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RPI 2025–26: Off the Critical List and In Recovery

Wicked Slappaahs said:
Having reviewed the comments on attendance, I need to remind folks that this is not an RPI centric issue. Certainly the prior regime led us to the depths we're at now, both on the ice and off, but times have changed. Union's new barn was only about 3/4 full for the "crosstown rivalry" game. Colgate's struggles to fill their barn are well documented. In my last several trips to the north country, SLU is barely half full and CCT is also not much above 1/2 full. Add in the near absence of anything resembling promotion for the RPI program, the attendance we're seeing is not a surprise. The casual fan is just not going to attend if there isn't a buzz with the team.
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Several years ago after the Devils AHL team left Albany, I had a conversation with someone who pointed out that it is very hard to , for lack of a better term, recruit sports fans to hockey. You either like hockey or you don’t. Granted winning helps, but people that are fans of other sports aren’t likely to convert to hockey fans. The area had players with the Devils who became big stars in the NHL and the team left because this area didn’t want to support the team.

Compare that to Minnesota where the state high school championship game sells out an NHL arena.
 
DrDemento said:
My point posted over the past few years exactly! Sure there are things that can be done so the live, in field house, experience ecomes more of a draw. But it is fighting a battle that never had to be fought in the years going way back. Broadcasted games make the difference for so many fans who just cannot justify the trip to the field house. Distance and inconvenience are valid excuses.
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I totally agree. U[ until a couple of years ago I would attend about 5 games a year at HFH.
However, my eyesight has deteriorated to that I cannot drive at night.
I am grateful that I get ESPN and most of the games come right into my living room.
While it is great, it is not comparable to seeing a game live.
 
25+years said:
Several years ago after the Devils AHL team left Albany, I had a conversation with someone who pointed out that it is very hard to , for lack of a better term, recruit sports fans to hockey. You either like hockey or you don’t. Granted winning helps, but people that are fans of other sports aren’t likely to convert to hockey fans. The area had players with the Devils who became big stars in the NHL and the team left because this area didn’t want to support the team.

Compare that to Minnesota where the state high school championship game sells out an NHL arena.
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Please do not use MN as a comparison. Their hockey culture is very different. Example on any given SUMMER weekend you can find dozens of youth hockey tournaments. The HS tournament is attended well AND is broadcasted live. The majority of the HS hockey rinks are just short of cathedrals and unfortunately put the HFH to shame.
On the other side the NHL has failed several times in MN though now it seems to be holding on.
 
Odds for the weekend- Football has RPI as a 3.5 point favorite over Union. Game is for all the marbles as the winner more than likely wins the Liberty league title and gets an NCAA bid and the loser goes home. Hockey - the girls are actually a 1/2 goal favorite over Robert Morris and our boys are 1.5 goal underdogs for both games against UNH and Mass. If we play like the team that showed up against Clarkson, we just might surprise the odds makers with 2 wins! Go Red!!!!!!!!!!!
 
rpi82 said:
True enough, but even buzz might not be enough. The weekend’s most shocking attendance figure wasn’t our Friday night total. It was the 1,960 at the Whale to see Yale’s upset of 5th-ranked Quinnipiac. That’s about 55% of capacity. While Yale has been terrible in recent years, spoiled Q fans apparently can’t be bothered any more to make the 8-10 mile drive down Whitney Ave.
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Maybe the lines at Sally's, Pepe's, and Modern got too long in this Instagram TikTok age. Certainly an ancillary benefit to seeing hockey in New Haven that has gotten much harder to enjoy on the weekends. ;-)
 
25+years said:
Several years ago after the Devils AHL team left Albany, I had a conversation with someone who pointed out that it is very hard to , for lack of a better term, recruit sports fans to hockey. You either like hockey or you don’t. Granted winning helps, but people that are fans of other sports aren’t likely to convert to hockey fans. The area had players with the Devils who became big stars in the NHL and the team left because this area didn’t want to support the team.

