Binghamton Black Bears
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Since it looks like I was the only one actually there the crowd was probably 4500.
The crowd was lively.
Concessions was a nightmare
Getting a beer after first intermission took unto 13 mins left in second.
Largest actual attended home opener in years. Team also sold more dashers than Devils or Sens had in years.
I am certain the give aways and cheap tics bumped that crowd number up.
Onto the game.
The play is much slower than we are used to.
Much sloppier , more chaotic, helter skeltar.
I will look back on the evening as I had a great time. I was entertained.
Will I go to every game like AHL days, will I plan vacations around this , no.
Do I regret sponsoring, no.
Probably half the crowd had no idea it’s a different league. The team is 3-1 , I’ll enjoy that.
The crowd was lively.
Concessions was a nightmare
Getting a beer after first intermission took unto 13 mins left in second.
Largest actual attended home opener in years. Team also sold more dashers than Devils or Sens had in years.
I am certain the give aways and cheap tics bumped that crowd number up.
Onto the game.
The play is much slower than we are used to.
Much sloppier , more chaotic, helter skeltar.
I will look back on the evening as I had a great time. I was entertained.
Will I go to every game like AHL days, will I plan vacations around this , no.
Do I regret sponsoring, no.
Probably half the crowd had no idea it’s a different league. The team is 3-1 , I’ll enjoy that.
mmazz22, if you don’t mind sharing, was there a substantial difference in price for your sponsorship for this team than for the AHL sponsorships?
I recall Dave Andrews commenting a few years back that, while Binghamton was one of the smallest markets in the AHL, it was in the middle of the league in terms of advertising revenue. If an FPHL team is receiving the median AHL team’s advertising revenue, that’s a coup for Mr. Johansson.
Also, how much were the beers? I recall years ago that the arena’s vendor was reluctant to budge on beer prices as a promotion. B.O.B.s at that time were about $8.75 each. I had a hard time believing they would all of a sudden decide to offer them at a discount because of the downgrade in the on-ice product.
Hey Ody- Ill pm you on sponsorship. The beers were 10 bucks that sucked $hit!! Lines were a disaster. Reminded me of Ponies games all season when they had a big crowd. Ive been consciously going to games since 78 non stop and have never seen concession lines like this before. It was insane. All lines. People were bitching about food prices but all I did was drink last night so I cant comment on the price of food.
Again do I want the ahl back here, sure I do but this is what we got. I left entertained and happy which we have not done in what 8 years except for that hot Devil stretch before the Rona ruined that likely cup run.
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
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Your last line is not true. When you figuring parking it's absolutely not cheaper. And I know of multiple people that ended up spending over $40 for two tickets because they purchased stuff online. You can get movie tickets online without a problem and having to pay those kind of fees. They had all kinds of promos for the game last night, but for season tickets the average is somewhere between 13 and $15 a game. That's not cheaper than a movie
Ratitude
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- May 2, 2020
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royals119
Registered User
I don't know about where you live, but in the Reading PA area movie tickets are $14 per person, and the beer and popcorn are more expensive than at the hockey arena. At least parking is free, but a night at the movies is comparable to a hockey game, and if the team in Bingo is making $7 tickets available, that is definitely cheaper than a movie.
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
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Yeah I believe it's $7 tickets were on a promo for the home opener. My understanding is they were giving out free tickets just to try to get as many people in the building as they could. I'm not downplaying it or anything, I'm just trying to give a little perspective. I think it's great that they drew well for the home opener, but historically that town is done very good for teams at the beginning of a season. It'll be interesting to see what happens the further they go and also it would be very interesting to know how many people at the game were paid tickets versus free or comp tickets. I also heard that the demographic of the fans was significantly different than what it's been in the past with the AHL, take that how you want
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
If I had a dollar for every time a hockey fan expressed that very interest in a minor pro hockey team's business practices, I could treat them all to a good old hockey game.
Hi Guys,
Cant believe I haven’t found this site before - I’ve got a reasonable interest in minor league hockey!
As far as this weekend, we sold 91% of tickets to the arena (just over 4,600) of which 285 were “comp” tickets.
The free tickets we gave all of the youth players do not count - they’re not technically tickets, but certificates that have to be redeemed at our office, so unless the certificate holder showed up, with at least one paying adult, they are not included.
We do the same with sponsors who also have season ticket holders - unless they have requested specific seats and expect to go to each game, they instead have vouchers to be redeemed for seats.
We do have about 800 season ticket holders, I can’t disclose publically how many the Devils had, but our guys did a great job selling season tickets!
I also think that while there are many new fans who are attracted to our lower prices (lowest in the league) and more exciting (in our view) style of hockey (hey I said exciting, not better…) we also have a huge amount of fans who supported the Devils, Sens, and Rangers - Bingo is not big enough to completely change fan base between teams!
