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COVER STORY TOUGH SELL: HOCKEY IN THE DESERT By Ric Anderson | Photography by Stephen Sylvanie said Wranglers' bookkeeper Terry Blalock, who was pulling double-duty as a merchandise vendor during the promotion. "I've only had, like, two people say, 'Why would I spend money on a T-shirt when I won't be around to wear it?' " Welcome to the three-hour carnival of irreverence that was Rapture Night, the L 16 promotion dreamed up by Wranglers President Billy Johnson after hearing that Camping had predicted the world would end Oct. 21. From that coincidence grew a production that included confessional booths in which fans were invited to repent their sins, a series of video clips mocking the prediction and a ceremonial puck drop by Camping (as portrayed by a member of the team's staff) and his hot nurse (as portrayed by Johnson's wife). Doomsday? Nobody at Orleans Arena, the team's home venue, seemed too worried. "They're making a lot of fun of it, which is great," said Kamryn Mock, of Las Vegas, who proudly pointed out that she appears in the pregame video shown on the scoreboard at every Wranglers home game. The spoof on Camping was designed partly to give fans a chuckle, but mainly for another reason — to grab attention for the team, which for a small operation like the Wranglers is an enormous challenge in a city awash with entertainment options. No question: Promoting the team is one of the toughest marketing jobs in Las Vegas entertainment. To get on the radar in a place where you have to scream especially loud to be heard, particularly when working on a tight budget, Johnson has developed a gonzo strategy revolving around one big idea. At least once a year, he stages a promotion that is themed on a national news event and, he hopes, is so outrageous or so clever that it will attract widespread media attention. The idea is to reach an audience beyond the regular crowd and lure them in. "What I sort of stumbled on was that the best way to generate local interest is this: When the local media is ignoring you, as sometimes they do in our business, when they read about you in the national media, all of a sudden now you really have their attention," Johnson said. "So that's sort of been the philosophy." At times, the strategy has worked brilliantly. Dick Cheney Hunting Vest Night, which made fun of the former vice-president's 2006 accidental shooting of Texas attorney Harry Whittington, got Johnson face time on Countdown with Keith Olbermann and drew notice in other national media. Rod Blagojevich Prison Jersey Night got a fair amount of play, too, as the team goofed on the former Illinois governor's conviction on corruption charges. It's a smart strategy, said Paul Swangard, managing director of the James H. Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon College of Business. "They've recognized that the ability to tap into something that's culturally relevant helps you reach an | 14 NOVEMBER 2011 | eave it to Las Vegas' hockey team, the Wranglers, to capitalize on the end of the world. Where Christian broadcaster Harold Camping saw the apocalypse, the Wranglers saw revenue. On Oct. 21, the night of the minor-league team's 2011-12 home opener, stacks of T-shirts memorializing the event as "The Last Hockey Game on Earth" were running short midway through the second intermission. "I've had a lot of people buy one or two extra for friends,"