WCF: #3 Grand Rapids Griffins v # 4 Oklahoma City Barons; Griffins win 4-3

[Shrimper]

v

1. OKC at GR
Fri May 24 7:00 PM
2. OKC at GR
Sat May 25 7:00 PM
3. GR at OKC
Wed May 29 7:00 PM
4. GR at OKC
Fri May 31 7:00 PM
5. GR at OKC
Sat Jun 1 7:00 PM *
6. OKC at GR
Tue Jun 4 7:00 PM *
7. OKC at GR
Wed Jun 5 7:00 PM *​

The Grand Rapid Griffins came from behind in Game 6 against the Toronto Marlies from a 3-1 scoreline to win their series. The Oklahoma Barons on the other hand came through relatively unscathed against the Texas Stars although they faced a harder opponent in the first round against the Charlotte Checkers. Arcobello is the leading points player in the play-offs so far and will look to keep that up against Oklahoma. Grand Rapid will look to keep their offensive power up with Tatar one of their top players.

Click to read more...

 

[JungleJON]

What's wrong with the fans (or lack) of fans at OC? When they were in AA leagues they usually led them in attendance. I know they now have the NBA team there, but 5,000-6,000 seemed to have given up on hockey.
I mean they have a great team this year and can't draw more than 2,000 in the playoffs? Do people know they still have a hockey team?

 

[LadyStanley]

There's an issue about minor league playoff attendance, especially as a lot of the teams depend on group sales to bolster attendance. (There's a whole thread on it in the BOH in the past couple of weeks, include the AHL Syracuse president ranting that fans weren't attending. Search is your friend.)

 

[JungleJON]

Has nothing to do with the playoffs - look at the regular season for Oklahoma City. In 2007-08 they averaged over 8,700 fans, the next season it dropped to 6,500. In the AHL 2010-11 they avg. a little over 4,100, the next season 3,684, this season 3,527 (last in the AHL).

So there has been a steady drop over the last 5-6 years.

 

[Baronsfan]

Has nothing to do with the playoffs - look at the regular season for Oklahoma City. In 2007-08 they averaged over 8,700 fans, the next season it dropped to 6,500. In the AHL 2010-11 they avg. a little over 4,100, the next season 3,684, this season 3,527 (last in the AHL).

So there has been a steady drop over the last 5-6 years.

The AA team gave away tickets like candy. Admitted to giving out sometimes over 2,500 freebies a game. No business model can be successful that way. A lot of the old Blazer fans don't like this new concept of having to pay for tickets, so they don't go. OKC is having to start from scratch and build a core then try and create new fans and change the mindset in the market of having to actually pay for tickets. OKC has a strong STH base, they are over 2,500 season seat holders which is in the top 1/3rd of the league (they say) and renewal rate is over the league average. So in other words, the die hards are showing up but lack of corporate sponsorship from the city and the casual fan not giving it a chance is what is holding them back. Combine that with tickets are pretty expensive, especially for a hockey team in Oklahoma. They are in the top 10 of most expensive ticket prices.

On top of all that, OKC is not the same market it was back in the day. The city has grown exponentially since then, so hockey isn't the only entertainment in town anymore. This city has fallen in love with the Thunder, and the Thunder play 20 steps across the street.

In 3 seasons they have averaged right around 3,800 or so, which isn't that bad when you think of all the trouble they've had marketing and selling the game. However, the trend is going down every year so that must change.

 

[LadyStanley]

Game delayed/postponed due to tornado in OKC. Water flooded locker room (there are pictures out there).

 

[LadyStanley]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...ahl-playoff-game-postponed-due-021514390.html

Puck Daddy with pictures of the water/flooding