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ttbrunke

Fans where are you

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We're all at home, watching the games, wishing we could afford to go to the games.

Just for my wife and I to go.......$350 for good tickets, $15-20 parking, $40-60$ Refreshments, Hourly Babysitting including drive time around $80, gas to get to The Joe around $20.

I figured that it would cost roughly $550 to see ONE PLAYOFF GAME. We could fly to Vegas, stay in a hotel, and still have pocket change to gamble for that. It's not like I'm poor, but DAMN!

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I just hocked one of my favorite guitars to make this months morgage payment and enough gas money for my girlfriend to make it to work last week and this week. It's hardly an 'excuse'

EDIT: Thank god for Illich's' $5 Little Caesars Hot N Ready!!! =P

and you think that doesn't happen out here in southern california? if people are too poor to attend a hockey game then they shouldn't go, but to me that's not why the wings can't sell out a playoff game this year.

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That would buy you a vey nice house in a very nice neighborhood in most areas of the state. In my area, a 3,000 sf 4 br/2 bath home with 2 1/2 car garage on 5 acres would run you around 200k-250k, depending on quality.

exactly. out here in orange county, that MIGHT buy you a crappy condo, in a crappy neighborhood. i don't live in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. it's about 1000sq foot in a decent neighborhood, and my house recently appraised for about $550K. my monthly mortgage is about $3,500 per month. so basically the high cost of living out here cancels out the poor michigan economy excuse in my book. but i'm still make it a priority to go to as many wing games as i can. granted, i do have the benefit (if you want to call it that), that the wings don't play too many games out here, but have made it to every game wings game out here for the last 3-4 seasons.

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and you think that doesn't happen out here in southern california? if people are too poor to attend a hockey game then they shouldn't go, but to me that's not why the wings can't sell out a playoff game this year.

Please with all your knowledge of Detroit inform me as to why the people are not attending? I live in Calgary and $400,000 will buy a nice condo or duplex... not a big fancy house so what's your point? The games here are always sold out and you wanna know why. Cause the Flames have sucked for years and years and now they are a decent team so people are now finally going to games. 6 years ago they were giving tickets away to try and fill the building. If the Ducks were basement dwellers for years would they be sold out? Well they have the greatest fans ever don't they? Get a life buddy? your clueless ...i go to the WIngs game when they are in Calgary too, but im not gonna say fans in Detroit are not fans cause they can't afford it.

Edit : Spelling

Edited by Calgary Wings Fan

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and you think that doesn't happen out here in southern california? if people are too poor to attend a hockey game then they shouldn't go, but to me that's not why the wings can't sell out a playoff game this year.

So people not being able to afford tickets you understand, however you can't understand why they aren't going?

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Ford just axed the Wixom assembly plant... That will pollute the already increasing unemployment rate in MI... Not to mention all the little businesses that fed off the plant members. Sorry, working in the Auto industry first hand... I know it sucks and michigan is ALL auto type work... Its going knowwhere but down... THANK GOD they re-elected Granholm for more time! Her paycheck will rise while ours gets eliminated!

the nose-bleeder seats at the honda center also go for around $100, and they've been sold out even before the wings qualified for round 3.

What's the $71 tickets they offer on ticketbastard?

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/sta...ment/index.html

Cali may also have a poor economy but they have a lower unemployment rate by 2.3% which plays a very big role in affording tickets.... The economy might be lacking on the left coast, but at least you can say more of your population is actually pulling in some sort of paycheck. Michigan is the 2nd to last and that is only by .4%. Granny has us sitting at a pleasant 7.1% unemployed... up from 6.5% Kudos to her driving away MORE businesses.

Edited by OsGOD

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Please with all your knowledge of Detroit inform me as to why the people are not attending? I live in Calgary and $400,000 will buy a nice condo or duplex... not a big fancy house so what's your point? The games here are always sold out and you wanna know why. Cause the Flames have sucked for years and years and now they are a decent team so people are now finally going to games. 6 years ago they were giving tickets away to try and fill the building. If the Ducks were basement dwellers for years would they be sold out? Well they have the greatest fans ever don't they? Get a life buddy? your clueless ...i go to the WIngs game when they are in Calgary too, but im not gonna say fans in Detroit are not fans cause they can't afford it.

Edit : Spelling

kindly point out where i said that "fans in detroit are not fans cause they can't afford it"?

