AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > October > 27
Monday, October 27, 2008
Is There Anybody…Out There?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In this fine write-up, Mike Knobler recently discussed the attendance…or lack thereof…of the first four Thrashers home games at Philips Arena. The team is drawing an announced average of 13,943 so far this season…down over 1,300 from this time last season. Quite honestly…13,000 “announced” is a very kind number compared to what the actual “through-the-door” number has been.
That is, unless, many in the “partial” sellout crowds have come disguised as empty seats.
In Knobler’s piece, general manager Don Waddell cited several reasons for the less-than-stellar showing at the gate early on. Among them…
The fact that Atlanta was the only team to have played four home games in the first eight days of the season.
That the four home games were played on a Friday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. So the weeknight games were “tough nights”.
It’s football season.
Huh…whaaaaaaa?
Darn those football guys for changing things up by scheduling football games in…the fall! It’s completely unheard of!
Oh, and last season…the Thrashers played four of their first eight games at home. The season opened on October 5 and the fourth home game was on October 18…the day they snagged the first win of the season. Granted, that’s a span of thirteen days not eight…but is that five-day difference really a “problem” for attendance?
Oh…and two of those home games were in the middle of the week as well…Wednesday October 10 when they lost 3-1 to Ottawa and Thursday October 18 when they beat the Rangers 5-3.
A truncated time frame for the first four home games? Weeknight games? Football?
PUH-leeze.
As is pointed out in the article, one of the main reasons for the dwindling attendance figures…at a time when season ticket sales are up 4% and single-game sales is up 13% league-wide… is that quite a few season ticket holders here in Atlanta decided not to renew their seats this year.
Now, there are quite a few reasons for this. Certainly, the economy factors into this picture. When a person’s 401K turns into a 104K almost overnight and you watch as the company you work for is reducing staff…all on the heals of this summer’s gas prices…one tends to re-evaluate where the funds are being spent. This is quite understandable.
Another reason may have to do with the fact that there is no All-Star Game in town this year to entice fans to buy into a season ticket package in order to guarantee themselves a seat at the mid-season spectacle.
Also…there are still some bad feelings within the ranks of some former STHs from last year when…after paying full price up front…they sat by and watched many a game alongside of fans that paid half price for their seats. It wasn’t really that the organ-I-zation moved to try and fill Philips in as much as it was they, the most loyal of customers, felt slighted because they were offered squat to make up for the difference.
Personally, I fall on the side of the argument that those in charge of such matters need to do what they can to fill the place. Butts in seats… a healthy scenario for an organ-I-zation indeed. However, they cannot take for granted those who willingly pay full season ticket price up front.
I’m quite sure there are many who are taking a wait and see approach to this team. New head coach…new assistant coaches…many new players…combined with eight previous seasons of disappointment. Can these fans be blamed for that attitude?
Play inspired, entertaining hockey and win some games…fans will come. Provide a sense of value to the paying customer …fans will come. It’s a basic formula that normally works in any sports market. And this Anderson-led team will, I believe, do just that.
All You Can Eat seats are nice…but that alone will not sell out games.
Then there is the giant elephant in the room here that I’ll recognize. There are a few fans that willingly placed the word “former” in front of the phrase “season ticket holder” because they firmly disagree with the Spirit Group’s decision to not make a change in the general manager’s position this past summer.
While I agree there should have been a change made…that will not keep me from attending my normal 20-25 games this season. I do, however, understand why others feel differently.
One of the above may be the main factor for the decreased numbers…maybe a combination of a few… or all… are the reason. I’m sure there could be other reasons.
But…four home games in eight days?
Two games falling on weeknights?
Football being played in October?
Sorry…not buying it.
