from Mark Williams of the Columbus Dispatch,

The sponsors attended sessions providing more information about digital-media trends and strategies, insights on Columbus sports fans and how to use the logo rights that they acquired as part of their sponsorship for marketing.

They also picked up fresh data about the Blue Jackets fan base, which have higher household incomes than the typical Columbus family and spend more on things like Internet purchases, cellphones and groceries.

Larry Hoepfner, executive vice president of business operations for the Blue Jackets, said the team’s goal is for sponsors to get more business because of their affiliation with the team.

“If we aren’t doing that, we aren’t doing our jobs,” he said.

The team’s No. 1 challenge is to continue to grow the fan base with more season ticketholders, casual fans coming to more games more often and to get people who’ve never been to a game to come, he said.

“We’ve got to find ways to get them to a game,” he said.

After an injury-plagued season in which the Blue Jackets missed the playoffs, this year’s team is positioned to be much better this season, said John Davidson, the team’s president of hockey operations, and other team officials.

“We’re really excited about our hockey club,” he told the sponsors. “Our team is going to be good, very good. So are a lot of other teams.”

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