So people not being able to afford tickets you understand, however you can't understand why they aren't going?

no, i just don't believe that economics is the main reason why they aren't going.

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kindly point out where i said that "fans in detroit are not fans cause they can't afford it"?

Sorry bout that im assuming thats what your getting at. You said you don't think high prices and economy are the reasons for fans not attending so what's one to think? Please enlighten me with an explanation then as to why they are not sold out?

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I'm in central Michigan, within the last 3 yrs, I can think of roughly 6 HUGE factories closing shop and moving to Mexico without notice, leaving a flood of over 1000+ unemployed good people standing in the unemployment line. (this is within a 75 mile radius, btw)

There was a job fair last summer for approx 85 Pizza Hut, wal-mart, taco bell part time jobs opening up. That job fair (without realization) became chaos with all the attendance showing up. They estimated over 2000 people showed up within a 4hr time frame. Police literally had to direct traffic, close off the street, and near by parking spaces were being taken away from places like K-mart, Wal-mart, hotels, and any other business within a 1/2 mile radius.

I live near this area, became such a big deal that it was even talked about on the 9&10 news.

All this for 85 part time taco bell / pizza hut jobs.

If you don't see it first hand or live it like I do on a day to day basis, then you are only 'clueless' to our unemployment rate. (in my specific area.)

i never denied there is a big unemployment problem in michigan. but that doesn't entirely explain why no red wing playoff games has been sold out so far this season.

just out of curiosity, how are the other michigan sports teams doing in attendance this year?

What's the $71 tickets they offer on ticketbastard?

dunno exactly where you're looking, but if i search ticketmaster.com for 1 ticket (at any price), there are none available for any of the 3 games at the honda center.

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i never denied there is a big unemployment problem in michigan. but that doesn't entirely explain why no red wing playoff games has been sold out so far this season.

just out of curiosity, how are the other michigan sports teams doing in attendance this year?

The economy is a HUGE factor in the Wings not selling out. Add in no advancement past the second round since '02, the Tigers recent World Series run, and the hype that the Pistons bring. I don't follow basketball at all, I hate it in fact, but just from watching ESPN, the Pistons seem to be the only 'good' team left in the Eastern Confrence (basketball got it right, why hasn't hockey?) so they are favorites to be in the finals. Plus I've heard they release like 500 $18 playoff tickets.

The Wings playoff ticket prices are way too high. In most cases, for the first round, ticket prices jumped %100+. I know when I goto games, I sit in the Upper Bowl, these tickets went up %158 or something like that for the first round. It only gets worse as we prgress. I've heard the third round these same tickets are going to be about %200 increase. It's just nuts.

Add in that most Wings fans don't live anywhere near the Joe, gas is over $3.00 per gallon ($3.20 where I live), plus increased playoff parking prices, and food, the price for 2 people to go to a playoff game is easily over $350, and that's with cheap seats. If you want good seats, you are looking at well over $500 for one game. There aren't many people who can afford this. Especially when you can go to a Tigers game for about $100.

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I wanted to clarify some things here; PURE ECONOMY and HIGH LIVING COST are two opposite things. When you can't buy a nice house for 400K this is one thing, but when you literally don't have a job or you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow - that is totally different.

BTW, I am from Wisconsin and I've been to R1 G2 and R2 G2 and it's been awesome, but I was able to go just because I wasn't on any of the season games (I usually go to see Wings play Chicago in Chicago).

Another reason I might think of would be that with all HD technology I don't mind to see a game at home on my 50' screen and see all repeats etc.

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the nose-bleeder seats at the honda center also go for around $100, and they've been sold out even before the wings qualified for round 3. i'll probably be paying about $150-$200 per ticket within the next few days. the economy out here is probably doing better than in the detroit area, but the cost of living is a lot higher as well. that being said, i don't really buy into the high ticket prices and bad economy excuses i've been hearing.

Typical Californian. Doesn't know what the f*** he's talking about.

I've lived an hour from Anaheim and an hour from Detroit, so I am well aware of the differences in the economy. I don't give a f*** what "excuses" you "buy into". You're not from the area, so how the f*** would you know? It must be because the Wings suck and the fans don't like them. That's the only possible reason they're not selling out.

Edited for spelling

Edited by Zion

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Sorry bout that im assuming thats what your getting at. You said you don't think high prices and economy are the reasons for fans not attending so what's one to think? Please enlighten me with an explanation then as to why they are not sold out?

