The Buzz is Gone in Hockeytown (W/ Article)

[HOCKEY MATTERS 167]

M_O_O_S_E_F_A_R_T

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Horrible unemployment.

An ailing economy.

Tickets that are probably expensive for many people.

Spending money on parking, food, drinks, etc.

Pretty expensive, and hard to do these things if you don't have a job or have to cut back. Not that hard to figure out. I'm betting people still support the Wings regardless, it is just harder to do it from the $$$ perspective.

[Mike 0]

They were reporting on 97.1 that there were only about 300 tickets away from a sell out. Great crowd that was into the game the entire time.

[Guest E_S_A_D]

I am THRILLED to be proven wrong last night! Way to go Detroit fans for showing up last night and being an energized crowd for 2009. Great to see, lets go for 2-0 Saturday night!

Edited April 17, 2009 by E_S_A_D

[Hank 0]

I agree with everything you said, I also think it's the fact that we've been so good for so long -- that does take some of the "shine" off of things. If we hadn't been in the PO's for 10 years people would be more excited. Guaranteed. People trying to twist this into a Euro thing or no fighting thing are just playing politics.

another thing that really bothers me is the JLA offered Jacket Backers **discounted** tickets to this game but the Wings organisation can't do that for it's own fans?

How many people showed up for the free SC parade last year, 1.5 million? Don't tell me Detroit doesn't love their Wings. Better than 18,000 in the area parking lot like some franchises.

Just to play devils advocate but there's no way in hell there were 1.5M out there. I work in downtown Detroit and I was at the parade. If there were 1.5M people there, I'll eat my hat.

Also TV ratings were down 21% this year. You can't really blame the economy on that.

The Wings are still a popular draw, but of the major pro teams, the Wings have taken the biggest dip in attendance and TV ratings over the last 3-4 years.

As a side not, in last night's game the amount of empty seats in the lower bowl was embarrassing. I don't know if everyone was at the concession stands, but half-way through the 2nd period you could see quite a few empty seats in the first 10 rows.

That's not a shot at Wings fans, as clearly that was a result of the economy. Illitch should be ashamed of himself for jacking up the prices as much as he did for a 1st round matchup.

Those tickets might have been bought, but obviously some people didn't want to spend the extra cash on parking and the rest of the stuff that comes along with a Wings game.

Edited April 17, 2009 by Hank

[maltbymaniac 13]

I am THRILLED to be proven wrong last night! Way to go Detroit fans for showing up last night and being an energized crowd for 2009. Great to see, lets go for 2-0 Saturday night!

+1 ,the joe was a rocking last night. fu to all the haters

[Hockeymom1960 5,107]

Just to play devils advocate but there's no way in hell there were 1.5M out there. I work in downtown Detroit and I was at the parade. If there were 1.5M people there, I'll eat my hat.

Also TV ratings were down 21% this year. You can't really blame the economy on that.

The Wings are still a popular draw, but of the major pro teams, the Wings have taken the biggest dip in attendance and TV ratings over the last 3-4 years.

As a side not, in last night's game the amount of empty seats in the lower bowl was embarrassing. I don't know if everyone was at the concession stands, but half-way through the 2nd period you could see quite a few empty seats in the first 10 rows.

That's not a shot at Wings fans, as clearly that was a result of the economy. Illitch should be ashamed of himself for jacking up the prices as much as he did for a 1st round matchup.

Those tickets might have been bought, but obviously some people didn't want to spend the extra cash on parking and the rest of the stuff that comes along with a Wings game.

Hmmm. I was there last night and I don't have any idea what seats you were talking about. The Joe was filled. If there were empty seats, they were sporatic, not even noticeable

Edited April 17, 2009 by Hockeymom1960

[McCartyFanForLife 17]

Just to play devils advocate but there's no way in hell there were 1.5M out there. I work in downtown Detroit and I was at the parade. If there were 1.5M people there, I'll eat my hat.

Also TV ratings were down 21% this year. You can't really blame the economy on that.

The Wings are still a popular draw, but of the major pro teams, the Wings have taken the biggest dip in attendance and TV ratings over the last 3-4 years.

As a side not, in last night's game the amount of empty seats in the lower bowl was embarrassing. I don't know if everyone was at the concession stands, but half-way through the 2nd period you could see quite a few empty seats in the first 10 rows.

That's not a shot at Wings fans, as clearly that was a result of the economy. Illitch should be ashamed of himself for jacking up the prices as much as he did for a 1st round matchup.

Those tickets might have been bought, but obviously some people didn't want to spend the extra cash on parking and the rest of the stuff that comes along with a Wings game.

The police estimated the crowd number. Sure it might have been between 1.2 - 1.4 million, but they know how to figure out a crowd size. I'll trust their judgment.

