Elizabeth Blackburn Article

[Luvnit2]

(02-24-2021, 03:34 PM)fredtoast Wrote: And that was not just a "small change".  It was seismic.

Plus iit looks like they had a decent draft.  Burrow was a no-brainer that any team would taken, but Higgins was an absolute steal and Logan Wilson looks promising.

They just pissed me off when they did not replace Taylor.

I wanted ZT fired too, but I also look at injuries (I know sounds like an excuse) to key players including Burrow and wonder what if? No Doubt, they gave ZT 2 years to learn on the job, I think 2021 is it, they either make huge strides or they fire him. I think they will again be aggressive in FA, just can't make 18 million dollar Green mistakes again. That cost us other holes left unfilled.

[Gdale_Bengal]

I don’t care enough for the marketing crap.

Field a better team that wins more than 4 games a year and you will get more fans. I haven’t watched more that 5 games in the past 2 years because it’s a hot garbage product and I have better things to do.

[*ochocincos*]

(02-24-2021, 03:34 PM)fredtoast Wrote: And that was not just a "small change".  It was seismic.

Plus iit looks like they had a decent draft.  Burrow was a no-brainer that any team would taken, but Higgins was an absolute steal and Logan Wilson looks promising.

They just pissed me off when they did not replace Taylor.

We really didn't get a chance to see that big FA splash make much impact.
The two biggest FA signings played a total of 5 games.
XSF only played 6 games.

Vonn Bell played solid and had a great hit on JJSS, but how much better was he than what Shawn Williams would have done?
Bell 2020 - 114 tackles, 3 FF, 5 PDs, 0 INT
Williams 2019 - 114 tackles, 0 FF, 3 PDs, 1 INT, 1.0 sack

I hope the collection of Waynes, Reader, XSF, and Bell make a big impact in 2021, but I hope their lack of impact/availability doesn't steer the Bengals away from outside FA again.

[Wes Mantooth]

(02-24-2021, 03:34 PM)fredtoast Wrote: And that was not just a "small change".  It was seismic.

You're definitely right.  It was a big, and very important change.  One that should be applauded.

One thing I'd like to point out though, it was a change in approach, not in overall spending.

I'm not saying you don't know this, but I do think some get it a bit confused.  Just because the Bengals spent a ton in free agency, more than they ever have, doesn't mean they actually spent more dollars.  They simply changed how to allocate those dollars.

I don't point any of this out to say they didn't really change a thing.  I just think too many people think they actually spent more money, which they didn't.  To date, the Bengals have yet to show any real monetary change in commitment to building a winner.  Be it a GM, more front office personel, more scouts, and indoor facility, etc.

It would be really nice if they actually invested (spend more money) in changes in addition to this recent change in approach.  IMHO, both are needed.  Both go hand-in-hand.

[*ochocincos*]

(02-24-2021, 03:57 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: You're definitely right.  It was a big, and very important change.  One that should be applauded.

One thing I'd like to point out though, it was a change in approach, not in overall spending.

I'm not saying you don't know this, but I do think some get it a bit confused.  Just because the Bengals spent a ton in free agency, more than they ever have, doesn't mean they actually spent more dollars.  They simply changed how to allocate those dollars.

I don't point any of this out to say they didn't really change a thing.  I just think too many people think they actually spent more money, which they didn't.  To date, the Bengals have yet to show any real monetary change in commitment to building a winner.  Be it a GM, more front office personel, more scouts, and indoor facility, etc.

It would be really nice if they actually invested (spend more money) in changes in addition to this recent change in approach.  IMHO, both are needed.  Both go hand-in-hand.

Imagine if they used the $18 mill they spent on AJ Green on an upper-tier OL instead.
Perhaps Burrow would have stayed healthy all year and the offense would have scored more points because Burrow would have had more time to pass.

[R3stangs]

(02-24-2021, 01:16 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I have no problem with getting new uniforms, but that is basically the OPPOSITE of an "enduring legacy".  

