Dark economy adds to Flames challenge (QC Times) - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Hoody · 10-15-2008, 07:42 AM

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008...b607116976.txt

I admit I am one of the sth's that did not renew this year, and it was mostly because of the economy. We just can't make 40 games a year anymore with kids being busy. I will be at as many as possible, but just could not see outlaying the cash for 40 games when I might be able to only see 15-20.

Hoody

dobbles · 10-15-2008, 10:23 AM

is anyone else having problems loading these articles?

i get the header stuff but then it just kinda times out and i never get the actual article.

Drunk Skunk · 10-15-2008, 10:34 AM

I am one of the fortunate people, depending on your views. Single, good job, quite a bit of disposable income - but it seems like I'm the exception rather than the rule nowadays. I know that there are a lot of people that just plain can't afford it anymore. It's expensive to come to a hockey game, or any event, at The iMark. I believe Aramark raised concessions again before the start of this season, and the ticket prices had a pretty good jump.

I work about 50 minutes south of the QC area, and there are several people I've spoken to that want to come to a lot of games, but it's out of the question because of the travel. Several years ago, this wasn't an issue, and there was a decent fan base from the outlying areas.

c.t.ner · 10-15-2008, 10:59 AM

Yikes.

I'm not to familiar with the economic and geographical map of the Quad Cities region, but I do hope the team is able to survive.

I good playoff run or a solid winning streak in the standings might attract more game day ticket purchases.

dobbles · 10-15-2008, 11:05 AM

i am also fortunate. we are new season ticket holders, so its not all gloomy! but my fiance and i are also young and dont have as many things pulling at our pocketbooks either. i could imagine how different it would be if we had children and all the associated expenses.

one of the things that i think might make it easier for us is that this area has been economically depressed for some time. the housing bubble really hit hard in places that have overbuilt recently like southern california and florida. in the midwest and our area things have been pretty stagnant. with falling gas prices recently, it might help attract some of those out of town fans as well.

QuadCityImages · 10-15-2008, 05:35 PM

Yeah, the Quad Cities are getting by pretty well compared to the rest of the country, and I believe we will continue to do so. I think the economic factor in attendance may be overblown, but also that people are more worried that they won't have money later than they are low on money now. I could be wrong, of course. Everyone's just nervous about the economy, so the idea of making a long term commitment to do something recreational 40 times over the next half year is probably a tough one to make.

If the Flames have a better record than last year I think it will help just as much as the economy improving. Also they should have lowered prices rather than increased them, as our local minor league baseball team did. They increased attendance by 60% this season, so they seem to know what they're doing. It seems better to have 6000 people paying $6 than 3000 people paying $12, especially when you factor in parking income, concessions, and souvenirs.

pioneer98 · 10-18-2008, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuadCityImages

If the Flames have a better record than last year I think it will help just as much as the economy improving. Also they should have lowered prices rather than increased them, as our local minor league baseball team did. They increased attendance by 60% this season, so they seem to know what they're doing. It seems better to have 6000 people paying $6 than 3000 people paying $12, especially when you factor in parking income, concessions, and souvenirs.

On top of lowering prices, the minor league baseball team also seems to be miles ahead in terms of marketing and creating a fun atmosphere to attract the casual fans. No one seemed to mind that the minor league baseball team was barely a .500 team last year. The Flames need to find their version of the Bandits formula to get people in the seats.

BringTheKnightsBack · 10-18-2008, 07:56 AM

the move to the quad cities appears not to have been so smart after all. if calgary had left the team in omaha the knights would be at 4500 every game for attendance right now. it looks like qc will be lucky to get 3000 to show up this year. smart move, ken king!

QCsec113 · 10-18-2008, 09:46 AM

the move to the quad cities appears not to have been so smart after all. if calgary had left the team in omaha the knights would be at 4500 every game for attendance right now. it looks like qc will be lucky to get 3000 to show up this year. smart move, ken king!

How in the Hell can you say that so confidently????Who knows you might be down to 1500 by now???You guys didnt draw 4500 when you had the best record in the division I dont know how you think you would draw so many more people with this lifeless team!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PIMking · 10-18-2008, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BringTheKnightsBack

the move to the quad cities appears not to have been so smart after all. if calgary had left the team in omaha the knights would be at 4500 every game for attendance right now. it looks like qc will be lucky to get 3000 to show up this year. smart move, ken king!

Dont forget that the owners in OMaha couldnt outdraw Juniors and college hockey teams loser.

Now dont forget that calgary isnt losing money in the qc. they will be here for a while. Your knights will never go back to that dirt hole.

Take a look around the league. The economy is killing every team. not just us.

BringTheKnightsBack · 10-18-2008, 11:42 AM

oh come on you qc apologists. all we heard at the begining of last season is how the mallards drew such big crowds in the past and how the quad cities would do so much better in attendance. did not happen last year. now your numbers are way below last season. looking at the ahl website i see that the economy isnt hurting wb-scranton or manitoba. hershey hasnt played at home yet but you can bet theyll draw a helluva lot more than 2300 tonight. the knights attendance was going up before that idiot ken king moved to the quad cities.

PIMking · 10-18-2008, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BringTheKnightsBack

oh come on you qc apologists. all we heard at the begining of last season is how the mallards drew such big crowds in the past and how the quad cities would do so much better in attendance. did not happen last year. now your numbers are way below last season. looking at the ahl website i see that the economy isnt hurting wb-scranton or manitoba. hershey hasnt played at home yet but you can bet theyll draw a helluva lot more than 2300 tonight. the knights attendance was going up before that idiot ken king moved to the quad cities.

and yet they lost 4 mill in two years......

economics my friend the money pit that was Omaha is why they left.

