Playoff Teams With Opposite Attendance

After a loss in intramural volleyball last night, I was checking out the standings going into the second half, and one thing caught me.

In the East, four teams will be fighting for the bottom two spots. The Sabres, Hurricanes, Panthers, and Penguins. In terms of attendance, the Sabres and Penguins do just fine. However, the Hurricanes and Panthers have not played in front of playoff like crowds much yet this year.

Carolina is 23rd in attendance ranked by average, averaging 15,357 a night, which is about 82% capacity at the RBC Center. They only have two sellouts this season, the first two games of the year. The attendance then plunged, going over 15,000 only twice in a span of 13 games. That dip ended with the 17th home game of the season, two days after Christmas when the Bruins visited Raleigh. Including the Bruins game, the attendance has only dipped below 16,000 twice; and the Canes even broke 18,000 for the first time since their second home game when the Leafs visited right before the All-Star Break.

So will the Canes attendance keep climbing as the team fights for their playoff spot since their Cup run in 05-06? I think so. There is a little tradition in Raleigh already with the Cup run, so the "Redneck Hockey" fans might come out of the woodwork again. Only time will tell and I will be watching.

Meanwhile, in sunny Florida, the BankAtlantic Center could definitely use some Panthers Playoff Fever. The Panthers haven't made the playoffs since 1999-2000 and have been, as usual, struggling at the gate. They are 25th in attendance ranked by average, with just under 15,000 a night (remember, its called "paid" attendance). This puts them with the next-to-last capacity rating of 77.8%. Yikes. They have only "sold out" one game this season, when the Canadiens visited at the end of December.

So will the Panthers attendance see a rise due to some playoff fever? Maybe, but I doubt it. The team has too many fair-weather fans. If they make it into playoffs, it wouldn't shock me to see some sellouts, but even that might be a stretch. We will see though.

Onto the West, where it will be a complete crap shoot; something that will be really fun to watch as the season dwindles. Virtually everyone is still in it, as the last place Blues (42 points) trail the 5th place Coyotes by only 11 points, and the 8th place Ducks by 9 points. Although the Blues would have to play very well, it is definitely not impossible. But, to be realistic, I think the Kings, Preds, and Blues may be out of it with the strength of the West. So I think the Coyotes and Blue Jackets can really benefit from a little playoff fever.

Without going crazy on the Coyotes (take a look at my Playing Below Capacity series, Phoenix edition, for more info), they are obviously in a mess off the ice. Everyone loves a winner though, and I really think they could benefit from the hockey fans in the desert getting a taste of the playoffs.

I think the same goes for Columbus, as they have had a solid year on the TV front, as Puck The Media showed. They have not had such as luck at the gate, but have slowly been rising in the past games of the first half. They have only sold out one game, a 3-0 win two days after Christmas (a Saturday) when a solid Flyers club rolled into town. With a hot rookie goalie and with the team only two points out of a playoff spot, the Blue Jackets could be the newest and hottest mid-market team. I think a playoff run, their first of the Jackets existence, would create some die-hard fans and would help the bottom line immensely in Columbus.

Moving on...

Sports Media Watch had a cool post last night, comparing the TV Ratings of NBA and NHL teams in the same markets. Not surprisingly, most of the NBA teams are out-drawing the NHL on the tube, but some are close than you would think. Its worth a quick look.

That's all for now.

Playing Below Capacity: Los Angeles Kings

And here is the second edition of Playing Below Capacity, where we will focus on the Los Angeles Kings, who rank 23rd in Attendance Percentage Capacity in the league. The Kings currently lead the NHL with 27 home games thus far as of today, which is three more than anyone else. They have only sold out seven of these games, but five of those sellouts have come in the past five games. The first edition was on the New Jersey Devils, who are just above them at 22, in case you missed it. This will follow the same format as the previous one. With all that said, lets take a look at the Kings.*

*Warning: Please remember that I'm a young college kid who really doesn't know what he's talking about. Any "problems" that I suggest the Kings have are my opinion and are most likely not that accurate. Also, any information I used can easily be found on the Internet as I am a typical lazy college kid. With that said, enjoy.

Here are the ideas I came up with that could be problems with getting people to go to Kings game on a regular basis...

