Poor attendance

[Dolemite]

Perhaps if they didn’t host the tournament in the same damned cities...EVERY...SINGLE...YEAR.

This is on the IIHF/runners of tourney not on Buffalo/Fans...

I went back in 2011, got a package for every game and it was around $600 (CAD) or so... this year same package was about $1400 (CAD after taxes/fees)

Factor in 2/3 last years it was in Toronto to make the market over saturated.

This is not a reflection of the hockey fans in Buffalo 1 bit, this tourney is an embarrassment due to the greed of the runners of this tourney.

Duty Free Peace Bridge were selling tickets $50 CAD flat no fees to all Canadian games (limited supply) and I saw the boxing day game... $50 flat was reasonable, but the original $90+ they were asking for originally?.... No thanks.

In other words - Toronto/Montreal fan prices.

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

Weather in Buffalo:

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

Also why on Earth are tickets so expensive? Jeez

 

[MessierII]

Also why on Earth are tickets so expensive? Jeez

I keep hearing this. What’s expensive for Americans.

 

[JackSlater]

I must say, I am surprised that the semi-final featuring Canada had so many empty seats. The tournament shouldn't be near Ontario for a while. Allow the novelty to build again.

 

[Past Considerations]

I had to lol at his comment that this tournament is top 10 for attendance.

In what world could he possibly think that's true?

It probably means the total attendance (the sum of ever single game's attendance), so this just might be true because that number would be inflated by the outdoor game.

 

[Rob]

Vancouver and Victoria will pack the house next year.

 

[Pilky01]

They have driven this tournament into the ground. It's sad. It used to be so fun with such high energy in the rinks; now they look like any other poorly attended junior hockey game.....what an absolute shame.

 

[Xokkeu]

for 2021 they should go to the Atlantic provinces. It's been 15 plus years since they went there. Halifax and St. John, or whatever.

After that they should do 2022 Russia again somewhere. Since they basically rotate to Canada every other year do a Winnipeg/Thunder Bay type tournament. I'm not sure if they want people far apart but it would help attendance to have separate cities. After that go back to Finland and only in maybe 2025 when Seattle has an NHL arena plus Portland because it'll be six years since Vancouver. Or go off the board to Tampa.

 

[playasRus]

Were ticket prices > NHL ticket prices? Because that'll do it too.

 

[End on a Hinote]

Vancouver and Victoria will pack the house next year.

Agree, the West coast is starving for it. Should go back to Winnipeg soon too.

 

[Rocko604]

Agree, the West coast is starving for it. Should go back to Winnipeg soon too.

After Vancouver, they should go back to non-NHL cities (Victoria on its own would have been a great host). But Vancouver seems to be selling well, despite the NHL prices, so they'll probably go back to Winnipeg, Edmonton/Calgary, or even Ottawa, and charge the same NHL prices, and pray they don't have another Buffalo or Toronto/Montreal.

 

[Xokkeu]

After Vancouver, they should go back to non-NHL cities (Victoria on its own would have been a great host). But Vancouver seems to be selling well, despite the NHL prices, so they'll probably go back to Winnipeg, Edmonton/Calgary, or even Ottawa, and charge the same NHL prices, and pray they don't have another Buffalo or Toronto/Montreal.

Isn't Victoria's capacity like 7k?

 

[End on a Hinote]

After Vancouver, they should go back to non-NHL cities (Victoria on its own would have been a great host). But Vancouver seems to be selling well, despite the NHL prices, so they'll probably go back to Winnipeg, Edmonton/Calgary, or even Ottawa, and charge the same NHL prices, and pray they don't have another Buffalo or Toronto/Montreal.

For Non-NHL cities, Quebec is a no brainer for sure

 

[Howie Hodge]

Temperatures and blowing snow in Buffalo have been a bigger issue than has snowfall this year.

For those interested in mostly useless, but perhaps informative snowfall averages; please read on!



