- Firebird Focus
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- Our Plans for 2024
The Firebirds are undoubtedly a successful TBL team; after all, we’re one of only two teams in the Southeastern Conference to not fold after one year in existence. The fact that we’ve continued to be a competitive team and have grown our fanbase ever since our inauguration speaks to the standards that the organization holds itself to. Still, there’s no time for resting on laurels!
It’s 2024, and with every new year comes new goals and resolutions. So, here are our goals for 2024:
Table of Contents
Half of Our Home Games Sold Out
Every year without question, our first game of the year sells completely out, to the point where we’re left with standing room only. Just look at some of these pictures from both 2022 and 2023:
Unfortunately, as we get later into the regular season, not all of our games are at full capacity, especially the ones on weekend afternoons. So, for this year, the starting goal is to have half of our games be as sold out as the ones in these pictures.
Five New Sponsors
The Firebirds have sponsorships from schools, restaurants, and other organizations (some of which you might hear about later in this newsletter). These include Pivot Physical Therapy, PDQ, Hilton, Southeast Raleigh High School, and NY Brooklyn Original Slices, to name a few. While we love the sponsors that we have, the Firebirds are always looking for new sponsors to partner with the team. Sponsors help us grow, and in turn, we’re able to help them grow their audience. It’s a win-win, and something we want to do even more of in the new year.
500+ followers on LinkedIn and Twitter, 6,000+ on Instagram
Social media is the easiest way to spread the word about the Firebirds. So, these are our number goals for three of the social media platforms we are on: LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Currently, @raleighfirebirds has 4,158 followers on Instagram, @raleighfirebir1 has 260 followers on Twitter, and the Raleigh Firebirds have 78 followers on LinkedIn.
This doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch with a consistent posting schedule. If our social media keeps growing at the rate that it currently is, we should be able to hit these goals. Our Twitter and LinkedIn followings can grow rather quickly with frequent engagement, so as long as the accounts are active, this is definitely achievable.
The Lillie
If you don’t know, The Lillie is the name of the championship trophy for whatever TBL team is left standing at the end of the league’s playoffs in June. The Firebirds have come close to holding this trophy a few times, but it’s always just evaded our reach. With the team that defeated us in last year’s playoffs (the Newfoundland Rogues) moving to the Basketball Super League (BSL), the time is right for a deep Firebirds run that could result in star forward Darius Leonard hoisting The Lillie in his final ever season of professional basketball.
These goals won’t be forgotten; at the end of 2024, I’m going to revisit these goals and go through how each of them went. I challenge everyone reading this to make sure their goals for the year are clearly accounted for and circle back to them in December.
I’ll be back in your inbox Friday with a special announcement! :)
-Tex