Attendance at Regionals

[Priceless]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

This seems like as good a place as any to ask with many who seem to have been there and done that... how hard (or easy) is it to pickup tickets for the national championship game considering it's "sold-out"? I'm talking day of or even day before? I don't think any of the four teams in Pittsburgh are going to draw huge crowds.

Check the availability of tickets here and that will tell you it's going to be easy to get tickets.

[scoreboard]

This seems like as good a place as any to ask with many who seem to have been there and done that... how hard (or easy) is it to pickup tickets for the national championship game considering it's "sold-out"? I'm talking day of or even day before? I don't think any of the four teams in Pittsburgh are going to draw huge crowds.

Go to the thread Priceless linked. There appears to be minimal action on the offers. Pick the seats and negotiate with the ticket holder.
Word to the wise on those selling tickets, don't ask face value if you want to sell them. Offer a small discount and free shipping. I have done this for previous FFs when I had extra tickets and I sold them within hours of posting. Remember, this year there is no N. Dakota, Minnesota , etc... which has a huge fan base. Take a small loss and have peace of mind you sold them. If you go to Pittsburgh with tickets in hand your loss will likely be greater.

[sandiegoblkbr]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

I assumed it was an April Fool's joke.

The eastern regionals within a certain distance of Boston have a great track record. Worcester and Manchester both have averaged over 8000, Providence is lower but still respectable. When the eastern regionals head to places like Amherst or Albany we see attendance drop significantly. Bangor would fall flat on its face, just like those places unless Maine were in the tournament. Portland might be able to host because it is still within driving distance of most of New England and is situated on the rail line connecting Boston, the Merrimack Valley and the UNH campus in Durham. Bangor is not within driving distance and the only mass transit that services them are Concord Coach bus lines and the airport...I doubt many people in New England are interested in flying to Bangor on five days notice.

Here is a helpful diagram.
*****http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/2861/bangor1.jpg******
If your city falls within the lines then your city has a chance of having decent attendance. Don't see Bangor? There's a reason for that. You also don't see Albany, Rochester or Amherst. There's a reason for that. Out west it's even simpler to diagram. Just a picture of Minneapolis/St Paul.

There are many factors that go into why certain regional locations are failing. Geography is one. Population density is another. Outrageous prices don't help. Trying a regional in a place like Bangor (or quite frankly, Portland) is a bad idea. The eastern regionals should rotate between Providence, Manchester and Worcester and the west should have a permanent home in St Paul. Where the second western regional goes is anyone's guess because there hasn't been another location out west (that the NCAA will consider) that has been a success. Maybe put one regional in Minneapolis and the other in St. Paul?

Of course it will never happen. Sites will keep bidding way too much to host, then overprice tickets to try to make their money back leading to empty seats. If Cross Insurance wants to overbid for a regional, good luck. If Maine isn't there it will be friends and family attending three games - which is the same as happens in Albany, Rochester and Amherst BTW.

Yeah......there's no college hockey fans in the Central/Eastern Maine area that could fill up 5,500 seats for a first ever NCAA hockey regional at a brand new facility.

[Biddco]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

ESPN is terrible with this tournament. Dave Starman has to be one of the biggest losers out there (did you see his resume they kept showing?). It's really too bad college hockey coverage for the NCAA's is money driven. It's never going to get a national following so leave it up to the local syndicates to cover the games. The East isn't broke so no need to fix it. One of the west/midwest is always going to have a poor draw. They got unlucky with Michigan not making the tournament. I remember going to the 2003 regional at Marriucci against Cornell. Place was sold out and a great atmosphere reminiscent of a regular season game. The players/fans need an atmosphere like that.

Weak resume or not he knows college hockey. He blows Melrose out of the water (which admittedly isn't hard).

[Slap Shot]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

Sure attendance sucked, but at least there was bracket integrity.

[ericredaxe]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

Yeah......there's no college hockey fans in the Central/Eastern Maine area that could fill up 5,500 seats for a first ever NCAA hockey regional at a brand new facility.

You might get a bump the first year on the new arena, but unless Maine get's in the tourney (obviously they would be the host) I just don't think it is long term viable.

Lets say that Maine does not get in, BC gets a number 1 seed and is placed in the other Eastern regional in Worcester or Providence, BU (or someone else that would possibly bring fans) gets shipped out west as the last team in the tourney, and the other Hockey East team in is Merrimack.

So you have a regional of Merrimack, an ECAC team, someone from out west and the AHA auto qualifier.

I'm thinking a lot of these central/eastern Maine hockey fans that are accostomed to paying $18 - $24 for UMaine and Portand Pirate games will get scared off pretty quickly by the $40 plus ticketmaster fees.

If Maine gets in, then they would bang the place out, but that is a big gamble when they can do this in Manchester and know they are a half an hour away from half a dozen teams that will bring some fans in.

[sandiegoblkbr]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

You might get a bump the first year on the new arena, but unless Maine get's in the tourney (obviously they would be the host) I just don't think it is long term viable.

Lets say that Maine does not get in, BC gets a number 1 seed and is placed in the other Eastern regional in Worcester or Providence, BU (or someone else that would possibly bring fans) gets shipped out west as the last team in the tourney, and the other Hockey East team in is Merrimack.

So you have a regional of Merrimack, an ECAC team, someone from out west and the AHA auto qualifier.

I'm thinking a lot of these central/eastern Maine hockey fans that are accostomed to paying $18 - $24 for UMaine and Portand Pirate games will get scared off pretty quickly by the $40 plus ticketmaster fees.

