Are we really Hockeytown?

[Elshupacabra 0]

Some people are hockey fans and not football fans.

What's the difference?

The difference is there are alot more people who are football fans and not hockey fans then there are hockey fans who aren't football fans.

Football is ridiculously huge in the US undoubtedly the number one sport. where as Hockey in the US is...3RD at best...more likely 4Th.

there are alot of people who rather go tailgate at Ford Field all day then there are who would go to The Joe.

However on the other hand there are plenty of people who are just fans of sports in general. This is the crowd where the "victims of their own success" comes into play.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

The difference is there are alot more people who are football fans and not hockey fans then there are hockey fans who aren't football fans.

Football is ridiculously huge in the US undoubtedly the number one sport. where as Hockey in the US is...3RD at best...more likely 4Th.

there are alot of people who rather go tailgate at Ford Field all day then there are who would go to The Joe.

However on the other hand there are plenty of people who are just fans of sports in general. This is the crowd where the "victims of their own success" comes into play.

I completely agree. That obviously has nothing to do with the economy being poor in Detroit (or Michigan as a whole for that matter). That was my point. My point when joining this debate had nothing to do with which was more popular between Football and Hockey, rather my point was that the economy isn't whats keeping people from JLA.

The difference is there are alot more people who are football fans and not hockey fans then there are hockey fans who aren't football fans.

Football is ridiculously huge in the US undoubtedly the number one sport. where as Hockey in the US is...3RD at best...more likely 4Th.

there are alot of people who rather go tailgate at Ford Field all day then there are who would go to The Joe.

However on the other hand there are plenty of people who are just fans of sports in general. This is the crowd where the "victims of their own success" comes into play.

See Below:

So the people of Detroit can't afford a $22 game ticket to see the Wings but they can afford a $60+ ticket to see the Lions?

Don't get me wrong, the economy of Detroit is a factor as to why the Wings don't sell out every game, as well as the fact that the Wings are a victim of their own success but your claim is only part of the problem, not the entire reason.

I don't mean this to come off wrong, but you gotta read the entire conversation before just posting a reply to one of my posts that was completely geared toward one statement only. My first initial post in this thread (see above) shows that I lead off with what you said.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Football is obviously more popular in the U.S. than hockey, but we're specifically talking about Detroit here.

For years the fans in Detroit have supported the Lions in spite of they're routinely stinking up the joint. Year after year after year.

When the Red Wings stunk, no one came to games. The Wings are good now and they're still not selling out. Yes, the economy is a factor for sure, but not the only one.

I've always thought Detroit calling itself Hockeytown and trademarking it was a little cheesy, obnoxious, and inaccurate.

[Louisville 112]

The one thing about Red Wings fans, they are everywhere in this country.

Check out the next Phoenix game in Arizona and see how much red and white fills the arena.

[Doc Holiday 0]

Football is obviously more popular in the U.S. than hockey, but we're specifically talking about Detroit here.

For years the fans in Detroit have supported the Lions in spite of they're routinely stinking up the joint. Year after year after year.

When the Red Wings stunk, no one came to games. The Wings are good now and they're still not selling out. Yes, the economy is a factor for sure, but not the only one.

I've always thought Detroit calling itself Hockeytown and trademarking it was a little cheesy, obnoxious, and inaccurate.

I think it is hard to compare the two when the Lions play at home 8 times a year, while the wings play 41.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

I think it is hard to compare the two when the Lions play at home 8 times a year, while the wings play 41.

Mainly I'm just talking about support for teams over the years.

The Lions suck. people keep coming.

The Red Wings sucked. People didn't.

As I said earlier, Detroit is a good hockeytown. I just think it's a little silly to trademark it and declare yourself Hockeytown.

[Konnan511 1,736]

Yet they continue to sell out every game at Ford Field.

That's supply and demand basics.

Football only has to sell tickets to 8 games or so over the course of a year, hockey is 41. Big difference.

[Doc Holiday 0]

Mainly I'm just talking about support for teams over the years.

The Lions suck. people keep coming.

The Red Wings sucked. People didn't.

As I said earlier, Detroit is a good hockeytown. I just think it's a little silly to trademark it and declare yourself Hockeytown.

Football automatically grabs people because it is football imo

[Elshupacabra 0]

I don't mean this to come off wrong, but you gotta read the entire conversation before just posting a reply to one of my posts that was completely geared toward one statement only. My first initial post in this thread (see above) shows that I lead off with what you said.

