Ford field attendance

[HeRiverhawk]

Can anyone reasonably estimate how many tickets the NCAA has sold for the Frozen Four. I'm curious if the Frozen four will set an attendance record, or did the NCAA really blow it by having the games on a football field?
I notice that ticketmaster still has really good seating locations still available
FYI, I have attended nearly every Frozen four since Lake Placid in the 80's but I am not attending this year becuase I prefer to watch hockey in a hockey arena without the aide of binoculars.

 

[unhpuckfan2001]

Re: Ford field attendance

I have been wondering the same thing myself.

It's not likely, but if my team makes a run, we'll get the days off from work and drive to Detroit (about 12 hours, doable). Normally I wouldn't risk going w/out tickets, but I think the size of the venue means there will be plenty of seats available.

I think having the Frozen Four there is terrible idea; it's one thing to have a regular season game in a novelty location (I greatly enjoyed the Fenway Games), but the crowd plays such a large part in hockey, and I feel that playing on a football field takes that away.

Not thrilled, and I hope they don't. Hockey Championships should be played in Hockey Arenas, pure and simple.

 

[Onion Man]

Re: Ford field attendance

It will definitely set an attendance record but it is still a bad idea. When they set this up, I'm sure they imagine Michigan and Michigan State being there. If they draw a bad field of teams (can you imagine the attendance if Bemidji, SLU, Yale, and UMass Lowell made it??), there will be blocks of empty seats.

I think this will be the one and only time they play this tournament in a football arena. It really is too bad they arent doing this at Joe Louis.

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: Ford field attendance

Most of us are hockey purists, and purists prefer the intimacy and familiarity of an NHL arena for our showcase game. I do too. It's a no-brainer.

That said, the whole Ford Field thing is going to be something of a spectacle, especially if we get 30 or 35,000 people in there making noise and having a great time. Spectacles do get noticed, and if casual sports fans see our sport as more of a big time event, I think that helps us in the long run. I admire our sport for taking some risk, and that's how we grow the game. Whomever said "you are either making dust or eating it" is probably right...

 

[WildShawn]

Re: Ford field attendance

one problem I have is playing the biggest event of the year on a temporary ice surface (I know all rinks have 'temporary' ice, but you know what I mean)...

how's the quality of the ice going to be?

 

[aallenpollreisz]

Re: Ford field attendance

one problem I have is playing the biggest event of the year on a temporary ice surface (I know all rinks have 'temporary' ice, but you know what I mean)...

how's the quality of the ice going to be?

I'd have to assume it'll at least be passable. Ford Field's an indoor facility, so variables like humidity and weather will be neutralized. The surface might lead to some bouncing pucks, but I doubt it'll rapidly deteriorate like the surface at Camp Randall did.

 

[Carmine Scarpaglia]

Re: Ford field attendance

one problem I have is playing the biggest event of the year on a temporary ice surface (I know all rinks have 'temporary' ice, but you know what I mean)...

how's the quality of the ice going to be?

Well, the NCAA rips up the ice to put down their own logos. As a result, the ice is usually bad at every NCAA tournament.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Ford field attendance

I think this will be the one and only time they play this tournament in a football arena. It really is too bad they arent doing this at Joe Louis.

As a Wings fan I'm required to love the Joe, but I would not want the 31-year old JLA to host a Frozen Four anymore. It's pretty dated and lacking in the amenities department compared to NHL arenas built from the early 90s onward.

 

[bigmrg74]

Re: Ford field attendance

As a Wings fan I'm required to love the Joe, but I would not want the 31-year old JLA to host a Frozen Four anymore. It's pretty dated and lacking in the amenities department compared to NHL arenas built from the early 90s onward.

Yeah, the Joe has its Charms, but yeah, it is kinda dated.

 

[aallenpollreisz]

Re: Ford field attendance

As a Wings fan I'm required to love the Joe, but I would not want the 31-year old JLA to host a Frozen Four anymore. It's pretty dated and lacking in the amenities department compared to NHL arenas built from the early 90s onward.

The sight-lines are great, and the place does have a certain aura about it, but the building's a dive and not necessarily located in the best part of town.

It's for the best that the Frozen Four isn't at the Joe.

 

[satyking]

Re: Ford field attendance

The numbers won't be what the NC$$ had hoped for .... thats why they rotated the location of the rink 90 degrees ... that is what caused the late notices for seat locations, they had to re do all they had figured before the poor sales were noted ... the 3 games for $45 must be super seats and that is how they are selling hockey

 

[MUhawks628]

Re: Ford field attendance

The sight-lines are great, and the place does have a certain aura about it, but the building's a dive and not necessarily located in the best part of town.

It's for the best that the Frozen Four isn't at the Joe.

