Why attendance matters: NHL playoffs
What do the California Golden Seals, Atlanta Thrashers and Quebec City Nordiques have in common? All three are defunct NHL teams who either folded or were relocated. I've been watching this year's NHL playoffs and the Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators have both failed to fill every seat. a twitter follower of mine and Ducks fan @Buckyhermit fails to see the problem with not filling seats. I will present several reasons why attendance really does matter.
First off, every NHL game is broadcast live for all the world to see. It looks bad to see whole sections empty in the lower bowl. I can't speak for the NBC feed, but the Canadian feed of last night's game between the Ducks in Anaheim but the Canadian feed appeared to be filming at a lower angle than normal to avoid seeing the glaringly bad empty seats. TV cameras have one main angle for most of the game, up high and panning the game such that the benches are exposed and the lower bowl for the most part. Empty seats and rows of them are glaringly obvious.
Second, there are several teams vying for teams such as the aforementioned Quebec City, Seattle, Hamilton, and Portland who would get those butts in seats game in and game out. Next year Las Vegas will be a new team in the NHL. The last time expansion happened was in 2000 with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild joined the league. The Wild have had better success both in terms of success in the NHL and attendance. This has led to the GM having better opportunity to acquire stars in free agency and better market the team.
Another factor that impacts attendance is the number of teams competing in the area. For example, California currently has three teams (LA Kings, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks). It is extremely difficult to be viable in a non-traditional market when you are the only available option, let alone having two other teams to compete with. To be healthy as a franchise one must be able to put butts in seats. Anaheim does the worst of the three California teams and to me this is why they need to go.
If you can't get 100% of butts in seats for a playoff game you will not do it in a regular season game. Ottawa and Anaheim have both failed to put butts in seats. However, Ottawa has a better chance of getting that to happen because they are in Canada, a traditional hockey market. Also, Ottawa has less alternative options. Anaheim has to compete with several MLB teams, an NFL team and two other NHL teams. I'm sorry but they are a lost cause and do not deserve to be an NHL team,
A final argument I would like to make on this topic is hypothetical. In football, there are two professional leagues (CFL and NFL). The NFL is in a much better position with most of it's franchises thriving. The CFL is in turmoil with it's 8th commissioner in about as many years about to take the helm. It's teams struggle to fill their stadiums, BC Lions a glaring example. The NHL is currently one league compromised of 7 Canadian franchises and 23 (24 next season) American franchises. If the league were to separate into 2 leagues much like football where one league was all Canadian and one league was all American (and let's add a few more Canadian teams to the mix Hamilton, Quebec City and Regina) I can guarantee you that you could see a similar trend where the Canadian league was thriving and the American league was struggling. In fact, teams like Carolina, Florida, Columbus and Anaheim might not even exist. This is why attendance matters
I am all for expanding the league and growing the game but not for the sake of having a team in the league. Arizona is perhaps the best example. The only reason they are still in the league is because Bettman stubbornly refuses to give up on them, The NHL will be at 31 teams next year but the league would be that much healthier if franchises that can't fill buildings regularly in the regular season were not in the league. Yes Ottawa is included in this argument but they are much healthier than a team like Anaheim.
First off, every NHL game is broadcast live for all the world to see. It looks bad to see whole sections empty in the lower bowl. I can't speak for the NBC feed, but the Canadian feed of last night's game between the Ducks in Anaheim but the Canadian feed appeared to be filming at a lower angle than normal to avoid seeing the glaringly bad empty seats. TV cameras have one main angle for most of the game, up high and panning the game such that the benches are exposed and the lower bowl for the most part. Empty seats and rows of them are glaringly obvious.
Second, there are several teams vying for teams such as the aforementioned Quebec City, Seattle, Hamilton, and Portland who would get those butts in seats game in and game out. Next year Las Vegas will be a new team in the NHL. The last time expansion happened was in 2000 with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild joined the league. The Wild have had better success both in terms of success in the NHL and attendance. This has led to the GM having better opportunity to acquire stars in free agency and better market the team.
Another factor that impacts attendance is the number of teams competing in the area. For example, California currently has three teams (LA Kings, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks). It is extremely difficult to be viable in a non-traditional market when you are the only available option, let alone having two other teams to compete with. To be healthy as a franchise one must be able to put butts in seats. Anaheim does the worst of the three California teams and to me this is why they need to go.
If you can't get 100% of butts in seats for a playoff game you will not do it in a regular season game. Ottawa and Anaheim have both failed to put butts in seats. However, Ottawa has a better chance of getting that to happen because they are in Canada, a traditional hockey market. Also, Ottawa has less alternative options. Anaheim has to compete with several MLB teams, an NFL team and two other NHL teams. I'm sorry but they are a lost cause and do not deserve to be an NHL team,
A final argument I would like to make on this topic is hypothetical. In football, there are two professional leagues (CFL and NFL). The NFL is in a much better position with most of it's franchises thriving. The CFL is in turmoil with it's 8th commissioner in about as many years about to take the helm. It's teams struggle to fill their stadiums, BC Lions a glaring example. The NHL is currently one league compromised of 7 Canadian franchises and 23 (24 next season) American franchises. If the league were to separate into 2 leagues much like football where one league was all Canadian and one league was all American (and let's add a few more Canadian teams to the mix Hamilton, Quebec City and Regina) I can guarantee you that you could see a similar trend where the Canadian league was thriving and the American league was struggling. In fact, teams like Carolina, Florida, Columbus and Anaheim might not even exist. This is why attendance matters
I am all for expanding the league and growing the game but not for the sake of having a team in the league. Arizona is perhaps the best example. The only reason they are still in the league is because Bettman stubbornly refuses to give up on them, The NHL will be at 31 teams next year but the league would be that much healthier if franchises that can't fill buildings regularly in the regular season were not in the league. Yes Ottawa is included in this argument but they are much healthier than a team like Anaheim.
posted by opinionator777 at 6:13 PM
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