I think a large combination of factors resulted in the decline in interest in the mid-90s. Chief among them was the fact that fans simply lost the will to pay for regular season games at a time when it was felt that only playoff success mattered. (Same reason why Dave King got fired). Hell, fans were so tired of losing in the first round that there were playoff games with only 15,000 and change in attendance.
Attendance slowly declined from a peak of 19,986 in 1990-91 - losing a couple hundred per game over the following four seasons. The first big drop happened in 1995-96, likely for a combination of three additional reasons: First, the lockout. Second, the team went from two-time division winner to below .500 (but still second in the Northwest), and third, continuing anger from long-time ticket holders who got relocated or stiffed on pricing when the Dome was renovated. The Flames shaved 11% of their attendance in two years (roughly 19,000 to 17,000). The bottom fell out in 2000-01, when the average fell below 15,000.
As much as everything about the Flames sucked then, it was nice as a starving student to be able to come to the Dome when TSN inexplicably chose to broadcast a Minnesota vs. Crappy Flames contest nationally, pay $15 to sit in the 300s and have an usher promote me to lower bowl, just to make the crowd of 10,000 look decent for the cameras.
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