And if "high standards" are so important then why did we bring back a coach with the worst won-loss record in history?

A lot of this almost seems like a joke to me.

Seconded.

Show me some results on the field and maybe I'll start believing some of this type of rhetoric. Until then thats all it is and no different than the last 30 years of telling fans why things are going to be different next year. 

[SunsetBengal]

What the OP posted was just an excerpt from the larger article.

https://www.bengals.com/news/elizabeth-blackburn-mixing-vision-and-passion-with-strategy-bengals-new-chapter

Quote:Elizabeth Blackburn, born just in time for a Bengals fourth-quarter rally before making it to Riverfront Stadium the next Sunday for Boomer Esiason's last start of his first Cincinnati stint, knows what it is all supposed to feel like.
Because she has already felt it.
"Just not long enough," she says.
Blackburn was one of the 63,257 that jammed into the stadium named after her great grandfather for the Wild Card Game against the Steelers that night five years ago. The sight of fans weeping, dancing and shrieking as Vontaze Burfict ran his interception back down the runway to the Bengals locker room with 83 seconds left became a vision.
"I never felt the high I felt before the fumble. It was packed … looking out I could see the fans in the canopy jumping up and down. We want to win. It's what I strive for. That moment, that energy is what I want to recreate. I want to feel it and I want it to last."

A shot of the Paul Brown Stadium crowd during the 2015 Wild Card Game.
Like Esiason, the Bengals' second Super Bowl quarterback, Blackburn came back to town five years after she went away. She ventured into management consulting. Then private equity. Then, during a six-month stretch in the NFL office dealing with the salary cap, her co-workers spun off a nickname from her last name ("Burnie") while she made a name for herself in the 2017 collective bargaining negotiations.
As she finishes her first year working with the team, she is still in no-huddle mode.

"Tremendous horsepower," says Chris Halpin, one of the NFL executives who worked with her in the league office. "She brings a very inquisitive, analytical mind. High energy."
As the team's Director of Strategy and Engagement, Blackburn took a scouting trip to last month's Senior Bowl as ownership's representative while shepherding the final stages of an overhauled season ticket package brimming with new benefits including the "Canopy Crazies," honoring what she saw and felt that night five years ago. While taking a look at potential draft picks, she also planned to draft the second of a series of Bengals executives' editorials to be unveiled Wednesday on Bengals.com.
"She's been a ball of energy since I've known her. That girl is a bouncy ball," says Alexis Victor, one of the friends she has collected and kept since grade school, another one of her traits. "She's always happy and ready to go. I'm so excited about what she's going to bring to the team and to the city in general. It's going to be more than a football thing."
That didn't take long. The "Stripes Don't Come Easy" campaign that Blackburn quarterbacked late last season with Cincinnati's minority-owned BlaCk OWned Outerwear is a partnership the Bengals hope fosters community in a time of division.



'Stripes Dont Come Easy'


The little girl who had a tiny No. 8 jersey to honor her favorite player, Jeff Blake ("I cried when I found out he wasn't on the team anymore"), before graduating to 10 Chad Johnson jerseys (among them an Ocho Cinco and Pro Bowl No. 85), is set to preside over April's rollout of the Bengals' new uniforms.
And all that comes in the wake of the team's social media analytics that have taken off since she arrived, with the Bengals screeching into the NFL's top five for growth in audience, engagement and video views.
But football is why she's here.


