Full Version: Opening night attendance-NHL
I was just glancing at the opening night attendance figures from last night at all the arena's around North America. I got this from olntv.com's website, which I really like. It was at or near, and in some cases over capacity, in all venues last night. Hockey is indeed back.
QUOTE
puckman1:
I was just glancing at the opening night attendance figures from last night at all the arena's around North America. I got this from olntv.com's website, which I really like. It was at or near, and in some cases over capacity, in all venues last night. Hockey is indeed back.
But how many teams lowered prices or offered other incentives to entice the fans to come back?
I was just glancing at the opening night attendance figures from last night at all the arena's around North America. I got this from olntv.com's website, which I really like. It was at or near, and in some cases over capacity, in all venues last night. Hockey is indeed back.
Just about every team did something. But why wouldn't they? Just look at what happened with baseball after 1994. It took the sport years (and a steroid-boosted home run race) to recover.
I got this info on the attendance from NHL.com (I find OLN's website to be as lacking as their telecast last night): 11 of the 15 games were sellouts. The lowest 3 attendance figures announced (don't know if they were actually not sellouts): NY Islanders at Buffalo, 15,702; Columbus at Washington, 16,325; Anaheim at Chicago, 16,533.
League-wide average season ticket renewal percentage of 87.7% is an increase of 3% over 2003-04.
Twenty-four clubs have sold at least 1,000 new season tickets/equivalents to date and at least 11 of those clubs have sold more than 2,000.
Sales of single-game tickets hit record numbers in September with more than a half-million tickets sold, including 124,000 on Sept. 17 alone.
Also found some info on the ticket prices:
[ October 06, 2005, 04:53 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]
I got this info on the attendance from NHL.com (I find OLN's website to be as lacking as their telecast last night): 11 of the 15 games were sellouts. The lowest 3 attendance figures announced (don't know if they were actually not sellouts): NY Islanders at Buffalo, 15,702; Columbus at Washington, 16,325; Anaheim at Chicago, 16,533.
League-wide average season ticket renewal percentage of 87.7% is an increase of 3% over 2003-04.
Twenty-four clubs have sold at least 1,000 new season tickets/equivalents to date and at least 11 of those clubs have sold more than 2,000.
Sales of single-game tickets hit record numbers in September with more than a half-million tickets sold, including 124,000 on Sept. 17 alone.
Also found some info on the ticket prices:
QUOTE
CHICAGO (AP) - The average NHL ticket price is down 7.5 percent from 2003-04, the last time the league played before a lockout wiped out last season.
The average price of $41.19 is even lower than the figures for the 2002-03 season, according to the Chicago-based Team Marketing Report's fan cost study. The reductions were the only major decreases reported in the 12-year history of the study for any league.
Philadelphia has the highest average price - at $54.81 - topping New Jersey by 14 cents. The Devils' prices held steady from their previous figures, and the Flyers actually decreased season ticket costs by 4 percent. Vancouver increased prices by less than 1 percent, but is now the fourth-most expensive team to watch.
Detroit, perennially one of the most expensive tickets in the league, cut the average season ticket price by nearly $14 to $43.13 - a reduction of more than 24 percent. Other teams with double-digit ticket price reductions include Dallas (23.1 percent), Anaheim (19.5), the New York Islanders (17.2), Carolina (16.8), Phoenix (16.7), Pittsburgh (16.4), Buffalo (16.2), Nashville (14.5), San Jose (14.3), Washington (12.4), Ottawa (12.1) and Chicago (11.7).
The Atlanta Thrashers showed the greatest ticket price increase, 12.9 percent to $41.68. Only four other teams reported increasing prices - Edmonton (6.8 percent), Florida (5.3), Tampa Bay (2.3) and Vancouver (0.6).
The Hurricanes, who have remained near the bottom of the NHL ticket price rankings for five years, are again hockey's best bargain. On average, fans will pay $26.15 for a seat at the RBC Center.
I'll be very interested to see how Atlanta does in attendance this year.The average price of $41.19 is even lower than the figures for the 2002-03 season, according to the Chicago-based Team Marketing Report's fan cost study. The reductions were the only major decreases reported in the 12-year history of the study for any league.
Philadelphia has the highest average price - at $54.81 - topping New Jersey by 14 cents. The Devils' prices held steady from their previous figures, and the Flyers actually decreased season ticket costs by 4 percent. Vancouver increased prices by less than 1 percent, but is now the fourth-most expensive team to watch.
