Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
Hockey has changed fundamentally over the last few years. The concern though is that we're seeing a lot of empty seats in a lot of places, if you consider Canadian Markets to be fortress markets there has to be concern with Vancouver, and Ottawa, and even Montreal has empty seats.
Now part of it is I believe the changes to the game, a larger part is the cost to attend.
I will say this, in terms of watching hockey, when I do watch it, I tend to switch away to other shows and then switch back to catch up on the score and to watch a bit, then I'll flip away.
But during that game against the Ducks with the physical intensity, the hits, the fights, I didn't turn the channel once.
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Me either, and yeah I do wonder if hockey's skill is enough to keep buts in seats without the roughness. A lot of Americans watch hockey simply because they love the fact that there's a sport where all hell can break loose and guys are constantly scrumming and all that.
The Canadian ticket sales has way more to do with the high prices and ebs and flows of Canadian team success than anything.
Montreal - Constantly sold out for decades until their GM's ineptness hit a boiling point this year...and they're still officially on a decades long sell out streak
Vancouver - Was never a great hockey market despite population. They had 11-15k for years and years in the 80's and 90's. They sell out when they're a Cup contender and not when they aren't
Hell, their attendance has actually skyrocketed even this season now that fans see hope in young stars
Ottawa - An arena outside the city, they've had lots of years going back that were similar to this and last season. They've also had a few years at times of lots of sold out games when they were a true contender.