2020 WC Play-In Round: Nashville Predators (6) vs Arizona Coyotes (11) Coyotes 2-1

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Where do the Phoenix Suns play?

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Google tells me they play out of downtown Phoenix, in Talking Stick Resort Arena.

[TheScorpion]

Well the Cardinals definitely don't play in a hockey arena.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Well the Cardinals definitely don't play in a hockey arena.

No, they play in a football stadium that is right next door to the hockey arena.

And attendance is just fine.

[Enoch Root]

Wasn't sure who I would be rooting for in this one, but find myself cheering for Hall and the Yotes. And he has been good.

Annnd the Preds make it 4 - 3

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

No, they play in a football stadium that is right next door to the hockey arena.

And attendance is just fine.

They also play one game a week, almost always on a Sunday afternoon. If they do play a midweek evening game, it's likely no more than 1 game per season.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

No, they play in a football stadium that is right next door to the hockey arena.



And attendance is just fine.

Right, but it is also probably not a fair comparison to make between the NHL and the richest, most successful professional sporting league on earth.

I think there is a strong argument that the Coyotes would be much better off in a downtown arena. Why don't they get to share the TSA with the Suns?

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[Enoch Root]

The Glendale arena isn't ideal. No question.

But blaming the lack on fans on the arena location does the situation an injustice, IMO. If the Yotes won once in a while, there would be more fans.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Right, but it is also probably not a fair comparison to make between the NHL and the richest, most successful professional sporting league on earth.

I think there is a strong argument that the Coyotes would be much better off in a downtown arena. Why don't they get to share the TSA with the Suns?

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Not to mention ~8 games a year, mostly on Sunday afternoons.

A bit different than going Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday every other week for like 5 months.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

The Glendale arena isn't ideal. No question.

But blaming the lack on fans on the arena location does the situation an injustice, IMO. If the Yotes won once in a while, there would be more fans.

The constant threat of moving doesn't help either I don't think.

Many clubs have shown the sunbelt can work (Tampa, Nashville, Vegas, San Jose, LA), but yeah some semblance of success is necessary.

[Enoch Root]

It's also right off the highway, and thus pretty easy to access, unlike downtown rinks like Calgary, where it's like a parking lot trying to get to the rink. It takes me as long to get to a game in Calgary as it does in Phoenix, and I am as far away from the arena as anyone in the greater Phx area (northeast Scottsdale).

Also, with Calgary (and most downtown arenas), you have to park farther away and it is a longer walk to the arena. In the cold.

Finally, Glendale has multiple restaurants right beside the arena, so you can have a burger and a beer on a patio before the game.

I find it much, much easier and more enjoyable to go to a game in Phx than in Calgary. And like I said, I am further away than pretty much anyone in the valley.

The attendance problems have nothing to do with the location of the arena, and everything to do with a franchise that has had NO success from which to build a fanbase.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think there is a strong argument that the Coyotes would be much better off in a downtown arena. Why don't they get to share the TSA with the Suns?

About a quarter of the seats in the arena couldn't see about a third of the rink.




The arena has been renovated since the Coyotes moved out, but they didn't make it more hockey-friendly.

[Erick Estrada]

It wasn't really hockey-friendly even before the renovations.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Where do the Phoenix Suns play?

The Suns play in Talking Stick Arena, which is where the Coyotes used to play. The arena was designed for basketball and concert events. It is really bad for hockey. I saw a few Coyotes games when they were in that area and it was terrible experience.

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

No, they play in a football stadium that is right next door to the hockey arena.

And attendance is just fine.

A team that plays eight home games a season in a one a week league is hardly comparable to a team that plays 41 home dates on every day of the week. Football is setup to make an event of going to a game. Tailgating is part of the experience and you make a day of going to game. Not the same as the NHL.

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

The Glendale arena isn't ideal. No question.

But blaming the lack on fans on the arena location does the situation an injustice, IMO. If the Yotes won once in a while, there would be more fans.

Winning does indeed help, but the location is oppressive. Glendale is just a brutal location as it is not in the areas of the metropolis where the money is. Mesa really screwed the pooch, and the hockey team, when they let the liquor license issue drive the football and hockey areas to Glendale, who bent over backwards to get those facilities. The football and hockey facilities were supposed to be at the confluence of the 101 and 202, providing great access to the east valley where the money in town is. Unfortunately the Mormon Church influence wouldn't support coughing up the land, which instead when to a shopping center. The other location is now where the Cubs complex is, so they ended up giving on the issue in the long run,

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

It's also right off the highway, and thus pretty easy to access, unlike downtown rinks like Calgary, where it's like a parking lot trying to get to the rink. It takes me as long to get to a game in Calgary as it does in Phoenix, and I am as far away from the arena as anyone in the greater Phx area (northeast Scottsdale).

Also, with Calgary (and most downtown arenas), you have to park farther away and it is a longer walk to the arena. In the cold.

