Not huge. There are serious questions of the league’s financial viability if fans are not allowedHow big business is AHL hockey in General ?
Not huge. There are serious questions of the league’s financial viability if fans are not allowed
How big business is AHL hockey in General ?
Marketing for the AHL is very bad. A lot of the teams are in non-hockey markets. (Bakersfield Condors, Stockton Heat, etc.)
AHLTV is also kind of a mishmash. The video quality is mediocre and you can choose to either listen to the hometeam audio, or a radio broadcast of the visiting team audio. It's also almost as expensive as NHL Network for a way inferior product.
Considering how the AHL is now the official farm team league of the NHL, the NHL needs to invest in boosting its revenues to keep it viable.
I wouldnt be suprised if for the sake of the league staying afloat if the NHL is to give it a bunch of money this year so they can play in front of no fans and still be viable
A bunch of teams have internal caps that are now lower than the salary cap. I don't see the NHL funding AHL to play. I'm really beginning to wonder if they'll play at all..... which would explain why they shipped off the top prospects to Europe.I wouldnt be suprised if for the sake of the league staying afloat if the NHL is to give it a bunch of money this year so they can play in front of no fans and still be viable
A bunch of teams have internal caps that are now lower than the salary cap. I don't see the NHL funding AHL to play. I'm really beginning to wonder if they'll play at all..... which would explain why they shipped off the top prospects to Europe.
“It would be very difficult for most of our teams to operate without fans,” Scott Howson, the president of the AHL, told the Free Press. “I think there are some that would want to do it. Most of our teams are sort of able to operate at 50% capacity. That is the feedback we are getting from surveys, but right now, we aren’t close to that in most of our jurisdictions.”
Get Access
In Finland, the Liiga reality has been that 50-55% of fans have attended at the games. My home team Tappara has split the arena in 8 sections per 500 people + one 500 people section for stands. That makes 4500 maximum attendance, and highest has been ~3000 in weekend games. Usually same weekend game would have been near ~6000.
So half of the people are at home, but Telia streaming service offers real good option to watch games at home. It's like NHL, the quality and studios and everything.
Could AHL live with same? Aren't AHL-sent NHL players help from NHL affilitate, because they pay the salary?
Not without the NHL heavily subsidizing them, imo. The AHL needs its gate to function.