Detroit, perennially one of the most expensive tickets in the league, cut the average season ticket price by nearly $14 to $43.13 - a reduction of more than 24 percent. Other teams with double-digit ticket price reductions include Dallas (23.1 percent), Anaheim (19.5), the New York Islanders (17.2), Carolina (16.8), Phoenix (16.7), Pittsburgh (16.4), Buffalo (16.2), Nashville (14.5), San Jose (14.3), Washington (12.4), Ottawa (12.1) and Chicago (11.7).
The Atlanta Thrashers showed the greatest ticket price increase, 12.9 percent to $41.68. Only four other teams reported increasing prices - Edmonton (6.8 percent), Florida (5.3), Tampa Bay (2.3) and Vancouver (0.6).
The Hurricanes, who have remained near the bottom of the NHL ticket price rankings for five years, are again hockey's best bargain. On average, fans will pay $26.15 for a seat at the RBC Center.
[ October 06, 2005, 04:53 PM: Message edited by: Joe in Philly ]
But in-person attendance for the games doesn't really matter--it was widely assumed the fans who liked to attend games would return--it's how the game does with the casual fan who watches on TV. I'm sure there was a sigh of relief at the NHL offices after last night opening, but it'll be interesting to see how attendance is for game 11, as an example. And attendance can be manipulated: the Kings call tonight's game a sellout because all the tickets made availbale through their partners (TicketMaster, etc) have been sold BUT there are still more than 1500 tickets unsold at Staples Center.
~Adam
~Adam
I am also going to be really interested in the ratings of the first game, assuming they release them. Lets hope they are up over the past few years. I hope...I hope....
Ratings info from USA Today:
There's also a Mediaweek item about ratings on various Fox Sports Net outlets:
QUOTE
The Outdoor Life Network has privacy to work out the kinks in its NHL coverage. OLN NHL coverage made its debut Tuesday and drew 0.4% of U.S. cable households — a lower rating than ESPN, which had the NHL since 1992, ever got for its opening nights. In Los Angeles and Seattle, the rating was a sublime 0.0. But excluding Tour de France shows, the NHL produced OLN's most-watched Wednesday night.
Mediaweek.com says OLN is happy:QUOTE
Checking the Nielsen Media Research numbers that had been forwarded to him Thursday afternoon, OLN president Gavin Harvey pumped his fist. “Oh, we’re happy,” Harvey said.
Considering the fact that OLN is available in over 64 million homes, its initial foray into pro hockey was more than respectable. While the net didn’t match the numbers ESPN took in with its opening night triple-header on Oct. 8, 2003 (average households: 476,000), it’s noteworthy that ESPN boasted a distribution of around 88 million homes two years ago.
Meanwhile, from the Toronto Star, huge numbers for TSN:Considering the fact that OLN is available in over 64 million homes, its initial foray into pro hockey was more than respectable. While the net didn’t match the numbers ESPN took in with its opening night triple-header on Oct. 8, 2003 (average households: 476,000), it’s noteworthy that ESPN boasted a distribution of around 88 million homes two years ago.
QUOTE
The first game lured a per-minute average of 2.1 million viewers, with most watching the Leafs and Senators renew hostilities while those in Alberta took in the Flames and Wild.
That more than doubled the previous NHL regular-season game record. It was also the third-largest audience in TSN's 21-year history, eclipsed only by the 2003 world junior hockey final (3.45 million) and last year's version (3.2 million.)
It almost matched the 2.2 million attracted by CTV's Lost, which goes to show that not everybody in Canada loves hockey.
The evening's second game attracted another 1.3 million, most of them watching Wayne Gretzky's coaching debut in Vancouver while those in Alberta took in the Colorado-Edmonton game. To put this all in perspective, those are the kind of audiences the CBC dreams of — during the playoffs. Even Hockey Night In Canada doesn't get numbers like that during the regular season, which makes the network's decision to pass on the season openers look somewhat short-sighted.
But you can bet CBC is dreaming of big numbers when it cobbles together its coverage tomorrow night. Don Cherry may even have a new jacket for this one. Hockey fever was running so high Wednesday that French-language RDS got 613,000 viewers for its Boston-Montreal broadcast and TSN's That's Hockey lured 387,000 viewers — triple its average audience.
More amazing, a million people tuned in early to watch TSN's talking heads do their pre-game show. Don't these people have dishes to wash?
The problem with OLN is that every team was playing, so in all the other markets the local team was in action, often head-to-head with the OLN broadcast. If the Flyers were not the OLN game I wouldn't have tuned into OLN on Wednesday.That more than doubled the previous NHL regular-season game record. It was also the third-largest audience in TSN's 21-year history, eclipsed only by the 2003 world junior hockey final (3.45 million) and last year's version (3.2 million.)
