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Potential In Florida
by Mike Chen on 02/11/09 at 03:18 PM ET
Comments (7)
It’s really easy to dump on low attendance numbers in non-traditional markets. I try to refrain from doing that too much because prolonged winning and a strong grass-roots program can help build things for generations to come. Look at the number of youth hockey and minor league teams in Texas as a good example.
Nothing kills attendance more than losing. That’s a simple fact in any sport, and though I’ve wondered about the viability of the Florida Panthers and Phoenix Coyotes just like everyone else did, I try to hold off from judging until they actually have a good product on the ice. Let’s not forget that plenty of “strong” markets have ugly attendance figures when teams go sour for a number of years. Yes, this can happen even in Canada.
Florida’s been an interesting beast to watch this season. In some ways, they remind me of the 2003-04 Sharks—a team that stunk up the first few months of the season as they tried to find an identity with a mixed-bag roster before finally clicking and hitting a real groove. I haven’t caught too many Panther games this season but I watched the tail end of their comeback victory against Toronto.
For one thing, the building looked a little more full (though not totally full) than previous times I’ve seen Panther games. They’re building a good buzz around the league, so I’m guessing that that’s trickling down into the actual local market. However, what surprised me was how loud and energetic the fans were. Sure, it’s probably packed with a little extra emotion due to the see-saw nature of coming from three goals down, but it showed to me that maybe the Panthers actually have something to build on there.
Maybe the people that constantly bought tickets during the Rat Trick days and the Pavel Bure era are willing to give this new team a try. Maybe their strong play has finally gotten noticed, or maybe people are just starting to come on the bandwagon. I’m not sure what the formula is but it seems like the people are noticing and they’re into it.
Is it possible for the Panthers to establish themselves in the marketplace similar to neighboring Tampa Bay? I’ve always said that you can judge a poor market by bad attendance numbers when a team is winning so we’re coming into a definitive time for the Florida Panthers. They’ve seemingly turned the corner, now we’ll see if both the team and market can sustain it.
Filed in: NHL | Mike Chen's Hockey Blog | Permalink
Tags: Attendance, Florida+Panthers,
Comments
yeah, i think kevin’s right, the crowd in miami last night was sizeable ‘cos they were playing the laughs, not ‘cos of the panthers. let’s see what happens on a night when the panthers play columbus.
Posted by matthew from montreal on 02/11/09 at 05:00 PM ET
They need to give up on hockey in Florida.
A very very tough thing to say. Is this because you feel like the sport of hockey is not watchable or sellable? Or is it just because you’d rather there not be any fans of hockey outside of who watches it today?
Posted by Earl Sleek from Anaheim, CA on 02/11/09 at 05:29 PM ET
Unless you’ve actually played hockey or skated a few times in your life you aren’t going to care about hockey. Yeah there might be 20,000 people in Fla that used to live up north that have an interest in hockey. But the average born and raised Floridian is not going to give a dang about hockey. No way. Basketball, football and basball are way more “convenient” for them. People need some basic connection to a sport in order to be converted.
Posted by kevin from boston on 02/11/09 at 05:41 PM ET
Maybe I’m the exception, but I’ve never played hockey (outside of video games) and haven’t been on ice skates more than a half-dozen times in my life.
Sure, playing experience helps, but I’m proof that it’s not a necessary prerequisite.
Posted by Earl Sleek from Anaheim, CA on 02/11/09 at 05:46 PM ET
The biggest mistake the Panthers ever made (well… along with trading Luongo) was to move from Miami to Sunrise Golf Village. Much like the Coyotes move to Glendale, moving outside a major city to somewhere in the sticks seriously damages any chances of persuading the casual fan to turn up; because the team doesn’t play in the city, on-fans don’t get exposed to, for example, the pre-game atmosphere outside the arena etc. The fact that the Panthers have consistently traded away their ‘franchise’ players that could persuade fans to turn up (Bure, Luongo, Jokinen… though only the former, I would argue, had the power to sell tickets single-handed), and are competing with D-Wade and the Miami Heat (who actually play in Miami) for the sports dollar, further explains why they have been much less successful than Tampa… and none of these facts are about to change anytime soon. And can the Panthers survive in a serious economic downturn… when there are significant parallels between Florida today and the Cleveland Barons in the 1970s.
btw, this is from a hockey fan who doesn’t even live in a market (even a nontraditional one...), and hasn’t skated since the age of 6; the only connection I have to this sport is a love of of the skilful, spectacular, passionate, and occasionally violent. Which, I suspect, is not a geographically exclusive tendency.
Posted by fredster from Manchester, England on 02/11/09 at 07:22 PM ET
I have plenty of friends who never played the game—and I’ve tried to get them to—yet are nonetheless hooked on hockey, and spend more on NHL merchandise than I do.
Kevin, saying “only one team [in Florida] is appropriate at best” is pretty simplistic. Should San Jose and Anaheim be killed, because only one team in that similarly giant, non-traditional state is appropriate? There are population-density, arena access/availability and business-capital concerns in placing and operating an NHL franchise, which is why neither Wisconsin (as you suggest) nor North Dakota have NHL teams, despite their association with the game.
Time may yet prove that NHL hockey was too tough a sell—or was sold in the wrong way—in a few southern markets. But not for the reasons you cited—otherwise Quebec and Winnipeg would still have teams.
Posted by Dominik on 02/11/09 at 07:26 PM ET
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About Mike Chen’s Hockey Blog
Mike Chen prides himself in being the only hockey writer integrating puck discussion with both Morrissey quotes and Star Wars references. Since 2004, he’s blogged about all things hockey and currently contributes to FoxSports.com, the Battle of California, and RotoRob.
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I think the paper said they had about 13,000 last night so you know it was more like 9,000....and half of those people were Leafs fans. They need to give up on hockey in Florida. Only one team (Tampa) is appropriate at best. But then again they could put another team in Orlando and have three teams in Fla and no teams in Wisconsin. That’s real smart…
Posted by kevin from boston on 02/11/09 at 04:46 PM ET