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NHL 2021: I Pledge Allegiance to Gritty

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aparch said:
Sportswriters are using up their digital ink early this year to lament the attendance issues perennial struggling teams are having early in the season.

Like... read the room?

Fed continues to raise interest rates, student loan payback is resuming, unemployment is low but steady, credit card utilization has exploded, disposable income is disappearing, corporate spending is slowing, luxury boxes aren't the draw they once were, venues are continually adding costs to tickets or boxes without adding value, venues are cutting staff and expenses...

You're goddammed right going to a hockey game isn't first on a lot of people's lists of things to do right now.
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It's cost more than anything. Lower bowl seats are 100+ (really 150+) and nose bleeds are 50+. Average family of four can't go to that more than once per year at those prices. And I get the feeling corporate ticket sales are declining as they cut back on hospitality/client management expenses, too.
 
Winnipeg and buffalo are getting nailed for attendance but I agree. Winnipeg has the football team doing well, too.

even when employed I hated spending damn near $300 to take my dad to a game. It’s insane

ironically it’s more economical to just have our gopher season tickets although those still aren’t cheap
 
Younger people are choosing other entertainment options, and that has been a trend for over a decade now. Especially when the disposable income of people under 40 is considerably more limited than it was for that demographic 30 years ago. The cost of attending one game for 2.5-3 hours averages more than a video game that will provide the iPacifier Generations with hours of entertainment. I also just think that overall interest in contact sports is waning the more the public learns about CTE and other long-term brain damage from repeated concussions and other head injuries.
 
You can see this at college games, too. The ticket sales are still healthy, but lots of empty seats and those students who go are suckling their iPacifiers.

Old man yells at cloud and all that, but it deadens the atmosphere and the little f-ckers just aren't as creative or interested (or interesting).

Also, I swear they aren't hitting on each other as much. If something actually interrupts the cycle of perpetual overriding horniness that has obsessed every teen and 20-something male and female since 100,000 BC, we may have actually managed to do irreparable harm through "civilization." Apple has achieved an asexualization of humans that Christianity only dreamed of.

Hopefully this particular hemline reverses with time.
 
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Kepler said:
You can see this at college games, too. The ticket sales are still healthy, but lots of empty seats and those students who go are suckling their iPacifiers.

Old man yells at cloud and all that, but it deadens the atmosphere and the little f-ckers just aren't as creative or interested (or interesting).

Also, I swear they aren't hitting on each other as much. If something actually interrupts the cycle of perpetual overriding horniness that has obsessed every teen and 20-something male and female since 100,000 BC, we may have actually managed to do irreparable harm through "civilization." Apple has achieved an asexualization of humans that Christianity only dreamed of.

Hopefully this particular hemline reverses with time.
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I still think it's a cost thing, with some measure of putting TV first at the expense of the live audience.

I go to a handful of Iowa Wild (AHL), Iowa Cubs(AAA), and Des Moines Bucs (USHL) games every year. Tickets are reasonable, the product is good enough, and families can afford to go. And they all seem to do fine attendance wise (Bucs less so since the Wild came to town, but they don't help themselves playing in a dump).

And the emphasis is on the in person crowd rather than the TV/streaming audience. I don't like the media timeouts creeping into even lower levels of hockey, but such is life. At least they still want people there. The major pro leagues view the live audience as nothing more than a prop for TV.
 
The Hockey Guy with a relevant video on the subject.

I will say I disagree with Shannon on his belief that revenue is going to go up, at least long term. I think revenue will go up this season but the NHL is facing a huge cliff of losing RSN money, and the NHL relies heavily on RSNs. And that's not even accounting for the impending cliff of Canadian TV money. Rogers knows they overpaid last time out and Bell/TSN knows it as well so it's not likely to be a huge amount.
 
Also, more people are just straight up shut-ins now that technology enables them to communicate and entertain themselves at home and for a lot less money than going out to eat and drink, and/or attend events live. That was true even before the pandemic, but even more true post-COVID. It's going to be a tough decade of transformation for some business models.
 
Stolen for NMU Fan Chatter on Facebook:

Apparently Saturday's ASU/NMU game will be the first time since 1928 that an NHL game and NCAA game will be played on the same ice on the same day when Brown and the Bruins shared time at Matthews arena.

I seem to recall there being times when either the Wild or Red Wings played a 1pm or 2pm game before the 7pm or 8pm conference championship game. Did this happen? Or am I thinking of the Wild doing this as part of the MSHSL Title game(s)?
 
RaceBoarder said:
Stolen for NMU Fan Chatter on Facebook:

Apparently Saturday's ASU/NMU game will be the first time since 1928 that an NHL game and NCAA game will be played on the same ice on the same day when Brown and the Bruins shared time at Matthews arena.

I seem to recall there being times when either the Wild or Red Wings played a 1pm or 2pm game before the 7pm or 8pm conference championship game. Did this happen? Or am I thinking of the Wild doing this as part of the MSHSL Title game(s)?
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It happened several times. Still does for the NCHC now that the 3rd place game in the conference tournament is gone.
 
Slap Shot said:
Are NHL owners that much different from owners in other professional leagues?
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Way more conservative in their approaches to nearly everything involving the business. Think of the owners like Wirtz not allowing home games on TV because it would affect attendance. It still lingers on to this day, they rely heavily on RSNs, to the point of allowing the first round of playoff games to be on them, instead of trying to build a national approach like the other leagues.

A lot of them have a very old view of the game as well. It’s why they have George Parros in charge of Player Safety. You know, George Parros, former enforcer and owner of the “Violent Gentleman” clothing line. It’s also why Mike Babcock keeps getting hired in spite of being Mike Babcock.
 
RaceBoarder said:
Stolen for NMU Fan Chatter on Facebook:

Apparently Saturday's ASU/NMU game will be the first time since 1928 that an NHL game and NCAA game will be played on the same ice on the same day when Brown and the Bruins shared time at Matthews arena.

I seem to recall there being times when either the Wild or Red Wings played a 1pm or 2pm game before the 7pm or 8pm conference championship game. Did this happen? Or am I thinking of the Wild doing this as part of the MSHSL Title game(s)?
Click to expand...

The Rangers-Bruins and Cornell-BU games at MSG will be the same day in November.
 
RaceBoarder said:
Stolen for NMU Fan Chatter on Facebook:

Apparently Saturday's ASU/NMU game will be the first time since 1928 that an NHL game and NCAA game will be played on the same ice on the same day when Brown and the Bruins shared time at Matthews arena.

I seem to recall there being times when either the Wild or Red Wings played a 1pm or 2pm game before the 7pm or 8pm conference championship game. Did this happen? Or am I thinking of the Wild doing this as part of the MSHSL Title game(s)?
Click to expand...

For a couple of years the GLI was doing triple headers. I bet that fact is that it’s an NCAA/NHL doubleheader at a site that’s home for the host teams. Which makes sense it’s 1928 because how many NCAA and NHL teams have shared an arena.
 
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