World Juniors' Attendance

[S319R11S16]

Pretty much just comes down to ticket prices. I'm a die hard but I wouldn't be paying 65-80 bucks a pop to see teenagers play hockey for 2 hours especially when its on TV.

I have tickets to the rest of the remaining USA games (except NY Eve) and plan to enjoy the rest of the tournament, but only because I was able to get good prices through a buddy of mine who bought 4 packages. I don't blame anyone for not ponying up 80 bucks to sit in the cheap seats to watch USA vs Finland.

Its a shame but USA Hockey and the IIHF priced Americans right out of the arena.

 

[wjhl2009fan]

Pretty much just comes down to ticket prices. I'm a die hard but I wouldn't be paying 65-80 bucks a pop to see teenagers play hockey for 2 hours especially when its on TV.

I have tickets to the rest of the remaining USA games (except NY Eve) and plan to enjoy the rest of the tournament, but only because I was able to get good prices through a buddy of mine who bought 4 packages. I don't blame anyone for not ponying up 80 bucks to sit in the cheap seats to watch USA vs Finland.

Its a shame but USA Hockey and the IIHF priced Americans right out of the arena.

They should have had cheaper tickets but don't forget that would mean more canadians would have gone to games if it was cheaper.

 

[Confucius]

Its a shame but USA Hockey and the IIHF priced Americans right out of the arena.

Wasn't it the Sabres,they bid on the games, I'd imagine they would be incharge of the pricing.

Really surprised me it was the Sabres and not the city hosting the tourny. I believe in every other case it was the city that bid on the games.

 

[wjhl2009fan]

Wasn't it the Sabres,they bid on the games, I'd imagine they would be incharge of the pricing.

Really surprised me it was the Sabres and not the city hosting the tourny. I believe in every other case it was the city that bid on the games.

In ottawa it was a joint effort the city the sens and the 67s are bid as one group.

 

[puck swami]

Ok, then here's the problem, you want to market just to Buffalo people, when the goal is to get everyone in the US behind the WJC.

Marketing World Junior hockey to the whole country of the USA could only happen with extensive promotion from ESPN. And that won't happen becuase ESPN has a lot of other programming that outdraws hockey and ESPN has shown virtually no interest in this tourney. With pro football, college bowls, NBA basketball, college basketball and NHL hockey all playing right now, it's a very tall order for teenage hockey to get national promotion in the oversaturated US sports menu during the holiday season.

There is some chicken and egg here, and until the USA can start filling large arenas with American fans to cheer these kids, it will be tough to get national publicity.

I think Buffalo is unlikely to get the job done in terms of generating large, pro-American crowds. The tourney will be a financial success due to the 65% of tickets sold to Canadians, but Buffalo is depressed, and the ticket prices were clearly aimed at Canadians from the more prosperous Golden Horseshoe to attend.

 

[leafsfuture]

It is for this reason that only Canada should host the tourney in NHL size rinks. We are the only country capable of getting a crowd of 18 - 19 thousand for the WJC. And there is nothing wrong with that. The US should follow what the Europeans do and use arenas around 10 000 in seating. As someone whose most attended hockey game, was a highschool game of 800, i can tell you that the best feeling in the world is a good atmosphere. The only way to get that is near capacity crowds. Id much prefer to play in front of 1800 people in a 2000 seat rink than 5000 in a 10000 seat rink

 

[Rabid Ranger]

It is for this reason that only Canada should host the tourney in NHL size rinks. We are the only country capable of getting a crowd of 18 - 19 thousand for the WJC. And there is nothing wrong with that. The US should follow what the Europeans do and use arenas around 10 000 in seating. As someone whose most attended hockey game, was a highschool game of 800, i can tell you that the best feeling in the world is a good atmosphere. The only way to get that is near capacity crowds. Id much prefer to play in front of 1800 people in a 2000 seat rink than 5000 in a 10000 seat rink

Well, there is something wrong with that, and as a result the event will be rotated around regardless of the attendance figures.

 

[wjhl2009fan]

Well, there is something wrong with that, and as a result the event will be rotated around regardless of the attendance figures.

Your going to be hard pressed to find any sport that rotates there events regardless of attendance.Look at most of not all major sporting events they go to places they know will get supported well.Your not going to say yes we could hold out event in city a where we know games will sell out and be a success.Or will could go to city b where we likely won't get good crowds we may lose money and it could be a nightmare.

