Heat averaging 3,445 fans, building base says president

[dobbles]

was just looking at the heat's numbers and noticed they have been on the road for almost a month. but they are back home tonight and have 12 of their final 15 games at home. since they have 2 more with manitoba, and are in a playoff spot still, i assume they can pull some pretty good attendance numbers.

did they keep the heat out of the area for the olympics or was it just a coincidence that they were away when they were? i know with their location they do have longer road trips and such, but just didn't know if this one was planned with the olympics in mind?

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by dobbles

was just looking at the heat's numbers and noticed they have been on the road for almost a month. but they are back home tonight and have 12 of their final 15 games at home. since they have 2 more with manitoba, and are in a playoff spot still, i assume they can pull some pretty good attendance numbers.

did they keep the heat out of the area for the olympics or was it just a coincidence that they were away when they were? i know with their location they do have longer road trips and such, but just didn't know if this one was planned with the olympics in mind?

Good point dobbles. I didn't see that, but your right. That should definitely add some big numbers to their attendance.

Yes, the Heat did have to go on that road trip because of the Olympics. The Russian figure skaters and Japanese speed skaters were using the AESC for a practice site. Although I'm unsure why they continues their road trip until after the Olympics. I drive pass the AESC everyday and it was dead each night. Nothing going on there.

[dobbles]

well, so far in their 4 games at home, the totals have been less than impressive. tonight, out of the 14 games going on, they had the lowest attendance of all and didn't even break 3,000. not good for a saturday night.

of note (and the only reason i was even looking at attendance tonight) was that peoria drew over 10,000 tonight and set an all time record for any of the leagues they have been in. they had some kind of free food promotion, but would have never guessed it would have gotten them that much attendance.

[PIMking]

Wow, Peoria? I know last year they had a couple 5k games but if 2k were in the house they would be lucky. They always and I mean always were waaaaay off on what they had in house.

I remember going to the Halloween game last year and they announced something like 4400 in attendance but there wasn't even 1k in house..

[QuadCityImages]

Originally Posted by PIMking

They always and I mean always were waaaaay off on what they had in house.

I remember going to the Halloween game last year and they announced something like 4400 in attendance but there wasn't even 1k in house..

I'm guessing there was something similar going on here. Wiki only lists their arena as holding 9500-ish in Hockey configuration. I wonder if any former QC Flame fans were in attendance that night to report on the reality...

[D_J]

Saturday against Worcester they claimed the attendance at 2979.... I would be shocked if there were half that many there. I counted 11 people in an entire section... You could have fired a cannon down the concourse 15 minutes before the game. I don't get it why people aren't coming. Initially I didn't buy the whole "people won't support a Flames farm team" thing but I am now starting to wonder....

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by D_J

Saturday against Worcester they claimed the attendance at 2979.... I would be shocked if there were half that many there. I counted 11 people in an entire section... You could have fired a cannon down the concourse 15 minutes before the game. I don't get it why people aren't coming. Initially I didn't buy the whole "people won't support a Flames farm team" thing but I am now starting to wonder....

Thanks for the update. I didn't go to this game, but that's ridiculous if that's really how many people were there.

We could make excuses all day long about why or why not people aren't coming to the Heat games.

Guessing that it's because they're a Flames farm team in Canucks territory has been disproven. Canucks fans are supporting the team. Maybe not alot of them, but they are.

I still believe it's just a natural process of a new team in a new city. Give it time. If they make the playoffs (which looks promising as of right now), this team has the potential to have a good fan base under its belt by next season.

[D_J]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

Thanks for the update. I didn't go to this game, but that's ridiculous if that's really how many people were there.

We could make excuses all day long about why or why not people aren't coming to the Heat games.

Guessing that it's because they're a Flames farm team in Canucks territory has been disproven. Canucks fans are supporting the team. Maybe not alot of them, but they are.

I still believe it's just a natural process of a new team in a new city. Give it time. If they make the playoffs (which looks promising as of right now), this team has the potential to have a good fan base under its belt by next season.

I hope you are right and that when the three year window is over the attendance justifies the team, I think it's great having the Heat in town. Saturday was a sunny hot day and there were a ton of minor hockey tournaments going on. That would definitely effect attendance as a lot of the regular fan base was no doubt preoccupied.

