NHL Attendance Report - 2011-12

[malcolmk14]

I would rather see gate receipt stats but the NHL and Flames would never release those

[zarrell]

Originally Posted by Spinoff90

Sad to see the Jets barely doing better than the likes of the Blue Jackets even though they are selling out games. Why didn't they future proof a little better and build a slightly bigger arena on the chance the Jets would be back instead of having an arena that isn't even 10 years old and is one of the smallest in the league now. Even seats less than the old Winnipeg Arena

The old Winnipeg arena only held about 13k.

[Notorious Honey Badger]

Originally Posted by zarrell

The old Winnipeg arena only held about 13k.

Winnipeg Arena was closer to 15,000 actually

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by troutman

Barely doing better? WIN is top ten in revenues because they charge high ticket prices. They don't want a larger rink. Demand is high, because supply is low.

Really the current rink is the perfect size as they will sell out more than not over the years and keeps demand up. IMO there isn't enough people in the city to fill an 18,000+ seat arena consistently on an annual basis once the team settles in and the novelty wears off as it does with all franchises.

[BlackRedGold25]

Originally Posted by Spinoff90

Sad to see the Jets barely doing better than the likes of the Blue Jackets even though they are selling out games. Why didn't they future proof a little better and build a slightly bigger arena on the chance the Jets would be back instead of having an arena that isn't even 10 years old and is one of the smallest in the league now. Even seats less than the old Winnipeg Arena

It's because Winnipeg is just a temporary home until the team moves to Toronto. Look at David Thomson's ties with Bell. They'll eventually work out a deal with the Leafs to play in Toronto.

[zarrell]

Originally Posted by Notorious Honey Badger

Winnipeg Arena was closer to 15,000 actually

Correct. I was probably thinking of their average attendance the last few years.

[Notorious Honey Badger]

Originally Posted by zarrell

Correct. I was probably thinking of their average attendance the last few years.

actually during most of the Jets 1.0 era 13k is what you would expect. The original arena itself was quite small and they had to Frankenstein the thing to get more people in it. It's not like Nassau Memorial for the Islanders where the worst seats are still great views. The worst seats at the old barn were really really bad. So they were hard sells for sure.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

I would rather see gate receipt stats but the NHL and Flames would never release those

+1

Attendance figures in many US arenas are dubious, where so many tickets are given away or are extremely cheap.

[FakenHaken]

Originally Posted by troutman

+1

Attendance figures in many US arenas are dubious, where so many tickets are given away or are extremely cheap.

Just kind of funny story troutman to share:

Went down recently to Phoenix. The main intent was to take my family to the Suns and Lakers game. However, we decided to go to the Stars and Phoenix game for something to do on a Saturday Night. Never purchased tickets before the game, because we thought this should be a slam dunk. Was approached by a scalper for 5 tickets $70/seat. Thought to myself well I'll just go to the ticket window and pick them up atleast I know they won't be conterfeit. Ticket Window sorry sold out, all we have is $40.00/person standing room only. I politely said no thank you, as I had my 10 year old boy with me and I don't think I'd pay $40/person to stand and watch a hockey game. Anyways, not sure if this was just a one off type of night or what was going on.

[WinnipegFan]

Nice to see all the Canadian teams at 100%. I guess we can handle NHL teams!

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

All teams post tickets distributed, not turnstile count. As far as the Flames are concerned for one example, the west 300s are all sold tickets to Sport Chek regardless of whether Sport Chek can re-sell them. The Flames distribute all 19,289 tickets they make available to the games so that is the number they report.

I am still not even buying that they distribute 19,289 tickets for every game. Both sides of the 3rd press level have entire sections which are un-occupied during the week. So it isn't just the Sportchek side.

Also do sport chek get all the tickets to those sections or just a portion of them. In the past I had bought tickets through the flames to both sides of the 300 level and sat in the sportchek zone. So at least 4 years ago sportchek did not have all of one side in the 300 level.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by troutman

+1

Attendance figures in many US arenas are dubious, where so many tickets are given away or are extremely cheap.

