On Ottawa and the NHL

So I was at the Rangers 2-1 SO Win over the Ottawa Senators Saturday afternoon inside Scotiabank Place. Ottawa is great, and even though the arena is in Kanata (about 10 minutes outside the city), there is plenty to do around Kanata as well.

The Senators as a franchise were lucky enough to have the distinct advantage of being placed in Canada to start from a business perspective. Unless they never win a game for the next five years, I don't see how their attendance could ever dive below the top 15 (in terms of percent capacity). The biggest business challenge for the Sens to me? They are going up against the history of the Maple Leafs, Canadiens, and even the Quebec Nordiques to an extent.

I was thinking about this at the game. Ottawa is, for the most part, just stuck between Montreal and Toronto. With the Leafs and Habs being apart of the original six, generations upon generations of Canadians grew up supporters of one of the two clubs typically. With the Senators playing only their 17th season this year (16 if you want to subtract the lockout), its no wonder some people seem to think Sens fans aren't as dedicated as others.

To this I say bullshit. I know the passion is there otherwise they wouldn't fill the arena year in and year out. The key, to me at least, is to create a consistently winning team. I mean, look at the fan passion during the 2006 Stanley Cup final. That looks like a lot of fun for anyone. What needs to happen is the team has to give a reason for the roof to blow off Scotiabank, which could easily happen with a playoff run.

To me, part of the reason why the Rangers are so popular (besides being from NY), is because of 1994. The support of the Rangers got passed down generation by generation just like any other original six team, but 1994 awoke many sleeping fans along with creating new ones (including myself, as my dad is a Bruins fan with his parents from Boston). Hockey was hot in '94, and conveniently one of the biggest cities in the world captured the top prize. Coincidence that there are Ranger fans scattered across North America and the World today? Not at all.

My end point is this: I want Ottawa to succeed because I think there should/can be at least two more teams in Canada. This whole southern expansion thing has been good and bad, but the NHL needs to cut its losses in the next three to five years. The NFL did it with NFL Europe, and cut its losses eventually. Canada is where hockey will always be king, and the NHL needs to take advantage of that in a business sense. The great thing about the Senators is that, from my point of view as an American going to games at Scotiabank, all they need to do is put a winning team on the ice consistently. Everything else will fall in line because Ottawa is lucky enough as a franchise (from a business sense) to be located where Hockey is king.

The Friday Memo (TV Ratings Galore)

News and Notes from around the Business World of Hockey.

- Wednesday Nights TV Ratings for all the games (Puck The Media). Let's just say, we're off to a good start.

- Last night was nearly as good with Boston pulling a 9.4 rating on NESN (Puck The Media).

- Versus is also experiencing a playoff jump as well (Sports Media Watch).

- Finally, some interesting information coming out about the Sabres (Buffalo Business First):

"DiPofi said the Sabres sold 765,229 tickets this season.

Based on media information distributed by the team, however, it appears the ticket count was 741,547. The Sabres had 15 games at HSBC Arena that did not sell out, including two that drew fewer than 18,000 people to the 18,690-seat venue. In 2007-08, the Sabres said they sold out 38 of 41 home dates."

I've got the Sabres at 26 sellouts, which means the 15 non sellouts is the accurate number. I also have that the total number of fans at all regular season home games for the Sabres comes in at 759,787 spectators. This is below what the Sabres are saying they are sold, but above the articles statement. I'll keep tabs on this and I am beginning to work on a paid attendance tracking chart.

Enjoy the games tonight and I should be back Saturday or Sunday or whenever I recover from the Rangers Saturday game.

April Yields Best Attendance for NHL

With one more long day to go before the fight for the toughest championship in sports begins, I wanted to update as many graphs as I could with the final attendance statistics. First, what the title describes, the NHL average attendance by month (click to enlarge):



Granted, April clearly had the least amount of games, but at the same time it was a good measuring stick for playoff tickets. The max number of games the NHL playoffs could complete (7 game series for every match up each round) is 105. With April having a great average at around an accurate number of games the playoffs might represent, I think playoff ticket sales will be fine this year.

Now, the NHL average capacity (click to enlarge):



Much of the same here, as an average NHL game in the month of April enjoyed a 97% capacity crowd.

