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Empty Seats Around The League
by Paul on 11/14/09 at 11:33 AM ET
Comments (19)
from Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun,
As half-full arenas become the norm on too many nights, hurting teams are getting aggressive in novel (and cheap) ways to get peole in the seats.
The bargains are enough to make ticket buyers in Toronto sick.
A tour around some of the more challenged teams revealed the following offers:
- In Tampa, try the Holiday Pack where $96 US gets you a pair of tickets for three games of your choice, an autographed Victor Hedman hat and a $10 food and beverage voucher.
- In Columbus, the Guys Night Out promotion gives you two tickets, two beers and two cheese coney dogs for a mere $60.
- In Anaheim, for select games fans can get two tickets, a pair of hot dogs and wash them down with two beers all for $41.
- Even in Detroit, the self-professed Hockey Town of the U.S., the Wings are all but giving away tickets again this season.
Filed in: NHL Teams | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
Maybe nothing new, but I think there’s lots of people who’d take issue with “nothing substantial”. To paraphrase Denis Leary: I’d give my left nut for $9 seats to see my favourite team.
Posted by Josh from Whitehorse, Yukon on 11/14/09 at 12:10 PM ET
The $9 seats are sold on an in-person basis only at the Joe Louis Arena box office, usually during a one-day period, so there are some stipulations there.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 11/14/09 at 12:11 PM ET
If the Leafs keep playing the way they are, Toronto may have trouble attracting ticket buyers.
Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 11/14/09 at 12:23 PM ET
josh - yeah, i love the idea that there are $9 seats, but those seats are seats you can literally see 1/3 of the ice AND you have to buy them during a few hour window during a one day sale. It isn’t like those are what seats are going for.
Posted by moore00 from the Ohio State University on 11/14/09 at 01:14 PM ET
if the wings didnt have red seats to begin with, you’d notice it a lot more. Many many empty seats…
Posted by Greg on 11/14/09 at 01:14 PM ET
BTW, does everyone hate Toronto and the media more and more since Burke has gotten there? They won’t shut up about everyone else.
Posted by moore00 from the Ohio State University on 11/14/09 at 01:15 PM ET
The red seats actually highlight the emptiness, when, say, Dallas doesn’t have a few people there, you can barely tell with the black seats.
Posted by moore00 from the Ohio State University on 11/14/09 at 01:16 PM ET
The only thing this story points out is that the people of Toronto are the dumbest on the planet. How in the world do they pay those ridiculous prices for Leafs games. The Leafs are horrible. If the Bruins were as bad as the Leafs have been for the last 30 years there would be no franchise in Boston. The fans would demand that the team leave town.
Posted by kevin from boston on 11/14/09 at 01:35 PM ET
the wings have been selling $9 tickets for select seats - a few obstructed few seats in the “caves” up top - for a few years now. nothing new and certainly nothing substantial
No kidding.
Believe me, Wings tickets are not as easy to score (cheaply) as suggested.
Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste. Marie on 11/14/09 at 01:43 PM ET
if the wings didnt have red seats to begin with, you’d notice it a lot more. Many many empty seats…
Posted by Greg on 11/14/09 at 01:14 PM ET
That is a basic, basic tenet of stadium or arena design - make the seats the same color as the team gear, so people in jerseys or t-shirts will blend in to the seats and it will always look full, no matter how many people either aren’t there for the game or are in lines for food or the bathroom.
That’s why the Ravens stadium in Baltimore had to get purple and black seats right after the team colors were decided upon. The seats have to match the team colors. Every team does it - there is nothing unusual or sinister about it.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 11/14/09 at 01:58 PM ET
...make the seats the same color as the team gear,
Didn’t the Met have alternating green, white and yellow seats?
I remember thinking it looked like they replaced broken seats with new ones that were a different color.They just happened to get luckey ‘cause it was the North Stars’ colors. What a coincidence. 
Posted by Lindas1st from New England on 11/14/09 at 02:07 PM ET
Flyers are cutting lower bowl seats from 96 to 75 dollars for whole months of october and november.
i thought gary said the league is doing great finacially?
Posted by FlyersFan on 11/14/09 at 04:38 PM ET
Believe me, Wings tickets are not as easy to score (cheaply) as suggested.
Posted by Red Winger
Agreed. Even upper bowl seats are $35ish. Mid upperbowl was $63. Recockulous. At least for us broke grad students.
Posted by Osrt on 11/14/09 at 05:16 PM ET
Aren’t all sports having ticket sales problems? Some of the NBA games have looked more like WNBA games in the stands, and even some of the NFL teams seem to have an awful lot of empty seats, and there are only 8 games at home each year in that sport.
Posted by dip on 11/14/09 at 06:43 PM ET
Every major sports league in North America is having trouble filling seats, save for the NFL, and even the bad teams in the NFL are coming up short 5 - 10k seats.
Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 11/14/09 at 06:56 PM ET
Notice how the columnist doesn’t talk about the Canadian teams.
Ottawa’s attendance versus the Rangers today was 17651.
capacity is over 19000.
Posted by Colton from Calgary on 11/14/09 at 07:28 PM ET
The only thing this story points out is that the people of Toronto are the dumbest on the planet. How in the world do they pay those ridiculous prices for Leafs games. The Leafs are horrible. If the Bruins were as bad as the Leafs have been for the last 30 years there would be no franchise in Boston. The fans would demand that the team leave town.
Posted by kevin from boston on 11/14/09 at 01:35 PM ET
Sports tickets can be used as a business tax deduction in Ontario, re client entertainment. Joe Average is not in the majority buying Leaf seats, many of the season tickets are held by corporations, with 75% of their face value used as a business expense.
Posted by Madhatter on 11/14/09 at 07:32 PM ET
Notice how the columnist doesn’t talk about the Canadian teams.
Ottawa’s attendance versus the Rangers today was 17651.
capacity is over 19000.
That would be because he was talking about discounted tickets, not teams that are drawing 1500 less than capacity. Do you have any examples of the Canadian teams offering two tickets, two hot dogs and two beers for $41?
I didn’t think so.
Posted by Josh from Whitehorse, Yukon on 11/14/09 at 07:38 PM ET
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“Even in Detroit, the self-professed Hockey Town of the U.S., the Wings are all but giving away tickets again this season. Granted the economy is woeful in Motor City these days, but the Wings announced yesterday they will sell $9 tickets for selected games. ”
the wings have been selling $9 tickets for select seats - a few obstructed few seats in the “caves” up top - for a few years now. nothing new and certainly nothing substantial.
Posted by lilja4mvp on 11/14/09 at 11:46 AM ET