TV ratings can easily be blamed on the economy. If someone needs to take a 2nd shift job or a part time to make ends meet, they are going to miss a lot of Wing games. Also if someone can't afford cable anymore, they aren't going to see FSD. People don't like the economy excuse, but it easily explains most of the issues.

[ManLuv4Clears 7]

According to Ken and Mickey, this game did end up selling out. Not bad for a state with an unemployment rate of roughly 14%

Also, yeah, the "buzz" may not be exactly as it was in 1997 or 2002, but lets face it, there's always bandwagon fans in all sports in all cities, and I think we saw a lot of them around those two cups.

I think the core of hockey in Detroit still is as passionate as ever and I think given the times we are dealing with now, whether it's a packed arena, a corner bar or your buddies living room, Detroit still breathes Red Wing hockey.

This. There are true hockey fans in the area, but its the whole "crowd goes where there is a crowd" mentality. Look at opening day, everyone and their brother tries to go downtown to party because that's the "thing" to do. I'd bet 50% of the people that take the day off to go with the crowd don't go downtown for baseball again this year.

As for bandwagon fans, they are huge in Detroit too. If the Wings make it to the finals everyone and their brother will be wearing Wings' swag and acting like they've supported the team since day 1. When the Tigers made the World Series all of a sudden everyone was a Tiger fan and their Facebook and Myspace pages were all decked out that way because it was the popular thing to do. This goes for the parade crowd as well. It is what it is.

[Zion 93]

Awesome crowd last night!!!

[OsGOD 3]

TV ratings can easily be blamed on the economy. If someone needs to take a 2nd shift job or a part time to make ends meet, they are going to miss a lot of Wing games. Also if someone can't afford cable anymore, they aren't going to see FSD. People don't like the economy excuse, but it easily explains most of the issues.

Yeah what he said... At my work due to cut backs we are being forced to divide up into two shifts... 6am-2:30pm and 1:30pm to 10pm... so yeah those working the night shift WON'T be able to watch the games anymore.

economy affects companies and scheduling...thus tv viewing (especially if you work at a place without tvs)

[Chairman Maouth 97]

Executive Level (Lower Bowl) Type2 Full Price Ticket Ticket PriceUS $105.00 x 2 Convenience ChargeUS $6.25 x 2

Tickets in the lower bowl in Vancouver are $382.00 plus fees.

[OsGOD 3]

Tickets in the lower bowl in Vancouver are $382.00 plus fees.

what is that $50 USD?

[Guest E_S_A_D]

Tickets in the lower bowl in Vancouver are $382.00 plus fees.

Supply and demand and a thriving economy.

[Guest E_S_A_D]

what is that $50 USD?

lol... nope, it's $313.

[Wombat 26]

This is an unfair statement made by the original poster - forgetting the current economic landscape, there are some serious economic, legal, organization, and political factors at work here that s/he may or may not be aware of.

The current unemployment rate, which is seasonally adjusted stands at little higher than 12.5% in Michigan. Now, lets compare this to the historic rate of unemployment during the 2002 Stanley Cup run - which at the time was 6.4% (seasonally adjusted in the month of April).

Okay - so that's a difference of 6.1% - This is considerable, which begs the question why don't the owners automatically adjust cost of tickets so we can go and enjoy the playoffs?

So, lets target Southeast Michigan and assume 5.3M people, now only 2.8M of those are workers in the area.

We can say that that around 172,200 people didn't have jobs the last time the economy was good and they ran for the Cup (2002). And that number has increased to around 350,000 so almost double!

Well - lets look at the per capita income of the avg. Michigan worker. In 2002, it was around 30,200.00 - in 2008 (closest economic data) it was well over 35,000.00.

So back in 2002 - the total income of the workforce was $79,359,560,000. In 2008-09, despite the massive unemployment the total income taken in was $85,750,000,000. So if you actually look at how much total money Southeast Detroit has earned - it has actually increased by 5.5B dollars.

So, there may be less employed individuals out there, but there is actually still over 2.4M people employed in Metro Michigan and they have over $85B.

So why would the Red Wings lower ticket prices when there are still well over 2.4M people within 40 miles who are working and can afford a below league average ticket price?

Interesting stuff, but did you adjust incomes by the rate of inflation? Using an Inflation Calculator I found online, $79.35956 billion in 2002 is equal to $93.83264 billion in 2009. So going by your estimates, if the current 2009 workforce earns $85.75 billion this year, it's actually worth less than the amount earned in 2002 because of inflation, almost 10% less. That means the cost of all goods and services aggregated (rent, energy, gas, food, cable, phone, etc) have increased more than the total workforce has earned.

so if the Wings, or any entertainment-based business in Detroit, were to think about their ticket costs in comparison to how much money the entire metro area earns, they would have to drop ticket prices to match.