Elizabeth Blackburn in an early photo.
The oldest child of Bengals' vice presidents Katie and Troy Blackburn and the granddaughter of Bengals president Mike Brown, Elizabeth Blackburn has been football-obsessed since before she can remember. When the family recently cleaned out its basement, they found her fifth grade autobiography project: a 30-plus page book dedicated to her love of football.
We know she's 28 now because when she was working in the league office, she and some cohorts discovered that "Burnie" was born in the third quarter of the Bengals' Nov. 15, 1992 game in New York, just before Esiason began to carve into the Jets' 17-0 lead.
"I remember growing up wanting to win the Super Bowl and wanting to work for the team," Blackburn says. "My entire career and work experience has been to make sure I was doing it because it wasn't assumed of me. That was probably the hardest part. Making sure I wanted to do it and that I could actually help."
While Blackburn followed her grandfather and mother to Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., it was actually the first place she had ever been where no one knew her as the kid that could wind up running the Bengals one day. She was just the freshman girl from Cincinnati standing up at a frat party to defend Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton. All of which was no surprise to Ryan Galloway, another grade school friend who also went to Dartmouth and considers her "my adopted little sister."
"There were several fiery conversations. I don't ever remember her losing a debate," Galloway says. "We had several discussions about the national media not giving Andy credit when the Bengals were doing really well.
"She would never take an insult lying down. Anytime there would be some perceived insult, she would come back strong and not let them get away with it."
But there was never any debate about this. No matter where she was or what she was doing, it kept coming up Bengals, Cincinnati and football.

An Economics and Engineering double major, Blackburn first finished off her economics degree with a paper comparing NFL ticketing data to the economic tradeoffs between the 85 percent blackout rule and secondary pricing market. Then she capped her engineering degree inventing an app that offered a second screen during a live game to teach new NFL fans the rules and positions that her great grandfather all but invented.
When she went to San Francisco to work for the management consulting firm Bain & Co., she became drawn to co-workers from Midwest towns like Indianapolis.
"Close enough," Blackburn says of the lure of a small city's attributes in the heart of the country.

Elizabeth Blackburn, third from the left in one of her 85 jerseys, and cousins take in a PBS game.
She was such an enthusiastic proponent of her hometown that during a Bain roundtable discussion a friend turned to her and said, "You're like the Leslie Knope of Cincinnati," referring to the TV character who shot to fame as the tireless advocate for Pawnee, Indiana.
"One of the best compliments I've ever been given," says Blackburn, who hopes the partnership with Means Cameron of BlaCk OWned is the first of many community give-backs.
"The best thing that could have happened to me," she says of the time away. "As I was away from the team and just watched the team on TV without my family, I found myself picking projects to do about the team. That's when I knew. 'I love this. I know I'm passionate about this. And I want to go and eventually come back because I really want to do it.'"
Peter Ruocco could have told her that back in 2017.

That's when Ruocco, an NFL senior vice president for all things labor and salary cap, hosted her in a three-month internship while she was working at Bain. Blackburn also put in three months in Chris Halpin's fledgling strategy and development office, but it was the Management Council that named her program that she developed "The Burn System," after her.
Ruocco says Blackburn used her "extensive computer skills" to allow them to value every number or dollar amount related to collective bargaining with the push of a button.
"It will be used forever more, I think, in negotiations," Ruocco says. "She was invaluable and she did it with a smile on her face."
That didn't really surprise Ruocco. He's been talking numbers with Mike Brown since 1986, about the time Katie Blackburn got out of Dartmouth and went to law school. He's been telling Brown that his granddaughter is not just a little bit good, but "fantastic."
"Being smart runs in that family," Ruocco says. "Quite frankly, if she didn't know someone that owned the team, we would have hired her.
"She's got every attribute to be a leader at that club."
But when the time came, it caught her by surprise.

[*pally*]

Even when the Bengals had a good team (5 playoffs in a row) they had trouble filling the stadium. This kind of marketing is a major change from the way the team has done business in the past. Last off-season they signed high-priced free agents, they traded a player in a season. We are anticipating name players (ie Geno Atkins) being cut with dead money in their contract. These are signs that the team is no longer totally committed to doing the business the old-fashioned way. Shoot even the article by Elizabeth is a big deal from the notoriously reclusive Brown/Blackburn family.
They may not be moving as fast as we want. They may not be making the moves you would but they are moving. And regardless of her title Katie Blackburn is the GM of the team.