Next, the NHL average attendance by "Round" (click to enlarge):



I anticipated the spike back to a near-league sellout for the final weekend of games, and it happened. What this graph tells us is that basically average attendance will always rise over a successfully financial season. Say I run the same graph next year, and the attendance is flat, I think then there is serious cause for concern.

Finally, lets take a look at the final Second Half Boost Numbers. First the average attendances:


Colorado is at -2% and should be in red, my bad.

Then the average capacity percentages:



As much as Carolina, L.A., and Columbus are the success stories of the second half, I'm more interested in the bottom of the list. Tampa Bay, St. Louis, and Ottawa all gained ground after falling heavily in the beginning of the second half. What this means to me is that there are hockey fans who will support the game just as much as they support their selective teams. I was very please to see Tampa Bay make such a large jump in the past two weeks considering they have been out of the playoff race since basically February.

I might have some division statistics later, but I'm not sure because of some school work. Like I said before, I'm getting into crunch time for school, so please excuse my absences until May 1. Then its all summer. Thanks for reading as always.

NHL Average Attendance Up; Blackhawks Up 22%

The United Center will be ready to go on Thursday against the Flames.

The 2008-2009 NHL regular season is in the books. Coming up this week; final attendance updates across the board in all the categories, so stay tuned while we all wait for Wednesday.

Chicago, Colorado, New York Islanders, and Philadelphia all wrapped up the season last night at home, as they round out their averages and the NHL final average. To the chart (click to enlarge):



The NHL bumped up almost a percent from their all-time average attendance high last season, which is great. Chicago's revival is very evident in the standings as in the seats, with a 22% increase; 40% over two seasons (NOTE: As far as I know, the Winter Classic home game for the Blackhawks counted as a sold out United Center crowd of 20,500. That is what I recorded it as). And as much as the Islanders are on the other end of the spectrum, they are up in attendance this year and if they land there man in John Tavares, the Nassau Coliseum might be rockin' a little bit more next season.



Can the NHL average climb higher next season? Possibly, I would bet right now. If teams like Colorado, Florida, Tampa Bay, and Dallas can turn around their on-ice product, they could easily benefit by gaining back some of their fair-weathered fans.

More later.

Attendance: Columbus/Detroit Up 5%; Others Drop

The Columbus faithful will be rewarded with the playoffs this spring.

Eleven teams finished up their home games and seasons last night. Atlanta, Buffalo, Calgary, Columbus, Detroit, Florida, Los Angeles, Montreal, New Jersey, Phoenix, and Toronto were the teams. Lets take a look at their attendances (click to enlarge):



This group has been the most boring of all so far, with no real shocking numbers. Some thoughts (in alphabetical order):

• The Thrashers are still below their pre-lockout attendance levels.
• Buffalo has made great strides since before the lockout, but I italicized being down 7.11% this season because the reported average for them last year was 19,950. HSBC Arena holds 18,690, and that is what the club has been announcing all season. I don't think they are down that much because of this flaw.
• Calgary has been consistent the past five years, but lets not forget where they were before the lockout.
• Columbus leads the way in this group, and with the team making the playoffs for the first time in their existence, I expect a big bump next season.
• The Devils are up 10% in attendance since moving to The Prudential Center aka The Rock.
• Phoenix actually gained in average attendance this season by about 50 spectators.

That's all I have for now. More travel today and Phil Mickelson just went 6 under on the front 9 at Augusta. Insane. Check back tomorrow for the final attendance update and more.

Blues Attendance Up 5%; 30% In Two Years

An empty Scottrade Center is a thing of the past...

Another night of final home games on Friday, another day of fresh attendance stats. To the chart (click to enlarge):



Anaheim, Edmonton, Minnesota, and St. Louis wrapped of their home ice schedules last night for the record. The Ducks dipped a bit from last season (which might have been an all-time high), but are still up over the long term and have really improved since before the lockout. The Oilers and Wild are steady as always, while the Blues made the biggest jump yet. In the 2006-2007 season, the St. Louis Blues averaged 12,250 spectators per home game, and a lot of the games looked like the picture above. Gone are those days, as the Blues made an incredible run for the playoffs after being in last place after the All-Star break, and rewarded the dedicated 19,250 fans that showed up for 29 sold out home games. Surprisingly, the Blue are still down a bit from the '03-'04 season, but to be back in the playoffs with sold out crowds this season probably is all that matters at the moment.