Because we aren't real fans :rolleyes:

FUUFNF seems to have it all figured out so why not share so we can get those seats filled.

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i never denied there is a big unemployment problem in michigan. but that doesn't entirely explain why no red wing playoff games has been sold out so far this season.

just out of curiosity, how are the other michigan sports teams doing in attendance this year?

dunno exactly where you're looking, but if i search ticketmaster.com for 1 ticket (at any price), there are none available for any of the 3 games at the honda center.

Sure it does... No job, no money extra money, no tickets to a luxury.. who does it not explain the lack of selling out. Note that it wasn't until the prices raised that fans stopped going.

Pistons aren't selling out, neither are the Tigers....

They weren't available but I was just noting that they do in fact have a ticket option about $28 less than the lowest rate the wings are selling for. I am not sure how many rows that $71 price is good for, but I know at the Joe the $99 tickets are only for the last 5 rows. Then you jump OVER the $100 mark.

Edited by OsGOD

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I'm not sure if you're suggesting that a true Red Wing fan should put his team first and foremost over feeding, housing, clothing their children?

Why wouldn't they??? I did that to be able to go to 3 games so far this post season :sly::ph34r: (ninja's)

J/king... hockey tickets are luxury that many fellow michiganians simply can not afford right now. Catch me again in October when (pending the ticket price hike) I will be able to once again attend games.

Edited by OsGOD

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man i don't live in michigan but it sounds really bad from what I hear

just imagine what all those trillions dollars in iraq could have done to revive economy.. well.. i maybe going off topic

anyway hopefully ticket prices go down (or stay same at least) for the next round IF we do advance. On TV, JLA certainly seems different from past playoff runs.

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anyway hopefully ticket prices go down (or stay same at least) for the next round IF we do advance. On TV, JLA certainly seems different from past playoff runs.

Not going to happen... they already released the prices for the finals back before the playoffs. Take the Regular season prices and multiply them by 5 to get your FINALS prices. Also add on that nice ticket bastard charge.

Its not all bad... its only 500% markup over regular season prices... Hmm, I wonder why they aren't selling out?

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Sorry bout that im assuming thats what your getting at. You said you don't think high prices and economy are the reasons for fans not attending so what's one to think? Please enlighten me with an explanation then as to why they are not sold out?

i think the main reason is that the recent success of other sports teams in the detroit area has erroded the red wing fan base. simply put, the bandwaggoners (at least the poor ones) have jumpped off the bandwaggon. albeit, the red wings have sustained a long playoff run this year, they haven't done so in the 3 seasons before that. so during those 4 years all those bandwaggon fans have probably found better things to do with their money. perhaps the people in the detroit area are taking the red wings for granted these days. perhaps, but the red wing nation is still strong (i believe that the only los angeles kings games to sell out this year were the games where the red wings were in town). would the games at the honda center have sold out if it were a sharks/ducks WCF and the lakers were still playing? probably not.

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Red Wings fans don't like to admit this fact: hockey is losing its popularity in Michigan. The Red Wings are has beens next to the Deeeeeeeetroit Basketball Pistons and the Tiggers. The Wings were a hot commodity back in the late 1990s when the Pistons and Tigers were sucking up the joint. Not so much anymore.

The Detroit Free Press and News devote more coverage to the Tigers and Pistons despite the Wings recent playoff triumphs. What does that tell you? On sports talk shows in Detroit: more people care about the draft situation with the Lions than the Red Wings in the playoffs. What does that tell you? The fact that sports fans in Detroit are going into cardiac arrest over Joel Zumaya's finger injury and they could care less about Matthieu Schneider's playoff-ending wrist injury tells you something. It tells you that Michigan sports fans could give a s*** about the Red Wings and that's the cold truth.

Listen, the NHL has managed to turn away fans from hockey and the Red Wings in particular. I bet there were many casual fans who went to Red Wings games before the lockout and they were starting to get hooked. After the lockout...those fans said "f*** This" and never bought tickets to a Wings game again. The NHL lockout did some damage to the Red Wings here.

Wings fans in this forum will slam for this post but it's the truth.

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i never denied there is a big unemployment problem in michigan. but that doesn't entirely explain why no red wing playoff games has been sold out so far this season.

