ticket sales abound
June 6th, 2008 by thewordbirdThe Vancouver Canucks as an organization draw very well at the gate and have for a number of years.
According to a report that was leaked to the Toronto Star and is of course, ‘unofficial’, the Canucks have enjoyed the third largest home crowd in the league with $1.4 million raving fanatics’ dollars/game blessing GM Place. Toronto at $1.9 million dollars and Montreal at $1.7 are the leading figures. I believe that this takes into account the monies spent on mechandise as well.
Several clubs have seen marked and drastic improvements in sales this year over last. Vancouver sat sixth in sales % changes this year over last. Clubs that have seen better improvements are mostly in the U.S. with resurgences in Chicago (+42.8%), New Jersey (+41.6%), Pittsburgh (+33.3%), St. Louis (+33.3). Les Canadiens posted a huge gain (+30.8%) as well, which is encouraging because it was also the second highest draw in the league.
The worst draw in the league is Phoenix with sales under $500,000/game - the only in the league. This hurts, as I was a big time supporter of the Jets in Winnipeg. The Coyotes’ fans obviously attribute the teams’ on-ice performance only, because this team is going to be one sexy number in future campaigns. Revenues were down in Phoenix (-18.2%), Detroit (-10%), Los Angeles
(-7.1%), Columbus (-5.9%) and the league took very minutes ‘hits’ in Dallas and Colorado as well.
The NHL must be encouraged a great deal with these ‘unofficial’ figures. That said, Gary Bettman avoided answering the question put to him during a Cup Final intermission interview with Ron MacLean. Slippery snake. The huge gains and the fact that Canadian teams account for roughly 30% of the entire league revenues points to the league surviving what is looked at as ‘hard times’ in North America. Places such as Detroit are being rocked hard by a harsh economic climate, the latest news this week coming down from General Motors that 4 truck and SUV plants are being shut-down. Now, these are not solely in the Motor City, but it is the hub of the automobile industry and an indicator to be sure.
Perhaps Lord Stanley’s Cup needs to be in ‘Hockeytown’ at this point. Congratulations to the Illitchs, Steve Yzerman, Ken Holland and his entire staff, the Red Wing players and fans! Kudos to the Pittsburgh Penguins for finding ways to test themselves.
June 6th, 2008
Robin Keith Thompson