That's all for today, more of the same tomorrow.

Bruins Attendance Up 10%; Others Drop

These days are gone in Boston, for now.

No daily memo today, I am traveling for a job interview. Sorry.

Ahh, the smell of fresh Attendance statistics. Eight teams finished off their seasons at home last night, which gives us the final attendance (announced, that is) stats on their seasons. To the chart (click to enlarge):



In alphabetical order; Boston, Carolina, New York Rangers, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Tampa Bay, and Vancouver finished up their home games for this season Tuesday night. A couple of thoughts before I hit the road...

• I hope we don't see as many teams dropping in attendance this year as the ones thus far. 5 out of 13 thus far.
• How much affect did the Second Half Boost have? Carolina enjoyed a ridiculous 2,300+ Second Half Boost with a first half average of 15,135 and a second half average of 17,942; wow. Boston also enjoyed a boost of over 700 spectators per game; while Ottawa's average attendance dropped in the second half.
  
• Boston is the closest to the ridiculous numbers the Capitals put up this season, coming in up 10% from last season. The B's have been trending up for a bit the past two or three seasons, as well.
• Pittsburgh and Carolina have made enormous strides since before the lockout; a very encouraging feeling if you are Gary Bettman. A little blip for the Pens this season though, as they slip a bit from their Cup Final appearance last season.
• San Jose staying very constant the past couple of seasons, but at the same time have really stepped it up from before the lockout.
• Are Senators fans only fair-weathered ones? Wheres the Canadian dedication?
• Finally, it is no surprise that the attendance in Tampa Bay has dropped significantly since the Cup win; but really? By double digits % each year? Wow, apparently you need two cups to keep fans around in Florida.

Thoughts? Concerns? Sorry for the rough and quick analysis, but the real life calls. Thanks for reading as always and have a nice weekend. I'll be back Sunday or Monday.

Nashville's Attendance Up/Thursday Memo/Winter Classic Update

News and Notes from around the Business World of Hockey.

- Literally no "news" that I know of, but the Nashville Predators played their final home game Tuesday night, so we have new stats (click to enlarge):



Nashville finished up over a half a percent this season (announced attendance), where the Second Half Boost and their race for the playoffs (which looks bleak now) undoubtedly played a huge role. The Predators enjoyed almost a 1,000 person boost in second half regular season games this season, all of the heels of the recent announcement that the club will make the 14,000 average paid attendance mark required for revenue sharing this semester. Now although still down from their best season attendance wise (and possibly on the ice, too) two years ago, the franchise has grown leaps and bounds from their pre-lockout attendance figures.

- The Rangers have a big game tonight against the Flyers, win and we're in (yea, I said we). So, I present to you my favorite Bobby Granger commercial. Classic:



More (if anything happens) later.

Update, 12:00 PM EST

- Is Fenway Park the destination for the 2010 Winter Classic? (Boston Herald) Take a look:



Update, 2:00 PM EST:

- Speculating investors for the Montreal Canadiens (Globe and Mail)

The Tuesday Memo

News and Notes from around the Business World of Hockey.

- The Nashville Predators will in fact reach the 14,000 paid average attendance mark for revenue sharing (The Tennessean):

"That's big news for management, because it likely will mean more than $10 million dollars to help the franchise remain financially competitive with larger-market teams."

- Playoff tickets that went on sale yesterday for the Penguins we're snatched up quickly (Penguins.com). From the gist of the article, it seems as all the playoff tickets are sold.

- Former Canadiens Captain and GM Serge Savard says he plans on making a bid for the Canadiens if they do in fact get put up for sale (The Gazette):

“If George Gillet clearly says that the Club de hockey Canadien is for sale, then, if that’s the case, me, I’m ready to do the deal,” Savard told the Montreal newspaper La Presse this morning. “I can complete the deal and buy the club.”

