nyr7andcounting said:
Uh, they are filled because those are good hockey markets? MSG is not filled because there is plenty of competition for entertainment money in NYC and they haven't made the playoffs in 7 years. What's your point?
My point is win or lose no matter what the Rangers spend they cannot compete for attention vs their competition in New York anymore. In other markets hockey can expand and compete, here that's not possible and will remain that way and likely continue to regress.
Things are not good when you spend 80m and your seats are not sold and filled like they are in Philadelphia or Montreal. As a matter of fact the Rangers should be doing even better than those team in the stands with a huge waiting list. The Rangers traded for Jagr and there was absolutely no buzz at all here because he is a small market signing compared to A-Rod.
If Jagr was traded to Nashville he would become a major market star there and elevate hockey. Here he is just another big name playing on the market's seventh or eighth team with the media.
nyr7andcounting said:
You still don't know how many seats are sold in advance to companies and season ticket holders with tons of money that barely show up. Sometimes they'll go for a period and a half, sometimes not at all. I'm not talking about fan attention, I'm talking simple paid attendance...I don't think it is any less than 17,000 on any night, and most nights it's more than that when the walk-ups show up for a good game.
When Newsday reports only 60,000 homes tune into Ranger games on Msg that's a serious lack of fan attention and even though your not talking about that it's what drives ticket sales. Tell me how is a team with general interest that low with no reporters, radio shows or columnists to drive attention with the public getting anyone to purchase all the seats you think are sold at those high prices?
nyr7andcounting said:
This has nothing to do with what I said. "as little coverage as the Rangers get in NYC, it's still more than most other markets. Yes, NYR is competing against other teams in their market for attention...but even though they are losing the battle they are still in better shape than most of the other NHL teams. Come up with as many problems as you want, there are more in other NHL markets."
I have given you several examples of Hockey coverage in other markets being greater in volume and superior to New York and why. The problem here is unique because other hockey markets do have room for growth while here nothing hockey can do will pull attention from baseball's lock on the public interest
year-round. This was not the case ten or twenty years ago and when the Devils won the cup in today's baseball-driven media market we saw it up close how tough the problem is for hockey in this area.
nyr7andcounting said:
Again, I don't care what kind of attention the Rangers get compared to the Yankees, Mets etc. Say whatever you want about NYR's popularity in NYC, they are still better off than a majority of the NHL so what is your point? If you are looking to contract teams, there are over a dozen teams with more problems than NYR. If you are simply looking to point out deficiencies in NHL markets, you will have a lot more to talk about if you focus on other markets.
My point is they are not better off because win or lose they are the seventh or eighth team with the general public in Manhattan. The Pittsburgh Penguins can be the first team in that market after football season and create excellent media support and interest to drive that market. That will not happen here.
I'm also not calling for the contraction of any team but today it's a bad idea to have a team inside the Yankees-Mets baseball market. Especially after they cannot get any attention with the highest payrolls in the sport and have such a small demographic of fans following hockey to begin with.
I think a 30-40m dollar successful team with a few franchise players in Nashville, Phoenix, Carolina will get attention and interest in those markets. A lot more than an 80m dollar product in Manhattan has done.