Well, the Wings have pushed ticket prices very hard for years now. Plus, the team has had some disappointing flameouts in the postseason. I imagine some fans are a bit spoiled by success, a bit shy of shelling out for a team that might make another early exit, and a bit tapped out.

And given the fact that a lot of tickets are bought by corporations, the current hard times in the domestic auto industry may have had some effect as well.

Posted by jvwalt on 04/27/07 at 02:03 PM ET

This is the price for being successful for too long.. This isn’t a once in a lifetime run for people in Detroit and the prices keep rising every year. With a payroll at half of what it used to be you wouldn’t think the increase would be necessary. Same in NY where the Ranger fans will be treated to a 10% increase next season for making the playoffs! So it works this way, half the cost of doing business compared to pre-lockout, extra revenue for making the playoffs and then a price increase to reward the fans. Next year you can even buy the new jerseys for $400+ a pop.

Bet the overall revenues haven’t changed, they’ve just marginalized who can attend and support the team.

Posted by hockey1919 from montreal on 04/27/07 at 02:37 PM ET

I wonder what kind of implications this has for the revenue sharing agreement.  After the new CBA went into effect, a lot of people figured that franchises such as Toronto, Montreal, Detroit, and Philadelphia would be fine no matter what because of the solid fan base in those areas.  The high-revenue teams were probably counted on to keep the money rolling in to support lower-revenue teams.  I doubt that too many included a major downturn in any of the large, profitable markets in their assumptions, unless it was a minor blip of a year while a team rebuilt instead of a multi-year decline.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 04/27/07 at 02:51 PM ET

I realize writers aren’t the ones who come up with the headline, but isn’t “Hockeytown? Or Ghost Town?” a little bit ridiculous?

Ghost Town?  There were over 18,000 on hand.

And if the announced attendance didn’t seem to match the empty seats, did it occur to the writer that perhaps many of the fat cats elected to watch the game from their corporate suite boxes rather than from down in their seats?

Any opportunity for a Toronto publication to knock the Red Wings, I guess…

Posted by O-Joe on 04/27/07 at 04:56 PM ET

i think Philadelphia took over that title last year and this year

Flyers sucked all year and they drew 19,000+ a game and the minor League team Phantoms drew 12,000+ a game

Posted by FlyersFan on 04/27/07 at 09:19 PM ET