Atlanta's Attendance Last Night

[Chelios57 31]

As I die hard Thrashers fan, I think it simply comes down to winning.

How great would the Wings attendance be if they played like the Thrashers have since their existence?

They definitely support winning hockey:

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2mC_oPbXVs?fs=1&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dz_f2WW0Y?fs=1&hl=en_US

Everyone remember how terrible Chicago, and Pittsburgh, and Washington, etc., etc. attendances were?

This team has traded away Heatley, Hossa, Savard, and Kovalchuk. How do you think their attendance would be?

Edited October 21, 2010 by Chelios57

[wingslogo19 281]

Wow, that's just brutal.. We get more fans at our jr hockey games

[MulesWillFly93 199]

Atlanta has never been a good sports town for attendance and support, period.

Not fair to single out hockey on this.

Agreed, plus it's just not that big a city! I don't know why, but I always considered it to be one of the major metropolitan areas of the South, but as of 2009, Atlanta is the 33rd largest city in the U.S. El Paso, which is the most random-ass place I can think of, is #22, for pete's sake. For that matter, Seattle, which might actually have some hockey fans in the vicinity, is in 23rd place (10 spots ahead of ATL) and has 100k more people than Atlanta, yet we keep on putting teams in the South for the sake of some kind of Manifest Hockey Destiny. Ridiculous.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

Atlanta has never been a good sports town for attendance and support, period.

Not fair to single out hockey on this.

If I remember correctly, the poverty rate in Atlanta is above national average. Their financial situation is similar to Detroit's.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

That's just sad.

[Guest Stolberg]

How about moving Columbus to Yellowknife or Juneau? I'm in Athens (OH) and I see more LA Kings jerseys than CBJ. Strangely enough, the Kings' fans are very hockey-wise around here and I have no idea where they all came from.

kings jerseys in one town in ohio

surely nobody cares about the blue jackets then

[SweWings 45]

How about moving Columbus to Yellowknife or Juneau? I'm in Athens (OH) and I see more LA Kings jerseys than CBJ. Strangely enough, the Kings' fans are very hockey-wise around here and I have no idea where they all came from.

Out of all the teams in the league... why LA I wonder...

Agreed, plus it's just not that big a city! I don't know why, but I always considered it to be one of the major metropolitan areas of the South, but as of 2009, Atlanta is the 33rd largest city in the U.S. El Paso, which is the most random-ass place I can think of, is #22, for pete's sake. For that matter, Seattle, which might actually have some hockey fans in the vicinity, is in 23rd place (10 spots ahead of ATL) and has 100k more people than Atlanta, yet we keep on putting teams in the South for the sake of some kind of Manifest Hockey Destiny. Ridiculous.

Seattle could build a nice local thing with Vancouver. I really don't get why there isn't a team there.

Oh and the city size thing, check metropolitan areas, Atlanta is kinda big

[grwingfan 21]

Grand Rapids would support a NHL franchise better than Atlanta, Phoenix or Miami.

[SuperNovaXll 124]

Move Atlanta to Quebec, Phoenix to Winnipeg, Panthers to Hamilton... =)

I couldnt agree more

[_Kabrok_ 5]

As I die hard Thrashers fan, I think it simply comes down to winning.

How great would the Wings attendance be if they played like the Thrashers have since their existence?

They definitely support winning hockey:

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2mC_oPbXVs?fs=1&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57dz_f2WW0Y?fs=1&hl=en_US

Everyone remember how terrible Chicago, and Pittsburgh, and Washington, etc., etc. attendances were?

This team has traded away Heatley, Hossa, Savard, and Kovalchuk. How do you think their attendance would be?

That's a terrible buisness plan for a sports team, particularly one with a salary cap. You might as well just say that at the very best Atlanta's viability will be a vomit-inducing rollercoaster ride. Ditto with any of these bandwagon-heavy teams, honestly.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

Florida drew a little over 11,000 to tonight's game against Dallas..As for Detroit, a town once known for sellout streaks drew 18,399 tonight...