I was quoting that from your earlier post.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

That's supply and demand basics.

Football only has to sell tickets to 8 games or so over the course of a year, hockey is 41. Big difference.

Yeah, I'm sure *thats* the only reason.

What about the amount of seats at Ford Field as compared to that of JLA. Ford Field can support 65,000 fans per football game where as JLA can only fit 20,066. Now all of a sudden the difference in seats sold per season doesn't look as big as 41 games vs. 8 would suggest.

[Louisville 112]

Mainly I'm just talking about support for teams over the years.

The Lions suck. people keep coming.

The Red Wings sucked. People didn't.

As I said earlier, Detroit is a good hockeytown. I just think it's a little silly to trademark it and declare yourself Hockeytown.

How can you compare the most popular sport in the country to one that is fourth (if not lower in popularity)?

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

I was quoting that from your earlier post.

Gotcha, I thought you were stating that point for the first time rather than agreeing with me after I said it.

[TotallyWired 0]

No debate needed.....

“Nick Lidstrom, come get the Stanley Cup,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “It’s yours to take back to Hockeytown.”

If Bettman thinks it, it's good enough for me. /jokin'

Bettman is lazy and he sucks.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

How can you compare the most popular sport in the country to one that is fourth (if not lower in popularity)?

I'm not talking about the whole country, I'm talking about Detroit. Detroit is not selling out games (yes, the economy. I know). When the team sucked they could barely get anyone to come to games.

For the last time, Detroit is a good hockey market. But to call yourself Hocketown™ is a little obnoxious. There's other great hockey cities out there that are at least as good as Detroit.

[Opie 308]

I'm not talking about the whole country, I'm talking about Detroit. Detroit is not selling out games (yes, the economy. I know). When the team sucked they could barely get anyone to come to games.

For the last time, Detroit is a good hockey market. But to call yourself Hocketown™ is a little obnoxious. There's other great hockey cities out there that are at least as good as Detroit.

It was a marketing ploy/strategy. No one sat down and said that Detroit was the hockey capital of the world, it just stuck with the fans.

There was no cognitive thought of, well Detroit is the best hockey market in the US, or we think Detroit is the best hockey town ever. It was marketing, they were trying to sell the Red Wings, not the franchise but sell the team to the fans.

Edited July 29, 2008 by Opie

[Zion 93]

If Bettman thinks it, it's good enough for me. /jokin'

Bettman is lazy and he sucks.

Bettman is lazy and he sucks.

[Doc Holiday 0]

Yeah, I'm sure *thats* the only reason.

What about the amount of seats at Ford Field as compared to that of JLA. Ford Field can support 65,000 fans per football game where as JLA can only fit 20,066. Now all of a sudden the difference in seats sold per season doesn't look as big as 41 games vs. 8 would suggest.

8*3= 24.

A little over half when you look at it.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

8*3= 24.

A little over half when you look at it.

Actually, if were gonna get technical its 3.24*8 = 25.92 or rounded up to 26. Plus, the expense of the high-end seats in Ford Field (including the amount of Box seats) I'm sure outweigh those of JLA. Besides, you're missing the point.

Once again, this isn't *solely* an economy issue. That's the whole point of my posts.

[sergei_is_still_a_wing 1]

The popularity of Football far outweighs Hockey, plus you are talking about spending money on something that is around 41 times a year as opposed to 8. And even if the Lions suck ass, being a football team they are almost automatically going to be more popular, just because of the popularity of football.

nothing else really needs to be said, but i'll add anyways. You can do all the sweet math tricks you want but it boils down to this. i would venture to say there are on average 10 football fans for every 1 hockey fan in this country. Maybe even more lopsided than that. Even my friends who are really into sports couldn't name 15 NHL franchises, let alone which cities they play in. The sport is just not a popular end of story.

So when you ask the question, "Why the hell isn't the joe sold out every game but lions games are? THEY BLOW" you can't look for a one word answer. Its the economy yes (lets be real its terrible in detroit right now), but it's also the fact that 10-15 times as many people seek out football tickets than hockey tickets. And yes you can multiply the number of seats at the joe times 3.24 to equal the amount of seats at ford field to get a better idea of..... WHATEVER. But Note: Each game of football that is played means so much more because there are so few of them. The fans hang on every pass. You bet your ass that if the wings played once a week, you'd shape your life around being glued to the TV/at the game and not missing a single second of the action.

anyways. just my two cents. THIS IS HOCKEYTOWN.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

nothing else really needs to be said, but i'll add anyways. You can do all the sweet math tricks you want but it boils down to this. i would venture to say there are on average 10 football fans for every 1 hockey fan in this country. Maybe even more lopsided than that. Even my friends who are really into sports couldn't name 15 NHL franchises, let alone which cities they play in. The sport is just not a popular end of story.

