OK little business school math.... I was pondering this sitting at the Whitt on Friday.
Official attendance for that game was 4594. I don't believe that number for 1 second, that building wasn't even half full, so 3250 MAX.
So lets say UNH is calling tickets SOLD attendance. Example the row in front of me is never full, rarely occupied but always "sold" or at least unavailable for purchase. That 4594 means the Whitt is 70% sold. If you look at most games the lower price bench seats are closer to 75% sold. I don't believe the single game prices of $27 (bench) and $35 (seat with backs) are ever realized so I will use the lower season ticket holder pricing. If single game tickets are going for $10+ on average more than season tickets I am drastically under estimating the revenue hit.
So 1907 tickets to sell... 370 @ $12 and 1537 @ $20 so $35k in revenue not realized... and if that is a typical game it is $598k this year (17 home dates). Now some games, BC, were better attended and many were worse.
This is before you get into lost concessions. If we use the half filled number 3250 and estimate $10 per seat in concessions profit at is another $32k per game another $544k per year.
So the program is down $1.1M.
This is before you start adding:
- UNH can free up another 440 GA seats that are currently "student seats" but convert for major/sell out games (+$90k in gate, +$75k in concessions - $165k/year)
- Sponsorships on the boards have dwindled over the years there is lost cash their, more sponsors on the boards, more scarcity more $ per sponsor and that snowballs around the arena... I don't know the price for sponsors
- I am guessing some of those "sold tickets" are comp'd tickets, and there is probably lost money there as well
- Season ticket packages have not increased at the rate of inflation, because the team has sucked also cutting into the programs funding
Seem to me the hockey team is short at least $1.5M / year. This is not revenue in my estimate it is bottom line profit.
Start winning games and there is money for paying coaches better for NLI etc.