It almost matched the 2.2 million attracted by CTV's Lost, which goes to show that not everybody in Canada loves hockey.
The evening's second game attracted another 1.3 million, most of them watching Wayne Gretzky's coaching debut in Vancouver while those in Alberta took in the Colorado-Edmonton game. To put this all in perspective, those are the kind of audiences the CBC dreams of — during the playoffs. Even Hockey Night In Canada doesn't get numbers like that during the regular season, which makes the network's decision to pass on the season openers look somewhat short-sighted.
But you can bet CBC is dreaming of big numbers when it cobbles together its coverage tomorrow night. Don Cherry may even have a new jacket for this one. Hockey fever was running so high Wednesday that French-language RDS got 613,000 viewers for its Boston-Montreal broadcast and TSN's That's Hockey lured 387,000 viewers — triple its average audience.
More amazing, a million people tuned in early to watch TSN's talking heads do their pre-game show. Don't these people have dishes to wash?
There's also a Mediaweek item about ratings on various Fox Sports Net outlets:
QUOTE
The Detroit Red Wings telecast on FSN-Detroit produced an 8.1 rating, up 3 percent from the 7.9 the opening night telecast produced in 2003. The St. Louis Blues telecast was up 24 percent to a 2.1; Columbus Blue jackets, up 69 percent to a 2.2; Boston Bruins, up 107 percent to a 2.9; Pittsburgh Penguins, up 122 percent to a 7.1; Pheonix Coyotes, up 140 percent to a 1.2; San Jose Sharks, up 200 percent to a 1.5; and Tampa Bay Lightning, up 257 percent to a 2.5.
Following up on Joe's fact-filled post, according to sources at Fox Sports Net West, which airs the LA Kings games, the opener against Dallas had numbers down "approximately 8%," but they remain relatively happy because "we always get lower numbers with Dallas." The Kings best ratings tend to come when they play the original six or the Avs or Sharks, against whom (for some reason) the Kings fan base has developed rivalries.
~Adam
~Adam
All in all then it doesn't sound too bad, in fact considering as Joe pointed out, given that all the teams were in action on opening night, pretty respectable. I am encouraged.
QUOTE
Joe in Philly
It almost matched the 2.2 million attracted by CTV's Lost, which goes to show that not everybody in Canada loves hockey.
But some of us like both! I taped 'Lost' on Wed and watched it on Thurs. It almost matched the 2.2 million attracted by CTV's Lost, which goes to show that not everybody in Canada loves hockey.
The increased ratings cited in Joe's post seem quite impressive, although perhaps not too surprising for Pittsburgh, Phoenix and Tampa Bay, considering the reasons people in those markets have for tuning into the NHL this year. I hope those teams (and others in the US) can sustain and improve those ratings as the season continues.
Tonight's ratings for OLN should be low, even by NHL standards. Not only are they up against the usual Monday Night Football (which made me wonder why OLN decided to make Monday their National Hockey Night....) the final game in the Yankees/Angels series is also airing. Ah well. Anyway, tonight's game features the Sabres and the Penguins, 4:00 pm (pdt.)
~Adam
~Adam
Hey thats okay, I know what I will be watching...one guess???? hockey!!
QUOTE
Adam:
Tonight's ratings for OLN should be low, even by NHL standards. Not only are they up against the usual Monday Night Football (which made me wonder why OLN decided to make Monday their National Hockey Night....) the final game in the Yankees/Angels series is also airing. Ah well. Anyway, tonight's game features the Sabres and the Penguins, 4:00 pm (pdt.)
This is almost hysterical...NHL.com is doing its best to be a propaganda machine. wink Tonight's ratings for OLN should be low, even by NHL standards. Not only are they up against the usual Monday Night Football (which made me wonder why OLN decided to make Monday their National Hockey Night....) the final game in the Yankees/Angels series is also airing. Ah well. Anyway, tonight's game features the Sabres and the Penguins, 4:00 pm (pdt.)
OLN off to great start
What game was he watching?
One thing that is good is that OLN repeats their telecast at 11 pm ET, so if you miss the early show then the late show is on at a more reasonable hour than when ESPN does replays (3 or 4 am).
Maybe they can get the NBA to bankroll them too? eek!
Um....I really want to be nice but is there something amiss with the sound from the game, particularly with the clarity during Engblom's comments (quite different from the clarity of Engblom's comments wink .) Sometimes it sounds somewhat muffled.
Good first two periods, though.
~Adam
Good first two periods, though.
~Adam
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.