NHL sets monthly attendance record.

[Habsfan18]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=194496&hubname=nhl

Click to read more...

 

[Bear of Bad News]

 

[Alpine]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=194496&hubname=nhl

Oh, now you've started it..
Musta been give aways or discounted tickets.
Everyone knows hockey is dieing a slow death. There's no way people actually paid for those seats and no-one watches on TV.
Don't be postive ..you must be trolling

 

[Bryzga lol*]

great! It was looking a bit grim at the start of the year.

Even though Washington isn't a hockey city, I have no idea why they aren't selling more tickets. Just having both Alexanders and Olaf makes them fun to watch. And having Ovechkin as one of the NHL's most dynamic and happy-go-lucky players should have brought more fans to their rink.

I think the Jagr era (and eventually dumping those players) really hurt their potential fanbase.

 

[AdmiralPred]

I'd call the NHL offices to confirm this.

 

[DeathFromAbove]

Imagine if we didn't have jokes like New Jersey, Chicago & NYI dragging the rest of the league down, everywhere else has really solid numbers.

 

[Timmy]

I'd call the NHL offices to confirm this.

I already did.

The secretary there said it was a press release in which they provided CP with the headline, byline, story, and verbiage so that there would be no misunderstandings.

She further clarified that it was a per game average that was record-setting, and that this was only for the month of January, in case all of this was not clear in the headline, byline, and body of the piece.

The NHL is currently drafting a Coles Notes version of the release, which should be available online next week.

 

[Slats432]

Oh, now you've started it..
Musta been give aways or discounted tickets.
Everyone knows hockey is dieing a slow death. There's no way people actually paid for those seats and no-one watches on TV.
Don't be postive ..you must be trolling

Attendance is up. The buildings that are empty have people going to the bathrooms that have drank our watered down beer. The buildings are in fact full.

 

[vbet*]

Attendance is up. The buildings that are empty have people going to the bathrooms that have drank our watered down beer. The buildings are in fact full.

I miss the information minister. I wonder what ever happend to him? He made for great internets. The tubes were always flowing.

 

[Fugu]

From the referenced TSN article:

The per-game figure, which represents 92.3 per cent of capacity, was 1.7 per cent higher than last January's 16,795 average.

Overall, the league is down 0.5 per cent from last season through the same number of games.

The NHL says league-wide average attendance has increased month by month: 16,537 in October, 16,538 in November, 16,850 in December and 17,075 in January.

The news here is that there is no news.

 

[GSC2k2*]

From the referenced TSN article:




The news here is that there is no news.

Actually, the news is that the miniscule decrease in attendance that occurred at the beginning (when attendance was at a record level) is in fact narrowing and appears to project to disappear by season end.

 

[GSC2k2*]

I miss the information minister. I wonder what ever happend to him? He made for great internets. The tubes were always flowing.

I believe he is posting here under the name Hawker14.

 

[Boris Le Tigre]

Attendance is up. The buildings that are empty have people going to the bathrooms that have drank our watered down beer. The buildings are in fact full.

that's flat out brilliant right there...

in a related story... the nhl has selected ken lay and jeff skilling as two of three stars of the month... the other was sidney crosby (of course)

 

[jsginsocal]

Good News

That is great news. Imagine if the teams like Chicago, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Florida, St. Louis and Boston actually drew as well...

I can't believe how over hyped Boston's NHL support is....lame

 

[The Dopefish]

I miss the information minister. I wonder what ever happend to him? He made for great internets. The tubes were always flowing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Saeed_al-Sahaf

He's fine.

 

[Fugu]

Actually, the news is that the miniscule decrease in attendance that occurred at the beginning (when attendance was at a record level) is in fact narrowing and appears to project to disappear by season end.

Sorry, GC, but if we really were trying to make projections, we'd use last year's and this year's data to get rid of as many anomalies as possible. [Some industries, as you know, adjust for seasonality, cyclical type things, etc.] What we can say is that January appears to be following expectations that NHL attendance starts to increase in this month. The next question to ask, if we were interested in uncovering what's really happening, would be to check where the games were played as compared to prior years. This would get rid of skewed data, if for example the majority of the games were played in markets that have a higher attendance rate. Of course, the total number of games played with regard to total attendance comes into play only if you are comparing apples to apples. The venue issue could also be considered here.

Still, the league is 0.5% behind. Hardly a figure that is worrisome at this point, but they did fall behind the record year that was last year-- as you indicated.


PS You auditioning for the Info Minister role? That was a well written slant with a positive tone to it! Excellent work.

 

[OG6ix]

I don't think anyone believes this...

