Flames moving affiliate from Stockton

[CHRDANHUTCH]

No one is arguing the money aspect...running an AHL team is chump change for NHL ownership.

However, the Monday night scheduling is absolutely the sole reason why the Wranglers drew 500 people.

The Wrangers played back-to-back home games against the same team. Everyone in Calgary that wanted to see the Wranglers vs Firebirds already did that 24 hours earlier at the same location on a much more convenient day and at a much more convenient time. No different than if a b-tier musician plays in the same city two consecutive nights...the second night always has a much lower draw.

If the Wranglers played a different team the previous night or played the Firebirds in Coachella the previous night, then 500 people is disgraceful, but that's not the situation here.

6200 people saw the Wranglers vs. Firebirds in Calgary over the span of two days, which is a semi-decent draw for an AHL team when you look at the bigger picture.

you do realize Coachella Valley is an untapped market prior to the last 24-48 months... Calgary has owned their AHL Franchise in part or in whole for almost 3 decades in 8 different markets and prior to the recent relocation to Calgary was the longest the affiliate had stayed static since 2003.

 

[hypereconomist]

I'm sure the utter lack of marketing Calgary does for its AHL franchises had NOTHING to do with it - it was all the Monday arena date.

And no, 3,100 a game isn't a "semi-decent" draw for an AHL team. It's piss poor, especially playing it the affiliate team's home city.

The official game log says 5663 on Game 1 and 2922 on Game 2. Averaging 4242 people per game would put the Wranglers at around 19th for attendance in the AHL when compared against last year's AHL attendance figures.

That is definitely decent, especially for a new franchise that was playing their second game in a back-to-back home-stand against the same team on a Monday night. If you don't believe that playing the same team as yesterday in the same building on a Monday has any impact on the attendance figures, I don't know what to tell you...

I will agree to the awful scheduling, but in the AHL that is awful figures for attendance.

Now for what it's worth, the official attendance from the Game Report is listed at 2922. So factoring in some underestimating on the part of Twitter, and likely an inflation of attendance numbers counting tickets out, or just purely inflating it. They probably pulled in the range of 1500, in an 18k building which makes it look much smaller.

So it probably is exactly what the Flames hoped for with the recognition that having high attendance and making money is not the goal of having the Wranglers in town.

CSEC is probably more than happy with the attendance numbers this past weekend, but apparently, Hitmen attendance is down a little bit. CSEC has been doing some joint advertising with the Hitmen/Wranglers. It should be interested to see how the attendance numbers for both teams shakes out as the season progresses.

you do realize Coachella Valley is an untapped market prior to the last 24-48 months... Calgary has owned their AHL Franchise in part or in whole for almost 3 decades in 8 different markets and prior to the recent relocation to Calgary was the longest the affiliate had stayed static since 2003.

Huh? Coachella has nothing to do with the attendance. Both games were in Calgary at the Scotiabank Saddledome

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

The official game log says 5663 on Game 1 and 2922 on Game 2. Averaging 4242 people per game would put the Wranglers at around 19th for attendance in the AHL when compared against last year's AHL attendance figures.

That is definitely decent, especially for a new franchise that was playing their second game in a back-to-back home-stand against the same team on a Monday night. If you don't believe that playing the same team as yesterday in the same building on a Monday has any impact on the attendance figures, I don't know what to tell you...



CSEC is probably more than happy with the attendance numbers this past weekend, but apparently, Hitmen attendance is down a little bit. CSEC has been doing some joint advertising with the Hitmen/Wranglers. It should be interested to see how the attendance numbers for both teams shakes out as the season progresses.


