We will sell out every game this year.

[stormboy 47]

I find that to be the most ridiculous and laughable concept. Who the hell is it "convenient" for? Ticket Master not needing to hire live phone employees to take ticket orders sure makes things "convenient" for them. Where's the convenience for us that's supposedly worth $5 per ticket?

their costs have absolutely nothing to do with the price. the convenience for me is not having to drive 2 1/2 hours each way (say, roughly, $75 in gas) to buy a ticket at the box office. in this case, demand drives the prices, not supply. if they're a self-interested, rational company with good access to information and smart people, they must realize that as much as people ***** they'll still pay the "convenience" fee every time. it's just like increased prices for certain games. if they're not a dumb company, they realize that people will pay the extra money, so why not charge it?

re: high gas prices affecting ticket sales. i agree that it definitely has an effect. i think to some degree, it's more psychological than it is financial. obviously, to some degree the literal dollars and cents spent on gas prevent you from doing certain things. but if you're affluent enough to go to several games a year, the extra gas money is probably not going to prevent you from buying groceries for the week. however, when you see the price at the station (and keep on hearing on the news how gas is going up up up) it makes you tighten your purse strings.

i also agree with the poster who stated that america is different than europe in that things are generally much more spread out here. obviously, there are many places in europe where people have long commutes, etc. but where i live (grand rapids) it is a very, very common thing for people to commute from, say, rockford. even the smaller town where i'm from, i met my girlfriend at a church in my hometown, but her house was 12 miles away from mine. it seems to me that, generally, that's much more the way things are in the states, at least in michigan, which is by-and-large rural, and heavily unemployed.

anyway, this is a hockey forum, not an econ board. either way, don't think a ton of wings games will sell out this year. the ones that do won't be full anyway. the ones that are full will still have a high percentage of fans who don't wear team colors and who sit complacently in their seats except for the five seconds after each wings goal is scored.

[Tane 17]

here in canada, our Gas Prices are a lot higher than in the states....on average in detroit, what you're selling it for come out to about 85-90 cents a litre.....in comparison we spent our summer spending $1.30 - $1.40 a litre....now we're down to $1.20 ..... there's jsut under 4 litres in a gallon, so we've got to be paying around $5 a gallon over here. We have it worse

I sure hope every game doesn't sell out. I went to 7 games last year (I had gone to 7 in my entire life previously) and I don't think i had to pay face Value once. In a Game vs. Dallas, I got 6th row lower bowl for $50 a piece.

Fans not showing up = Cheaper tickets for me.

[Scotty 0]

Don't hold your breath.

[lidstromfan5 3]

because american's driver 9.2 litre trucks that get literally nothing to the galon, where as my 1.5D Nissan Qashqai will easily go 800miles on a tank

Good For You!

[Z and D for the C 712]

because american's driver 9.2 litre trucks that get literally nothing to the galon, where as my 1.5D Nissan Qashqai will easily go 800miles on a tank

Keep your idiotic stereotypes to yourself, thanks.

Edited September 20, 2008 by Z and D for the C

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Bold statement. Something to think about is that every playoff game was sold out, despite the painfully higher ticket prices. Are fans going to be shelling out for every regular season game this year? It could happen, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

There is a better chance the Red Wings will win every game this season than sell-out all of the home games.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

It's still beyond me how prices can be raised. Doesn't Mr. Ilitch realize that this is why alot of games last year didn't sell out? Nobody can afford to go. And this year with even higher prices......

Winning the Cup can take you only so far, it doesn't put money back in the pockets of fans. If prices were slashed, every game would sell out guarunteed.

[Guest mindfly]

Question remains, you guys who usually attend regular season games, how many in the crowd are there? 18-19.000?

[OsGOD 3]

Question remains, you guys who usually attend regular season games, how many in the crowd are there? 18-19.000?

I would say in the years past when the fandom was questioned and i went to a lot of games there was a good 19.000 strong at all the games.

But in all actuallity... last year proves even more who gives a flying f*** if the games sell out... it just gives all those arm chair complainers a chance to put the money where there mouth is and attend the games. And by the way even without selling out we WON THE CUP (that didn't get revoked suddenly because of it) and we had a HUGE FREE turn out to the championship parade.

Personally I enjoy the flexibility of saying.. hmmm there is a game tonight at 7:30pm... I am free... I think i will go! without dishing out all the money way back 4 months before when tickets actually went on sale

Edited September 20, 2008 by OsGOD

[Chelichic 12]

For the past few years i have made it to at least one game a year... they were not sell outs (well one was) but there was a good number of people. Last season I was able to make it to a few of the play off game for the first time and loved it... I know things a bad here in Michigan but for me things have gotten better and this year i was able to pick up tickets to at least one game a month.

Im agree with OsGOD in that if I feel like going to more and im free, ill head to Detroit.

At the game or at home the Red Wings have great fans!

GOOOOOOOOOO WINGSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

[Kp-Wings 3]

That's a bold statement to make. I'll be very surprised if a Monday night game against Columbus or something actually even makes it to the half-way point, let alone a sell-out.

In this economy, it's a lot easier to for fans such as myself to stay at home, and watch the game in HD, while enjoying the luxeries of DVR, cheap beer, and no lines for the bathrooms. I'll try to make it down to some of the better games (ala Eastern Conference games), but otherwise, I'll be enjoying the action from the coach this year, as I have for the past few years. I'm not going to take a dive and buy season tickets again unless the economy gets better, which doesn't look to happen anytime soon.