Blasphemy! Just kidding. The place is going downhill fast, but I cringe at the thought of the Wings moving out to, say, the Palace, it just wouldn't be the same.

<3 JLA

 

[dggoddard]

Re: Ford field attendance

Someone forwarded me an email last week where they were offering $5 and $10 ticket packages for groups of 15 or more. In other words they are desperate.

 

[4four4]

Re: Ford field attendance

Someone forwarded me an email last week where they were offering $5 and $10 ticket packages for groups of 15 or more. In other words they are desperate.

I know plenty of people who said no to watching hockey at Ford Field. I wonder why?

 

[uwbadgers14]

Re: Ford field attendance

Someone forwarded me an email last week where they were offering $5 and $10 ticket packages for groups of 15 or more. In other words they are desperate.

they are praying Miami and michigan get there right about now

 

[wasmania]

Re: Ford field attendance

I'd have to assume it'll at least be passable. Ford Field's an indoor facility, so variables like humidity and weather will be neutralized. The surface might lead to some bouncing pucks, but I doubt it'll rapidly deteriorate like the surface at Camp Randall did.

neutralized. Like at Sylvio Conte Forum?

 

[Rover]

Re: Ford field attendance

If they were going to do this anywhere and not have to worry about getting people to show up, it should have been at the Super Dome in New Orleans. No problem getting the 70K or so to watch hockey down there, regardless of who's in the Frozen Four. Really, it could be Bimidji, Union, Merrimac and UAH and the place would still be filled with boozed up and falling down hockey fans.

The problem even bigger than the concept is the place. Detroit sucks. Reading The Economist last week, there's a proposal by the mayor to level a third of the city and just turn it into nothing, because 40 square miles of the place is abandonded. That's ridiculous and not the kind of setting you want to be in for the sport's signature event.

I agree 100% with the idea that once in awhile you need to push the envelope and see what happens. Anaheim for example, which I believe is the last one not to sell out? No harm in trying. DC may have been considered a reach, but it was wildly successful. I just can't fathom why they picked one of the worst cities in the country to try this in.

 

[Beer Pong Horn]

Re: Ford field attendance

If they were going to do this anywhere and not have to worry about getting people to show up, it should have been at the Super Dome in New Orleans. No problem getting the 70K or so to watch hockey down there, regardless of who's in the Frozen Four. Really, it could be Bimidji, Union, Merrimac and UAH and the place would still be filled with boozed up and falling down hockey fans.

The problem even bigger than the concept is the place. Detroit sucks. Reading The Economist last week, there's a proposal by the mayor to level a third of the city and just turn it into nothing, because 40 square miles of the place is abandonded. That's ridiculous and not the kind of setting you want to be in for the sport's signature event.

I agree 100% with the idea that once in awhile you need to push the envelope and see what happens. Anaheim for example, which I believe is the last one not to sell out? No harm in trying. DC may have been considered a reach, but it was wildly successful. I just can't fathom why they picked one of the worst cities in the country to try this in.

It's a big hockey town, centrally located in college hockey territory. Michigan and Michigan State fans will still turn out, even if neither one is playing, and so will other CCHA fans in lesser numbers. At least one of the CCHA schools will likely be in the Frozen Four, though it might not be one of the Michigan schools. Detroit is a major airline hub and flights aren't too expensive, and it's within a long day's drive from nearly every hockey school (minus the Alaskans, the Coloradans, North Dakota, Maine and Bemidji.) The entertainment district of Detroit is right next to Ford Field and is protected well by police, and one could always cross to Windsor if you'd rather not patronize those establishments.

Makes sense to me.

 

[NMU8405]

Re: Ford field attendance

Blasphemy! Just kidding. The place is going downhill fast, but I cringe at the thought of the Wings moving out to, say, the Palace, it just wouldn't be the same.

<3 JLA

Wings and Pistons will both be playing at the Cobo Convention Center real soon from what Ive been hearing.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Ford field attendance

The problem even bigger than the concept is the place. Detroit sucks. Reading The Economist last week, there's a proposal by the mayor to level a third of the city and just turn it into nothing, because 40 square miles of the place is abandonded. That's ridiculous and not the kind of setting you want to be in for the sport's signature event.

I agree 100% with the idea that once in awhile you need to push the envelope and see what happens. Anaheim for example, which I believe is the last one not to sell out? No harm in trying. DC may have been considered a reach, but it was wildly successful. I just can't fathom why they picked one of the worst cities in the country to try this in.

Considering they just recently held a successful FF in St. Louis, I don't see much of a difference other than city/venue size and hockey awareness. But hey, don't let me get in the way of your arrogant, "ANYBODY BUT DETOILET!11!!1!" opinion based on the media's negativity, because it's obvious that no one is going to change your mind.