[Jwo 7]

Also TV ratings were down 21% this year. You can't really blame the economy on that.

Ummm yes you can blame the economy. In fact the local news did many reports about laid off autoworkers over last year on what they cut back on and a lot cut cable and went to rabbit ears. Where do they show red wings game on? Fox Sports Detroit and where is Fox Sports Detroit? Cable TV!

[thedisappearer 291]

I am THRILLED to be proven wrong last night! Way to go Detroit fans for showing up last night and being an energized crowd for 2009. Great to see, lets go for 2-0 Saturday night!

Wait, people were pumped up to watch a bunch of non-fighting ***** Euros?

[Guest MrSandMan]

Maybe another reason sales slowed is because Ohio finally got their own NHL team and the Blackhawks are finally starting to ripple a puddle in the NHL.

If you judge how man Red Wing fans vs other teams on the size of message forums, I think we're the biggest fan club, hands down! I ventured onto other teams' boards to see what fans are saying about their respective team. I'm yet to find a message board as active as this one.

Edited April 17, 2009 by MrSandMan

[RedWingBelle 0]

yeah i was pissed to see the promotional $30 tickets and the lower end of the price range sold out!

My husband and I were there in our $30 seats and here is what we got for our evening: we had a really good view (not center ice - but we didn't miss anything), enjoyed little ceasers pizza and diet coke for dinner, wore our free playoff beards, we got to see the first Red Wings goal scored in the 2009 Playoffs, octopi flying after the anthem and after the game, we chanted Oz-zie Oz-zie and Let's Go Red Wings, screamed until we were hoarse and kissed after every goal. We live 90 miles away, got home late and up early for work today. Yeah, I had to leave work an hour early, pay $15 for parking, $20 for dinner, $ 15 my souveniers, pay for the gas to Detroit and back and we are both exhausted today...but, you know what - I wouldn't have missed it for anything.

I would love to go to every game, but it just isn't possible - for a myrid of reasons (time, money, etc.) but that, in no way, takes MY BUZZ from Hockeytown! Regardless of whether I'm in a seat at the Joe or watching the Wings from my living room, it's my heart that supports them, even when my wallet or clock (not enough time to do everything) can't. Oh, and from what I could see - the Joe was packed. Perhaps some expensive seats were still unsold, but, not many!

This was our first playoff game and the vibe was entirely different that a regular season game. The atmosphere was electric, the intensity heightened and the reward sweeter. All I can say is, THANK YOU RED WINGS for an incredible evening.

Now, come tomorrow night - it's hot wings, high def, and my sweet hubby - all in the confines of my cozy abode.

GO WINGS !!!!

~Belle~

Edited April 17, 2009 by RedWingBelle

[Dawgs 0]

The Wings have to have the worst seat colors in the NHL. The red back with the cream colored bottom when empty shows up like a beacon on TV. Look at other arenas and theres empty lower bowl seats. As many as in Detroit. But the color scheme doesnt show up on TV like the red does. Blue seats barely show up at all when empty.

This doesnt explain everything but check it out next time your watching a game. I noticed this last season when everyone was on Detroit about empty seats.

[OsGOD 3]

I enjoyed the first two periods with my water at Bdubs in livonia... then ventured back to my place for the first annual PO viewing party on my big screen with my parents, sister and girlfriend. Loved the game with surround sound and feeling like you were sitting center ice about 10 rows back.

[ManLuv4Clears 7]

Back with the "buzz" or lack there of, I've been listening to Karsch and Anderson here at work since there show started about 3 hours ago, and I think they've mentioned the Wings 3 times for a total of 10 minutes. They've been spending Detroit sports talk radio time discussing running from the cops, Tigers' trade rumors, whether Dante Culpepper is in shape or not, and times you've forgot something important on a trip. We're blessed with a great hockey team and I have to listen to this talk all day. Thanks for contributing guys ...

[8 Legged RedWing 367]

im too lazy to read through this whole thread but didnt the game sell out? lol it looked "buzzin" to me.

[Guest Shoreline]

Back with the "buzz" or lack there of, I've been listening to Karsch and Anderson here at work since there show started about 3 hours ago, and I think they've mentioned the Wings 3 times for a total of 10 minutes. They've been spending Detroit sports talk radio time discussing running from the cops, Tigers' trade rumors, whether Dante Culpepper is in shape or not, and times you've forgot something important on a trip. We're blessed with a great hockey team and I have to listen to this talk all day. Thanks for contributing guys ...

There's nothing news-worthy about the Wings winning. Lidstrom isn't sleeping with another player's wife, the team isn't engaging in fisticuffs or getting suspended or creating controversy. Just quietly winning lots. The stupid thing though is the sellouts and the seats not getting filled. I dunno what kind of retarded douchebag fan buys tickets and doesn't show up (or at least sell/give them away for someone else).