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Cautionary Tale for the Canucks
by Alanah McGinley on 10/04/07 at 03:58 PM ET
Comments (9)
From News1130:
Canucks CEO Chris Zimmerman was asked how regular fans will be able to afford to take in a game at GM Place. Zimmerman says when you compare the Canucks to other NHL franchises, ticket prices are quite reasonable. “Some of the pricing is driven by supply and demand, and then we obviously assess the ticket prices against all the other Canadian teams. We tend to be in the bottom half of the prices, looking at the prices across Canada.”
Hmm. The increase in ticket prices for this season was pretty bloody substantial. But even assuming that Zimmerman is correct in simply following the theory of supply and demand (after all, the Vancouver fan base has clearly been willing to pay) there is a cautionary tale out there that the Canucks might want to keep in mind as well: the Detroit Red Wings.
From A2Y this morning:
The Wing win last night, as fun as it was to see, will be secondary to the echo chamber they played in. As Mike Emrich and Ed Olczyk did their pre-game deal on camera, the results of Red Wing apathy jumped out at us on Versus. A thousand empty seats just minutes before faceoff.
For years Hockeytown operated under the assumption that the fans would take whatever they got, and they were right. But a poor economy and plenty of other complaints have changed things drastically. Detroit still has a huge base of fans, but at this point it would appear the team has sucked those fans dry.
For what it’s worth, I think the Canucks are doing a much better job at responding to their fanbase than ever in the past—and certainly better than the Wings by a long shot. But they might not want to get too cocky about it, either.
It’s not that many years ago that GM Place had their own sea of empty seats.
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Filed in: business of hockey, vancouver canucks | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: chris+zimmerman, fans, vancouver+canucks,
Comments
I find the whole “Now I can’t afford to go spiel...” a little annoying.
The Canucks have sold out EVERY home game for at least the last 4 years! We live in a free market economy. Supply and demand. Essentially if they jacked the prices to the point where the last ticket was sold 5 minutes prior to game time and the tickets were all $200 + how could one argue?
If the tickets were all $20 bucks you couldn’t go either because everyone would have seasons tickets and what was left over would sell out quickly anyways.
The economy is so hot in BC (and western Canada for that matter) that anyone who wants a good job has one with 40 year low unemployment.
Quit wining when the prices go up, it’s too predictable. It’s kinda like saying George Bush is an idiot or that Nickelback sucks. Groundbreaking stuff I am sure.
Posted by Ryan from BC on 10/04/07 at 06:16 PM ET
Trini - You’re right - there’s a lot of things contributing to the situation in Detroit. The economy is a major issue there, but from what I understand, the team also didn’t do a great job during their sell-out years of reaching out to their fanbase, either. And fan loyalty is everything when you want them to come out during hard financial times.
Ryan - Thanks for your comment. I wasn’t intending to whine about ticket prices, but perhaps my post wasn’t clear enough. I agree that the market can handle the prices as they are, and I also think the Canucks have done a fairly good job in recent years building a more loyal fanbase than in decades past, so it’s all good.
My only point was to say that market economics also have to be balanced out with ensuring they keep that loyalty as they go into the future. A 12% increase from one year to the next is substantial for any business. In this case, it’s probably not unreasonable… But if they were to do it every year, fans would eventually feel like they’re not appreciated. And one day - no more sell outs.
The Canucks seem to be balancing it quite well - I would just hope they never fall into the trap that the Wings organization seemed to. Good economic times are here today, but there will be tougher times again one day, too.
It just makes good long-term business sense for the Canucks to bear that in mind. So far, I think they’re doing fine.
p.s. I’m afraid that Nickelback sort of does suck. Maybe that’s not ground-breaking, but you brought it up… 
Posted by Alanah McGinley from British Columbia on 10/04/07 at 06:44 PM ET
About Detroit, I heard the State government shut down on Sunday night… With all those workers loosing income, it’s gonna get worse before it gets better
Posted by Laydownthelaw from Gatineau, Qc on 10/04/07 at 09:24 PM ET
The shutdown was only for a few hours, because an interim budget deal was completed to gain an extra 30 days. Of course, taxes went up, but these are politicians. They can’t take a leak without increasing taxes. They still have to find a few hundred million in budget cuts in the next month to balance the finalized budget deal.
(At every level of government, I get the idea that none of these people could get hired to work where I do.)
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 10/04/07 at 09:31 PM ET
The shutdown was only for a few hours, because an interim budget deal was completed to gain an extra 30 days.
Good. Wouldn’t want to worry about being able to buy beer, what with hockey back and everything…
Posted by Lay down the law on 10/04/07 at 09:46 PM ET
The NHL should be taking notice, this attendance thing may be contagious. There is more to it than the economy and the RW org. indifference. I left this comment at A2Y a couple of days ago:
“We know our hockey here in D-town and as Stevie put it “This isn’t Hockey”. You are seeing some serious fan burn off because of the new rules and scheduling.
Before comparing the Tigers fan base with the Red Wings, it is important to point out that Baseball has not made major Rule Changes 6 times in the last 7 yrs.
And posted it again on HockeyTownTodd
Posted by Gramps (HockeyTownTodd) from Hockeytown on 10/05/07 at 10:53 AM ET
Did it seem there were a lot of fans disguised as empty seats in the third period last night? JJ would have been there - we should be asking him.
Posted by Terry from West Van on 10/06/07 at 03:27 PM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/10/05/bc-canucks.html?ref=rss
I’d way rather see the Canucks jack the prices even higher and use the loot for talent than see tickets selling on Craigslist for $600 bucks. Proof that demand is there....
Posted by Ryan from BC on 10/06/07 at 03:55 PM ET
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About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
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When I went to Uni in Windsor many, many, many years ago the only seats I could get for a Red Wings games were the “partially obstructed” seats. Times certainly have changed.
Sure the team hasn’t really done much for the fans but you can also blame the current economic climate in the US - specifically Michigan. Major manufacturing and the auto industry are at an all time low. It’s no wonder the common folk can’t afford tickets.
Geez I hope the so called “supply and demand” on tickets in Vancouver doesn’t echo the housing market or we’re all in for an expensive ride.
Posted by Trini on 10/04/07 at 04:25 PM ET