Senators removing about 1500 seat from the Canadian Tire Centre

[_Del_]

The people I really feel sorry for are the Canadian citizens who helped pay millions in grants and guaranteed loans and "tax adjustments" to keep this failing club in Ontario. What a waste.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

I'm sure there are plenty of fans out there along the Queensway out toward Cumberland who would go to more games if the arena wasn't clear on the other side of town. Then the Sens wouldn't have this embarrassing situation.

But what if the team leaves Kanata? Not worried, I'm sure if the team leaves that Tanger Outlets near the arena will be fine. (oooo, freaky coincidence?)

(and, no, we don't get tired of the same old shtick)

 

[Mightygoose]

The people I really feel sorry for are the Canadian citizens who helped pay millions in grants and guaranteed loans and "tax adjustments" to keep this failing club in Ontario. What a waste.

Yup. The Canadian tax payers that paid a grand total of zero towards this building of the CTC. Same amount that's going towards the new arena as well

Meanwhile the Sens had to pay for the interchange off the highway......a public road that's funded by both the federal and provincial government....it's a negative subsidy

And for those who want to continue with the Arizona comparison. This new capacity is now being reduced the full capacity of GRA...give or take by 100 seats. Plus the Sens already have a piece of dirt they're working on.

 

[TheLegend]

Do you ever get tired of the same old spiel?

Plenty of teams would still love to be in Ottawa's situation.

Get back to us when Ottawa starts offering dirt-cheap tickets and only gets 10k fans at the games and only 2k people are watching on TV... then you'll have a point. Otherwise, this is pretty minor and certainly temporary.

Uh..... they've already been there and done that. On numerous occasions.

 

[_Del_]

Yup. The Canadian tax payers that paid a grand total of zero towards this building of the CTC.

False, and doesn't address the "tax adjustments" (read:subsidies) either.

Meanwhile the Sens had to pay for the interchange

Paid for with federally backed/guaranteed loans when they were unable to secure funding. Let's not forget that bit. Adds colour to the black and white picture you're painting

 

[Bixby Snyder]

Ottawa should have never had an NHL team. No more teams in Canada, we need to grow the game.

 

[Mightygoose]

False, and doesn't address the "tax adjustments" (read:subsidies) either.



Paid for with federally backed/guaranteed loans when they were unable to secure funding. Let's not forget that bit. Adds colour to the black and white picture you're painting

Not false. The arena was privately financed...started the team in the financial hole


The federal grant was for 6 million on the interchange and ....the team still financed the rest this this was for infrastructure on public roads...been far worse arenas deals out there....this being one of the better ones

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Ottawa should have never had an NHL team. No more teams in Canada, we need to grow the game.

they had a team before that in the origins of the NHL, Atticus

 

[TheLegend]

http://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4279640

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk says he will reduce capacity at the Canadian Tire Centre in hopes of increasing demand for season tickets. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk believes less could mean more.

Tired of seeing too many empty seats, the NHL club has made the decision to reduce capacity at Canadian Tire Centre by 1,500 to about 17,000. Rows in the upper bowl have been covered with tarps.

"The attendance shifts have been dramatic over a period of two decades," Melnyk told reporters Thursday. "The whole trend now is less seats and more clubs and frankly smaller stadiums.

"When you look at things like a new stadium downtown, we're not going to build a 20,000-seat stadium. It will probably be closer to 15,000-17,000 in there."

Melnyk and team president Tom Anselmi wouldn't reveal season ticket numbers but the two are hopeful that by removing seats fans will feel the need to purchase season tickets with the potential of there being fewer tickets available on a walk-up basis.

 

[therealkoho]

There is snow there.... its a traditional market... Canada is a hotbed of Hockey interest... Hockey is so very popular in Canada they sell out virtually every game and have wait lists...

Or so we in the Sun Belt have been led to believe.

Ottawa is a government town and quite honestly has trouble selling out anything, real estate here is as pricey as Toronto or Vancouver's, but unlike those two cities, most of the working stiffs have predictable if not down right pedestrian incomes. Those incomes do not support a whole lot of Senator games for a family four.