Probably had something to do with that a college and junior team were out drawing the pro (that was the best team in the league)team.

BringTheKnightsBack · 10-18-2008, 01:10 PM

yeah calgary left omaha because they needed to find some suckers who would pay for their ahl club. its pretty obvious quad cities hockey fans dont really care about supporting the team. so how long will it be until your local owners get tired of losing 2 mill every year just to rent out an empty arena? i bet ken king is already on the phone with prospective partners for next season just in case your owners go under next spring. i hope calgary doesnt come crawling back to omaha. they definitely burned some bridges here.

PIMking · 10-18-2008, 01:57 PM

Dude I have spoken with one of the owners and I am a personal friend of his. I spoke to him last year and he said they were breaking even with Kolanos and Hambly on the team that the qc Owners were paying their salaries. I think we will be fine. We have a good lease with the IWC and we have good fans.

QC has always had bad octobers because the people here dont just drop their kids off at a local hospital and leave them they actually take care of the kids and go to the local high school football games.

Get a life your Knights are gone and you wont see ahl hockey agian.

Have fun driving to Des Moines to watch "your" team play tonight I will be there.

BringTheKnightsBack · 10-18-2008, 02:33 PM

everybody here in omaha heard the same crap you are about how things are just fine. ken king will probably even talk about his commitment to keeping ahl hockey in the quad cities. its all an act. calgary does not give two shakes about their ahl community except that checks clear the bank every month. at least omaha had d1 and junior hockey competing for the fan pool. what is the quad city excuse for such lousy attendance. oh thats right. tenth graders playing football on a friday night. i suppose saturdays are bad for the flames because of all the bars with karaoke contests. what a joke.

Tilley · 10-18-2008, 02:33 PM

As someone who worked for the Knights, the Flames made a wise business decision to leave Omaha for the QC. The Knights would have been successful in Omaha but bleeding millions each year hoping to turn the corner did not make sense. The QC is in completely different situation as they have local ownership who will ultimately decide if the team will stay or go rather than Calgary execs. I hope the QC can maintain the team and if they have a winning record I predict they will draw better than Omaha would.

I understand why people in Omaha might be bitter, but if the people of Omaha really wanted the AHL they would have done more to keep it. I did everything I could to bring people to the games. It's just a reality that Omaha will never be a pro sports town.

Rather than be bitter about the team leaving, I'll make the occassional trip to the QC and Des Moines to watch real hockey. The drive to Des Moines is not different than the drive I would make if I was back in Alberta to watch the Flames play in Calgary.

BringTheKnightsBack · 10-18-2008, 03:37 PM

tilley - the people of omaha were not even given a chance. king told everyone they would be back for a third season while he was secretly scheming to move all along. at least king couldve offered the team to local business owners first in omaha. there is quite a bit of money in our town. instead king just lied his ass off and packed up without giving us rights of refusal. now quad cities fans being rewarded with hockey they dont even support. that is not sound business judgement. it is opportunism of the worst kind.

PIMking · 10-18-2008, 10:49 PM

its not your money and not your team so please go bug someone elses fans.

dobbles · 10-19-2008, 12:56 AM

btkb - what does all this matter to you? its not like they are coming back to omaha if qc can't swing it. so if you really did support the team and the organization why not hope that they can have some success? the stability would do the team good.

regarding the attendance numbers, they are currently skewed. some teams have only had their opener and have higher numbers. some teams have wednesday games which can skew their numbers lower. for the 3 games thus far, i would have hoped for more people. but its still a work in progress. if we can't get more people and the team leaves, well we tried. but i am certainly going to support them while they are here. and i can promise you i won't be an asshat and talk smack to the fans of the new city...

Nitro · 10-20-2008, 07:46 AM

As a Omaha hockey fan, I do have to chime in here:
1. I do hope the Flames succeed in the QC, it would stink to lose them and have no hockey at all since the Mallards left. The AHL is great, support your team.
2. I do make the trip to Des Moines to see the team-they didn't look so hot Saturday, too bad about all the injuries. But I will continue to go.
3. I've said it before....The Knight outdrew the junior team, they were second in attendance behind the college team that has been here many years, not my cup of tea, but they have an established fan base. Imagine the Mallards and the Flames playing in town at the same time.
4. It was a smart business move for Calgary to move, it remains to see how much of a smart move it was for the QC group. Your team is exhibiting all of the same things that happened in Omaha, changes in mangement, etc. It's all part of the process. In reality, there really aren't that many AHL teams that don't move around a bit.
5. Sorry about the bitter Omaha fans, it's really misplaced anger, the anger should be towards the way we were treated by Calgary management, not the QC.
6. The Chops? A nice arena...but man the announcers....Friday and Saturday the opposing coach was announced as "The Rivermen are coached by...." They also kept saying "Stars fans, are you ready?" The cheerleaders are called the BabyBacks-can you believe it? First, no cheerleaders at hockey games. Second, Babybacks? Pretty demeaning.
7. Omaha AHL? The only chance I ever see of this is if KC gets an NHL team. There is common ownership with the current Junior team and the future KC NHL ownership group. Omaha newspaper has recently had articles about the Junior team moving. They play across the river in Council Bluffs, Iowa in a newer arena very similar to the Mark.
8. Omaha, a dirt hole? I'm a recent transplant and I beg to differ. I find it to be clean, full of friendly folks and a city that is doing a lot of good things. Taxes are outrageous, but other than that that, it's very similar to the QC, just a bit bigger feeling...

Go Flames....QC, support your team, you have a good thing going....there may be other cities out there with the same business model as your ownership group...so support them they can't do it alone.....and Calgary's ears are always open-they are a business as well.