Re: B1G Championship in Detroit
I could write a small book on the issues facing the OSU program, and what I think should be done in response to them. As for what's been posted so far: I agree in part, disagree in part. But all of that is really a topic for another day.
The question relevant to this thread is:
Should Columbus/OSU host a B1G tourney at some point in the future? My reply would be to look at likely attendance, and ask fans of the other five schools if that's a result they want.
Buckeye Football, if in season, is going to seriously impact attendance for hockey, whether the FB team is playing at home or not. But FB is a non-issue in March. Another small plus is that B1G opponents will always draw a little better than most non-conference teams. (BG & MU being obvious exceptions) So let's look at conference games, after FB season is truly over. 6,000 fans is a fairly typical crowd. IMHO, it breaks down into four roughly equal groups:
OSU Hockey Fanbase
1. Long time fans who have been with team since the Ice Rink days, through thick & thin.
2. More recent fans who are currently regulars. Includes the small but hearty band of current students.
3. OSU Sports fans who aren't really Hockey people, but who have trouble affording/gaining access to FB or BB tickets.
4. Families with kids, especially if there are youth hockey players in the families.
So Who's Going to a B1G tourney in Columbus?
1. Long-timers? Yes. +1,500
2. More Recent Regulars? Mostly Yes, but remember the Students are on Spring Break. +1,000
3. Fans of Buckeye Sports Across the Board? Nope. Vast majority will be caught up in other sports events, particularly NCAA Hoops. +100
4. Families? Prices go up, Families stay away. Youth Hockey is done for the year. The best hockey families may show. +300
5. Causal Hockey Fans? They weren't on the original list; casual fans follow the NHL & the CBJ. A few of the most knowledgeable will cross over. +300
Total Expected Local Crowd = 3,200.
Even with most of the Upper Bowl curtained off, there would be 10,000 seats to fill. So by my guesstimate -- which if anything is a little optimistic -- locals will fill up 1/3 of the Lower Bowl. Are visiting fans going to cover any significant portion of the difference? Doubtful. Remember that Columbus is the Anti-New York. A great place to live, but you wouldn't want to visit.
So you'd likely sell around
5,000 tournament packages in total, with no-shows being an issue at the afternoon games and any non-Buckeye game. The Schott would be half-empty, and even that's assuming one is able to forget about the seats behind the curtains.
But you know what? Although the reasons would be different, I'm guessing that would be the crowd size in any of the potential cities that aren't named St. Paul or Detroit. If you really want to rotate the tourney around, our numbers would do OK in comparison to Pittsburgh and Chicago. But if better crowds are the goal, we need to stick with the college hockey hotbeds. In that regard, the new Red Wings building can't come soon enough.
Disclaimer: I didn't crunch any numbers in preparing this post; I just based it on my informal observations from over the years. But I bet my numbers are pretty close.
EDIT: Or maybe
3,500 packages. See Post #129.
!