[Clark W Griswold]

I am no youngster but I liked hearing from a younger member of the family. She does not wield much power now but she is in line to become a powerful person within the organization. She will hopefully help guide her grand dad and parents into running a more modern NFL franchise.
The Bengals do have someone who does the job of a GM he just doesn’t have that title. He has not had great results but they weren’t going to fire him after the draft they had last year..
It looks to me like the old O line coach was blamed for the problems with that group (fair or not). I am hoping he was the one who convinced them that they could be good with the guys they had. If not then they made him the fall guy. Either way, they better make some significant upgrades this off-season.

No one can defend their recent play but I am hopeful that they will make the changes that are needed.

[*SHRacerX*]

(02-24-2021, 12:35 PM)pally Wrote: Elizabeth writes about "The Vision"

She has done an outstanding job of bringing the Bengal's social media into the 21st century.  Hopefully she can do the same thing with  fan engagement

https://www.bengals.com/news/chapter-2-the-vision-high-standards-connection-and-enduring-legacy

Here is Chapter 2: The Vision, by Elizabeth Blackburn.

The Vision
It is important to me that our fans know and trust our direction and it's even more important that they know we have projects and plans in place to accomplish our objectives. For the past year, our Club has started every single full staff meeting with our vision statement:

The Bengals strive to be a championship football team with a culture built on high standards and competitive hunger. We connect players, fans and partners into one team to create an enduring legacy in Cincinnati.

This purpose grounds our work across every aspect of the organization. And while this article will stay high-level, I can promise you that we will be rolling out specific initiatives in 2021 and beyond to bring these goals to life. For now, I hope you will trust me and get excited for what is to come:

High Standards
Connection
Enduring Legacy
Stripes Dont Come Easy
High Standards
We want to win – more than anything. We want to bring Super Bowl titles to Cincinnati. We need to. It is the singular purpose that drives my family and the one goal on the top of my mind every day. It's what I have wanted most in the world from the time I could remember and has occupied my dreams since I was 2 years old. I've loved the Bengals since before I could walk, and a Super Bowl was my first wish as soon as I could talk.

I joined the Bengals after working in Management Consulting and Private Equity, two distinct worlds rooted in data and driven by results. With this background informing many of our organizational initiatives, our team is setting aggressive goals over the next few years to hold ourselves accountable in everything from personnel to attendance to player awards. We are raising the bar by cultivating objective measures of success across our entire organization. Of course, Super Bowl Championships and wins will be the numbers that guide all of our work, but we will have high standards in every area of the organization that underlie these goals.

How does this work in practice? Let's take team-driven content as an example. One of our first goals in 2020 was to alter our strategy on team content, bring graphics & video creation in-house for the first time and give our fans more & better content on social media to keep you feeling close to the team. As a result, I hope you have noticed an improvement from our social media channels and team-generated content this year.

This is the type of progress we will strive towards across all areas.

Connection
We love our fans and have two major projects in the works for the 2021 season to bring us together: (1) revamp 2021 Season Ticket Memberships and (2) change game presentation elements to add energy to gameday at Paul Brown Stadium. Why are we acting on these projects now?

First, we are optimistic about the ability to reconnect as COVID-curfews and capacity limitations lift. We think that football plays an important role in bringing people together. Football, in locker rooms and bleachers, has a unique ability to connect people with different backgrounds.

Second, we want to give our returning players a warm welcome back – especially since Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins and the rest of our outstanding rookie class haven't had the opportunity to play in front of a full NFL stadium … we want to fill it up for them!

And finally, we have heard fan feedback, especially from current and former Season Ticket Members. Your experience needs to be the best in the NFL because we have the best fanbase in the NFL. I appreciate each and every one of you and want to thank you for your resilience and optimism. This year, we are adding several forms of perks to make you feel more valued and appreciated.

If you like what you are hearing and want to make The Jungle roar, you can consider tickets & learn what these "perks" are here.

