The Zlax45
Registered User
I'll offer a different view, Greg. The Manchester/Concord market was there for the taking for years, if not decades before the Verizon Wireless Arena opened early in the 2001/2002 AHL season. Even in its first year, when the brand-new Monarchs in the brand-new arena were drawing just over 8,000 folks per game, the UNH game vs. Dartmouth (as you recall correctly) was a sell-out. Right then and there you would think it would be patently obvious to the folks in the UNH Athletics department there was a huge, mostly unrealized market thirsting for live hockey - at least in part created by the remnants of the '94/'95 road season at JFK, combined more prominently with subsequent teams that would make deep runs in the NCAA's. And UNH back then had the upper hand - the Monarchs were new and unknown, no local history, and a farm team for an organization located 3,000 miles away on the left coast. UNH was regularly on TV, playing big games in Boston in the HE Tourney (they would win their only two in the first two seasons the VWA was open), and also FF participants in both seasons. NESN, NHPTV and other outlets (possibly WMUR - I forget??) would show games free over the air fairly regularly, which was another something the Monarchs didn't have going for them.
So what happens next? Instead of striking while the iron is hot, and realizing that (at the very least) there was a crossover market of hockey fans who probably would have been there for the taking for UNH ... UNH got complacent, "fat and happy", whatever you might want to call it. Sure the Whitt was still a steady sellout ... remember back then, when the waiting list was reportedly into the thousands, and there were actually straight-faced discussions on here about the possibilities of adding a balcony(s) to the Whitt to accommodate the extra demand? Whether that would create a super-charged atmosphere with the balcony(s) creating a crescendo of noise onto the ice??
The demand was assumed to be permanent. The need to "expand" the footprint of the program was deemed unnecessary. Attendance for the Monarchs continued to grow, hovering at or around 9,000 per game until around the time the economy went into the toilet. And by then, the Manchester/Concord market was "lost" by UNH to the Monarchs. Even when the Monarchs' attendance steadily dropped for several years afterwards, down to about 5,500 per game for most of this decade (a 40% drop since their peak a decade earlier), did UNH make any efforts to increase marketing to those areas? Not that I'm aware of. Oh, and by the way, UNH had its own fall-off, and whether it's due to the economy or the decreasing on-ice success, even modest marketing to the center of the state - much less to the far corners (some of which may be more conducive to Dartmouth anyway) - of disaffected Monarchs' fans could have made up a difference.
Now, the "Monarchs" skate what I'll charitably refer to as a "goon league" quality product. At least with the AHL product, you could tell your fanbase they were watching the future stars of a what turned out to be a multiple Stanley Cup-winning franchise - even if most of the parent club's games were on obscure cable TV outlets at times when most folks in these areas are asleep. Now, the chances of you taking your kid to VWA to see the next Jonathan Quick or Dustin Brown or Tyler Toffoli are marginal, and you're far more likely to see the next coming of the Hanson Brothers or Ogie Oglethorpe. *Might* that create another opportunity for UNH to try to grab back some of that previously-lost market? I would think so ... but I don't see anyone in Durham doing anything creative to try to make that happen. And now you have plenty of open seats to fill, and no pesky new balcony(s) to construct. So what's the hold-up?????????
To be fair, UNH has treated its season ticket holder fanbase with a combination of disdain and disinterest for far too long. And I haven't held season tickets since the Snively days, so it's not my fight, to be fair. But back when things were good, not only were season ticket holders taken almost completely for granted - after all, with a few thousand folks waiting in line behind you, if you're not happy with the product, then hey ho, out you go, and we plug in someone else in your seats, and you go to the back of the line - but were also subjected to any number of ridiculous money-generating schemes for premium tickets, premium parking spaces, bonus loyalty points towards lord knows what meaningless trinkets attached to the program. Lots of fans didn't like it, but tolerated it so long as the hockey was good. But when the on-ice product fell off ... well, these folks have long memories, and many of them walked. And by then, the vaunted "wait list" had become a mirage. Karma came home to roost. Nowadays, if you want a season ticket, you get a guided tour to review hundreds, if not thousands of options.
It will be interesting to see if lessons were learned with how Hockey was mismanaged with the season ticket holders - not to mention the potential fans elsewhere in the state - and if so, how will they be applied to Football when they open the new stadium next season. I'm sure attendance will be great for a few years. And there are no "Monarchs" to compete against anywhere close on Saturday afternoons.
It's an even easier field of competition than UNH Hockey faced in the early '00's.
Unless lessons were indeed learned over the last decade, I give the current crew five (5) years max to FUBAR. IF lessons WERE learned, then maybe they can be applied to Hockey as well - better late than never, but late nonetheless. JMHO.
Lots of good points here but the real issue is Marty and his staff got complacent and never improved the fan experience at UNH. Right now the product on the ice is marginal Hockey East level and not likely going to a Frozen Four in the next five years unless the recruiting and talent changes. PC played there last year ranked about 15th in the nation and it was half full. Why is that?
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). Like I said I am not aware of how attendance is going so them this season...
