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.

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.

More Ticket News

- Watching the Kings game last night, they announced a new ticket deal in the third period. The L.A. Kings Stretch Pack:

The Kings (24-21-7, 55 pts) are in the playoff chase this year (Western Conference Standings), entering play on Feb. 12, just three points out of a playoff spot and six points out of fifth place in the West. Jump on the stretch run of the season as your Kings battle for a Western Conference Playoff spot. Get two tickets to four games, two Kings Alternate Logo Hats and priority opportunity to purchase playoff tickets for just $99.

That's a deal in a half. I'd buy them just for the playoff priority. Good marketing, L.A.

- Sports Business News reports that Buffalo Sabres Season Tickets will increase by 5% for the 2009-2010 season. Along with this is another playoff incentive:

Fans who commit to renewing by March 20 can get sizable discounts on potential Stanley Cup playoff games this spring — and the team will be crediting customers' '09-10 accounts with rebates matching the discounts. Factoring in rebates, fans may actually pay less for their tickets for next season if the team goes deep into the playoffs.

"We're not sitting around thinking, "Oh my god, we're going to have this big decline in season-ticket renewals,' because the bottom line is we really don't believe that," Sabres minority owner Larry Quinn said. "But we do want to do something to relieve the pressure on people from the economic situation..."

Apparently, the Sabres management are expecting a drop in season ticket holders. The article also states that the club will not make a decision on single game tickets until the summer after the schedule is released. That will be interesting, as they will most likely base their numbers off how successful their renewals are. The Sabres currently are 8th in the Eastern Conference with a 3 point lead over 9th and 10th placed Carolina and Pittsburgh; both at 59 points.

1:15 PM Update:

- The Colorado Avalanche are also jumping in on the fun with their Home Stretch Pack. Four games starting in early March against the Wings, Oilers, Canucks, and Blues:

Available packages:

• $340 - Lower Level End
• $204 - Upper Center Balcony
• $144 - Upper Corner Balcony
• $89 - Upper End Balcony

-Playoff ticket pre-sale for Home Stretch buyers.
-Priority seating for 2009-10 season tickets
-No service charges or handling fees

$90 on the balcony (A lot of fun, great view) for four games along with the other perks? What a deal.

More to come later.

TV Ratings and "Visiting Canadian Team Attedances"

First, I come bearing an article that is two weeks old today that I somehow missed. Read it here

Three things caught my eye.

1. The New York Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings, the two largest NHL TV markets, are outperforming themselves from last year by 33 %. Cool beans.
2. Buffalo leads the way with an 8.9 local rating, followed by Pittsburgh with a 5.7 - This helps make my theory true that although I do live in Central New York State, there is really nothing, and I mean nothing, to do in Western New York.
3. I would love to see some Canadian figures besides HNIC. I understand everyone and their family watches it on Saturday nights, for christ sake I hang out with a bunch of idiots who like basketball and they even watch it with me on Saturday nights. If anyone has a link or info on that, please send it along (that is, if anyone is reading this by now).

Moving on, I've been keeping my eye on a thread on HF Boards called "Visiting Canadian Team Attendances" ... The thread basically turned into "well I hate drunk visiting fans who have too much fun and get punched in the face..." So today I did something about it (you da man Rob!), here's what I said:

I don't understand why this is even an issue. In weak markets you'll see a fluctuation because of a certain team or player coming into town, but in moderate to strong markets it shouldn't be about that. The fact of the matter is more Canadians would be willing to spend money on tickets if, for sake of example, there were 15 US teams and 15 Canadian teams.

The Average US home attendance is 16,638.71 (totaled up home averages from http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance)

The Average Canadian home attendance (out of curiosity, because obviously with only 6 teams its going to be higher no matter what) is 19,033.67 (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance)

Granted, some US clubs have come a long way (Chicago recently dethroned Montreal for #1 in attendance this year), but the least of their worries are poor attendance numbers from visiting Canadian teams.

Yeah, I quote myself from time to time, I hold my opinion in high esteem (kidding). Now obviously, like I said, the averages isn't going to be fair because n (number of teams) is only 6 for Canada, while the US has 24 clubs. But my thought in all of this is relocation. In my humble opinion, I would say that a team in Hamilton, Winnipeg, or Quebec City could at least pull the US Average, but my bet would be the over. But that's just me, and that is without talk of financing a new stadium.

Alright, enough is enough. I'm starving. Maybe more later, I dunno.

Rob