If Maine gets in, then they would bang the place out, but that is a big gamble when they can do this in Manchester and know they are a half an hour away from half a dozen teams that will bring some fans in.

If......if........if..........*yawn*

Whatever........most people just don't want it in Maine's backyard. Have fun playing in empty arenas!

[Priceless]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

Sure attendance sucked, but at least there was bracket integrity.

Attendance in the East was fine. Attendance sucked out west - which everyone said it would. Check out my first bracketology post back on January 1.

Even though the ECAC has five teams in the tournament, the Quinnipiac-Union game can be changed. An easy swap is to send them to Manchester for Western Michigan. We can further boost attendance in both Providence and Toledo by switching Yale and Miami. The only thing that might save attendance in Grand Rapids is if Michigan has a great second half and snags a bid. Attendance in Manchester would be fine with both UNH and BU there.

Switch BU with Lowell and you've pretty much got it. Michigan came a game away. My next post in that thread

I think the attendance out west is going to suck anyway no matter who makes the tournament. I also expect the NCAA to do whatever it can (within reason) to boost attendance. The NCAA is hoping against hope that Minnesota and Michigan (and maybe Wisconsin) have a great second half and they can stick them in Grand Rapids.

Just imagine attendance in the east had bracket integrity won out and Minnesota was in Manchester, North Dakota was in Providence and Lowell and BC were out west.

[Patman]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

Attendance in the East was fine. Attendance sucked out west - which everyone said it would. Check out my first bracketology post back on January 1.



Switch BU with Lowell and you've pretty much got it. Michigan came a game away. My next post in that thread



Just imagine attendance in the east had bracket integrity won out and Minnesota was in Manchester, North Dakota was in Providence and Lowell and BC were out west.

West seems to suffer from geographic separation. I know I've advocated an 8 team regional before... why not just go with eight teams in the west and the 4/4 split in the east?

[mookie1995]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

West seems to suffer from geographic separation. I know I've advocated an 8 team regional before... why not just go with eight teams in the west and the 4/4 split in the east?

how many games you playing in a day there??

[Priceless]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

You might get a bump the first year on the new arena, but unless Maine get's in the tourney (obviously they would be the host) I just don't think it is long term viable.

Lets say that Maine does not get in, BC gets a number 1 seed and is placed in the other Eastern regional in Worcester or Providence, BU (or someone else that would possibly bring fans) gets shipped out west as the last team in the tourney, and the other Hockey East team in is Merrimack.

So you have a regional of Merrimack, an ECAC team, someone from out west and the AHA auto qualifier.

I'm thinking a lot of these central/eastern Maine hockey fans that are accostomed to paying $18 - $24 for UMaine and Portand Pirate games will get scared off pretty quickly by the $40 plus ticketmaster fees.

If Maine gets in, then they would bang the place out, but that is a big gamble when they can do this in Manchester and know they are a half an hour away from half a dozen teams that will bring some fans in.

No need to do the nightmare scenario. Just take last weekend's regional in Manchester. Denver and Wisconsin will fly into Bangor, the same as they flew into Manchester. New Hampshire is 3 hours away, Lowell 3.5. Not the same as the 40 and 50 minute commutes they enjoyed this past weekend. Are you seriously going to drive 3+ hours each way to attend the regional? Are you going back the second day too, because that adds 6-7 more hours of driving. I don't think so. Are 5500 locals going to shell out $80 for a two-day pass to see Lowell and UNH in the tournament? I don't think so. Attendance would be about what you saw in Toledo...probably worse.

[Priceless]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

how many games you playing in a day there??

Put the west super-regional in St Paul. Friday is 1v8 and 2v7. Saturday is 4v5 and 3v6. Winners play on Sunday (1v4, 2v3) with two teams advancing to the Frozen Four.

[sandiegoblkbr]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

No need to do the nightmare scenario. Just take last weekend's regional in Manchester. Denver and Wisconsin will fly into Bangor, the same as they flew into Manchester. New Hampshire is 3 hours away, Lowell 3.5. Not the same as the 40 and 50 minute commutes they enjoyed this past weekend. Are you seriously going to drive 3+ hours each way to attend the regional? Are you going back the second day too, because that adds 6-7 more hours of driving. I don't think so. Are 5500 locals going to shell out $80 for a two-day pass to see Lowell and UNH in the tournament? I don't think so. Attendance would be about what you saw in Toledo...probably worse.

Your guess.......and our OPINIONS will always be guesses because they will never try it. Why are so many of you afraid of an NCAA regional in Maine??? My guess is that many of you don't want it because it might be successful enough to be in the rotation. And aren't regional tickets on sale way before teams are announced??? This whole notion of no one will show up if Maine isn't in it is B.S. The State of Maine has a ton of college hockey fans........and I'm betting quite a few of them would pony up the $$$ to see an NCAA regional in Bangor or Portland......especially since so little quality college hockey is now played in the state.

[Slap Shot]

Attendance in the East was fine. Attendance sucked out west - which everyone said it would.

Doesn't negate the fact they nailed bracket integrity. That extra 15k in total tickets across the country will save NCAA hockey.

[Priceless]

Re: Attendance at Regionals

Doesn't negate the fact they nailed bracket integrity. That extra 15k in total tickets across the country will save NCAA hockey.

I wasn't aware that NCAA hockey needed saving. If it's that close to folding that an extra 15K tickets sold makes the difference between having hockey and not having hockey then we're in an even worse situation than imagined.

I am aware that it is a new practice to sacrifice integrity for the Almighty Dollar (in every walk of life) but that is Capitalism. Ain't it grand?