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Talk of the bay

Lightning president helped rekindle local hockey fever

By LOUIS HAU
Published December 19, 2005

The bitter labor dispute that canceled the National Hockey League's 2004-05 season seemed certain to exact a particularly heavy toll on the reigning Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. But the steady hand of Lightning president Ron Campbell helped ensure that the team's fans came back in droves once the NHL resumed play in October.

"When it all goes to hell in a handbasket, that's when you get the measure of the true leader," says Campbell's boss, Lightning chief executive and Palace Sports & Entertainment president Tom Wilson. "I thought he did a spectacular job."

Campbell, 50, kept the Lightning visible during the lockout via charity events, school programs and a June 7 bash at the St. Pete Times Forum marking the anniversary of the Stanley Cup win.

Those efforts, aided by Campbell's decision not to lay off Forum staff during the year off, have paid rich rewards: All home games at the Forum have been sold to capacity, while sales of multiticket packages total the equivalent of nearly 14,000 full-season tickets, up sharply from 9,500 during its championship season.

"It was a great feeling to come back," Campbell says. "And it's been even better the way the fans have responded."

[Last modified December 16, 2005, 20:19:02]