Average snowfalls - and as with all Great Lakes Cities, there can be a large variance:

Syracuse, NY - 123.8"
Watertown, NY - 112.1"
Erie, PA - 101.2"
Rochester, NY - 99.5"
Buffalo, NY - 94.7"
Niagara Falls, NY - 76.1"
Cleveland, OH - 68.1"
Toronto - 47.8"
Hamilton, ON - 46.5"
Detroit, MI - 42.7"
Chicago, IL - 36.7"

Sites mentioned in this thread:

Quebec City, QC - 119.4"
St. John , NB - 94.3"
Thunder Bay, ON - 64.1"
Halifax, NS - 60.7"
Minneapolis, MN - 54"
Calgary, AB - 50.7"
Edmonton, AB - 48.6"
Winnipeg, MB - 44.8"
Vancouver, BC - 17.5"
Victoria, BC - 13.1"

So if you don't like snow, keep it away from Buffalo, Quebec City, and St. John!

Take it to Vancouver and Victoria!

 

[Fenway]

From Friday's Buffalo News

Attendance not an issue for World Juniors officials

There were several issues which impacted attendance and officials addressed a few of them.

Top on the list was the potential oversaturation of the Western New York and Southern Ontario market when it comes to international tournaments. The World Juniors was in Buffalo in 2011, in Toronto and Montreal in 2017, in addition to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey held in Toronto.

"Less is more," said Fasel, who added that he understood 50 percent of the tickets for the 2019 World Juniors in Vancouver have already been sold.

"This is a signal that I think going west and the interest of the people there is different than here," Fasel said. "We tried (multiple events in the Buffalo/Toronto region) but it showed us that in the future we should be more careful and go more west. You have such a big country. In Switzerland we travel two hours and we are already at one of the borders so here you have such a big country in the United States and in Canada so you can move it."

Officials also continuously referenced the weather when talking about low attendance figures. The snow and the cold, and the resulting traffic issues, surely played a role in keeping people away, they said.

Well, except for the outdoor game.

It was cold and snowy and there was a major traffic backup on the QEW and delays at the Peace Bridge, but still 44,592 stood outside for the dramatic 4-3 shootout win for the U.S. over Canada.

The World Juniors is still primarily a TV event for Canada's TSN network and now with Canada playing for gold tonight they will get a robust audience. Ticket prices in Buffalo were simply too high for that market.

 

[Statsy]

It probably means the total attendance (the sum of ever single game's attendance), so this just might be true because that number would be inflated by the outdoor game.

But here's the thing; This was their plan all along. Sure, they were expecting bigger crowds than they got for the rest of the games, but they knew a big crowd at the outdoor game alone would be a huge windfall. The ads I saw on TV were less about the tournament as a whole and more focused on the outdoor game. In the end the only thing that matters is the bottom line, and 44,000 people buying pricey tickets for one game is a win for the organizers.

 

[FirewagonChange]

They shouldn't host games in NHL size arena's. This is Junior hockey. Only in Canada when Canada is playing can they pack 15k plus in.

 

[Melrose Munch]

go back to Europe after this. no more Canada.

 

[Prov1X]

Being from the Maritimes, I am thinking that Saskatchewan needs a return visit soon, then a couple years later in Moncton and Halifax or St John, three good size rinks, one of which is only opening later this year.

 

[HasbeenHallzy]

Were ticket prices > NHL ticket prices? Because that'll do it too.

I'm from Sudbury, Ontario and went to the outdoor game. We got tickets for 90$ CAD and a hotel for the night for $160CAD (split by 3 so just over $53 each. So without the extra money we spent we were under $150 with our hotel and had pretty good seats. Ive been to games in Vancouver twice which obviously cost a heck of a lot more, and in Toronto I would be looking at $250just for a ticket and another $200-300 for a hotel. Prices were not that bad at all.

 

[Pouchkine]

I predict 18k empty seats for the Bronze game and probably thousands of empty seats for the final.
The games at the Sabres Arena probably had on average something like 1500 for the tournament...
This is by far the worst year ever for the World Juniors. Ridiculous empty arenas and low quality games.

Organizers have managed to kill the World Junior Championship golden goose | The Hockey News

 

[fredligh]

I think if the tournament was returning to sweden and the prices were decent, people would definetly travel the country to watch games.

 

[ek93]

Excuses

Not really. Pretty valid reasons, actually.

 

[Pouchkine]

90% empty arena for the Bronze game with the "home" team.