Enduring Legacy
This is certainly an exciting topic for this upcoming season. I personally value tradition deeply - it's why I chose to follow in my mom's and grandpa's footsteps by attending Dartmouth College. I want this next chapter of Bengals history to create an enduring legacy on the field, have more traditions in the stands and bolster the legacy of past Bengals legends. Here are a few examples for this year:

First, in case you have not heard, we are getting new uniforms. I know many of you have asked for these for quite some time. It's a long process working with NIKE and the NFL and, like I said above, we have high standards. We want this next iteration of our jersey to become as beloved, iconic and timeless as our helmet. We'll be publishing a LOT of great content around the launch of our new uniforms later this spring. I will leave you with this tease to say that I hope you're excited for a clean look.

The second "legacy" is our in-game entertainment. I love singing the Bengal Growl song after touchdowns – my sister, our best friend Amelia and I even dance along to moves created by this guy who sits in front of us at home games. I want the Jungle experience at Paul Brown Stadium to be even more legendary – truly the best live experience event. So, we'll be making changes to infuse energy and add traditions that make Bengals games a can't-miss.

Finally, I am right there with many of our fans who feel that many of our Bengals legends have not gotten the respect they deserve. I am personally working on ways, big & small, to amp this up. Our great players deserve their proper recognition.


The Cincinnati Bengals x BlaCkOWned™️ 'Stripes Dont Come Easy'
The best way I can think to end this editorial is with our fall campaign and partnership with my new best friend, Means Cameron, and the team at BlaCk OWned by saying: STRIPES DON'T COME EASY.

Who Dey Nation and Cincinnati know that stripes don't come easy. But we are resilient. As Joe Burrow said, "It's an Ohio thing." Or for anyone anywhere else (shoutout to @WhoDey_UK), "Who Dey is a State of Mind." And my only ask to you is that you'll join in my belief that the stripes will come.

Cheers to earning our stripes together. WHO DEY!

I think I love her....

[MileHighGrowler]

As others have mentioned, I don't see any particular effort to transform this team into a championship caliber team, starting with the glaring lack of offseason changes.

That said, the team is also constantly criticized for being outdated, for not listening to fans, to not improving the stadium experience, for not changing the uniforms and for not honoring players of the past. They are now addressing those things and appear to have someone with some energy coming in to make changes. I'm not a rabid social media follower, but I've certainly noticed great improvements in their online presence.

I can personally separate what she is doing for the fans as something different that what the FO is doing for the product on the field. Would I prefer wins and no twitter videos and new unis? Sure. But do I appreciate the fact that they're targeting a demo of people under the age of 40 who will be the next generation of fans? Yes, yes I do. According to some quick searches online, the mid-20s to mid-30s demo is the biggest viewer demo of NFL games, meaning this is the the generation they're targeting. So while the demo on here skews older based on the platform, it's not indicative of the overall fanbase and whether social media should be of high importance.

I still stick by my feelings that ZT better get dropped like he's hot if he comes out of the gate as poorly as he has the past two years. But that doesn't mean I see everything else the team is doing as completely pointless. If ZT can't turn it around this year and they bring in another coach who can, this team can still be in a great place in 2 years, and fans will have a better overall experience with the team to go alongside of it.

[WeezyBengal]

(02-24-2021, 03:23 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: I see and expected different viewpoints from fans as they read this article. Yes, as a business person her job is to try to fill the stands and she seems very intelligent as knows, winning will fill the stands.

She is in a no win situation. She says nothing and fans berate her for a lack of transparency or make up their own narrative which in most cases for a losing franchise is a negative narrative based on opinions and frankly being upset with the team.

I like that she put herself out there, she is sharing her vision she shares with her staff, coaches, players, media and the fans. This is not new news from her, she has been working on her vision, but like any bad culture, it takes time to change it. I have never met her, but for those I know who have they all say she is an everyday person and not some rich spoiled lid taking over the family business.

It appears she has her own vision, not her grandfather's or her Dad's as she knows it is 2021, not 1975.

