(16:30):
got coming up at Motus Center.We're excited to get out there and it's
exciting to have a brand new eraand a young team that it's going to
be fun not just for us,but for the fans to get a chance
to know about Scoot and Chris Murrayand DeAndre Ayton and all the new guys
that are on the team. Yeah, and They're a great bunch of guys.
That's what I can't wait for ourfans to be able to see again
the way these guys are on thecourt, the way they play, their
(16:52):
style of play, but also justthe awesome people they are off the court.
So we're looking forward to it.Well, Dwayne, we appreciate it.
Thanks for your time, Happy openingnight, and Dwight and I will
talk to you in the future.Thanks guys, thanks for having me on.
I appreciate that. There you go, Dwayne Hankins, the President of
Business Operations for your Portland Trailblazers hereon the Rip City Drive
We're right. Tomorrow night at MotusCenter, your Portland Trail Blazers will kick
off their home season, the homeopener against the Orlando Magic. Tip Off
is at seven. We'll have gameday starting at four point thirty here in
your home of the Blazers six twentyRip City Radio and joining us right now
is the Portland Trailblazers President of businessOperations. Dwayne Hankins is back on the
Rip City Drive. Dwayne, Goodevening. It's great to have you back
(00:22):
on the show. Thanks for yourtime. Yeah, thanks for having me,
appreciate it. Well, I wantto start out with this. Yeah,
I know what it's like for us. You know, we've been around
this team, Dwight and I amcovered it for a long time. So
it's kind of exciting with this newera and a young team and all the
different changes with the television broadcast crewand everything. But what's it like for
you to start this new era.How much excitement is there as you get
(00:42):
ready for the home opener? Oh? Yeah, Yeah, there's a lot
of excitement, you know. Ithink we're excited for the season. Our
fans have been incredible. I thinkthrough all this through the offseason, it's
going to be a great atmosphere atthe Modest Center tomorrow, incredible experience for
our new players. And it's alwaysyou know, this is my talk from
somebody today. It's my eleventh openingopening night with the Blazers, and it
(01:03):
should be a lot of fun.Like we were walking the concourses today,
we're looking at the opening night video. There's gonna be I think, a
lot of energy, a lot ofexciting tomorrow. Okay, do you have
anything maybe that people won't see everynight that's just reserved for opening night?
Anything special going on? Yeah,Dwight, good to hear from you.
(01:23):
By the way, you know,we will announce all the players, so
that's that's traditionally something that we doon opening night. I don't want to
spill too much, right because wewant to leave a little bit of surprised.
But obviously, yeah, the introwill be a little bit I think
special. You know, so fanswill want to get to their seats earlier
than typical. Okay, I knowthere's something they're going to see when they
(01:45):
walk into that bold Wayne, andit impressed me when I saw it.
You guys did a lot of workinside that bowl. This summer. Why
don't you tell me a little bitabout what you did and the impact it's
going to have. Yeah, sothere's a big obviously, I think the
biggest capital project that we've had inthat building in one in one swoop,
(02:08):
and it was replacing all of thesteel around the seats and the end zone.
So you're looking at a couple thousandseats that all or got changed out
this summer. It was it wasa sprint to get it done in the
three months. I think we talkedlast time, and we weren't able to
have any concerts or events in thein the in the arena this summer to
get ready for it. But theseats are incredible. Again, we were
(02:30):
in the bowl trying out all thesedifferent seats and checking them out. So
for the fans in those areas,I think it'll be a pretty tremendous experience.
And you know, yeah, we'refans will be looking forward to that.
I think that would be a reallyexciting thing. And then also just
for fans that are coming to thegame tomorrow, they'll be a T shirt
on every seat hurt of the Emota, So it should we should look really
(02:50):
good in there tomorrow. We're talkingto the Trailblazer's President of Business Operations,
Dwayne Hankins here on the Rip CityDrive. One thing that you guys always
do a great job of, Dwayne, as with each season is you know,
offering up new things at Motive,whether it be through food or experience.
So can you share some of thenew things that you'll have a MOTU
center this year for us? Surethings the Lardo is coming in. So
(03:12):
if you guys are Sandwich fans,that's yeah, we've already done a couple
of test runs and it's gone really, really really well with them. Obviously,
it's a whole different deal to tryto serve you know, twenty thousand
fans in the building, but they'vebeen a phenomenal partner. And you know,
all of our partners, whether it'sKillerberger or Fizzle Pie, they all
do a tremendous job and I thinkour fans really like to see that.
