DWhite21 wrote:CiContention wrote:DWhite21 wrote:It's funny to see that they're having the 2012 Frozen Four in the college hockey hotbed of Tampa Bay. I don't know how many seats they have at Ford Field but I really wouldn't be surprised if they have a close to capacity or capacity crowd. Since we were sort of on the topic of outdoor hockey games, if the NHL hasn't already announced it yet, the Chicago Blackhawks are supposed to be playing the Red Wings at Wrigley Field on New Year's Day this coming year.
I don't mean to disparage Red Wings fans or the Detroit hockey scene, but didn't the Red Wings have trouble within the past few seasons selling out playoff games at Joe Louis Arena? Detroit certainly is still a vital hockey region, but the big regions in the country are Minnesota, Buffalo, Boston.....
Ford Field with hockey seating can probably hold, what, 70-75,000 people? With the local economy the way it is, I think they could have a heck of a time filling that for a college hockey final.
That's a good point about the Red Wings having trouble selling out games.
I watched a segment on Hockey Night in Canada that talked about how they were having getting sellouts during the regular season. Everyone talks about how the economy was the reason that they weren't selling out games. But according to this segment that I watched, the Detroit Tigers set an attendance record last year and the Lions were doing fine on attendance. So you can't really blame all of their attendance problems too much on the economy.
Sounds like a little bit of Atlanta Braves syndrome. After your team sets its standard above par for so long, the expectations of the fans reach a point where there is no real reason to go to a regular game or maybe even a first round playoff game.
I assume the Tigers were selling so big because they were bad for so long and a successful baseball franchise is the area again was something new, and therefore exciting.
The Red Wings going the distance this season will cure that, I think. Fans can be complacent about a consistent yet always-falling-short team, but there aren't too many fans who abandon a full-throttle winner.
I think the big scare for the Ford Field people and the local economy will be that, part of the draw of hockey (and
especially) college hockey, is that it is much more of a community sport than other sports. The players still seem like people, they are still accessible to a degree, you are, for the most part, closer to the action and in some ways feel more a part of it.
The big football stadium sized hockey exploration is a good thing too, but it is a novelty, and my only concern would be that by 2010 that novelty will have worn off. With the Wings already set to have an outdoor game (though on the road), the market will be a little more depressed as far as the demand for a big-stadium goes around here.