 

[Classified]

It is for this reason that only Canada should host the tourney in NHL size rinks. We are the only country capable of getting a crowd of 18 - 19 thousand for the WJC. And there is nothing wrong with that. The US should follow what the Europeans do and use arenas around 10 000 in seating. As someone whose most attended hockey game, was a highschool game of 800, i can tell you that the best feeling in the world is a good atmosphere. The only way to get that is near capacity crowds. Id much prefer to play in front of 1800 people in a 2000 seat rink than 5000 in a 10000 seat rink

One thing I used to love about the world jrs is that it wasn't going to the city where it makes the most money, why should only the NHL cities in Canada get it? They already have the NHL games to watch, I'm a fan of it going to smaller cities with decent sized facilities without pro sports, they embrace these games, such as Halifax. Also the tournament needs to keep going to Europe, or well see something that happens with the World Championships happen, nobody cares how Canada does in that. If the tournament is in Canada every year nobody from Europe will care.

 

[wjhl2009fan]

One thing I used to love about the world jrs is that it wasn't going to the city where it makes the most money, why should only the NHL cities in Canada get it? They already have the NHL games to watch, I'm a fan of it going to smaller cities with decent sized facilities without pro sports, they embrace these games, such as Halifax. Also the tournament needs to keep going to Europe, or well see something that happens with the World Championships happen, nobody cares how Canada does in that. If the tournament is in Canada every year nobody from Europe will care.

As for they should avoid nhl cities because they have nhl on the flip side you could save they should avoid smaller cities because most have major jr and see these player many times.Bottom line if you snub either market nhl or major jr its not a good idea.Aslo to say only nhl cities get the event is false look at the past 20 years its been held more in non nhl cities then nhl cities.As for europe don't forget last year it was to be held in switzerland but they pulled out.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

As for they should avoid nhl cities because they have nhl on the flip side you could save they should avoid smaller cities because most have major jr and see these player many times.Bottom line if you snub either market nhl or major jr its not a good idea.Aslo to say only nhl cities get the event is false look at the past 20 years its been held more in non nhl cities then nhl cities.As for europe don't forget last year it was to be held in switzerland but they pulled out.

Switzerland didn't qualify for the top group which is why they got a pass-correct? Ultimately, the WJCs are a niche event that has VERY limited appeal outside of Canada. Canada will get the lion's share of the hosting opportunities and the advantages that come with it.

 

[wjhl2009fan]

Switzerland didn't qualify for the top group which is why they got a pass-correct? Ultimately, the WJCs are a niche event that has VERY limited appeal outside of Canada. Canada will get the lion's share of the hosting opportunities and the advantages that come with it.

As a host they would have quaified as i udderstand it they did not feel they could compete that is wahy they pulled out.

 

[dystemper]

For the sake of clarity, Vancouver jointly held the tournament with Kelowna and Kamloops in smaller venues like Prospera place and Interior Savings Center. Had all games been held in Vancouver you can bet the total attendance would have been pretty amazing. I attended a preliminary round game between those hockey powers of Norway and Switzerland. I know, big ticket game right? There were just under 12,000 people at that game. Give that some thought.

give that some thought? pretty defensive, aren't we? consider reading comprehension. i didn't bring up vancouver because their attendance record was broken. i was drawing a parallel to the calgary-edmonton situation where the games are split between multiple cities that are hours driving apart -- case in point, the 2006 vancouver wjc's that was shared between vancouver, kelowna, and kamloops. which really hurt over all attendance numbers. so maybe you should think things through and relax.

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

Buffalo has had a good team more often than not over the past 10 years, Wild fans have been force fed crap.

Minnesota had a sell-out streak until this year, so you can't just cherry pick this season and compare the two.

Buffalo gets a lot of support from Southern Ontario, Minnesota doesn't get nearly the same from surrounding areas.

The Twin cities are bigger, they also have the NFL/NBA/MLB to compete with, where as Buffalo only has the Bills.

Most importantly of all: Hockey matters in Minnesota, they support it at every level, not just the NHL, and genuinely love the sport. That is the biggest difference.

Don't kid yourself with the Buffalo gets supported by Southern Ontario BS, they account for 15% of STH tops,it isn't as big as you think.

 

[seanlinden]

I agree, the attendance was awful. I know the reaction is going to be terrible, but I feel that a great deal of the empty seats were bought by out-of-towners that didn't want to show up. I've got tickets for 6 games and I'm going to every one I can. The only one I'm not going to is the game that I work during and I'm not going, because I don't want to lose my job with another attempt at a schedule switch. I would love to go if I had the chance, I'm going to miss seeing Neiderreiter play and that is disappointing to me.

FWIW, it's not like any of the games (excluding Canada) are sellouts. Sure, for the Finland-USA game you had a bunch of tickets that went sold but unused, but there were still some 4000 tickets available for walk up customers.

Well, there is something wrong with that, and as a result the event will be rotated around regardless of the attendance figures.