- Gary Bettman said yesterday while in promoting the NHL Awards Show that arena issues are the main hurdles for Las Vegas getting any franchise, but at the same time the NHL has no plans to expand (Yahoo). I also found this little gem involving revenue:

“We have no plans to expand, and I don’t think anybody does in this time frame based on the economy,” he said.

Bettman said the NHL is in sound financial shape, and he expects to see league revenues to increase 5 percent this season. He said that playoff ticket sales and season ticket sales for next season were fine, based only on anecdotal evidence."

5 %? Where did the conservative 1% bet go from the All-Star weekend? That would put the league around an HRR (Hockey Related Revenue) of $2.74 Billion. Wheres the escrow news? Hopefully more on this later.

- Phillips Arena (Home of the Atlanta Thrashers) gets a coveted award for their environmental practices (NHL.com).

- The Lighthouse Project on Long Island took a stumble last week, getting to political to keep it short. But with public outcry heard, the Project is gaining momentum as opposition is dropping (Let There Be Light (House)).

- Finally, the classic Verizon Wireless maternity ward spot:



More later.

The Monday Memo (2 PM Update)

News and Notes from around the Business World of Hockey.

- The Carolina Hurricanes clinched a playoff spot Saturday night, which means playoff tickets will go on sale Tuesday at noon to the public (Bizjournals).

- The Blue Jackets neared there all-time TV Ratings record last Tuesday, drawing a 3.9 with their win over the Predators on FS Ohio (Sports Media Watch). The Blackhawks ratings are surging as well, reaching a high of 2.1 on CSN Chicago with their win on Friday, March 27th against the Devils.

- It seems like a slow day business-wise, but two teams have finished their home-game schedules, which means fresh attendance statistics are in. For now, until the off season, I'm going to keep it simple with this table (click to enlarge):



As you can see, Dallas and Washington are the two teams that have no more home games for the remaining week of the regular season. If I had to describe Dallas' season this year in one word, it would be disappointment. They dropped almost 2% from their average attendance last year, which had risen every season since the lockout. If Dallas had played to their potential this season, they could have neared pre-lockout highs of an average of 18,532.

Washington, on the other hand, might have made the biggest improvement in the league. Up nearly 15% from last season and over 23% from two years ago, the Capitals are the face of the "New NHL" and Ted Leonsis has to be smiling ear to ear. Next season the Caps will have people on a waiting list for season tickets for the first time, so I expect this trend to continue, but just not at such a huge rate like 15% (the Verizon Center capacity is 18,277).

EDIT: All figures that do not have the differences next to them like Washington and Dallas are figures as of today. Those teams all have home games left, which is why I have not calculated the differences yet.

- Finally, don't mess with Eric Lindros' lucky jersey:



That is all for now, more later.

- Update, 2:00 PM EST:

- More TV Ratings news, as NBC's Game of the Week between the Wild and the Red Wings drew a 0.9/2 overnight (Puck The Media). The Blackhawks/Red Wings game from the same weekend drew a 0.6, so the 0.9 is actually an improvement.

- Are the Dallas Stars in serious financial trouble? (Globe and Mail):

"Even though Stars owner Tom Hicks went into default on $525-million (all currency U.S.) in loans, the NHL claims it is not worried about the future of the team. Hicks said there is no chance his sports teams — the Stars and baseball's Texas Rangers — will be taken over by creditors."

Second Half Attendance Boost: Part V

Playoff Hockey will soon be back in Carolina...

Here we have it, the last installment of the Second Half Boost series before the season ends. Wasn't it just All-Star weekend last week? It sure feels like it. As always, you can find all the previous editions here. Lets take a look at the Average Attendance figures first (click to enlarge):



Carolina, Columbus, and L.A. still have the gold, silver, and bronze in the bag. Columbus dipped a little for reasons I'm not sure, but sitting in sixth place currently it looks as though the Blue Jackets will have their first taste of playoff hockey since becoming a franchise in 2000; which will do wonders for their bottom line. The big winners the past two weeks have been Nashville and Ottawa. Nashville currently sits in eighth place tied with St. Louis in a tight playoff race there. Nashville played four home games over the past two weeks, winning 3 of them and losing one in overtime. Over this time, the Predators played only one Central division rival, so I think its safe to say playoff fever has taken a hold in the Music City. Ottawa, who gained just as much as Nashville, is playing for pride and ice-time. There doing a great job as playoff spoilers, going 6-4 in their last 10, to which the Sens army are staying faithful and optimistic about next season apparently.