• Arena Location/Age
• High Ticket Prices/Poor Promotional Events
  
• City Population
• Financial Issues in Los Angeles, CA (location of Arena)
• On Ice Product
• Location/History of Franchise

So before we really start, lets take a look at some basic facts of the LA Kings (all information taken from their wikipedia page, click here):

• The Kings were founded in 1967 when Jack Kent Cooke was awarded an NHL Franchise the year earlier.
• The Kings have only won their division once, in the 1990-1991 season. They have only gotten past the second round of the playoffs once as well, when they won the Western Conference Championship in 1992-1993, but then losing to Montreal in the Stanley Cup Final in five games.
• The Kings began playing at The Forum in Inglewood, California, before moving to the new Staples Center, which opened for the 1999 NHL and NBA seasons.
• The Staples Center for Ice Hockey is said to be 18,118 (Wikipedia)

Let the fun begin...

- Arena Location/Age

With the Staples Center turning only a decade old in October of this year, I doubt the Staples Center is much of an issue for attracting fans. The Staples center is actually the 5th youngest arena in the Western Conference, only older than Columbus, Phoenix, Dallas, and Minnesota (Colorados' Pepsi Center also opened in 1999). And being located in Downtown Los Angeles, I think the only problem with that would be traffic getting in and out of the city if one was to commute regularly to games from outside of the city. Still, it shouldn't be that bad.

- High Ticket Prices/Poor Promotional Events

According to teammarketing.com, the Kings average ticket price is up 2.7 % this season to $47.20, putting the Kings about $2.50 below the NHL average of $49.66 (all from here). Their average premium ticket price is $105.24, which hasn't changed in the last three years, and is about $8 below the NHL average of $113.44 (teammarketing.com). This is looking good thus far. The Kings have not raised their average premium ticket price the past couple of seasons, when they easily could have, and they are staying modest with the average ticket prices for the casual fan. I don't see anything quite wrong here.

Now lets remember, Teammarketing.com ranks its NHL list by what they call the Fan Cost Index, The FCI:

comprises the prices of four (4) average-price tickets, two (2) small draft beers, four (4) small soft drinks, four (4) regular-size hot dogs, parking for one (1) car, two (2) game programs and two (2) least-expensive, adult-size adjustable caps.

For the 2008-2009 season, the LA Kings rank 14th in FCI, which means the group of four drops about $281.31, which is roughly $70. Costly? Somewhat. The good thing about this is that going to a weekend game with an average ticket price from the Kings, assuming that you're not driving across country to see the game; the group of four could keep their costs under a $100 for the night. That is very doable. Now the Kings' FCI is up 3.3% from last season, but is still under the NHL Average FCI of $288.23, which in general is up 5.5% from last season.

So the tickets aren't all bad, how about some deals, though? If you venture to the Kings website and click on "Discounted Offers" under the "Tickets" tab, you find their four main deals:

1. Hockey Night Out - "Enjoy a great night with friends, food, fun and hockey. Pack includes two (2) tickets, two (2) nachos and two (2) beers starting at only $53, a savings of over $26! Upgrade to the lower level for just $115.50."
2. All You Can Eat - "The All U Can Eat Pack includes a ticket to the Kings game and all you can eat hot dogs, nachos, peanut, popcorn and soda starting at just $27 for all Monday games ($36 for all games)! All U Can Eat Seats are available for EVERY game!
   Click here to purchase ($36)...and take advantage of our All U Can Eat Value Mondays ($27) ."
3. Family Pack - "Starting at only $21 a person, receive 1 ticket, 1 hot dog and 1 soda. Receive 1 free parking pass for every 4 tickets purchased!"
4. College Nights (photo displays price of $10) - "Discounted tickets available online or at STAPLES Center Box Office with college ID on game nights and during regular business hours."

Good deals appealing to many different demographics. I wouldn't say LA is leading the pack here, but they are doing their part for sure.

- City Population

The Kings do not have an issue here. Los Angeles is populated with just under 4 million people and has a Metro Population a shade under 13 Million (Statshockey.net). What else can I say? L.A. is the second largest city with an NHL franchise in the league, with its nearest rival being Chicago, who still trials them by a million within the city and 3 million in the Metro.

- Financial Issues of Los Angeles

Once again, everyone is hurting due to the latest recession, but as of 2007 the Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of just under $700 billion, putting the area second to New York City in the Western Hemisphere (Wikipedia). This includes much of the suburbs and smaller cities around LA, but I'd bet a good amount that a solid portion of that figure is from either directly or within 20 miles of LA.

- On Ice Product

The Kings have not made the playoffs since the 2001-2002 season, and have made the playoffs 23 times in their 40 completed seasons. But, as I mentioned earlier, have only made it past the second round once, and only to the Stanley Cup Finals once as well, falling to the Canadiens (Wikipedia). On the upside, the Kings management has slowly began building a team for the future. Out of the 26 players on the Kings roster, only 7 of those players are aged 30 or older, with no players at the ages of 27 through 29 (Wikipedia). Personally, their biggest concern is goaltending, where two young goaltenders may need a couple of seasons to pan out. Either way, the Kings have a 24 year old Captain in Dustin Brown; and if they are able to keep their young core, the Kings should be able to break out of last place in the Pacific.