No kidding, when I worked in Raleigh, I was probably offered free lower bowl seats from 5 different people every game day, or could have got a free one with a case of Coke, or tank of gas. Especially for weeknight games.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

All teams post tickets distributed, not turnstile count. As far as the Flames are concerned for one example, the west 300s are all sold tickets to Sport Chek regardless of whether Sport Chek can re-sell them. The Flames distribute all 19,289 tickets they make available to the games so that is the number they report.

This becomes an issue when Sport Chek's contract with the Flames expires (or if it's a yearly agreement) and they eliminate the concept of the Sport Chek zone as they clearly aren't selling all their seats purchased from the Flames.

Attendance is going to start becoming a real issue for the Flames in the near future. Based on the complete lack of walk-up sales (ie; last minute tickets available for nearly every game including Canadien and Oiler games), once these bulk ticket agreements start to expire there's going to rows of empty seats on a nightly basis.

[Resolute 14]

Sport Chek rarely sold the entire section when the Flames sucked in the early 2000s. I doubt they are paying a huge price for those seats. Hell, it is probably a case where Sport Chek only pays for the tickets they do sell. That is probably also why the Flames will sell seats from those sections themselves as well.

As far as last minute tickets go, the league mandates that teams hold back a certain number of seats for the visiting team, league officials, etc. Most of those get released at the last minute. Even at the peak of ticket demand, if you were willing to pay, you could find these seats appearing on Ticketmaster on the day of game.

[Lt.Spears]

It would be interesting to see the the decline in actual attendance since 04.

[troutman]

European attendance figures:

SC Bern 10th time on top
Swiss club and Swedish league lead European attendance rankings
http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/n...html?tx_ttnews

In the 2011/2012 season, Europe had for the first time seven clubs that reached the 10,000-fan mark. The previous record was five clubs (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010).

This is a real team - Hamburg Freezers

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Sport Chek rarely sold the entire section when the Flames sucked in the early 2000s. I doubt they are paying a huge price for those seats. Hell, it is probably a case where Sport Chek only pays for the tickets they do sell. That is probably also why the Flames will sell seats from those sections themselves as well.

As far as last minute tickets go, the league mandates that teams hold back a certain number of seats for the visiting team, league officials, etc. Most of those get released at the last minute. Even at the peak of ticket demand, if you were willing to pay, you could find these seats appearing on Ticketmaster on the day of game.

Sport Chek likely had to pay a lot less for the deal in the early 2000s. And if Sport Chek only pays for the tickets they do sell then the Flames have to be fudging the attendance numbers because there are tons of empty seats up there for weekday games. It's one or the other.

The Flames never sent emails out the day of the game before the last couple years and not nearly at the same frequency as this year. They are sent almost every single game now. In fact, the only ones are I can remember not getting one for in months are Winnipeg and San Jose (for obvious reasons). So clearly it's related to walk-up ticket sales lacking if the email isn't sent for games that are obvious sell-outs.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by JayP

Sport Chek likely had to pay a lot less for the deal in the early 2000s. And if Sport Chek only pays for the tickets they do sell then the Flames have to be fudging the attendance numbers because there are tons of empty seats up there for weekday games. It's one or the other.

The Flames never sent emails out the day of the game before the last couple years and not nearly at the same frequency as this year. They are sent almost every single game now. In fact, the only ones are I can remember not getting one for in months are Winnipeg and San Jose (for obvious reasons). So clearly it's related to walk-up ticket sales lacking if the email isn't sent for games that are obvious sell-outs.

No it isn't, tickets distributed and tickets paid for are not the same thing.

[Spinoff90]

Originally Posted by troutman

Barely doing better? WIN is top ten in revenues because they charge high ticket prices. They don't want a larger rink. Demand is high, because supply is low.

Well seeing as how everything in those numbers is about attendance numbers with no mention of revenue I think it is obvious what I meant. But high ticket prices? Last I heard about their prices season tickets were a hot dog in the other Canadian markets They could fill a larger arena and demand is high because the Jets are back not because there are a lack of seats in an arena built for a WHL team. If demand is going to drop once the hype wears off then they shouldn't have got a team back.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by valo403

No it isn't, tickets distributed and tickets paid for are not the same thing.

You're both right, depending on how you split the hairs. Everyone wants the turnstile count, but that is almost never released. The numbers we do get are always fudged as a result. Doesn't matter if it is Calgary, Phoenix, Montreal or Winnipeg.