Lets see if the same goes for the Capacity Percentage figures (click to enlarge):



Much of the same here, but what is good to see once again is the green positive figures towards the bottom of the bunch. Of the five teams in overall negative figures, only one is in playoff contention (St. Louis), so for those teams to be staying flat or actually gaining in their attendance towards the end of the season is very encouraging for the league.

With the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs starting a week from Wednesday, the next week and a half will be a lot of fun (not necessarily for me though, as the Rangers seem to have it set that they will make this a living hell). The Boost should continue, all the way into playoffs, where one of the first tests of the struggling economy will show its affect on the NHL.

Please do comment.

Monthly Attendance Update

With March 2009 completely in the books, lets review how the month did attendance wise across the league and each of its divisions. Here is the last divisional update, and the last league-wide update. I would normally do it separately, but I've got all my stuff together so we mine as well do it all at once, no?

First, the overall good news. The monthly Average Attendance for March is up about 2% since February. Take a look (click to enlarge):



The month of March was the busiest for the NHL season, with 210 games which lead to over 3.7 million spectators and thus drives the overall NHL average for the season up to 17,423; a 0.7% increase from last season.

With some more good news, the average capacity attendance was up over 1.5% since February during March. See below (click to enlarge):



Capacity percentage was way up in March, helping drive the average cap. % for the season over 94%. I think it will be interesting to see if April can keep up with such a pace as there are few games but all of them are playoff-like for almost all teams.

Now although the league as a whole improved the numbers for the season and over February, four of the six divisions saw their average attendance drop since last month. First we will look at the Eastern Conference (click to enlarge):



Only the Southeast lost some ground here, which I was kind of surprised to see as both Carolina and Florida are benefiting from the Second Half Attendance Boost. The Northeast is at its highest point since December, and the Atlantic had its best month yet. Not much else going on here, and I think the numbers should be about the same to wrap up the season in April.

Finally, the Western Conference, which is the worse-off by far (click to enlarge):



As you can see, March was not kind to the Pacific and Northwest divisions, but with only 4 out of 10 teams in playoff contention, its not really much of a shock. Teams that come to mind are L.A. and Phoenix for the Pacific; who were in the running back in February but are out of it now. Colorado, the weakest link in the Northwest, is experiencing all-time low crowds at the Pepsi center. Meanwhile, the Central division jumps to record numbers for the Western Conference. These numbers were no doubt helped by having Chicago host 11 home games during March, but at the same time when all five Central division teams have a shot of making the playoffs, the intensity is cranked up. The numbers should be about the same in April, as well.

So that is that for the monthly updates. Next week I will come up with some plans to release a quick (not in-depth, we will save that for the off-season) report for the season, along with anything special for playoffs.

NHL Average Attendance by "Round"

Striving for a new look on this years attendance numbers as the season winds down, (more like desperate for some material) I figured this might give us a different look after watching a weekend full of my other favorite sport; soccer. For the Soccer incompetent, most leagues use the terms "week" or "round" for each weekend of league matches, just like the NFL.

Now, as well all know the NHL does not do this as there are games every day of the week, but nonetheless the way my spreadsheet is setup I can easily pull an average up for each Home Game Number for each team. To actually get the NHL Average Attendance by week will take some time, which I might tackle over the off-season. But for now, we will have to deal with the NHL Average Attendance by "Round." It's also worth noting that the NHL plays the regular season in about 27-28 weeks time. Take a look (click to enlarge):



The start looks like the stock market. Anywho, this isn't a perfect nor completed graph, as each team in the NHL has only 34 home games completed of their 41, but that isn't a problem. The reality is that some teams have played more home games than others, but most teams are within one, two, or three home games of each other across the board. The largest difference is four games right now, between LA/OTT and EDM/CHI.