(03:34):
The other thing we're trying are thesejust walk out stands, and so you
might have seen these if you guyshave been up in Seattle or Climate Pledge
or at Seahawks at loom and Fieldwhere you scan your credit card on the
way and then grab what you wantand then just walk out basically, So
if there's cameras and tracking software thathelp make sure, they make it a
really easy process. So for fansthat don't like waiting in line, they
(03:57):
just want to grab a beverage orhot talk or something really quick. It's
an actually really neat thing. Wetried it last night. We opened two
of them for the Hosier concert andit went really really well. So looking
forward to I think spans were alittle bit confused at how the process works,
so it'll take some time for folksto get used to it, but
it's a pretty neat thing. Well, they had that up at the Mariners
game when I took my daughter andshe goes, Dad, we got to
(04:18):
try this out. I didn't evenknow how it worked, and she goes,
give me your credit card. Idid. We walked in. I
couldn't believe that we walked out withthe items and it knew what we got
and they got the order exact.It was amazing. Yeah, it's pretty
crazy when you're in there and you'retrying it out, because yeah, like
you said, it just it justhappens to work. You feel a little
bit like your shoplifting, but youknow, yeah, I planned to grab
(04:42):
Chat's credit card and take that inand I pretty well, there you go,
Yeah, that's my plan. Iwant to talk to a little bit,
and people have texted me and askedme to ask you about this.
I think it's not real clear sometimeswith Blazer fans. But the whole situation
with Comcast changing tears of Root Sportsand how that's impacted you. Uh,
(05:03):
did you see it coming? Didyou know what was going to happen?
What's the story from your point ofview on that happening? Yeah, And
I think we found out pretty muchthe same time everyone else did you know.
So it's just tough for our fans. I will say that, you
know, our goal is always tomake our games more available for our fans.
You know, when we moved overto Root Sports, it wasn't an
(05:25):
easy decision, but you know,we knew and believed that we would be
in more households than we were onNBC. And you know, obviously things
can change throughout those that process andthroughout the years, and it's something that's
affecting the entire RSN industry. Ifyou're not paying attention in other markets,
you know, they're struggling with thisas well. And you know, we're
talking almost every day about what thismeans for our not only our our our
(05:48):
business and our industry. But thesethese games really serve as two and a
half hour commercials for our fans,So making them as available as we can
it is really really important. Youknow, we want to create the next
generation of Blazers fans. We wantwant people to be able to see this
exciting young team. So yeah,it's something that we're that we're going we
actively love to try to solve tomake our games easier to watch. And
(06:09):
Dwayne, I've talked to you aboutthis a little bit in the past,
and I'm curious, uh, thiswhole idea that Phoenix and uh, Salt
Lake City, the Utah Jazz aregoing to that direct to consumer model where
they're putting the games just on freeover the air television. Uh are you
guys monitoring that? I mean,what do you see as an upside of
(06:30):
that and a downside of that?How are you looking at it? You
know, we we produce our ownbroadcasting house. It's something that we've done
since you know, as long asI can remember, and it's been it's
been great for us because we havethat muscle, we have that capability,
and that's that's helpful. So forus, it's just tell us where to
tell us where to put that broadcast, and we have been selling the ads
(06:51):
as well. So we'll monitor UtahPhoenix really really closely. You know,
those two teams are also teams thatwe're doing our own broadcast, so it
was easy for them to make theswitch. It was also time for them
to make the switch because you know, their their agreements had ended and they
wanted to try something new. Sowe'll definitely watch what they're doing. We'll
watch their ratings. You know.The upside, I think you know you
(07:14):
have one hundred percent penetration. That'sgreat. You always want to be able
to have your games as available aspossible. The downside, of course,
is is all it's all business related, but it's obviously the right see the
teams get and so you know they'reyou know, again, this industry is
in constant evolution. It's happening beforeour eyes, and so, like I
said, we'll monitor that one reallyclosely. We're talking with Dwayne Hankins,
(07:36):
Trailblazer's president of business operations here inthe Rip City Drive. I know that
you've added someone that Dwight and Iare familiar with, Tom Habistro to the
television broadcast, who brings great insightand he's got the analytical mind. But
also you guys are debuting a newproducer, Greg Fonseca, also director Russ
(07:56):
Jennish and studio producer Kyle Rotosa.So just give me some insight on the
new crew with the television and whatyou guys are hoping to accomplish. Yeah,
you know, it's something I saidat Media Day, but our goal
is really to have a national feelto our broadcast, you know, as
a team that again gets to produceit on their own, we want to
try to be you know, headand shoulders above our competition in that.