So when you ask the question, "Why the hell isn't the joe sold out every game but lions games are? THEY BLOW" you can't look for a one word answer. Its the economy yes (lets be real its terrible in detroit right now), but it's also the fact that 10-15 times as many people seek out football tickets than hockey tickets. And yes you can multiply the number of seats at the joe times 3.24 to equal the amount of seats at ford field to get a better idea of..... WHATEVER. But Note: Each game of football that is played means so much more because there are so few of them. The fans hang on every pass. You bet your ass that if the wings played once a week, you'd shape your life around being glued to the TV/at the game and not missing a single second of the action.

anyways. just my two cents. THIS IS HOCKEYTOWN.

The Bolded point is dead-on!

[Jasper84 333]

I was having a discussion similar to this with a buddy of mine the other day, and he brought up a point that I wasn't able to really say much about. Most Wings fans, including myself, have been blaming the lack of selling out due to the economy. When I mentioned this to my buddy, he started comparing ticket sales to the Pistons, to the Tigers, to the Lions. He was asking me why is it that those 3 teams don't have problems selling out, and the Red Wings do, when they are in the same place/economy. I don't know anything about those 3 teams ticket sales to be honest, so I couldn't answer his question. Just thought I'd toss this out here and see opinions of those more knowledgeable of all 4 sports ticket-sales/attendance in Michigan.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

I was having a discussion similar to this with a buddy of mine the other day, and he brought up a point that I wasn't able to really say much about. Most Wings fans, including myself, have been blaming the lack of selling out due to the economy. When I mentioned this to my buddy, he started comparing ticket sales to the Pistons, to the Tigers, to the Lions. He was asking me why is it that those 3 teams don't have problems selling out, and the Red Wings do, when they are in the same place/economy. I don't know anything about those 3 teams ticket sales to be honest, so I couldn't answer his question. Just thought I'd toss this out here and see opinions of those more knowledgeable of all 4 sports ticket-sales/attendance in Michigan.

I still think one of the biggest factors is that the Wings have become a victim of their own success. People expect them to be the number 1 team in the league, and when you essentially hold that level of play for the past 15 years, it starts to lose its luster to the casual fan. Couple that with the economy, maybe the fact that the fans of Detroit don't relate as well to a heavily European cast, as well as the fact that the Tigers and Pistons have more recently become successful after many poor seasons than the Wings have (seriously, its been well over 15 years since the Wings weren't one of the top teams in the league) and I think your answer lies somewhere in the middle.

[Zion 93]

The bolded IS correct, but I watch every single Red Wings game (thank you, DVR) from start to finish. I absolutely envy all of you with FSN Detroit, because I would love to watch the pre-game, post-game and Red Wings Weekly.

[sergei_is_still_a_wing 1]

The bolded IS correct, but I watch every single Red Wings game (thank you, DVR) from start to finish. I absolutely envy all of you with FSN Detroit, because I would love to watch the pre-game, post-game and Red Wings Weekly.

I envy you. 1) i don't have DVR 2) even if i did, i would be lying if i said i'd watch every game.

I'm 21 years young. And my dedication is torn between driking heavilly/being at bars with friends and the Detroit red wings. I do catch about half the games each year though.

[stlwing14 0]

It's not why is Detroit Hockeytown; it's how in the bloody hell is Detroit not Hockeytown?

What are the other options? North of the border, Toronto and Montreal will run for the money but they have little to show for such a title in the last twenty or so years, esp Toronto.

In the US.....who is there? New York Rangers could be number two, but a very distant one. Saint Louis is a very good hockey town but more for youth hockey and certainly the Blues have not been better than average since, well 1967 and there is a complete lack of high standards applied to the team like in Detroit or Montreal. Chicago and Boston just don't have it anymore; Pitt is a joke considering they were a breath away from Kansas City. I see better hockey fans in Dallas and San Jose than many of the traditional northern cities.

Detroit is it. And it's basically the Wings with their national fanbase that are a prime carrier for the league. Twenty dollars says the Winged Wheel is the most recognizable hockey logo in the world thanks to our Swede and Russian influence and overall domination of the NHL.