Nonetheless, what this graph confirms is the overall Second Half Attendance boost the league and its clubs enjoy as the season wears on and the playoff intensity picks up. Nothing comes close to opening weekend with the exception of playoffs and possibly the regular season finale, but we will find that out. Also, its worth noting that the NHL Avg. Arena Capacity is 18,435, and my chart says that "Round 1" of home games averaged out at 18,434; 30 people short of a "leaguewide" sellout.

More later.

Second Half Attendance Boost: Part IV

As promised, here is the fourth installment of the Second Half Attendance Boost series. The last was two weeks ago, and you can find all three previous parts here. Without further adieu, the average attendance figures (click to enlarge):



Carolina still leads the charge with LA and Columbus just behind. Columbus is still undoubtedly benefiting from the playoff fever, as they are currently in sixth place in the West. But, what is really good to see is that LA's number have not dipped from two weeks ago when they were still in the playoff race. The Kings currently sit 13th in the West, six points out of a playoff spot. They are not out of it, but they are definitely outside looking in. Something else that is good to see is only two red blocks, along with 5 out of the 6 bottom teams having a positive two weeks.

Now lets take a look at the average capacity attendance chart (click to enlarge):



Whoa, a lot more color here. Most of the changes are minuscule, though, with figures under or around 1%. Ottawa had the biggest jump in the past two weeks, with over a 2% gain. Overall, 16 teams are benefiting from the second half attendance boost, along with the league as a whole too.

There will be two more installments of the series, one two weeks from today, and another after the season wraps up on Sunday, April 12. The end is in sight, people.

Thanks for reading as always and I will be back posting regularly starting tomorrow afternoon after a bit of travel in the morning back to school.

The Battle of Florida: Part III

I figured I would run this one more time before the end of the season. Here is the first part, and the second part.

The Lightning out-average the Panthers by about a 1,000 per game (16,435 to 15,448), but this difference shrinks to about 100 if you just solely look at the second half figures (16,111 to 15,998) as of today.

Here's the big graph (click to enlarge):



Both teams benefit from their similar opponents travel schedule. For example, the highs on the graphs for both teams are Northeastern clubs such as Montreal, Toronto, Boston, and New York (Rangers, that is). But, with Florida in the Eastern race while Tampa Bay preps for next season, it will be interesting to see if Florida can find any sort of base to work off of. Tampa Bay should still out-average Florida in the end though, with more of a fan-base due to their Stanley Cup history along with the bigger capacity of the St. Petes Forum compared to the BankAtlantic Center.

Come on back tomorrow.

The Thursday Memo (Noon Update)

News and Notes from around the Business World of Hockey...

- Through 32 games, the Predators are averaging 13,940 paid tickets per game, a 7.6% gain since the same mark last season (Tennessean). Let's remember though, it is under the magic 14,000 revenue-sharing bar for this season.

- More news on the Lighthouse Project as a public information session has been scheduled along with a long post on possible stimulus money for the project. (Let There Be Light(house)).

- NHL GM's are worried about contracts that run into the 2010-2011 season due to the economy (NHL.com):

"We've very leery of contracts that run into the 2010-11 season. We think it's going to be very tough," said Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke. "I think we'd be delusional to think we'd not see some impact (from the poor economy)."

- The Atlanta Thrashers introduce a new ticket plan; the Thrashers Man Plan (Thrashers.com).
You get one ticket, unlimited hot dogs, nachos, popcorn, and soft pretzels along with a chance to meet and greet with members of the blue crew; better known as the Thrashers Ice Girls.

- Finally, I'm sure you've all seen this NHL promo involving players on a road trip (very accurate, if you ask me), but seeing as this will be my only post because today is the day before my spring break starts, I found it fitting:



- Update, Noon:

- The Chicago Blackhawks have been announced that season ticket prices from this season will not increase next season (NHL.com).

Playing Below Capacity: Colorado Avalanche

Welcome to the tenth and final edition of Playing Below Capacity. This has been a series at Puck Money where I take a look at teams (as of December) that are playing below 85% capacity. All previous editions can be found here. Now, if you noticed in that first link the Avalanche weren't playing below 85% as of December, but seeing as they have slipped below teams such as New Jersey and Los Angeles, I decided to do a bonus edition of the series featuring the Avalanche. Today its off to Denver, Colorado where the Avalanche rank 24th in average attendance with 15,762 and 23rd in average capacity attendance with 87.5%. The Avs have not benefited from the Second Half Attendance Boost either, being down just a bit in both average attendance and average capacity as of Sunday.