I myself was unemployed for 6 months. It's hard to find a job in this state. I literally applied at over 700 locations in 6 months, and got a total of 2 call backs. I got one job offer. This job blows. I am making about half of what I was. I can barley pay my cell phone bill (which is cheaper and more convient than a land line), car note & insurance, rent, and have enough money for food.

I think someone already mentioned this, but simply making the money to have a home that has a $3,500 mortgage, and struggling to put food on the table (for myself mind you, I have no kids or significant other) are two completely different worlds. It's like Jagr complaining about not being paid enough because the insurance on his 6 Benzs, 8 BWMs, 3 Hummers, 4 boats, and 2 helicopters went up.

Living within your means is one thing. But not being able to provide the basic needs is another.

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Red Wings fans don't like to admit this fact: hockey is losing its popularity in Michigan. The Red Wings are has beens next to the Deeeeeeeetroit Basketball Pistons and the Tiggers. The Wings were a hot commodity back in the late 1990s when the Pistons and Tigers were sucking up the joint. Not so much anymore.

The Detroit Free Press and News devote more coverage to the Tigers and Pistons despite the Wings recent playoff triumphs. What does that tell you? On sports talk shows in Detroit: more people care about the draft situation with the Lions than the Red Wings in the playoffs. What does that tell you? The fact that sports fans in Detroit are going into cardiac arrest over Joel Zumaya's finger injury and they could care less about Matthieu Schneider's playoff-ending wrist injury tells you something. It tells you that Michigan sports fans could give a s*** about the Red Wings and that's the cold truth.

Listen, the NHL has managed to turn away fans from hockey and the Red Wings in particular. I bet there were many casual fans who went to Red Wings games before the lockout and they were starting to get hooked. After the lockout...those fans said "f*** This" and never bought tickets to a Wings game again. The NHL lockout did some damage to the Red Wings here.

Wings fans in this forum will slam for this post but it's the truth.

Perhaps it's as you say it... the MEDIA doesn't play it up so therefore it seems like something is a bigger deal than something else. MEDIA coverage of hockey has always sucked...Just because the MEDIA doesn't portray the Schnider injury as something huge, does not imply that the "real" world sees it that way. The MEDIA has their own ways of making things way more important than they are. Try to find a spot at the local B-dubs or waterhole the day of the game... I guarantee you the seats are all filled up with fans cheering on the team.

For the record... ticket prices:

Here is an example of the Season tickets we have (keep in mind we have 2 tickets so you must double all numbers below for a couple to go to the game). Our tickets are in the Upper Bowl Row 11... this is why we turned them down for the post season:

$54 --> Regular season price for 41 games

$99 for Round 1 (about a 183% markup)

$108 for Round 2 (about a 200% markup

$158 for Round 3 (about a 292.6% markup)

$270 for Round 4 (about a 500% markup)

Edited by OsGOD

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On sports talk shows in Detroit: more people care about the draft situation with the Lions than the Red Wings in the playoffs. What does that tell you?

Wings fans in this forum will slam for this post but it's the truth.

As much as I love hockey, this state is a football state. The Lions have never been a real good team. They have had decent teams, but never a true contender. Yet, the games are packed. I'm not sure if they are sell outs or not, but I know they are close to it. Ticket prices are a lot better to. I went to a Lions game this year, I got the ticket for free. It was a $75 or $85 ticket. I sat just off to to the side of the end zone. Great place to watch a game. If I wanted to get that close to the rink at the Joe, it would cost me easily $150, regular season.

And I agree, going to a Wings game is no longer a status symbol.

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Typical Californian. Doesn't know what the f*** he's talking about.

I've lived an hour from Anaheim and an hour from Detroit, so I am well aware of the differences in the economy. I don't give a f*** what "excuses" you "buy into". You're not from the area, so how the f*** would you know? It must be because the Wings suck and the fans don't like them. That's the only possible reason they're not selling out.

Edited for spelling

:rolleyes:

ok, you got me. i have no idea what the f*** i'm talking about. i'm a ducks fan and i think the red wings suck. you know me better than my mother does.

:lol:

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:rolleyes:

ok, you got me. i have no idea what the f*** i'm talking about. i'm a ducks fan and i think the red wings suck. you know me better than my mother does.

:lol:

Just a quick FYI, tickets that were $20 face value during the regular season are now $99, that is %500 mark up. These are the seats that I usually get. I can't afford much else.

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