Compare that to Minnesota where the state high school championship game sells out an NHL arena.
Click to expand...
There is a long term trend of decline for sporting venue attendance across the country, broadly speaking. The primary culprit is that technology has brought more options and convenience to the consumer. You can pretty much watch any sporting event in your home or on your phone.

Hockey has the additional issue of being a niche sport, beyond a few pockets in the country. A ton of reasons for this. In the USA, it is way more expensive to play than basketball. And the NBA is becoming a global media juggernaut that is starting to gain ground on the NFL.

Issues specific to the Capital Region are factors too, but I think they are more on the margins.
 
giwan said:
Please do not use MN as a comparison. Their hockey culture is very different. Example on any given SUMMER weekend you can find dozens of youth hockey tournaments. The HS tournament is attended well AND is broadcasted live. The majority of the HS hockey rinks are just short of cathedrals and unfortunately put the HFH to shame.
On the other side the NHL has failed several times in MN though now it seems to be holding on.
Click to expand...

I think that's a good point, Minnesota being the "State of Hockey" of course. But I'll add that attendance at the college level for the Minnesota hockey teams has also seen its ups and downs over the years.

Minnesota also deserves credit for how it handles the high school State Championships. The winter sports tend to draw well, including hoops and wrestling.
 
DavidNardolillo said:
There is a long term trend of decline for sporting venue attendance across the country, broadly speaking. The primary culprit is that technology has brought more options and convenience to the consumer. You can pretty much watch any sporting event in your home or on your phone.

Hockey has the additional issue of being a niche sport, beyond a few pockets in the country. A ton of reasons for this. In the USA, it is way more expensive to play than basketball. And the NBA is becoming a global media juggernaut that is starting to gain ground on the NFL.

Issues specific to the Capital Region are factors too, but I think they are more on the margins.
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Win and the fans will come back to the HFH. Considering how bad the program has been it’s actually remarkable we still get over 2k fans most games. Of course we get a few duds like the SLU game. I have full confidence in lang.
 
Wicked Slappaahs said:
I missed it, but over on the CHL to NCAA thread they linked stories involving the USHL joining the CHL as the 4th Major Junior league including trademark applications for:
"National Junior Hockey League and NHJL".
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The velocity of change after NIL and eligibility adjustments is really starting to pick up. I think the landscape of amateur sports is going to look a lot different before the end of the decade. I am not sure this is going to end well for the NCAA.
 
DavidNardolillo said:
Maybe the lines at Sally's, Pepe's, and Modern got too long in this Instagram TikTok age. Certainly an ancillary benefit to seeing hockey in New Haven that has gotten much harder to enjoy on the weekends. ;-)
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Ah, a New Haven pizza fan. I don't get to Wooster Street often, but it's a treat when I do.
 
Ralph Baer said:
Don't know, but I can guess what effect it will have on attendees. :D
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Way back in the early 19960's they had beer and strippers at the HFH during Grand Marshall Week. Admittedly neither the strippers or the beer were all that great but the crowds and the atmosphere were incredible,
 
DrDemento said:
Way back in the early 19960's they had beer and strippers at the HFH during Grand Marshall Week. Admittedly neither the strippers or the beer were all that great but the crowds and the atmosphere were incredible,
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The strippers were worse. The combination of RPI becoming coed and the drinking age being raised to 21 killed this.
 
Ralph Baer said:
The strippers were worse. The combination of RPI becoming coed and the drinking age being raised to 21 killed this.
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The strippers became better as the evenings wore on and the amount of booze increased. Similarly the ladies at the various bars in Troy got much more attractive the closer I got to closing time! It was so long ago that drinking age was 18 then!!
 
DavidNardolillo said:
I think that's a good point, Minnesota being the "State of Hockey" of course. But I'll add that attendance at the college level for the Minnesota hockey teams has also seen its ups and downs over the years.

Minnesota also deserves credit for how it handles the high school State Championships. The winter sports tend to draw well, including hoops and wrestling.
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Minnesota HS fans, you've seen this, right?
https:YouTube.com/watch?v=wlcoMl6rjaM

Or put in your YouTube browser
All Hockey Hair Team 2014
 
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