Why would the Florida Panthers have grabbed headlines in the first two weeks of the NHL season? With all due respect to Roberto Luongo, they are arguably the least interesting team in the league.
Well, the Panthers attendance, or lack thereof, drew attention, in the team’s second home game, a 1-0 loss to Ottawa. There was an announced crowd of just 7,311 which followed a paltry 11,419 for the team’s home opener two nights earlier, a 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils. It was a franchise all-time worst, shattering the previous low of 10,063. In addition, it was the smallest home crowd for an NHL game in nearly three years.
After two home games, the Panthers have drawn a total of 18,730 fans. Eight NHL teams averaged more than that for home games last season, and another seven averaged over 18,000 per game. “I don’t pay attention to that stuff when I’m playing,” Luongo told reporters. “If we want to get some people in the stands, we’re going to have to start winning some hockey games.”
Roberto’s comments may be the politically correct thing to say, but at the start of the season, winning isn’t really a factor since teams have not had enough time to build up a significant win-loss record.
In the 2013-14 season, the Panthers averaged 14,177 which is not impressive and ranked only ahead of Arizona but they were at 83.2 per cent of capacity which is far greater than the first two games this season.
This begs the question- why such a dramatic drop? Sure, Ottawa isn’t a great attraction; yes the Canadian snowbirds haven’t hibernated to Florida yet and granted the Miami metropolitan area is more interested in U.S. College football, NFL and NBA this time of year. (The Panthers play home games in Sunrise, Florida about half an hour from Miami).
It also doesn’t help that the Panthers have not won a playoff series since 1996 and have only been to the playoffs once since the year 2000. But these concerns rise every October, yet the attendance has never been this abysmal.
So the real reason? The Panthers new owners have stopped giving away so many free tickets. The theory behind the change in philosophy, which is understandable, is it’s a disservice to the team’s season ticket holders. In other words, tickets are devalued if free ones are available at nearly every street corner. When too many so called fans have it in their mind they only want to go to a game if it’s free, there is a real distress with that psychology.
While crowds will obviously increase at future Panthers games it will be a slow build taking time for the public to fully grasp the concept of paying to get in.
I will illustrate an example of the mentality that some hockey fans possess. I have a friend in Victoria who attended a WHL Royals game this month against Swift Current. He decided to go home after the second period with the Broncos ahead 1-0. I asked him why he left after just 40 minutes and he replied, “I was frustrated because the Royals weren’t scoring”. Out of curiosity, I then asked if he paid for his ticket and he said “No”. I then asked him had he paid for that ticket, would he have stayed until the end of the game. His quick honest reply was “of course.” (By the way, Swift Current won that game 2-1 in overtime).
I suspect both the Prince George Cougars and Spruce Kings are giving away less free tickets this season. The Cougars attendance figures have increased, a result of new ownership and not because of less “freebees”. The Spruce Kings home crowds are lower than last year, although it’s a small sample with just five of their games played at the P.G. Coliseum.
It doesn’t matter if it’s the NHL, WHL or BCHL, attendance is arguably a more important number than the result of the game. While having huge home crowds is the objective for every team, it should not come at the expense of a paid ticket. Cliché or not, fans have to buy into the slogan “you get what you pay for.”
From the Quote Rack:
The Seattle Seahawks front office denies that Percy Harvin was sent to the New York Jets as ‘punishment’. A source inside the office said, ‘If we’d wanted to punish Percy, we’d have sent him to the Oakland Raiders’.
Apparently, locker room fights and team discord marked Percy Harvin’s stay in Seattle. You sure he wouldn’t have been more comfortable with the Chicago Bears?
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
The Seahawks traded Percy Harvin to the Jets. Seattle will apparently receive a conditional draft pick in 2015. Harvin will receive the month of January off.
After Peyton Manning’s 509th TD pass, Broncos receivers played “keep away” with the ball. Funny, that’s the same game Jets receivers usually seem to play when Geno Smith throws to them.
Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
Despite rumours to the contrary, season three of Total Divas does not star Terrell Owens.
Far be it from me to suggest the Montreal Alouettes might be rubbing it in. Then again, I did notice they chose a game against the Roughriders to retire No. 13.
Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
I hear the Grey Cup half time show is The Imagine Dragons Den. So what will the CFL pitch to these investors; a franchise in Moncton, Halifax or Saskatoon?
Tiger Woods is back practising taking full swings. Since he has fired his latest swing coach Sean Foley, the first lessons come from his ex, and he’s been hitting that 9 iron solid, just like she showed him.
Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver (http://alwaysfunny.com/)
And in case you missed it:
Chris Pronger has been hired by the NHL to work in its Department of Player Safety. Joining Pronger as player rep on the Fair Play Committee will be Brad Marchand.
Vancouver comedy writer Torben Rolfsen
Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for radio station TheGoat94.3 His column appears Fridays on hqprincegeorge.com. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
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