- Location/History of Franchise

Southern California isn't exactly a hockey haven, but there are very competitive youth hockey programs that do well in USA Hockey's National Championships year in and year out (from my experience reading USA Hockey Magazine). They are also very heavy into Roller Hockey, where it is seemingly easier to play due to Southern California's climate.

The Kings haven't had a very winning past, but you can't say they haven't been successful. They played host to the Great One (Wayne Gretzky) from 1988 to 1996, and had some of their best years during his stay. In general, a couple of consecutive runs deep into the playoffs would really grow the fan base, but they still draw well considering their place in the standings recently.

- Conclusion

The Kings are easily the safest team of all the teams playing below capacity. They are 12th on Forbes' NHL Team Valuations, coming in with at $210 million along with a revenue of $91 million and an operating income of $1.2 million. With all this good, they do have a substantial amount of debt over their value, which is 87 %. But, ever since the lockout, their revenue and overall value has risen every year (all from Forbes).

So what can the Kings do? Honestly, after looking at it all, I think most of it comes down to the on ice product. This season, they are averaging a shade under 16,000 a night (ESPN), but their last five home games have all been sellouts, with a total of seven on the season (My Excel Graph). Not bad for a last place team in the Pacific division. I think in two seasons the Kings will be a force to be reckoned with, and more and more seats will be filled night in and night out at the Staples Center.

So there is the second division of my little series here at my little blog. Once again, I will look it over and see what I can do next time. I hope you enjoyed the read. Please feel free to comment on any aspect of the article.

I'm Still Here, Believe It or Not...

I understand my posts have nosedived the past 2 weeks, and I apologize. I'm just trying to get into my new groove in a new semester at school. After this post I'm going to pump out a fresh version of Playing Under Capacity, focusing on the Los Angeles Kings.

One little tidbit that isn't old news:

Ever since putting up my Playing Below Capacity piece on the New Jersey Devils, more and more fans have been quietly sneaking into the Prudential Center.

At the time I wrote the article, they were already above the 85% threshold, with their reported figure at 85.7 %. Since then though the Devil's Percent Capacity has risen to 86.6 %! I'm taking all the credit for the upswing, by the way.

Check back soon.

Catching up on Old News...

First things first: the 2nd Winter Classic.

40,818 Blackhawk, Red Wing, and hockey fans packed the friendly confines at Wrigley New Years Day for the Noon start. It was a great spectacle indeed.

The game counted as a sellout home game (20,500) for the Hawks, their 18th of the season. I doubt that the figure included the packed rooftops around Wrigley, but I doubt it did. All in all, what else can I say about the event that already hasn't been said? It was a success in so many ways, and I look for it to come back annually for at least the next 3 years.

Puck the Media reported the top 10 markets for the television ratings of the classic. The game earned a 2.9 overnight, the highest regular-season rating in 13 years.

Top 10 Metered Markets:
1. Chicago 11.8/21
2. Detroit 10.5/20
3. Buffalo 10.1/20
4. St. Louis 5.3/10
5. Pittsburgh 4.4/8
6. Denver 4.2/10
7. Providence 3.5/7
8. Indianapolis 3.4/6
9. West Palm Beach 3.3/6
10. Orlando 3.2/5

St. Louis is really turning into a hockey town these days... With the Blues selling out 16 of their so far 21 home games, they are enjoying great success everywhere but on the ice; where the team is in last place in the west. They are a young team, and the fans dedication will pay off in the coming years. You also gotta love the last 4. No doubt all the transplanted hockey fans in Florida were tuned in, but Providence and Indianapolis?

Providence is home to the Providence Bruins, Boston's AHL counterpart. They enjoy relatively good success for the AHL, ranking 10th in Attendance and averaging 5,206 a night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence (11,000 Capacity). As for Indianapolis, I'm not sure what the big draw to outdoors hockey exactly was.

Other than that, a great review of the classic was done by Greg Wyshynski over at Puck Daddy.

Moving on...

Puck the Media had another great piece on Friday, lending some suggestions to the NHL Network on how to step it up (this a day after the MLB Network launched, which has been given great reviews, I guess). The suggestions?

1. New Studio. Now, if not Sooner.
2. A Little More Conversation on “On the Fly”
3. More Inside Info

That's all I have for now, check back tomorrow.