Of course, you can not yet judge whether we are successful or not, after all it’s been one game that was heavily promoted, and we won’t have crowds like this every night, but I like where we are today, and the reception from fans!
One interesting fact about Binghamton that is unique is attendance in almost 40% higher on average (historically) on a Saturday night than a Friday, which is very unusual - typically it’s 10-12%!
Finally, while I won’t disclose any other info, what I have said is if you took every dollar of revenue the Devils did and applied it to an ECHL budget, you would still lose about $1.5M per season (assuming you brought in the same amount, and kept ticket prices at the same level as the Devils) so that is why I chose to go into the FPHL, as the financial model is completely different.
best,
Andreas Johansson
[email protected]
Cant believe I haven’t found this site before - I’ve got a reasonable interest in minor league hockey!
As far as this weekend, we sold 91% of tickets to the arena (just over 4,600) of which 285 were “comp” tickets.
The free tickets we gave all of the youth players do not count - they’re not technically tickets, but certificates that have to be redeemed at our office, so unless the certificate holder showed up, with at least one paying adult, they are not included.
We do the same with sponsors who also have season ticket holders - unless they have requested specific seats and expect to go to each game, they instead have vouchers to be redeemed for seats.
We do have about 800 season ticket holders, I can’t disclose publically how many the Devils had, but our guys did a great job selling season tickets!
I also think that while there are many new fans who are attracted to our lower prices (lowest in the league) and more exciting (in our view) style of hockey (hey I said exciting, not better…) we also have a huge amount of fans who supported the Devils, Sens, and Rangers - Bingo is not big enough to completely change fan base between teams!
Of course, you can not yet judge whether we are successful or not, after all it’s been one game that was heavily promoted, and we won’t have crowds like this every night, but I like where we are today, and the reception from fans!
One interesting fact about Binghamton that is unique is attendance in almost 40% higher on average (historically) on a Saturday night than a Friday, which is very unusual - typically it’s 10-12%!
Finally, while I won’t disclose any other info, what I have said is if you took every dollar of revenue the Devils did and applied it to an ECHL budget, you would still lose about $1.5M per season (assuming you brought in the same amount, and kept ticket prices at the same level as the Devils) so that is why I chose to go into the FPHL, as the financial model is completely different.
best,
Andreas Johansson
[email protected]
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
Welcome to HFBoards. Thanks for your insight, and good luck.
Ratitude
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- May 2, 2020
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Thank you for your informative post. Best of luck to both of your clubs. What you are doing for markets like these are a good thing. I just finished watching the Wolves-Bears game from YouTube and really enjoy what you and the FPHL have built. I do not live near a FPHL market but if I did I would enjoy it
Ratitude
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- May 2, 2020
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Up late and watching Binghamton's game with Port Huron from last night right on YouTube, I love it lol. When the Albany Devils operated here in Albany they very sporadically had away games on the radio. It's no wonder with such an accessible, affordable, and fan friendly product the support for this league is super strong despite a drop from the AHL. Give the franchise and the fans a huge thumbs up. Hockey at the AHL level is useless when the organization doesn't respect it's own fanbase.
The AHL sucked here the last 8-9 years. These games are way more entertaining
To note, the erstwhile Binghamton Devils are out to a 12-0 start this season.
Just those twelve wins would have reignited the fan base and wiped away those several seasons of mediocrity. That old barn would be rocking, and the crowd would have visions of another Calder Cup run. The cacophony of horns would be sounding out the in the garages downtown, as if it was late April and we had just won a playoff game.
That’s it. That was all that was needed to make it entertaining again.
Twelve games.
Just those twelve wins would have reignited the fan base and wiped away those several seasons of mediocrity. That old barn would be rocking, and the crowd would have visions of another Calder Cup run. The cacophony of horns would be sounding out the in the garages downtown, as if it was late April and we had just won a playoff game.
That’s it. That was all that was needed to make it entertaining again.
Twelve games.
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
- 8,771
- 9,140
So apparently the team had to dress a local police officer and the team equipment trainer last night because they didn't have enough players due to injuries. I guess that's the life of the federal league. At least Robbie Nichols didn't have to come out of retirement again to play so that's a plus
Checkers Hockey
Veni, vidi, vici
I've been following the Fed on/off since its inception and let's just say nothing surprises me anymore.
My buddy is the equipment guy they suited up. Played with him my whole life and couldn't believe it when I saw him post about it on social media lol.
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
- 8,771
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JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
You're just jealous. Get "played a pro hockey game in the FPHL" on your resume, and you could be an owner of a new WPHL team.