*Note: Any "problems" that I suggest the Thrashers have are my opinion and are most likely not 100% accurate (but close to it, if I do say so myself). Enjoy and please do comment.

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

• Arena Location/Age
• High Ticket Prices/Poor Promotional Events
• Metro Population
• On Ice Product
• Location/History of Franchise
• Other

First, some basic facts about the Colorado Avalanche (wikipedia):

• The Avalanche were founded in 1972 originally as the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association. The Nordiques joined the NHL in 1979, and moved to Colorado to become the Avalanche in 1995.
• In twelve completed seasons, the Avalanche have made the playoffs an astounding eleven times. In this span, they have won the Stanley Cup twice ('96 and '01) and won a division championship eight times in a row from 1996 through 2003.
• The Avalanche first played their home games at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver from 1995 to 1999. They have since played at the Pepsi Center, which opened in 1999.
• The said capacity at the Pepsi Center is 18,007 for Ice Hockey.

- Arena Location/Age

Pepsi Center is just west of downtown Denver, but is in a great location in a great city. The sports road trip guys loved it, but did report that parking was at a very high level when they visited in 2001 at $40. Take a look (click to enlarge):



Pepsi Center is noted by the "A" arrow, and is located east across the river from Invesco Field and west of Coors Field. The inside of the Pepsi Center is laid out just as any other modern arena, but ask any fan that has been lucky enough to attend an Avalanche game and they will tell you it is a very nice venue (at least from my personal experience).

The age and location of the Pepsi Center is not an issue here. Denver was ranked 7th in The Sporting News Best Sports Cities in 2008, and although the teams in the city are collectively struggling, it makes the best of times even sweeter.

- High Ticket Prices/Poor Promotional Events

According to teammarketing.com, the Avalanche rank 26th in the Fan Cost Index. The Fan Cost Index:

"The Fan Cost Index™ 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."

They are about $10 below the NHL average ticket price of $49.66 and are about $6 above the NHL average premium ticket price of $113.44. Their ticket price is up about 3% this year, nothing really too major.

In the promotions department, the Avalanche are somewhat lacking. At the same time, the demand for Avalanche tickets are usually high, but offering little deals as the team attendance dips below 16,000 for the first time in the history of the Avalanche being in Denver doesn't exactly seem logical to me.

- Metro Population

The city of Denver has over 550,000 inhabitants which centers around a metro population of around 2.5 million (statshockey.net). The two figures are relatively low in the leagues ranks, but the city is racially made up of 75% whites, which we all know is the predominant fan demographic of the NHL.

- On-Ice Product

The Avalanche are currently last place in the Western Conference, and will miss the playoffs in their 13th season in Denver for only the second time. But, the Avs will miss the playoffs for the second time in three years, which I think has a major influence on the attendance. Lets take a look at the past couple of years (click to enlarge):



As you can tell, the attendance trend directly follows the placement in the standings. My question to Avs die-hards would be why didn't the attendance jump back a little after their two-round playoff appearance last season? Hopefully someone can answer that for me because I have no idea why it wouldn't flatten or bounce back a bit.

Unfortunately, immediate turn-around from last place in the West to conference champions doesn't look likely. The face of the franchise, Joe Sakic, will be 40 next season and has been injured for most of this one. They have a very solid core in Paul Stastny, Wojtek Wolski, and Marek Svatos. The Avs have been plagued by injuries this year, so if management can make some smooth moves over this off-season, its not unrealistic to think that next year this club could be pushing for a playoff spot. Priority number one from an outsider looking in would be goaltending, and I think many would tend to agree with me.

