Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Flames fans speak out on team's exit from 5-year deal (QC Online)

QuadCityImages · 03-16-2009, 01:44 PM

I think the problems all go back to last year. The rollout of the team wasn't great, causing early attendance to be lower than it should have. Then the team started losing constantly, so it was hard to get fans to the games. When fans did go, they sat in an empty arena. No matter how exciting the game is, or how excited and enthusiastic the crowd is, if you're sitting there with 7,000 empty seats, it doesn't have a great atmosphere. Casual fans were turned off by this, increasing problems. It really became a vicious cycle in my opinion. I can't tell you for sure what started it, or how to keep it from happening again if we get a new team.

Everyone (including me) likes to point out the River Bandits' (minor league baseball team) awesome attendance turnaround. They had basically the opposite cycle. People were excited about lower ticket prices and returning to the River Bandits name, so early attendance was good. The crowds were excited and enthusiastic, so people had a good time regardless of the result on the field. The owners added more promotions, bringing in even more people, causing games to be packed and even more exciting. The year's attendance increased by something like 60%, despite some flooding issues.

One of the differences in these 2 scenarios is that the River Bandits have an incentive to fill the seats, even at low prices, because they get the concession and souvenir revenue. As far as I know, the Flames get nothing from concession sales, so having 8,000 fans paying $5 isn't really any better on paper than 4,000 fans paying $10. However, sitting in an arena with 8,000 people is a hell of a lot more fun than one with 4,000... or 2,000.

So I guess my point is that big crowds cause big crowds.

03-16-2009, 01:44 PM	#17
QuadCityImages Scoring Winger Join Date: May 2007 Location: Davenport, Iowa Exp:	I think the problems all go back to last year. The rollout of the team wasn't great, causing early attendance to be lower than it should have. Then the team started losing constantly, so it was hard to get fans to the games. When fans did go, they sat in an empty arena. No matter how exciting the game is, or how excited and enthusiastic the crowd is, if you're sitting there with 7,000 empty seats, it doesn't have a great atmosphere. Casual fans were turned off by this, increasing problems. It really became a vicious cycle in my opinion. I can't tell you for sure what started it, or how to keep it from happening again if we get a new team. Everyone (including me) likes to point out the River Bandits' (minor league baseball team) awesome attendance turnaround. They had basically the opposite cycle. People were excited about lower ticket prices and returning to the River Bandits name, so early attendance was good. The crowds were excited and enthusiastic, so people had a good time regardless of the result on the field. The owners added more promotions, bringing in even more people, causing games to be packed and even more exciting. The year's attendance increased by something like 60%, despite some flooding issues. One of the differences in these 2 scenarios is that the River Bandits have an incentive to fill the seats, even at low prices, because they get the concession and souvenir revenue. As far as I know, the Flames get nothing from concession sales, so having 8,000 fans paying $5 isn't really any better on paper than 4,000 fans paying $10. However, sitting in an arena with 8,000 people is a hell of a lot more fun than one with 4,000... or 2,000. So I guess my point is that big crowds cause big crowds.