2013-14 ECHL Opening weekend - attendance up 7.9%
- Thread starter LadyStanley
- Start date
No Fun Shogun
34-38-61-10-13-15
I wonder if anybody could track down the opening weekend numbers for the CHL last season. I can almost guarantee you that league isn't up from last year's total.
Rapid City and Allen are going to shed a tear every time they think what could've been in the ECHL this season.
Rapid City and Allen are going to shed a tear every time they think what could've been in the ECHL this season.
I went to Hans' site (http://www.mib.org/~lennier/hockey/) and pulled the numbers. There were 8 games on opening weekend for the CHL in 2012-13
Allen (10/20 - 4,853 and 10/21 - 3,329)
Bloomington (10/19 - 3,239 and 10/20 - 2,014)
Denver (10/19 - 5,182 and 10/20 - 3,328)
Wichita (10/19 - 5,382 and 10/20 - 6,554)
The 8 games had a total of 33,881 for an average of 4,235 fans.
This year from Friday-Monday, there were 10 games with a total of 35,839 for an average of 3,583.
So, your assumption is correct. While the ECHL average increased by 7 percent, the CHL decreased by 650 fans per game.
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
That's a 16% drop - incredibly statistically significant.
Brampton drew 2,000 last night, which will undoubtedly help them pay for those road trips... Granted it was a Monday night, but there average is already scarily low.
Brampton is going to be in bad shape. Their opener wasn't much to brag about in terms of attendance. Saint Charles also looks like a hopeless case. At least Saint Charles doesn't have the travel predicament, though. Does anyone think Denver can hang on with their current support?
I think the CHL will try to get Casper on board for next season. I'm not sure having one back-up team is going to plug all their holes. The league is just running out of viable options.
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
St. Charles has the same travel predicament as everyone else in the CHL - it's 1,460 miles to Prescott, Ariz. and 758 miles to Brampton, Ont. They have two roadies to Brampton and one to Arizona this season. A bus costs $1,200 or so per day, plus the cost of a second driver on those trips. Add in per diem, hotels, and team meals, and this team will be in the red pretty quickly.
As for Casper, they shouldn't bother thinking about the CHL - any team that doesn't go to the ECHL after this season (Arizona, Brampton, Quad City, Denver are the likely ones) are going to fold, meaning the CHL won't exist. It'll be ECHL or nothing if they're smart.
mk80
Registered User
- Jul 30, 2012
- 8,069
- 8,615
Quad City and St. Charles have hope after this season. The SPHL has stated (through a recent article) and since they added Bloomington and Peoria they want mor teams to make a north division, so Quad City and St. Charles could survive dropping to the SPHL.
Quad City also has the option of the USHL, or NAHL for that matter. But if not the SPHL I'd pursue entry to the USHL.
This is a big IF but: if St. Charles could enter the ECHL next season as a Blues affiliate and actually have Blues prospects placed with them (currently they have none) which I'm not surprised about, they may be able to have a better attendance pool if they were an ECHL affiliate with a handful of prospects. I could see an ECHL version of the Chill with some Blues prospects drawing at least 3-4k average attendance.
Quad City also has the option of the USHL, or NAHL for that matter. But if not the SPHL I'd pursue entry to the USHL.
This is a big IF but: if St. Charles could enter the ECHL next season as a Blues affiliate and actually have Blues prospects placed with them (currently they have none) which I'm not surprised about, they may be able to have a better attendance pool if they were an ECHL affiliate with a handful of prospects. I could see an ECHL version of the Chill with some Blues prospects drawing at least 3-4k average attendance.
I think a move to the SPHL is risky for the Mallards. QC is so far north that they would be basically stuck playing those same three teams (Bloomington, Peoria, and Saint Charles) for most of the season. Trips down to the core region of the SPHL would be very expensive. I'm also not sure how a single-A product would be regarded in the QC market anyway. There seems to be more familiarity with/respect for the USHL among die-hard fans in the Quad City area. The SPHL would be an uphill battle all the way.
In the case of Saint Charles, geography might work a little better for the SPHL, but its still an NHL market by nature. Single-A hockey would really struggle to find an audience; even more so than AA hockey has over the years. I don't believe the Chill have many attractive options. Even the ECHL could be a difficult path for them since the average cost of running a franchise is higher than the CHL.
QC only has one viable alternative, and that is the USHL.
HansH
Unwelcome Spectre
Eh... the number itself isn't, because the sample size is so incredibly small. A ten-game sample of a population of 330, where even the venues have such radically different capacities from each other... is subject to WILD distortion effects.
Now, is it a worrying number? Sure -- Denver is down more than 50%, Wichita nearing two-digit drops. But before we can reliably say that it's a seasonal effect rather than a local one, we need more observational data -- especially to label something "statistically significant".
The ECHL's boost got no help from Fort Wayne. The first sub-10,000 fan opener for the Komets in 12 years. Probably close to a 5% DECREASE. Yikes.
No Fun Shogun
34-38-61-10-13-15
.... what? It was still 800 more than attended the next largest home opener in Orlando.
Yes, I'm just saying year-over-over, the total actually dragged the overall league increase down, which goes to show how fantastic the league did as a whole.
In all honesty, Fort Wayne's numbers were going to hit a gravitational field at some point. I doubt the Komets would still be boasting 10,000+ for an opener this season had they remained in the CHL.
If the Komets start averaging below 5000 per game at any point in the next few years, then I would be worried. Until that happens, the Komets are likely to keep posting workable attendance figures...even if they aren't as big as prior seasons.
Yes indeed. However, I would put 'panic mode' at below 6K rather than 5K. If memory serves (and I'm too lazy to look this up), the Komets fell below 7K during their last year in the original IHL. That was when the Frankes put them in the UHL to the dismay of MANY local faithfuls. The IHL died the next year. I have to admit, I was one of those in that camp of detractors. Attendance did go back up and all was well. As much crap as they take locally and from afar, they do seem to have vision.
Obviously, a 500 drop in opening night isn't something that should sound any serious alarm bells, but for all the shortcomings the Frankes have (cheating the cap and destroying numerous other otherwise successful franchises (heh)), I'm confident they will act should attendance start to significantly drop.
I know I really don't need to type this, but year-over-over should've been year-over-year. Too much vodka in the early morning.
What's amazing is that the Frankes cheating on the salary cap hurt QC even while the Flames played in the AHL. They are just that diabolical! MWUHAHAHAHA!!!
LMAO! This is why I feel like such a ***** after each game, where you'll find me on the floor of the shower in the fetal position crying 'NOOOOOOOOOOO! I really am a good person!!!'
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