So, I understand those skeptical or butt hurt, but why not have an open mind? In 2020 the Bengals did change their approach in free agency. Sadly, the big players they signed or franchised either got hurt or in the case of AJ did not get it done. I am huge Green fan, but most would never have predicted a healthy AJ Green in 2020 would be that bad. They lost Burrow, blame it on the OL, but we lost Palmer to a knee injury also, a year the OL was pretty darn good so yes QB's do get hurt, once we lost Burrow our year and excitement ended.

I believe in Joe Burrow and I believe Katie can manage a multi faceted NFL operation, I think some may look back at this vision and letter in a few years and say that was the time I knew the Bengals had a great new leader.

I have a hard time believing in Katie based on what's transpired here in the most recent off-seasons. It was Katie and Troy's decision to hire Zac Taylor. They gave Trae Waynes that ridiculous contract. They let Andy Dalton, Dunlap, and AJ Green go for basically peanuts. Then you heard about the Shaq Barrett thing where he was pretty much begging to be a Bengal and they fudged that one up. 

I'm not sold on Katie, Troy, and Duke as competent football operations people. They haven't done much yet to prove otherwise. 

[WeezyBengal]

(02-24-2021, 03:57 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: You're definitely right.  It was a big, and very important change.  One that should be applauded.

One thing I'd like to point out though, it was a change in approach, not in overall spending.

I'm not saying you don't know this, but I do think some get it a bit confused.  Just because the Bengals spent a ton in free agency, more than they ever have, doesn't mean they actually spent more dollars.  They simply changed how to allocate those dollars.

I don't point any of this out to say they didn't really change a thing.  I just think too many people think they actually spent more money, which they didn't.  To date, the Bengals have yet to show any real monetary change in commitment to building a winner.  Be it a GM, more front office personel, more scouts, and indoor facility, etc.

It would be really nice if they actually invested (spend more money) in changes in addition to this recent change in approach.  IMHO, both are needed.  Both go hand-in-hand.

It's not just about spending the money or bringing players in. It's about making SMART player personnel decisions. Was that Trae Waynes contract smart? 3 years 42 million? Hell no. You could have signed WJ3 for that. Was it smart to bring back AJ Green on a franchise tag for 18 mill? Hell no.

That's where I get hung up. Don't just sign people to sign them. Make good, smart decisions. 

[Joelist]

While I agree we don’t always seem to think fully through our spending decisions, I don’t totally agree that Trey Waynes was a bad call - there was no way to predict in advance he would miss the entire season. By this logic Reader was a bad decision but again there was no way to predict the blizzard of injuries that hit the D and when he was in Reader was delivering as promised.

If you want an example of a bad decision for throwing money around I offer Bobby Hart...

And yes I agree that this organization needs to do a LOT better job of targeting where to spend money and part of that is they need to do a LOT better at diagnosing team weaknesses.

[impactplaya]

31 other NFL teams have the same goals and aspirations.

Until they show Tobin the door to me things havent really changed

[WeezyBengal]

(02-24-2021, 05:19 PM)Joelist Wrote: While I agree we don’t always seem to think fully through our spending decisions, I don’t totally agree that Trey Waynes was a bad call - there was no way to predict in advance he would miss the entire season. By this logic Reader was a bad decision but again there was no way to predict the blizzard of injuries that hit the D and when he was in Reader was delivering as promised.

If you want an example of a bad decision for throwing money around I offer Bobby Hart...

And yes I agree that this organization needs to do a LOT better job of targeting where to spend money and part of that is they need to do a LOT better at diagnosing team weaknesses.

Trae Waynes wasn't a bad decision because he got injured he was a bad decision because they paid an average cornerback premium money.

[Roland]

I like what she's saying. Now show me.

She's speaking with some authority. As though she's pitched this make-over to The Family and they've bought in. Or maybe she's assuming a bigger role than her current "Director of Strategy & Engagement." Or maybe it's hooey.

But she certainly delivered with the social media thing. It was just kind of sad to have a social media with more swag than the team at the end of the season.