I am a lifelong Canucks fan but hasn't impacted my ability to get on board with the Heat. A good product is a good product, and the AHL in town fits the bill as far as I'm concerned. A solid playoff run may go a long way...

[QuadCityImages]

Calgary doesn't exactly have a history of giving teams 3 years...

[BruinsFan19]

There's a lot of teams in the lower mainland for people to choose from. Last Friday the WHL's Chilliwack Bruins played at the same time as the Heat and got about 600 more fans than the Heat. That's not good for a brand new team. Attendance almost always drops off in year 2.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by BruinsFan19

Attendance almost always drops off in year 2.

I suppose you don't have a link for that, do you? Sounds a little dubious to me. It's probably true for franchises that fail, but for all the ones in the AHL that are successful right now, I bet most grew their attandance from their 1st year.

Anyway, Abbotsford is ahead of 5 other teams and only a hair below the league median (about 300). That really isn't too bad.

[dobbles]

well they had their last 2 games with manitoba and had fairly big crowds (though not as big as the first 2 games in december)

they are still 23rd in the league with only 2 home games left.

the scary thing i think for them is this: if you exclude the 4 manitoba games, their average attendance would be 3539. that would place them next to last in the league. (ahead of only lowell who is always super awful) while i realize that taking any teams top 4 games out would hurt their average, can this team really survive long term by milking those 4 games for all they're worth?

i know a lot of people think i want the heat to fail; but i actually don't. i just follow the team because they have a lot of players i still like and because they used to be here. for most of us in the midwest we follow lots of teams and leagues that have changes each year. heck the QC this year is in the IHL which is losing some more teams and in total flux at the moment.

so to me, it just seems crazy they can draw so little for most of their games and expect to make money/survive. i can only assume the citizens will get more pissy if the team continues to lose money and need subsidization.

[Nuckleduster]

Living in Abbotsford, I'm hearing more people talking about going to Heat games and about the Heat in general. Playfair needs to have more tnntrums.

[Azure]

I think a good playoff run will help as well.

They have to SHOW the people that its worth being a fan.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by dobbles

well they had their last 2 games with manitoba and had fairly big crowds (though not as big as the first 2 games in december)

they are still 23rd in the league with only 2 home games left.

the scary thing i think for them is this: if you exclude the 4 manitoba games, their average attendance would be 3539. that would place them next to last in the league. (ahead of only lowell who is always super awful) while i realize that taking any teams top 4 games out would hurt their average, can this team really survive long term by milking those 4 games for all they're worth?

i know a lot of people think i want the heat to fail; but i actually don't. i just follow the team because they have a lot of players i still like and because they used to be here. for most of us in the midwest we follow lots of teams and leagues that have changes each year. heck the QC this year is in the IHL which is losing some more teams and in total flux at the moment.

so to me, it just seems crazy they can draw so little for most of their games and expect to make money/survive. i can only assume the citizens will get more pissy if the team continues to lose money and need subsidization.

What good does excluding the 4 games against their most interesting competion do? Do it for all teams then.

And no matter what, it is still worlds better than they did last year in QC.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

What good does excluding the 4 games against their most interesting competion do? Do it for all teams then.

And no matter what, it is still worlds better than they did last year in QC.

actually, i would argue that taking these top 4 games from most teams would have a much smaller impact as the 4 manitoba games are over 100% increase compared to any of their other games.

all i was trying to illustrate is that the team is walking a very dangerous line; you can't rely on 4 games a year (where most of the fans are there to see the other team) to make all your revenue.

and i wouldn't call going from 28th to 23rd in attendance worlds better. they are still way below average compared to the league and only a few hundred people better than QC's first year.

[Azure]

Again, you can't expect, even here in Canada where we all love hockey that your fanbase will be amazing the first year.

The Heat need to have a few seasons with good success and they'll be just fine.

Make the playoffs here and go on a run, maybe a round or two, and people will start coming to watch.

[flamesrule14]

Heat have clinched a playoff spot tonight after their win against Grand Rapids.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by flamesrule14

Heat have clinched a playoff spot tonight after their win against Grand Rapids.

aside from the positive effects it would have had on revenue and attendance, i would have LOVED to see some playoff hockey while we had the flames. was a shame we missed it both years, but the year before and after the team was here they made it!

[Jordan!]

Originally Posted by Azure

I think a good playoff run will help as well.

They have to SHOW the people that its worth being a fan.

This shouldn't be required in Canada.