Huh? Coachella has nothing to do with the attendance. Both games were in Calgary at the Scotiabank Saddledome

wrong, Coachella Valley is a brand new market.... Calgary is not.... the AHL Wranglers were an Eastern Conference franchise from their inception in 1977 (Portland, sold to New Jersey in 1982, transferred to Utica in 1987), THEN Placed in Saint John, NB IN 1993 UNTIL 2003 ,until 2005, when the Flames set up shop in Omaha, Nebraska, the AHL HEAT now the Wranglers were in Calgary in 2020-2021.... IT'S why last year's Stockton Heat had their best season since a championship in 2001, the year the AHL expanded and absorbed the remnants of the IHL, 5 of those markets outside of Iowa from Houston remain to this day in their current markets.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

The official game log says 5663 on Game 1 and 2922 on Game 2. Averaging 4242 people per game would put the Wranglers at around 19th for attendance in the AHL when compared against last year's AHL attendance figures.

That is definitely decent, especially for a new franchise that was playing their second game in a back-to-back home-stand against the same team on a Monday night. If you don't believe that playing the same team as yesterday in the same building on a Monday has any impact on the attendance figures, I don't know what to tell you...



CSEC is probably more than happy with the attendance numbers this past weekend, but apparently, Hitmen attendance is down a little bit. CSEC has been doing some joint advertising with the Hitmen/Wranglers. It should be interested to see how the attendance numbers for both teams shakes out as the season progresses.


Huh? Coachella has nothing to do with the attendance. Both games were in Calgary at the Scotiabank Saddledome

Nineteenth in the league is not decent. A team that is nineteenth in the league is losing six figures, if not seven, annually. That's not success, even if a team is writing off the losses in the AHL as a business expense. Also, this isn't a "new" franchise. This franchise has existed for decades, it's merely in a new location with the same bad management.

I have plenty of knowledge of how arena dates affect attendance, being that I've worked in a league office and as a team GM in two different leagues. If you're stupid enough, as a GM, to rank any non-holiday Monday higher than a blackout when you submit arena dates to the league, you deserve the attendance you get when they give you a Monday home game.

 

[Jackets Woodchuck]

Nineteenth in the league is not decent. A team that is nineteenth in the league is losing six figures, if not seven, annually. That's not success, even if a team is writing off the losses in the AHL as a business expense. Also, this isn't a "new" franchise. This franchise has existed for decades, it's merely in a new location with the same bad management.

I have plenty of knowledge of how arena dates affect attendance, being that I've worked in a league office and as a team GM in two different leagues. If you're stupid enough, as a GM, to rank any non-holiday Monday higher than a blackout when you submit arena dates to the league, you deserve the attendance you get when they give you a Monday home game.

Tobe fair, the Wranglers are getting third choice of dates behind the Flames and Hitmen.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Tobe fair, the Wranglers are getting third choice of dates behind the Flames and Hitmen.

To be fair, who's idea was it to play in an arena with two other tenants?

Bad management reaps what it sows.

 

[JMCx4]

To be fair, who's idea was it to play in an arena with two other tenants?

Bad management reaps what it sows.

It always seems to me that Calgary ownership flips a coin when affiliate business decisions need to be made. And that coin is Tails on both sides.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

It always seems to me that Calgary ownership flips a coin when affiliate business decisions need to be made. And that coin is Tails on both sides.

Calgary is probably the worst franchise operator in AHL history. They've passed Mostafa Afr.

 

[Jackets Woodchuck]

To be fair, who's idea was it to play in an arena with two other tenants?

Bad management reaps what it sows.

I honestly think they're looking at the Wranglers (from a business perspective) more like a European soccer reserve team or same-city NBA G League affiliate than a typical AHL team (i.e. trying to make some of the cost of player development back, but not aggressively marketing it).

 

[CrazyEddie20]

I honestly think they're looking at the Wranglers (from a business perspective) more like a European soccer reserve team or same-city NBA G League affiliate than a typical AHL team (i.e. trying to make some of the cost of player development back, but not aggressively marketing it).

I think that's right. But I also think it's a more-than-somewhat stupid way to do business. They could utilize the same marketing departments as the other two franchises and maybe break even or lose in the low six figures rather than just assuming a $3M to $5M loss and drawing flies.