Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
I chose fear of losing season ticket base, but I agree it can be a combination of many factors, but ultimately I think it's a business level decision rather than a hockey decision.
The only question I have is can they trust the fans?
When the team was going through its rough patch in the 90's and the team's viability in Calgary was at least discussed as being at risk, wasn't attendance and support evaporating?
Wouldn't that suggest to the owners that they can't trust the fan base?
I don't know because I don't recall enough from the 90's to know if the situation is comparable to trusting the fans now to be supportive through a rebuild.
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Great post and I think the owners can't trust the fan base and they've got a point in not trusting them.
Check out the Buy/sell forum on kijiji or even on CP. People can not get full value for their tickets. It's just not possible especially for a Nashville game or a Minnesota game or a similar team.
This will start to effect the Flames sooner rather than later. Attending a Flames game is not really a sought after product when we are losing. I've had buddies who have had problems giving away their tickets. A lot of people would much rather just sit and watch the game at home since they're all televised.
We hound on American fans but I can honestly say that when I attended the Honda center and Staples center a few weeks back that their fans crushed Flame fans in every single category. They were louder, much more involved in the game, and even all cheered when they showed that Chicago had lose their first game. The whole building erupted in cheer. I think most at the dome would be too busy checking their iphones and blackberries to even notice or care.
The only thing keeping the saddledome sold out is the businesses eating up season tickets or you'd have a dome with 16-17,000 people in it. If the Flames keep losing, these businesses will look else where to entertain their clients since nobody will even want to attend a game.
It's a slow process but when we were making the playoffs I was buying tickets for above face value, and that's when I could find them.
Now, for about half the face value you can attend pretty much any game that doesn't involve another Canadian team. So why would anyone buy season tickets when you can buy pretty much any game for less than season ticket price.