Why doesn’t it work in Miami?

[DustyMartellaughs]

It works in Tampa, and I know the two cities have many differences, but looking at the empty seats game after game, season after season suggests that hockey just isn’t catching on in Miami to the degree it has in Tampa Bay.
For those of you who live in either city, or elsewhere in Florida, what’s the difference?

And PLEASE, no “they never should’ve gotten a team, so move them to ____” comments. That’s a topic for another day.

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[RainingRats]

for starters, the team isn't in Miami.

the difference is winning. they haven't had a winning team since 1996.

win consistently and the fans will come.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

The thread on a player saying it felt like an exhibition game covered this topic well. Search "sunshine" or "exhibition".

 

[redwings25]

stevey y

 

[MessierII]

Too much competition from other major league sports and no tradition in hockey.

 

[GrandmaSlices51631]

Demographics play a huge role ....

Tampa is 62% White (46.3% non-hispanic) as per 2019 Census
Miami is 11% White (non-hispanic) as per 2019 Census

Bottom line, Hockey is a sport where the majority of participants and viewers are of caucasian decent. It is becoming more diverse, which is a great thing, the reality is the African American population is more likely to follow the Miami Heat and/or Dolphins, could be wrong here but I'd guess the Latin communities preferred pro sport of choice would be Baseball, they've got the Marlins.

Tampa, despite having a somewhat smaller population, has a much bigger target audience then Miami. Factor in team success in recent history (or total history) and it's clear why the Bolts draw more than the Cats.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Northern Florida is people from all over the continent who just ended up there. Many bring hockey fandom with them.

South Florida is basically every different nation, Spanish, Hatian, Indian, Jamaican
Black, White, Cuban, and Asian. The residents there party in the city where the heat is on all night, on the beach till the break of dawn. When would they go to watch Ice Hockey? No way... it's about to reach five-hundred degrees in the Carribean seas!

 

[maroon 6]

I think the main reason is that Tampa has been a good team more often than not. They also have had and still have some really entertaining players like Kucherov, Stamkos, St. Louis, Lecavalier etc.

 

[McGarnagle]

Mismanagement leads to apathy.

I think the "the arena isn't in downtown so it's not convenient" excuse is an easy excuse for them to lean on. If the team was worth caring about people would find their way to Sunrise. Plenty of other teams have arenas that are not in the most convenient part of town, but they make it work because the team has a tradition of success or has drummed up interest. Florida's management has done neither.

 

[stl76]

Well for starters, the rink is 40 minutes outside Miami with no traffic...and Miami traffic is ungodly awful.

 

[robertmac43]

It's been mentioned but yeah the Panthers do not play in Miami. They are in Ft. Lauderdale which is known for beaches, one of the biggest malls in the US and the fact that it is an unfortunate amount of time and traffic outside of Miami.

Winning consistently also helps with the whole popularity thing.

 

[izzy]

tampa has a good team and also i had a really good time at amalie when i watched a game (more enjoyable than the other two ive been to) so the experience helps bring people in as well

though parking was a bit of a cluster f*** i found

 

[Shaman464]

I'd be more worried that the Islanders and Ottawa are in the same ballpark both for attendance in pure numbers and percentage of capacity.

 

[Newsworthy]

I love the Panthers home arena and the fans.
But Florida in general is a football state both pro and college.
In a way Miami is the closest major City to Sunrise.
Sunrise though is suburbia and South Florida doesn't care for hockey much. No one watches the Marlins either.
Other than football you have the Heat who do well. Panthers are really in limbo.
If they aren't winning they are in trouble.
Lightning are good and have a lot of stars and play in a bigger city where they also have the Bucs and Rays.
Florida baseball is another enigma.

 

[Newsworthy]

I'd be more worried that the Islanders and Ottawa are in the same ballpark both for attendance in pure numbers and percentage of capacity.

Why is that?

 

[Shaman464]

Why is that?

The Islanders play in Brooklyn. Which would be one of the third most populated city if it were to leave NYC. Getting 12,000 people a night is problematic, worse when you're #1 in your division.

Ottawa is in a traditional hockey market. In a densely populated metropolitan area. They may be dead last, but you'd think they'd get a better attendee rate than Florida.

 

[GrandmaSlices51631]

The Islanders play in Brooklyn. Which would be one of the third most populated city if it were to leave NYC. Getting 12,000 people a night is problematic, worse when you're #1 in your division.

Ottawa is in a traditional hockey market. In a densely populated metropolitan area. They may be dead last, but you'd think they'd get a better attendee rate than Florida.

Barclays wasn't built for hockey. No need to review the reasons why even dedicated fans don't make the commute there - it's an AirBnb for a hockey team. Belmont attendance will tell the real story.

 

[StrangeVision]

 

[Shaman464]

Barclays wasn't built for hockey. No need to review the reasons why even dedicated fans don't make the commute there - it's an AirBnb for a hockey team. Belmont attendance will tell the real story.

irrespective of how it was built, you're talking about one of the most populated areas of the entire planet and a team that is #1 in the league.

 

[Rowlet]

The Lightning win games, the Panthers do not

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Dear God, I didn't realize just how awful they've been. Like, I knew they didn't have much success. But I didn't realize how little success they've had.

 

[Byron Bitz]

They need to move from sunrise to Miami

 

[Leafs87]

Demographics play a huge role ....

Tampa is 62% White (46.3% non-hispanic) as per 2019 Census
Miami is 11% White (non-hispanic) as per 2019 Census

Bottom line, Hockey is a sport where the majority of participants and viewers are of caucasian decent. It is becoming more diverse, which is a great thing, the reality is the African American population is more likely to follow the Miami Heat and/or Dolphins, could be wrong here but I'd guess the Latin communities preferred pro sport of choice would be Baseball, they've got the Marlins.

Tampa, despite having a somewhat smaller population, has a much bigger target audience then Miami. Factor in team success in recent history (or total history) and it's clear why the Bolts draw more than the Cats.

I urge you to visit Toronto and tell me the white population dominates hockey interest than look at the teams poluarity. Please don’t point to history just look at the Scotiabank arena it is filled every night and it has a HUGE percent of minority. I am very happy it has grown to be diverse and in Aurora (suburb of Toronto part of the greater Toronto area) where I live the minor program immensely grown in minority. I won’t say it’s the majority yet but a lot of my friends and I always joke that whites are now the minority around Toronto and the GTA. When I grew up we had 1 black super whitewashed kid playing hockey and that was as diverse as it got now it’s comeptly changed

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

The obvious reason is because there are no choreographed celebrations after a home victory.

 

[tiburon12]

Location is critical. Miami metro area has 5mil people, but BB&T center is convenient to none of the major population hubs. It's flanked by the Everglades! From downtown Fort Lauderdale it's about 30 min, but Fort Lauderdale only has a population of around 120k. Can't be expecting 1/6th of the nearest "big" city to come to games to fill the stadium.

Factor in bad public transportation and a generally low interest in hockey, and you get the Panthers situation. It's not easy for them given what they have to work with.

I frequently go to Panthers games when i'm visiting family in Miami, and it's just not convenient at all to get there without driving.

Northern Florida is people from all over the continent who just ended up there. Many bring hockey fandom with them.

South Florida is basically every different nation, Spanish, Hatian, Indian, Jamaican
Black, White, Cuban, and Asian. The residents there party in the city where the heat is on all night, on the beach till the break of dawn. When would they go to watch Ice Hockey? No way... it's about to reach five-hundred degrees in the Carribean seas!

Though, considering everyone has a $100,000 car, you'd think some of the rich folks with the summerhouse piece on South Beach would have the funds to support their children playing hockey.