Finally, Glendale has multiple restaurants right beside the arena, so you can have a burger and a beer on a patio before the game.

I find it much, much easier and more enjoyable to go to a game in Phx than in Calgary. And like I said, I am further away than pretty much anyone in the valley.

Please acknowledge you're visitor who doesn't have the same commitments people who live here full time have. It's really different when you have a family and a job that you have to drag your butt out of bed to deal with after game night. Plus, try doing that 41 times a season.

On travel, the city has pretty good infrastructure to get around, but those in Scottsdale have it fairly easy, even those in the farthest reaches. Unless you live out at Tonto Verde the drive isn't that bad. Anthem to the arena is 30 minutes. North Scottsdale is 35 minutes. South Scottsdale is 35 minutes. Cave Creek is 40 minutes, and this is far away as you can get in the NE part of town. The rest of the east valley has a little bit more of a challenge. NE Mesa is 45 minutes. SE Mesa is 50 minutes. East Gilbert is 55 minutes. Chandler business district is 45. Chandler Heights is 60 minutes. Superstition Mountain/Gold Canyon is 55 minutes. The bedroom communities are hurting. Maricopa is 55 minutes. San Tan is 65 minutes. That's a big commitment to make to get to a game here and there. That's brutal if you want season tickets. If that site were at the 101/202 location that is a saving of 10-25 minutes on most commutes.

The attendance problems have nothing to do with the location of the arena, and everything to do with a franchise that has had NO success from which to build a fanbase.

The location of the arena is a huge problem. This is why the team wants to move to the central core. They know where their bread is buttered and they have a better chance of success by having a central arena. It's a big enough problem that they are looking at every single option, even though the deal they have with Glendale is very beneficial to them. The problem is still they can't draw to that out of the way location.

[Enoch Root]

Man, you like to preach.

I am a STH in Calgary so I know full well the commitments of a 41 game home schedule. It is too much, IMO. In any city.

But it isn't any harder to go to a game in Glendale than it is in Calgary. Probably easier.

I've said all I have to say on the matter.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Man, you like to preach.

I am a STH in Calgary so I know full well the commitments of a 41 game home schedule. It is too much, IMO. In any city.

But it isn't any harder to go to a game in Glendale than it is in Calgary. Probably easier.

I've said all I have to say on the matter.

Don't get pissy. I just want you to acknowledge that your experience is much different than it is for those who live in Phoenix full time. You also have it pretty easy as the Scottsdale traffic is usually better than most other parts of the city. You visiting in your bubble up in Scottsdale, and doing it as someone on vacation, is much different than someone who lives in other parts of the valley and has time commitments to be concerned about. Commute time for anyone wanting to go to games is a big part of the decision. Add in traffic in a big city like Phoenix and the unpredictability of the situation makes it much less desirable. Like I said, the current location is not ideal and the team is doing everything in their power to move to a location in the east valley to attract more fans.

[Enoch Root]

I already said it isn't ideal.

But lots of arenas aren't ideal, and there will be fans in any city of 4 million plus people that don't like the location.

Also, I am 50 minutes away from the arena, and would be better off with any of the proposed new sites - would be very happy if they move.

But the bottom line is that the reason there is no one in the building is that the Yotes have missed the playoffs 14 times in their 22 year history, and were knocked out in the first round 7 times. They have advanced past the first round once. In 22 years.

That is why they have not built a fanbase.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

No, they play in a football stadium that is right next door to the hockey arena.

And attendance is just fine.

Apples and Oranges. Basketball to hockey is a fair comparison (although in this case the Suns actually play in downtown Phoenix), but with football you have 8 home games a year with fans usually making a full day of it, not even remotely comparable to 41 home games, many during the workweek.

I had season tickets in Calgary and I wouldn't have had them if the arena was the distance Glendale is, simple as that. And I was a hardcore hockey fan in a hardcore hockey country.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

No, they play in a football stadium that is right next door to the hockey arena.

And attendance is just fine.

Do I really have to explain this? There are 8 home games a season. People are going to make the drive only 8x during the year, once every couple of weeks.

Easy to make a drive to tailgate, party, wait for the game that starts in the middle of the day on a weekend on most nights.

You’re talking 41 hockey games that have late starts for most of them. Driving takes a long time if you’re in Scottsdale, Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek. The only beneficiaries of where the current arena is located is those in Glendale, Avondale, and eastern Phoenix. People need to go back to work the next day. And they sure as hell ain’t going to pay season tickets to go to every game.

My dad did when there was a shortened season in ‘13, but that was also when we lived quite close.

Cardinals play in Glendale (already explained)
Diamondbacks in Phoenix
Suns in Phoenix

[FireGilbert]

This has been joked about to death but this morning pre coffee and still a little out of it I was checking out the highlights of this game and legitimately my first thought was wondering why the Yotes were in white at home.

[agulati]

Predators have taken a 1-0 lead in the firdt