Minimum I expect out of this kind of talk:
1. Strong moves to address need in free agency (playing the draft lotto isn't enough).
2. Paul Brown unveiled as first on the new Ring of Honor at Game 1.
3. Taylor and/or Anarumo fired mid-season if we fall out of the playoff hunt.

[GodFather]

(02-24-2021, 12:35 PM)pally Wrote: Elizabeth writes about "The Vision"

Hard to take her "vision" serious when you see the front offices "Action"

What a fluff piece..

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(02-24-2021, 02:01 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: Before anyone gets too upset by what I'm about to write, let me say I'm sure Elizabeth  Blackburn is very talented and capable person.  

To be honest, I don't know enough, nor do I care (at all) about social media to really have an opinion on whether or not it's greatly improved.  For me, when it comes to businesses and social media it all seems way to forced and cringe.  I don't like companies that are trying sell me something pretending to be something they're not.  But as an older dude I know that I'm not really their demographic in who they're trying to engage.  I also know that social media is incredibly important in business today.  So I am not really faulting her approach or the job's she's doing.

Ok, with all that said, here comes the part I'm sure some will get pissed off about....

The Bengals have a product that has stuggled to sell tickets these last few years.  We all know this.  And you can pretty much guarantee that other sources of income have followed similar trends in sales. (Concessions, merchandise, cooperate sales, and probably even advertising)

What we're now seeing from the Bengals is a response to this, which is what you expect from any business.  If your product sales are suffering, or if you're losing customers, you have to counter that with something to create excitement and to improve sales.  Whether it's successful or not is another question, but the point is you have to try.

So that's exactly what we're seeing right now.  The new uniforms, the flashy younger social media, the ticket promos.  These are all attempts from a business (Yes, the Bengals are a business) to make more money.

There's nothing wrong with that, but I do roll my eyes a bit when I see things like "investing in the fans" or it's insinuated that they're doing this out of the kindness of their hearts.  They're investing in themselves, and they're trying to sell you a product.

Fwiw, I saw someone recently state they really appreciate the Bengals keeping their ticket prices so low.  As if they're doing this out of pure generosity.  The reason their ticket prices are where they're at is because someone determined that price point would result in the best combination of sales and margin, or more specifically profit.

If Paul Brown stadium was sold out every week, and tickets were impossible to come by, then they would charge more.  If they weren't struggling to fill up more than half their stadium you wouldn't see them "investing in the fans" by offering $10 food vouchers (Probably $3 in actually cost)

To each their own, but as it's been stated by others, I just want to see a winner.  Until then this entire thing, and the work of Elizabeth Blackburn is nothing more than a marketing stragegy.  And I care as much about the marketing strategy of the Bengals as I do Coke or McDonalds.

Being totally honest... I couldn't care less about Elizabeth Blackburn, nor her job, nor her qualifications.  None of this cool or impressive to me.  I don't need quirky twitter posts with emojis, and I don't need buzz words and slogans.  

Just my 2 cents...

I actually agree with a lot of this, but.....

The one thing I absolutely have loved about what she has done in a short amount of time at her position is calling out the NFL for ignoring The Rattler. It also appears that she has been working on a RoH or something similar, and states that the club needs to do a better job of recognizing past standouts. It sure looks like she is going to do something about that. The biggest key is that she acknowledged that the team has dropped the ball in that regard. It's a good start, IMO.

[BengalRed]

(02-24-2021, 02:48 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I fully understand that her job is to polish a turd.  But her comments were not about her turd-polishing capabilities.  Her comments were about the turd.  And I really don't care too much about how well polished a turd is.

All I know is when I watch other teams with their sideshows that appeal to fans I think to myself "why can't the Bengals do that?". Like the Vikings with their big horn, or the Seahawks with their 12th man. I've wished for years that Mike Brown would do something to make the fan experience fun. Maybe Elizabeth can do that. I for one am all for it. I haven't been to a Bengals game since they lost to the Chargers in the 2014 playoffs and I only live 90 miles away in Lexington.