Is Attendance overrated?

[sawchuk1971]

I have been looking at the various attendance figures around the league this preseason.

I see Montreal has 20K fans in one game while Winnipeg only got 12K against Edmonton. Just saw Columbus had a number of 7k fans one preseason game.

Several years ago, the Canadian hockey supremacists on this site believed attendance was important.

The NHL, they claimed, depended on gate revenue to survive. Canadian teams got more fan support than teams located in the sun belt. That situation has changed as sun belt teams are doing well; winning cups, having sellout arenas in recent years.

Now you see places like Winnipeg, who had season of sellouts now can’t find fans to pay for tickets.

Can we say that attendance is overrated?

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[joestevens29]

Pre-season attendance means very little. People are sick of paying hundreds of dollars for tickets to go watch garbage hockey.

Edmonton had like 5 NHLers yesterday so who wants to pay to see that?

 

[Figgy44]

Overrated based on what metric?

Low attendance during regular season means a metric of disinterest. For business purposes, the team needs to address it to avoid further issues with lack of support of the team.

Attendance in preseason answers the question to what metric? How many teams have fans that prefer generic store brand to name brand products? Scrutinizing attendance for preseason is dumb.

 

[Jumptheshark]

It is preseason ffs!

SEASON TICKET HOLDERS ARE FORCED TO BUY TICKETs

Let's f***ing talk about preseason attendance where many games have fringe nhlers and wannabe ahlers.

It is preseason.

 

[Djp]

Preseason games if donr on weekend nbn d and earlier can be marketed as a kid friendly family event with much lower ticket prices than s regular season game

 

[kingsholygrail]

The preseason attendance record matters as much as the preseason W-L record.

 

[Peltz]

By any measure, how could ticket sales and attendance NOT be important?

Preseason certainly matters substantially less though.

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

are these hockey supremacists in the room with you right now?

 

[LuckyDay]

A lot of preseason games are played outside of the main rinks as exhibition games to drum up interest in other cities and as an outreach to remote fans - it also costs less since there's just not the attendance or interest to sustain a bigger arena.
If they can't draw a crowd then they've either picked the wrong city or are charging way too much for a ticket for what used to be a can of beans given to charity.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

OP has made a "Is Attendance Overrated" and "Can the NHL get an NFL like TV Deal" thread in the last hour.

 

[Cowumbus]

I have been looking at the various attendance figures around the league this preseason.

I see Montreal has 20K fans in one game while Winnipeg only got 12K against Edmonton. Just saw Columbus had a number of 7k fans one preseason game.

Several years ago, the Canadian hockey supremacists on this site believed attendance was important.

The NHL, they claimed, depended on gate revenue to survive. Canadian teams got more fan support than teams located in the sun belt. That situation has changed as sun belt teams are doing well; winning cups, having sellout arenas in recent years.

Now you see places like Winnipeg, who had season of sellouts now can’t find fans to pay for tickets.

Can we say that attendance is overrated?

CBJ first home preseason game had Kuraly listed as the 1C. I had tickets and still didn’t go. Nothingburger.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Yes. People should be discouraged from going to games if on ice product is crap and ownership is terrible.

 

[DL44]

If your team's attendance is a little lower, then yes, it's overrated.
But if your team sells very well and fans fill most of the building, then no, it's not overrated.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Complicated question.

It’s overrated if you’re still in a 1985 mindset where the key to profit is filling the building every night.

It’s underrated if you think ticket sales don’t matter at all, and TV eyeballs are somehow going to carry a team that doesn’t fill its own building.

At the end of the day, what really matters is the color of the ink on the bottom line. If your team is making money, they’re doing just fine and the haters can go f themselves. If they’re losing money, it really doesn’t matter how full the building is.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Take away revenue sharing payments and it suddenly become the single most important thing

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

Attending an NHL hockey game is absolutely over-rated, overbloated $$$$, not worth it.

I can watch that on my big screen in surround for a whole lot less.

Oh wait, you mean as far as numbers of people that actually attend and if that's important?

Probably for the corporate owners of the teams.

 

[DJJones]

Why would it be overrated?

If Winnipeg can't sell tickets and a sun belt team can, good for them. The attendance is a very strong indicator

 

[Figgy44]

A lot of preseason games are played outside of the main rinks as exhibition games to drum up interest in other cities and as an outreach to remote fans - it also costs less since there's just not the attendance or interest to sustain a bigger arena.
If they can't draw a crowd then they've either picked the wrong city or are charging way too much for a ticket for what used to be a can of beans given to charity.

This is a good point too. If I'm not mistaken, the Flames/Canucks game was played in Abbotsford which is over an hour away from the normal arena. Most fans aren't putting in that extra effort to go there.

 

[HBK27]

I think it's overrated to a point, considering the price of tickets often has an impact on the attendance.

For teams that don't pack the house on a nightly basis, I'm sure you could lower ticket prices to drive up attendance numbers, but then teams would likely be making less money overall so it's just not worth it.

 

[Cup or Bust]

Well attendance for preseason games is probably not very important but didn't the Jets owner already complain about the attendance numbers and say they have to improve for the Jets to be sustainable long term in that market? No matter how large the TV contracts get an owner is not going to accept losing revenue in a market that cannot draw fans to their arena for games. It it is definitely not overrated.

 

[Megustaelhockey]

Attendance matters for optics, but revenue is truly king.

I just wish people would stop paying to watch bad hockey just because they think they have to keep attendance up.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

Attendance is more important when there is less TV and corporate money. So I would say, on average, attendance is pretty important for the NHL.

 

[ORRFForever]

Can we say that attendance is overrated?

Not to the people paying the bills.

 

[MoneyManny]

I have been looking at the various attendance figures around the league this preseason.

I see Montreal has 20K fans in one game while Winnipeg only got 12K against Edmonton. Just saw Columbus had a number of 7k fans one preseason game.

Several years ago, the Canadian hockey supremacists on this site believed attendance was important.

The NHL, they claimed, depended on gate revenue to survive. Canadian teams got more fan support than teams located in the sun belt. That situation has changed as sun belt teams are doing well; winning cups, having sellout arenas in recent years.

Now you see places like Winnipeg, who had season of sellouts now can’t find fans to pay for tickets.

Can we say that attendance is overrated?

Attendance by itself is extremely overrated. Every seat is not created equal.

Sun belt teams basically gave their tickets away (not sure if it's still valid) while seats in Montreal will cost you a pretty penny.

 

[End on a Hinote]

......the Canadian hockey supremacists on this site believed attendance was important.

The NHL, they claimed, depended on gate revenue to survive. Canadian teams got more fan support than teams located in the sun belt. That situation has changed as sun belt teams are doing well; winning cups, having sellout arenas in recent years.

Now you see places like Winnipeg, who had season of sellouts now can’t find fans to pay for tickets.

Can we say that attendance is overrated?

This has got to be the most thinly veiled "You SUCK Canada!" thread I've read on a hot minute.