 

[AdmiralPred]

That is great news. Imagine if the teams like Chicago, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Florida, St. Louis and Boston actually drew as well...

I can't believe how over hyped Boston's NHL support is....lame

I can't believe how ridiculously lazy the trolls are getting. Although, this one did add a few teams to post #6.

that's flat out brilliant right there...

in a related story... the nhl has selected ken lay and jeff skilling as two of three stars of the month... the other was sidney crosby (of course)

If only Ken were here to accept the award.

 

[Fugu]

I don't think anyone believes this...

There seem to be two sides to this debate, with varying degrees of a PRO or CON stance. Define "anyone"...

 

[Bear of Bad News]

That is great news. Imagine if the teams like Chicago, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Florida, St. Louis and Boston actually drew as well...

I can't believe how over hyped Boston's NHL support is....lame

You forgot to say "Rack me, I'm out".

 

[OG6ix]

There seem to be two sides to this debate, with varying degrees of a PRO or CON stance. Define "anyone"...

Fine i'll rephrase, there are probably some suckers out there who believe this who never saw games in many markets with empty sections.

 

[Fugu]

Fine i'll rephrase, there are probably some suckers out there who believe this who never saw games in many markets with empty sections.

Okay, I see what you mean. Not all of us recognize where posters who visit the Business section actually stand on the issue. I understand the need to spin things in a positive light when it's possible. You don't want to scare advertisers and sponsors away for starters. I don't think I blame the league one bit if they try to make the NHL appear to be a healthy investment. I do think though as fans discussing the subject we should be allowed to question some of these things. Philadelphia hit its season ticket goals prior to the beginning of the season. I think I've seen reports that their arena is half empty (half full if you're into glassware analogies). Boston and Chicago haven't improved. Is Detroit in any danger for NEXT year. I know this year they have 16-18 K season ticket holders - the exact number escapes me - but they can still list the Joe as a sellout every night. However all the games on TV remind us through ads that tickets are still available for upcoming games. That was never the case in prior years. These may be nothing more than blips, but they may also signify weaknesses in some markets no one expected. It's too early to celebrate just as it is too early to dig the graves.

 

[OG6ix]

Okay, I see what you mean. Not all of us recognize where posters who visit the Business section actually stand on the issue. I understand the need to spin things in a positive light when it's possible. You don't want to scare advertisers and sponsors away for starters. I don't think I blame the league one bit if they try to make the NHL appear to be a healthy investment. I do think though as fans discussing the subject we should be allowed to question some of these things. Philadelphia hit its season ticket goals prior to the beginning of the season. I think I've seen reports that their arena is half empty (half full if you're into glassware analogies). Boston and Chicago haven't improved. Is Detroit in any danger for NEXT year. I know this year they have 16-18 K season ticket holders - the exact number escapes me - but they can still list the Joe as a sellout every night. However all the games on TV remind us through ads that tickets are still available for upcoming games. That was never the case in prior years. These may be nothing more than blips, but they may also signify weaknesses in some markets no one expected. It's too early to celebrate just as it is too early to dig the graves.

I'm just a fan...

 

[Fugu]

I'm just a fan...

Me too!

 

[GSC2k2*]

Sorry, GC, but if we really were trying to make projections, we'd use last year's and this year's data to get rid of as many anomalies as possible. [Some industries, as you know, adjust for seasonality, cyclical type things, etc.] What we can say is that January appears to be following expectations that NHL attendance starts to increase in this month. The next question to ask, if we were interested in uncovering what's really happening, would be to check where the games were played as compared to prior years. This would get rid of skewed data, if for example the majority of the games were played in markets that have a higher attendance rate. Of course, the total number of games played with regard to total attendance comes into play only if you are comparing apples to apples. The venue issue could also be considered here.

Still, the league is 0.5% behind. Hardly a figure that is worrisome at this point, but they did fall behind the record year that was last year-- as you indicated.


PS You auditioning for the Info Minister role? That was a well written slant with a positive tone to it! Excellent work.

I chose "appears" on purpose, Fugu.

To clarify, my point of focus was not on the fact that attendance grew from December to January (which is expected), but rather on the fact that average attendance for January 2007 grew over average attendance for January 2006.

I would be hard pressed to believe that there would be such a variation that it would make a material difference, but you are correct. The numbers could be skewed if higher tier markets had a larger proportion of games.

HOWEVER, record January attendance is record January attendance. That does not need anyone to spin into a positive.

As to the narrowing, I recall that there was being thrown about earlier in the year a 1% reduction in attendance. If the reduction is 0.5%, that would suggest a narrowing (with the caveat that you mentioned).