- Location/History of Franchise

Compared to other editions of this series, I somewhat held back in previous sections such as the population and arena location/age. I did this because Denver is simply a great hockey town. Go back 5 to 10 years and getting Avalanche tickets was just about as likely as winning the lottery if you were an outsider. To think that the Avalanche are going to average under 16,000 this season just plain baffles me. Have Avalanche fans gotten so used to winning that at the first sign of difficult times the couch seems like a better option than a seat at the Pepsi Center? I just seriously do not get it. Gary Miller of CBS 4 Denver wonders somewhat of the same thing, but brings the oh-so general word that many struggling teams are using nowadays (I think rightly so in this situation), Is it the economy, or the Avs play? I'm gonna take the safe bet and say both, as both obviously have an influence on any fan.

Look, any team outside of Detroit would kill for the past decade or so success Colorado has enjoyed, so I do not truly understand why it seems that so many Avs fans have seem to kind of disappeared (literally at the Pepsi Center). Maybe its because I'm riding a relative high with the Rangers and Red Sox as of the past five seasons, because before that it was 10X worse. The fact of the matter is, this franchise is rich in history and tradition, and Denver is a great place to be or live if hockey is your thing.

- Other

Season Ticket Retention will be huge in Denver this off season. It will be a challenge, as season tickets to Avalanche games are pricey along with a tough on-ice product. Just take a look at the comments here from the Denver Post's All things Avs blog. Here's a line that caught my eye by commenter James Jorgon:

"Even if I had vaults full of gold bullion at my disposal I wouldn’t buy/nor renew a single season ticket for this pathetic excuse of a hockey club. The utter contempt management has shown the fans this past season by doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to improve the product on the ice is akin to them having spit in all of our faces."

So yes, I think Avs fans have gotten used to winning, a lot. But can you really blame them? Last in the west isn't exactly the same success as fighting for a playoff spot, which I'm sure every Avalanche fan would rather have this season. Also, a great Avalanche blog is the SB Nation site Mile High Hockey.

- Conclusion

The Avalanche are far better off than most clubs in the league at the moment. Their attendance is dwindling because of two main reasons. First, the on-ice play is not up to par with a fan-base that expects a playoff-caliber team year in and year out. Every club fans expects this, but when you've only been around for under 15 years and have been absolutely spoiled with success, the pressure is even more intense. Secondly, I have no doubt the economy is playing a factor, whether Avs fans like to admit it or not. Many of those commenter's claimed they were season ticket holders, and if that is true many also said that along with the Avs poor play, they have picked a terrible time to struggle.

The cure? Fix the on-ice issues as soon as possible, but in the mean time the Avalanche marketing department has to get going with good ticket deals and expanding the fan base. The great rivalry days with Detroit are over for now, as the two teams are on opposite ends of the spectrum and the thought of going to a Red Wings - Avalanche game in the late '90's is an opportunity any hockey fan would have killed for. The Avs can turn it around in the next three seasons, but at the same time I do not see an immediate bottom for this club.

So that is it for Playing Below Capacity this season. It was a good ride and I really learned a lot along the way. I plan on doing the same thing next season with some changes too. At the same time, I will ask again that if anyone has anything they are curious about as to attendance figures/issues or business figures please let me know somehow and I will do my best to unveil some information.

Thanks and more to come later.

Second Half Attendance Boost: Part III

I just like the guy in the cowboy hat.

As much as there is nothing going on today, I still have some Second Half Attendance Boost numbers to present as they haven't been updated in two weeks. If you missed parts I and II, you can find them here. Let's first take a look at the average attendance numbers (click to enlarge):



No huge changes. Carolina is riding a great streak right now, selling out 4 of their last 7 home games and dipping below 18,000 only once during that streak as well. What is also good to see is that some teams that have lost in average in the second half have experienced a little boost in the last two weeks as the green boxes show.

Now lets take a look at the Second Half Capacity Attendance Boost (click to enlarge):



Again, more of the same, but the advantage of looking at the second half boost in terms of capacity is that it allows teams with a smaller arena (such as Nashville whose capacity is only 17,113) to have more of a fair look.

And for those of you reading I have a question. As the playoffs near the amount of business news will most likely become less and less because the focus of the media will shift towards the actual games. So, if you are reading and have any requests or statistics that you would like to see, please email me or just comment on any post and I will see what I can do.

Thanks for reading as always. Might be all for today so if not come on back tomorrow.