A Tale of Three Cities: Attendance in NHL, AHL & ECHL

[Freeway]

Calgary attendance:
All: 19,289
AVERAGE: 19,289

Quad City attendance:
10/11 [Sat]: 5,231
10/12 [Sun]: 2,037
10/29 [Wed]: 2,046
11/1 [Sat]: 2,585
11/7 [Fri]: 2,749
11/12 [Wed]: 1,744
11/14 [Fri]: 2,211
11/15 [Sat]: 4,014
11/21 [Fri]: 2,414
AVERAGE: 2,781
AVERAGE (excluding Wednesdays): 3,034

Las Vegas attendance:
10/23 [Thu]: 5,019
10/24 [Fri]: 4,802
10/31 [Fri]: 3,381
11/7 [Fri]: 3,929
11/8 [Sat]: 4,429
11/14 [Fri]: 4,422
11/15 [Sat]: 4,635
AVERAGE: 4,374

Conclusions: Quad City attendance is decent considering [a] the team wasn't great last year, [b] it's a new market, [c] the economy and [d] Wednesday night games. Las Vegas has strong numbers, bolstered by the
team going to the Kelly Cup Finals last year. Calgary is Calgary.

And heck, here's the Hitmen:
9/19: 8,977
9/24: 5,901
9/27: 6,933
9/30: 6,476
10/2: 6,278
10/4: 6,761
10/12: 6,486
10/15: 5,776
10/16: 5,924
10/22: 6,111
10/24: 7,794
11/2: 8,187
11/3: 6,649
11/8: 8,134
11/21: 11,920
AVERAGE: 7,220

[SparkyOne]

Also factor in that QC--once again--won only like 2 of their first 10 games. Even .500 hockey would have drawn more fans!!

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Freeway

Quad City attendance:
10/11 [Sat]: 5,231
10/12 [Sun]: 2,037
10/29 [Wed]: 2,046
11/1 [Sat]: 2,585
11/7 [Fri]: 2,749
11/12 [Wed]: 1,744
11/14 [Fri]: 2,211
11/15 [Sat]: 4,014
11/21 [Fri]: 2,414
AVERAGE: 2,781
AVERAGE (excluding Wednesdays): 3,034


Conclusions: Quad City attendance is decent considering [a] the team wasn't great last year, [b] it's a new market, [c] the economy and [d] Wednesday night games. Las Vegas has strong numbers, bolstered by the
team going to the Kelly Cup Finals last year. Calgary is Calgary.

Sorry but I don't see how that is decent... if you remove the openning night from the list the average attendance is low. I agree this is a young team which will get better over time.

However I can't imagine the Flames will be impressed with these attendance figures.

I would bet QC Flames have been told they have to be profitable....

[flambers]

The average QC attendance including openning night is 2,781. Not including the first night the average attendance is 2,475. Which is not great.

[PIMking]

ughhh why does it matter to you calgary folks?

really your not losing money and either is calgary.

[ricoFlame]

those las vegas numbers are surprising to me. good stuff.

[Coach]

what are the capacities of the Vegas and QC buildings?

[ricoFlame]

Originally Posted by MattyC

what are the capacities of the Vegas and QC buildings?

vegas is 7773. I'd say for ECHL hockey in vegas, they're doing great.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by ricoFlame

vegas is 7773. I'd say for ECHL hockey in vegas, they're doing great.

Ya agreed definitely surprised by that one. Do we share them with the Stars?

[dobbles]

qc capacity is around 9,000. though we do have the smallest metro area by far.

[JerzeeGirl]

Originally Posted by PIMking

ughhh why does it matter to you calgary folks?

really your not losing money and either is calgary.

I think I can say that it's very important to me that QC is a healthy organisation for the following reasons:
a) stability on the farm means the staff & players can just concentrate on the game not whether they will be re-locating every other season
b) the fans - I remember when there was talk that the Flames would be forced to relocate to the US (a la the Jets) even on a smaller scale I would hate to see that happen again to you folks in the QC area
c) and again, a healthy farm team (both on & off the ice) is attractive to other players, management types and fans....success is important to everyone.

[PIMking]

I know that they are not bleeding money I know one of the owners personally.

But it all helps when they play good at home. fans like winning and attendance will be better once christmas is over always is.

