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Arizona Coyotes: Attendance Numbers Are Not Great

By William Grigsby

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Arizona Coyotes Attendance Numbers Have Never Been Over The Top

Ever since the Arizona Coyotes have started playing at Gila River arena in 2003, the attendance figures have been fairly mediocre, to say the least. They have had two seasons, the first one in the new building in ’03-’04 and the following season where they have averaged over 15,000 fans per game.

When you take a look at the attendance figures (per ESPN.com) for the past season, the NHL average attendance was — are you ready for this?  *17,534*

Factor this into your mathematical brain cells: The Arizona Coyotes average was a measly 13,851. If you multiply a conservative ticket price of say $75, that comes to $314,175 if they had attendance equal to the league average. And, we all wonder why the Arizona Coyotes are not successful? What really got to me, when I looked it up was in the one GOOD season where the team went to the Western Conference Finals, they were actually 30th (dead last) in attendance with just an average attendance of 12,420. Of course, many will say the ownership merry-go-round was not helping the team’s public image, and that hurt their attendance.

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If success on the ice can be tied to success at the box office, that theory was completely shot down. Could it be that Phoenix (and Arizona for that matter) have lots of transient fans? I mean without the Canadian visitors coming down to escape the severe winter weather in the tundra North Country, where would the Arizona Coyotes attendance be then?

Now, I am not a fan of what the city of Glendale is doing to try to wriggle out of their lease agreement, as has been evidenced by my previous posts, but I think if the team could draw better both parties would be happy.

So, whose fault is it exactly? What can be done to promote the team more? If they had received the first or second overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft in a week, what affect would that have had on the team’s popularity?

Does this franchise have bad karma, or what?

There are times that I think this franchise is jinxed. They go without an owner for four years, after experiencing poor ownership before that, and then FINALLY get solid ownership put in place. Only to see their lease be in danger of being cancelled by the Glendale city council because they were inept in protecting their interests, and the citizens they represent. When do they get a break? When will this hockey team finally explode from the doldrums they have been pitted in, and finally become reputable and successful?

The Chicago Blackhawks did it. From ’02-’03 season to ’07-’08 season they did not make the playoffs and their attendance suffered. Then, magically since that time they have not only made the playoffs, they have won three Cups in six years. And, as it should be their attendance has been well over 21,000 fans per game during the regular season.

The point I’m trying to make is — no matter where the Arizona Coyotes play (yes, even if it was Scottsdale) the fans won’t pay good hard earned money to come out and see a loser. It’s just too much to ask of the band-wagon Arizona fans. They’d rather come out and watch, and cheer for the Blackhawks, Red Wings, Sharks, Kings, etc. than their hometown team.

So, maybe all the critics are correct when they say — the Phoenix area is just not a good place for NHL hockey. Funny thing is though… the NHL and Commissioner Gary Bettman think otherwise.

IF the Arizona Coyotes can get on a winning track like the Blackhawks and then they still don’t have fans to show up to support the local team, then I might start agreeing with that argument. Until then, I’m an Arizona Coyotes fan through and through.

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