(08:20):
And so that's not just things likestatistics and analytics and making sure fans are
getting things that they wouldn't normally seein the box score, but it's also
just the storytelling and the things behindit. If you guys haven't had a
chance to check out our docu series, The Trail, you know, we
did eight episodes last year. Thenew season here starts pretty soon, and
it's you know, really really importantfor us to tell the story of what's
(08:43):
happening on the court and not justyou know, not just play that play
and analyzing and Tom, you know, Kevin. Tom's going to add to
that. Kevin and Lamar and Brookto a tremendous job of that. But
how can we bring that experience tofans who aren't able to come to the
arena? So we're really going tointo the storytelling aspects of it. The
folks that we hired are you know, national level talent, spend time at
(09:05):
ESPN, have have incredible credentials.Were really lucky to get them, and
I think it's really going to showin the in the quality of a broadcast.
Okay, I seem to be askingyou all the tough ones today and
I apologize for that, but thatwouldn't be that would be normal, do
I I was gonna say it.I don't expect to surprise you with that,
(09:26):
but I've always appreciated how willing youare to speak about these things.
This is not a big deal,but it's a controversy all the time with
all the teams in the league.And that's the city edition uniforms. And
it's funny. I think I havethe same feeling a lot of fans do.
Dwayne, You've hit on some reallygood ones. I think personally,
(09:46):
I like the Oregon ones. Itsaid Oregon. I love the kind of
cream color home jersey. You keptthe team colors on it, but I
just love that jersey. But youchange those every year, and and some
people like them every year, somepeople don't like them? What's the deal
on that? And do any ofthem ever come back? Is there?
(10:07):
Are you contractually obligated to do it? And if so, how long?
What's the story on those jerseys?You know, I actually really like them,
because you know, you have youhave your you know, your basic.
Don't call them home and Note anymore, but icon and association. Those
are the black and the white ones. And we have the statement one which
(10:28):
we launched last year, which wasthe red one with the pinwheel on it.
And then you have this city onethat you get to do every year.
And where I like about it isthat we get to change change it
up. And so if there's anelement that fans really really like about a
jersey, we get that feedback andmaybe that's something we can incorporate into a
new jersey later or an updated versionof another jersey. So it kind of
(10:50):
provides you this testing ground to beable to just try things. You know.
It's funny you mentioned the brown one. I like that one a lot
too. Obviously we picked it,but a lot of fans it was it
was it was one that was,you know, pretty volatile in terms of
fans liking it or not liking it. The PDX carpet one that we did
last year was the biggest success you'veever had in terms of UH City jerseys.
(11:13):
So you know, we're coming offof a year in which they've been
you know, we had pretty incrediblesuccess with them. I mean, I
you know, I think it's it'sgot to be a lot for teams to
change the room every year, butbut I kind of enjoy it. I'll
enjoy the innovation. Hey, Dwayne, I was wondering if you can give
us a background on a couple ofnights coming up at MOTA in early November,
with the two games against Memphis onthe third and the fifth. I
(11:35):
love this. There's going to bea plaid out on the third against Memphis,
and then the fifth will be celebrationof Hispanic and Latin heritage X night.
Yeah. Yeah, So the platout is obviously to kick off the
nd season tournament and wearing of theCity edition jersey, which I think will
be really, really fun. Ilove the nd season tournament again. I
think it provides an opportunity for theleague to innovate and do things differently.
(12:00):
Uh. I think it's going tobe a lot of fun. Uh And
you know, we'll be along forthe ride on that, which I think
is cool. And then LATINX andHeritage Hispanic and LATINX Heritage Night is really
you know we do. We dosix or seven Heritage Nights every year.
I think it's really important as uhas the city's actually the state's largest gathering
place. You know, we havemore than two million people that come to
(12:20):
the to the Motor Center in theRose Quarter every year. So I think
for us, it's always really importantto make sure everyone that comes here feels
welcome. And so we really putyou know, put ourselves out there and
make sure to have these nights andcelebrate these these these different backgrounds and things
like that. One thing I didn'twant to ask. I got a question
from a listener and I don't knowthe answer to it. But during the
preseason on the jumbo tron. Therewere captions that were on the jumbo tron.