I'm in a group of 6 guys who buy 4 seasons tickets at the 200 level on the blueline which costs each individual $2500+ just for the seat and we work out which games we want and don't want, works out to seeing 25 or so games a year, or @100 bucks a game before you park, eat and drink

 

[syc]

Yeah this doesn't make a lot of sense. Sure it looks bad when there's 2000 empty seats for a 2nd round PO game. But ignore the haters and just move on. Given the issues they already have in selling tickets (gov city, phoenix pay issues, crap arena location), I don't see how removing seats is going to help them in any way.

I agree with you but 15ish years ago the flames covered lots of seats with red tarps and then removed them when the team got good again. Small market owners with big market egos is my guess.

 

[Bjorn Le]

Well... not to mention that quite a bit of those bureaucrats/contractors do not really care about the Sens in the first place.

Sure, but you need people who care about the team to buy season tickets. You need people looking for something to do on a weeknight to buy single game tickets. An area closer to downtown helps with that, and makes it easier for people who do like the Senators to actually buy season tickets.

Ottawa should have never had an NHL team. No more teams in Canada, we need to grow the game.

It's one of the two weakest Canadian markets, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't have a team. Ottawa is a large metro area (by Canadian standards, and pretty big by American ones as well) that happens to be very wealthy. Not to mention it's the capital of Canada. There's plenty of reasons for it to have a team, and if they didn't, they'd be at the top of the list for expansion.

Ottawa is a government town and quite honestly has trouble selling out anything, real estate here is as pricey as Toronto or Vancouver's, but unlike those two cities, most of the working stiffs have predictable if not down right pedestrian incomes. Those incomes do not support a whole lot of Senator games for a family four.

I'm in a group of 6 guys who buy 4 seasons tickets at the 200 level on the blueline which costs each individual $2500+ just for the seat and we work out which games we want and don't want, works out to seeing 25 or so games a year, or @100 bucks a game before you park, eat and drink

Pedestrian implies they aren't paid well. True, government salaries are much lower than the private sector, but they're still quite high and income is comparable to Toronto and Vancouver.

 

[syc]

Uh..... they've already been there and done that. On numerous occasions.

When were these dirt cheap ticket prices? Leafs fan in Ottawa and I'd go to sens games if tickets were cheap enough.

If the dollar was even I bet 75% of us based teams would love to be in Ottawa. (Mod)

 

[therealkoho]

Pedestrian implies they aren't paid well. True, government salaries are much lower than the private sector, but they're still quite high and income is comparable to Toronto and Vancouver.

while 50k is no poke in the eye by any means, cost of living in the NCR is quite high which renders those salaries less then adequate for paying the champagne prices of an NHL game, and therein lies the attendance problem

 

[david999]

Frankly, Ottawa is a lousy sports town. This should have been an easy year to sell tickets considering they were very close to being in the finals 3 months ago.

 

[TJinAZ]

No worries dude

Ottawa is a government town and quite honestly has trouble selling out anything, real estate here is as pricey as Toronto or Vancouver's, but unlike those two cities, most of the working stiffs have predictable if not down right pedestrian incomes. Those incomes do not support a whole lot of Senator games for a family four.

I'm in a group of 6 guys who buy 4 seasons tickets at the 200 level on the blueline which costs each individual $2500+ just for the seat and we work out which games we want and don't want, works out to seeing 25 or so games a year, or @100 bucks a game before you park, eat and drink

Sorry you are on the other end of this but.. we out west get soooo very tired of being dumped on this type of thing by your fellow Canadians. It is hard to resist a little payback. I have nothing against the Sens and wish you good luck in the coming season.

Except for Kyle Turris... **** Kyle Turris.

