Tarantula has made some very good point...
I live in Burlington and it is far less stressful and time consuming for me to go to Guelph for a game as opposed to Mississauga (even though it’s further). GTA traffic is arguably the worst in North America. Had the Hershey Centre been built in a more residential area, I wonder what positive effects that would have had on attendance.
The lack of media coverage is also very key. The OHL will always be viewed as second rate entertainment by those in the GTA unless there was a concerted effort to provide more thorough coverage by big media. Llike OMG said, the only way that happens is if there was a generational talent like a McDavid playing in Mississauga. Right now, the OHL, is viewed by many in the GTA roughly the same way Jr B or Jr A is viewed by those in current OHL markets.
However, in spite of the challenges listed above, I STILL find it hard to believe that within a population of millions, there can’t be 3,000 people prepared to attend an OHL game on a given night.
On a final note, Leaf fans are to blame as well. I remember arguing with a few of them several years ago about the merits of the OHL. The Leafs has TWO 1st round NHL draft picks playing locally (Stuart Percy in Mississauga and Tyler Biggs in Oshawa) and none of them could care less to put a little effort in to go watch them play in their own backyard lol. It amazes me that you could such a huge “fan” yet not give a damn about where your teams players actually come from.
One last thing I’d like to add: Mr. Kerr and the Steelhead marketing department ought to examine other successful big market CHL franchises to find out what they’re doing right. Quebec City, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Seattle and Portland all have lots of other things going on yet fans still show up in droves for junior hockey games.