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

[wingfanatic4alltime 32]

Florida drew a little over 11,000 to tonight's game against Dallas..As for Detroit, a town once known for sellout streaks drew 18,399 tonight...

Still though 18,000 people in the seats is a hell of a lot better then 8,000 to 11,000 people. Guys hockey is not popular at all in the south which our faboulus commissioner thought could be a hockey hotbed. Hockey has failed in the south, i love hockey as much as all of you guys but im a realist hockey in some markets is lucky to be the 3rd sport after football and baseball. The league needs to contract or at least move these southern teams to canada or give Seattle a shot.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

Still though 18,000 people in the seats is a hell of a lot better then 8,000 to 11,000 people. Guys hockey is not popular at all in the south which our faboulus commissioner thought could be a hockey hotbed. Hockey has failed in the south, i love hockey as much as all of you guys but im a realist hockey in some markets is lucky to be the 3rd sport after football and baseball. The league needs to contract or at least move these southern teams to canada or give Seattle a shot.

Atlanta and Phoenix need to relocate first, in my opinion. Atlanta couldn't sell out even with Kovalchuk on the team. Phoenix has an up and coming squad, and still can't draw 10,000. Move Atlanta to Quebec City, and move Phoenix back to Winnipeg. Same number of teams in each conference. Divisions might have to be tweaked a bit. Hockey does not belong in cities like Atlanta, Phoenix, and Miami (Sunrise). The attendance numbers prove it. Even with competing teams in Phoenix, they have a laughable fan base. Same goes for Atlanta. Up and coming, young team, and will be lucky get 50% of the arena full. Cities like Winnipeg and Quebec are STARVING for an NHL franchise. Time to give it up, Bettman&company.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

Grand Rapids would support a NHL franchise better than Atlanta, Phoenix or Miami.

Official numbers out of Phoenix tonight. 4-2 Coyotes get the win. Attendance at the Jobing.com Arena: 6,706

[wingslogo19 281]

Official numbers out of Phoenix tonight. 4-2 Coyotes get the win. Attendance at the Jobing.com Arena: 6,706

Wow, must of been hard to find a good seat

[atodaso 279]

Official numbers out of Phoenix tonight. 4-2 Coyotes get the win. Attendance at the Jobing.com Arena: 6,706

i heard on tsn it was "do not buy a ticket" night in phoenix

Edited October 22, 2010 by atodaso

[Jusek 437]

Move these teams to the Canada.

[10 Minute Misconduct 104]

Phoenix during the 2nd period LOL

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

Another page of "The Bettman Legacy".

[puckloo39 5,686]

Another page of "The Bettman Legacy".

no joke... I am surprised he isn't paying seat fillers to go to games in Phoenix. Just to keep up appearances, ya know?

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

Maybe it was a Halloween promotion: if you came dressed up as an empty seat, your ticket was half price.

[puckbags 863]

Maybe it was a Halloween promotion: if you came dressed up as an empty seat, your ticket was half price.

Haha, I think Bob Mackenzie called it friends at family night at Jobbing. I think Jobbing.com should use their resume database and hire some fans to make Bettman happy.

[_Kabrok_ 5]

Official numbers out of Phoenix tonight. 4-2 Coyotes get the win. Attendance at the Jobing.com Arena: 6,706

From what little I could see of the seats from the broadcast it was utterly ridiculous. I've seen better crowds at Mooseheads games for crying out loud.

Maybe it was a Halloween promotion: if you came dressed up as an empty seat, your ticket was half price.

So they'd GIVE you money?

Edited October 22, 2010 by _Kabrok_

[selkie 10]

Hockey can and does work in the South when you have a winning team and reasonably priced tickets. The Louisiana IceGators in the booming metropolis of Lafayette (I consider myself pretty good with geography and I'd have a hard time finding Lafayette, LA on a map) averaged 11K+ paid attendance for a couple years in the late 90s when they were flagrantly violating the ECHL salary cap, and consequently winning games left and right.