 

[ForumNamePending]

Sort of crazy to think they are cutting "capacity" to 17,000 when up to a season ago they routinely averaged 18,000/game, and not too long before that they had seasons over 19,000/game. Ottawa's not the strongest market, especially when compared to its neighbors, so after a decade of spinning its wheels last season's attedance drop was probably due, but after making it to the ECF you would think that would lead to a significant bump in sales heading into this season. Given today's announcement is it safe to assume last spring's run didn't have the impact one would expect?

 

[Gnashville]

Do you ever get tired of the same old spiel?

Plenty of teams would still love to be in Ottawa's situation.

Get back to us when Ottawa starts offering dirt-cheap tickets and only gets 10k fans at the games and only 2k people are watching on TV... then you'll have a point. Otherwise, this is pretty minor and certainly temporary.

When the double standard stops I will! See the "dirt Cheap" tickets link below from 2014

when were these dirt cheap ticket prices? Leafs fan in ottawa and i'd go to sens games if tickets were cheap enough.

If the dollar was even i bet 75% of us based teams would love to be in ottawa. (mod)

They had even cheaper ticket deals last year but the link not longer works

 

[tarheelhockey]

I don't understand why it was ever a "thing" that you put your stadium/arena out in the suburbs. Sure, land is cheaper but you've saying money in the short run at the expense of long term ticket revenue (even if you do well attendance wise, you could and should charge more for tickets in a downtown venue).

It was a "thing" during an era when downtowns were generally failing and nobody wanted to go there in the evening.

Now that downtowns are generally revitalized, the trend has reversed. And who knows, it might reverse again someday.

 

[TheLegend]

When the double standard stops I will! See the "dirt Cheap" tickets link below from 2014





They had even cheaper ticket deals last year but the link not longer works

The following year it was a ticket and BigMac meal for $35.

 

[Masked]

It the Senators actually played in Ottawa

They actually do play in Ottawa. Here's the address:

Canadian Tire Centre
1000 Palladium Drive
Ottawa, ON, K2V 1A5

I don't understand why it was ever a "thing" that you put your stadium/arena out in the suburbs. Sure, land is cheaper but you've saying money in the short run at the expense of long term ticket revenue (even if you do well attendance wise, you could and should charge more for tickets in a downtown venue). Once/if they move to the LeBreton Flats they'll do better.

A 2 second google search could get you the website that explained why Bruce Firestone built the building where he did.

 

[Masked]

Ottawa is a government town and quite honestly has trouble selling out anything, real estate here is as pricey as Toronto or Vancouver's, but unlike those two cities, most of the working stiffs have predictable if not down right pedestrian incomes. Those incomes do not support a whole lot of Senator games for a family four.

You have it completely backwards. Real estate is WAY cheaper in Ottawa compared to Toronto or Vancouver while Ottawa's incomes are comparable to Toronto but higher than Vancouver.

 

[tfong]

If there were real fans in Ontario, they'd make the drive. Everyone has to drive to see a game. Just not enough real fans. Nothing against Ottawa fans, who I'm sure are very passionate, there just aren't enough of you. The market isn't viable. Can't wait 'til they finally contract this abomination.

I'm also going to say that most people that work in Ottawa are government employees and they dont all have the luxury or finances to be at the Sens games that take a lot of effort to goto. Like getting there is an absolute pain and so is leaving.

I paid a fair amount for my playoff game (not as expensive as other games though) but yeah lots of empty seats.

 

[Gnashville]

The following year it was a ticket and BigMac meal for $35.

There was one in the Coca-Cola section for 20 bucks last year. I am sure they will have some more "Dirt Cheap" ticket deals this season.

 

[ponder719]

There is a way they could have removed seats and had it be a straight up positive, instead of what they have now, but it'd have cost them a crapton of money, so of course it wasn't happening.

If they wanted to get rid of seats without it looking cheap, they should have removed all the seats, and replaced them with one or two fewer seats in each row, but wider ones, so each ticket would be for a more comfortable seating option than is currently in place. It'd have justified raising prices, too, which I imagine he'd like.

Alas, Melnyk isn't looking to go that route, but it would have been a very impressive move if he had done so.