(12:45):
He assumed it might be like anAI test, But can you give
us some back to ask I wouldhave. I just forgot. I'm glad
she had remember though, because itwas pretty funny. Really. Yeah,
it's a it's a unfortunate right,I mean, you never want those those
you know, the mistakes to happen. Yeah, we were trying a different
kind of software we had. Wehad been using a different source before and
(13:09):
we're trying something new, so youknow, we're going to go back to
the old model until we get thatfigured out. You know, in the
preseason, that's where you want totry things and and and work out all
the kings for the season. Andyou know, nothing more than that on
our end, I this is somethingI've wanted about to Dwayne. You've done
some things inside the building. Anychanges in mind long term for the whole
(13:33):
Rose Quarter area. Do you haveanything that you'd like to do or you're
planning or thinking about doing. Yeah, that's another area to White that we're
talking about an awful lot. Imean, if you're paying close attention to
downtown Portland, you know you're seeingdevelopment opportunities happen, you know, across
the street the Broadway Bridge where wherethe post office was. He's having some
(13:56):
really development, big development discussion.You know, we're working a little bit
closer than we ever have with alBlinnavision Trust here in the neighborhood to try
to figure out what the future ofthis district can look like. And then
you know the Void Center as well, so that that's uh, you know
that development is happening around us.You know, I think about our district
that's sort of the front door forfor Portland. Like your first impression,
(14:18):
You've got the Convention Center here,which obviously draws a lot of people out
of out of town. The MotiveCenter and the Rose Quarter draw a lot
of people from out of town,especially for our concerts, and so there's
a real opportunity here, you know, for the for the next generations that
really build something that could be alive district, and we are wanting to
be at the center of those discussions. I actually sit on the Governor's task
(14:41):
Force to talk about, you know, the central City value proposition, and
the thing I keep bringing up ishow important sports are and if you look
at other cities that have these reallygreat entertainment districts. It's really caused a
lot of great development to spur aroundthose those buildings in those those areas.
So that's that's something that we're talkinga lot about for sure. And Dwayne,
for those who may not be familiar, I know a lot of people
(15:03):
know they can go ahead and getsingle game tickets, but can you give
us maybe some details on some ofthe packages. I know Dwight's wife has
got a ticket package, and youI know that you guys tailor some things
to meet the needs of what thefan may be looking for. For sure,
we do. Yeah, So youknow, there's obviously full seasons,
if folks, one and a halfseasons, quarter seasons, we have mini
packs, all different kinds of games, and you know, season tickets have
(15:26):
been selling well. As I mentionedat Media Day, renewal was really high,
highest we've seen since twenty nineteen,and it's just such a credit to
our fans. But you know,we're up in a lot of different ticketing
areas at least as that relates toyou know, those mini plans quarterbacks,
I think you're seeing fans wanting tochange their behavior during this post pandemic time.
But there's still a lot of excitementfor the team, for folks to
(15:48):
be able to see this team.So that's that's been really good. And
of course the game against the MilwaukeeBucks in late January is a hot,
hot ticket as well. Yeah,you know, Dwayne, my wife has
the big Game Package. I thinkit's called something like that, and she
was looking through it just the othernight and she was looking through it.
She said, man, these aregood games. And then she said,
(16:08):
Orlando, why are in that package? Why? Why are they I said,
that's opening night, that's a biggame. That's exactly right. But
she's very satisfied with that package.Way, that's great. Well, Dwayne,
we appreciate your time and it's alwaysgreat to catch up with you,
and I'm glad you were able toshare some of the inside of what we
(16:30):
got coming up at Motus Center.We're excited to get out there and it's
exciting to have a brand new eraand a young team that it's going to
be fun not just for us,but for the fans to get a chance
to know about Scoot and Chris Murrayand DeAndre Ayton and all the new guys
that are on the team. Yeah, and They're a great bunch of guys.
That's what I can't wait for ourfans to be able to see again
the way these guys are on thecourt, the way they play, their
(16:52):
style of play, but also justthe awesome people they are off the court.
So we're looking forward to it.Well, Dwayne, we appreciate it.
Thanks for your time, Happy openingnight, and Dwight and I will
talk to you in the future.Thanks guys, thanks for having me on.
I appreciate that. There you go, Dwayne Hankins, the President of
Business Operations for your Portland Trailblazers hereon the Rip City Drive
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