On a side note: I still think we will have sell-outs, probably a few more than last year since we did when the Cup, and the Tigers and Lions both suck beyond repair, so there's very little competition among other teams, but there will still be plenty of games with empty seats. It's sad, but it's true.

Edited September 21, 2008 by Kp-Wings

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

That'd be nice. But you could not mention the Lions for a couple weeks, hurts my eyes to even turn them on lately..

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

That'd be nice. But you could not mention the Lions for a couple weeks, hurts my eyes to even turn them on lately..

Down 21-3 and Kitna just threw another pick. Believe in now!

[Guest LivingtheDream]

Are you on crack? Yea, and every Ford SUV will sell this year, every house for sale in the metro area will sell and every mortgage will be approved too. Wake up kiddies, you just might be about to live the nightmare your grandparents faced in the 30s. However, those people had grit while most people today are whiny self entitled *******. Can't wait!

[Z and D for the C 712]

However, those people had grit

And this astute observation coming from your vivid personal recollection of the era?

[MacK_Attack 108]

20.066 people eh, JLA has gotta be one of the biggest arena's among the american nhl teams? together with MSG perhaps?`

United Center is the biggest in the U.S. , I believe. Something like 20,500 for hockey.

The Bell Centre seats over 21,000 for the most seats in the NHL.

[Jasper84 333]

I was browsing the forums on the Red Wing's official web site, and I came across this link. I haven't seen anyone post this here yet, so I figured this is the thread it belongs in.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance?year=2008

Not sure how accurate those numbers are, but considering how bad our economy has been in Michigan, I don't consider being #7 bad at all. According to fans and media from any other team, they claim our arena is empty every game(I went to 5 games last year, and I never saw the amount of empty seats that everyone says), if those stats are accurate, it would prove them wrong.

Edited September 23, 2008 by Kween78

[MacK_Attack 108]

I was browsing the forums on the Red Wing's official web site, and I came across this link. I haven't seen anyone post this here yet, so I figured this is the thread it belongs in.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance?year=2008

Not sure how accurate those numbers are, but considering how bad our economy has been in Michigan, I don't consider being #7 bad at all. According to fans and media from any other team, they claim our arena is empty every game(I went to 5 games last year, and I never saw the amount of empty seats that everyone says), if those stats are accurate, it would prove them wrong.

Paid attendance and actual butts in the seats are often two very different numbers.

[McCartyFanForLife 17]

Paid attendance and actual butts in the seats are often two very different numbers.

Very true; most if not all stadiums/arenas count paid attendance. The most obvious reason is because they can't resell a ticket just because someone didn't show up.

Personally I wish there I was a way to resell tickets; if someone hasn't shown up by the start of the 2nd period, the ticket can be sold again or something like that. I'm sure it's pretty much impossible, but I can dream can't I?

Edited September 23, 2008 by McCartyFanForLife

[Konnan511 1,736]

Very true; most if not all stadiums/arenas count paid attendance. The most obvious reason is because they can't resell a ticket just because someone didn't show up.

Personally I wish there I was a way to resell tickets; if someone hasn't shown up by the start of the 2nd period, the ticket can be sold again or something like that. I'm sure it's pretty much impossible, but I can dream can't I?

I guess you could connect a ticket reader to every seat, something that would cost maybe $1 to MFG. Then attach a sensor to the bottom of the seat that costs maybe 10 cents to MFG. Have that connected to a computer that shows when Ticket readers and weight in seats match up, the ones that don't or haven't for the first period and a half will show up as empty, then you can resell those tickets.

[MacK_Attack 108]

I guess you could connect a ticket reader to every seat, something that would cost maybe $1 to MFG. Then attach a sensor to the bottom of the seat that costs maybe 10 cents to MFG. Have that connected to a computer that shows when Ticket readers and weight in seats match up, the ones that don't or haven't for the first period and a half will show up as empty, then you can resell those tickets.

Well, they scan each ticket on the way in the door, correct? That means they know exactly which tickets have been redeemed and which ones are still outstanding.

Not that any team would ever do such a thing.

[SFwingsfan 23]

I was pretty shocked when I went to the Wings/Capitals game back in December of last year. That night you had two of the greatest talents in the game (Ovechkin & Zetterberg) facing off against eachother and there appeared to be thousands of empty seats in the upper deck and assorted gaps in the lower level. I'm not sure what the actual reported attendance was but for a game with two of the top guys in the league, an Eastern Conference opponent, and a nationally televised game it was just pathetic.

[MacK_Attack 108]

I was pretty shocked when I went to the Wings/Capitals game back in December of last year. That night you had two of the greatest talents in the game (Ovechkin & Zetterberg) facing off against eachother and there appeared to be thousands of empty seats in the upper deck and assorted gaps in the lower level. I'm not sure what the actual reported attendance was but for a game with two of the top guys in the league, an Eastern Conference opponent, and a nationally televised game it was just pathetic.

They reported the attendance as 19,483

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20072008/GS020485.HTM

[OsGOD 3]

we redwing fans living in michigan are just pathetic... Wings should be forced to turn over the cup to the Penguins when they play them because of lack of fan support....

Edited September 24, 2008 by OsGOD