In re: attendance...paper sellout or not, the building seems very alive on TV. It's good to at least see fewer empty seats in the lower bowl than in years past.
The Preds are not quite there yet where it's a full barn every night (in terms of actual people -- even if, supposedly all tickets are sold). We still have room to grow in terms of fanbase before the demand is high enough where the team doesn't have to really do anything to "promote" the team....but there is a SIGNIFICANT improvement in terms of visibility and the team.
We are beyond being a small, but dedicated fanbase, supported by just the usual suspects that show up to every game. There are many more casual fans around town (and that is certainly a GOOD thing). Winning helps, for sure. The younger crowd really enjoys the atmosphere...and as the younger crowd gains more discretionary income, over time you will see the demand for tickets rise up. Around town, you see a lot more Preds plates, flags, and bumper stickers than ever before. It's common to to see people in Preds shirts and hats at any random place around town. Kids love the games. The culture is, and has been, taking hold in the city. It probably doesn't hurt either that the city (metro) has grown by about 400,000 in the time that the Preds have been here.
That's not to say that a bad stretch couldn't really hurt us...but I think with dedicated local ownership, and an incredibly well run management, we can start to relax a little bit and not worry about breaking something like 14,000 in AVERAGE attendance. This run of "sellouts" has been nice...but I don't expect it to continue forever. I also don't think that if we have a few games in the 15's or even 14's that we need to panic (I would like our minimum to be 16k...but I don't really expect that...right now).
The point being, attendance is strong. It is nothing to worry about. I think with the current group in place, we are over the hump of having to constantly worry about our team relocating. Things can always change...but with the team having been here for 15 years now, I think it's time we stop acting like an expansion team and get that "no respect" chip off our shoulder. Some fans will always knock our attendance if it's not 100%. If attendance is 100%, they'll knock our ticket prices. If our ticket prices are higher, they'll knock our tv ratings, jersey sales, etc. etc. We become a stronger market each and every day.
The Preds are not quite there yet where it's a full barn every night (in terms of actual people -- even if, supposedly all tickets are sold). We still have room to grow in terms of fanbase before the demand is high enough where the team doesn't have to really do anything to "promote" the team....but there is a SIGNIFICANT improvement in terms of visibility and the team.
We are beyond being a small, but dedicated fanbase, supported by just the usual suspects that show up to every game. There are many more casual fans around town (and that is certainly a GOOD thing). Winning helps, for sure. The younger crowd really enjoys the atmosphere...and as the younger crowd gains more discretionary income, over time you will see the demand for tickets rise up. Around town, you see a lot more Preds plates, flags, and bumper stickers than ever before. It's common to to see people in Preds shirts and hats at any random place around town. Kids love the games. The culture is, and has been, taking hold in the city. It probably doesn't hurt either that the city (metro) has grown by about 400,000 in the time that the Preds have been here.
That's not to say that a bad stretch couldn't really hurt us...but I think with dedicated local ownership, and an incredibly well run management, we can start to relax a little bit and not worry about breaking something like 14,000 in AVERAGE attendance. This run of "sellouts" has been nice...but I don't expect it to continue forever. I also don't think that if we have a few games in the 15's or even 14's that we need to panic (I would like our minimum to be 16k...but I don't really expect that...right now).
The point being, attendance is strong. It is nothing to worry about. I think with the current group in place, we are over the hump of having to constantly worry about our team relocating. Things can always change...but with the team having been here for 15 years now, I think it's time we stop acting like an expansion team and get that "no respect" chip off our shoulder. Some fans will always knock our attendance if it's not 100%. If attendance is 100%, they'll knock our ticket prices. If our ticket prices are higher, they'll knock our tv ratings, jersey sales, etc. etc. We become a stronger market each and every day.
I think hockey is doing ok here.