If calgary isnt losing money and the qc owners are willing to go into a 3rd year then why is this even being brought up even though Ken King and Sutter like to move every couple of year.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Not so sound any alarms, but we used to have an AHL team here where I'm from (1993 Calder Cup Champions in fact . . . I'm not gonna mention the team name though). They moved over a decade ago because of poor attendance figures. Those poor figures were better than what QC is putting up now. Heck the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (a junior hockey game) are out drawing QC

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

Not so sound any alarms, but we used to have an AHL team here where I'm from (1993 Calder Cup Champions in fact . . . I'm not gonna mention the team name though). They moved over a decade ago because of poor attendance figures. Those poor figures were better than what QC is putting up now. Heck the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (a junior hockey game) are out drawing QC

Yeah and the ushl is putting up numbers that alot of ahl teams would like.

The team doesnt play well at home and like I have stated before we will see after christmas. this is the last time I will say it.

If you guys want to move the team so bad then do it. god

[JerzeeGirl]

Originally Posted by PIMking

Yeah and the ushl is putting up numbers that alot of ahl teams would like.

The team doesnt play well at home and like I have stated before we will see after christmas. this is the last time I will say it.

If you guys want to move the team so bad then do it. god

You know I don't think either MQS or I were being confrontational - and speaking for myself, I never said I wanted the QC team to move. I like the setup in the QC and the potential there for the team and the area.

Granted, winning helps to build a crowd and keep it coming back - and probably the explanation of having one of the youngest teams in the AHL doesn't mean alot but hopefully things do pickup after the hols.

You can't ignore the fact tho that attendance is important and one of the meters that indicate the health of a franchise.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by JerzeeGirl

You can't ignore the fact tho that attendance is important and one of the meters that indicate the health of a franchise.

I totally agree, its a part of a players development to learn to play in front of big a crowd.. Playing in a 3/4 empty arena is not an ideal thing for any player.

I hope QC works but the attendance needs to improve IMO.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by PIMking

Yeah and the ushl is putting up numbers that alot of ahl teams would like.

The team doesnt play well at home and like I have stated before we will see after christmas. this is the last time I will say it.

If you guys want to move the team so bad then do it. god

Relax. Take a deep breath. People are just interested in the attendance figures. Nobody is suggesting the organization move the team.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by flambers

I totally agree, its a part of a players development to learn to play in front of big a crowd.. Playing in a 3/4 empty arena is not an ideal thing for any player.

I hope QC works but the attendance needs to improve IMO.

Part of player development is winning at home and the road but it only seems to work on the road for them.

winning breeds winning. But I could be wrong seems like new jersey is doing fine with lowell

attendence shouldnt mean anything they are paid pros and it shouldnt matter how many butts are in the seats.

[dobbles]

here's the thing. even if the qc picked up a thousand fans on the average, it would still only be 3,700 folks. that would still be well under half capacity and under what las vegas draws. yet if we were able to do that, all of a sudden we are in the middle of the ahl attendance numbers.

why do i bring that up? because i doubt people will ever be satisfied... regardless of what we want to happen, there's only 10 teams in the league that average over 5,000 a game. its not like if this team was moved somewhere else it would be drawing 10,000 fans a game or anything. additionally, all of the midwestern teams are towards the bottom of the attendance ladder anyways. chicago is the exception as they are a gigantic city and a long time ahl team; but milwuakee, rockford, iowa, and peoria are all pretty low too. heck toronto is the team right ahead of us, and they are a huge canadian metro, and they can't even draw people.

with that said, i think mist of us qc fans are really frustrated with attendance and have made many suggestion on how to get more folks there. it is particularly frustrating for the old time qc folks because they were there in the past when the qc would draw 7,000+ people a game for a much inferior hockey product.

to me, it all boils down to selling the games as a fun family time. instead they rely on the idea that people will just show up to see ahl hockey because its really great quality. and it just doesn't work that way. not in this market. they need more activities and they need better prices or specials.

and guys don't mind pimking, he is still mad about al montoya talkin about his momma!

[BringTheKnightsBack]

looking at those figures quad cities probably will be lucky to end up with 3000 a game by the end of this season. last season was bad enough with 3500. if quad city gets another season in the ahl it will be because calgary had no other optionsavailable to them.