That poster is absolutely right. Canada should be the only ones hosting this tournament in NHL sized arenas.... USA, Europe just can't fill them. This tournament has only really grown in popularity the last 5 or 6 years, and only twice has a venue been bigger than ~14,000 -- the medal rounds in Vancouver, and the majority of the tournament in Ottawa. When the tournament is hosted in the states, they've gotta limit it (especially for the round robin) to smaller venues.

It's much better to have a 12,000 seat arena packed than it is to have an 18,000 seat arena with 12,000 fans inside. Using an 18,500 seat arena in conjunction with a 2000 seat arena is a horrible combination.... because the fact that the secondary arena is only 2000 seats mkaes tournament organizers want to use the big arena as much as possible, even if there's only 6000 fans in it.

 

[OttawaRoughRiderFan*]

I was at the game... talk about the 'Red Sea'. The ratio of Canadian to US fans has to be 40 to 1 - no exaggeration.

Funny event at the game...

4 young American kids were put on the big screen during the first game - during a break. They, of course, were thrilled. HUGE SMILES!!!! Thrilled until the booos came because of their US Jerseys.

At the risk of sounding like a HORRIBLE person (and that is a risk I take often) ...

The look on their faces, watching their huge smiles disappear, not understanding why they were being booed, was so cute. You just know, as soon as the cameras were off, they were asking :

"Daddy, why was everyone booing us?"

My girlfriend was mad. Mad people booed. Mad that I laughed.

**

So, any news on de Haan?

 

[lopper]

I was at the game... talk about the 'Red Sea'. The ratio of Canadian to US fans has to be 40 to 1 - no exaggeration.

Funny event at the game...

4 young American kids were put on the big screen during the first game - during a break. They, of course, were thrilled. HUGE SMILES!!!! Thrilled until the booos came because of their US Jerseys.

At the risk of sounding like a HORRIBLE person (and that is a risk I take often) ...

The look on their faces, watching their huge smiles disappear, not understanding why they were being booed, was so cute. You just know, as soon as the cameras were off, they were asking :

"Daddy, why was everyone booing us?"

My girlfriend was mad. Mad people booed. Mad that I laughed.

**

So, any news on de Haan?

I love this story

Going to need all the bodies we can get against Sweden.

 

[OttawaRoughRiderFan*]

I love this story

Going to need all the bodies we can get against Sweden.

Any new on de Haan?

 

[lopper]

Any new on de Haan?

No idea yet past a lower body injury with his leg/knee.

 

[OttawaRoughRiderFan*]

No idea yet past a lower body injury with his leg/knee.

Thank you...

 

[lopper]

This is kind of to do with attendance, but did anyone else watching the Russia Sweden game find the arena to be horribly small. Was there no other arenas in the area that the tourny could have used instead? Honestly, some Pee Wee hockey teams play in bigger/nicer arenas than that one.

 

[17*]

Perhaps what this tournement needs is to go back to a single pool of 6 teams, similar to the early Canada Cups. Not much has changed in 30 years. You would have CAN US RUS SWE FIN and a 6th team. The advantage of this is that every team plays every team, and you could schedule certain games every year on the same date. You could open the games on boxing day each year with a bang having CAN RUS. You could have CAN US and SWE FIN every new years eve. You could schedule US RUS every year on the same date. After a few years, these big event games would enjoy a good following and may get shown on network tv in the US.

 

[Pyke*]

Perhaps what this tournement needs is to go back to a single pool of 6 teams, similar to the early Canada Cups. Not much has changed in 30 years. You would have CAN US RUS SWE FIN and a 6th team. The advantage of this is that every team plays every team, and you could schedule certain games every year on the same date. You could open the games on boxing day each year with a bang having CAN RUS. You could have CAN US and SWE FIN every new years eve. You could schedule US RUS every year on the same date. After a few years, these big event games would enjoy a good following and may get shown on network tv in the US.

Honestly I'd rather 12 than 6.

 

[Rob]

Maybe next time the US should try hosting it in a university town. Advertise it as supporting NCAA hockey. Colorado would be a good location.

 

[sb24]

It is for this reason that only Canada should host the tourney in NHL size rinks. We are the only country capable of getting a crowd of 18 - 19 thousand for the WJC. And there is nothing wrong with that. The US should follow what the Europeans do and use arenas around 10 000 in seating. As someone whose most attended hockey game, was a highschool game of 800, i can tell you that the best feeling in the world is a good atmosphere. The only way to get that is near capacity crowds. Id much prefer to play in front of 1800 people in a 2000 seat rink than 5000 in a 10000 seat rink

St.Paul Minnesota would have no problem selling out the Xcel Energy Centers 19.5K seats.
They do it every year for the high school hockey tournament. Sell out Every Wild game ever. And the wild suck. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYUj3aHO2UE