Attendance issue at Philips Arena
It was a sparse crowd to say the least at Philips Arena Thursday as the Thrashers returned home and were shut out by Columbus. The announced attendance was 8,461 – a franchise record low. I’m not sure there were that many people in the building.
The record low came just 15 days after the Thrashers broke the record for low attendance – when 8,820 showed up for the Oct. 20 game against Buffalo.
The Thrashers (6-5-2) had recorded eight points in their past five games before the loss. They fell to 2-3 at home this season.
“Definitely,” Zach Bogosian said when asked if it was difficult to play in a half-empty building. “It’s never good feeling when you come out and you are all pumped up and there’s not that many people in the stands. After playing here for three years, you kind of get used to it. The more fans would be a lot better but it’s not an excuse we can use.”
Here are the home attendance figures so far this season:
Oct. 8 vs. Washington – 15, 596
Oct. 20 vs. Buffalo – 8,820
Oct. 22 vs. Tampa Bay – 9,138
Oct. 29 vs. Buffalo – 10,172
Nov. 4 vs. Columbus – 8,461
That’s an average home attendance this season of 10, 437. Take away the season opener and it is 9,148.
I asked coach Craig Ramsay following the game if the atmosphere in the building was becoming an issue.
“You have to create your own atmosphere,” he said. “If you go on the road, somebody is yelling at you. It gives you a little edge sometimes. It’s up to us to create an atmosphere.”
The Thrashers appear early on to be a better than last season. They missed out on the playoffs by five points then so they figure to be in the hunt this year.
One thing I can tell you is not to make the leap between poor attendance and the franchise moving at this point. I chased down yet another rumor (this one by a guy who writes about hockey lifestyle) that the Thrashers were being sold. I can tell from from two sources that it is not true. Think about it folks, even as the team looks for investors, what person(s) would buy and/or invest in a team still in litigation? Until that is resolved nothing will happen.
So, what’s keeping folks away?
Let me know what you think.
I’m at practice and will update with two other blogs when it’s finished. I apologize for the lack of blogs yesterday, but I needed to sleep after getting back from Florida and then covering Thursday’s game.
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133 comments Add your comment
SouthGAfan
November 5th, 2010
7:08 pm
I live about 2 hours away from Atlanta. I used to go to a lot of Thrashers game. I will not return until a good product is on the ice. I had high hopes for this season and still do. However, I think Georgia can have hockey I was born and raised here and love the sport. Never ice skated, never played hockey as a youngster, I just love it though, it’s a tough man’s game. Well. It’s a tough man’s game outside of Atlanta. Here we are with all the hype about our defense in the off season. We brought in a teacher. A coach that knows the importance of defense. Look what we have so far. We average what 200 or 300 shots against each game. I don’t care what D-Men you bring into Phillips Arena and how defensive minded they our something happens when they get on the ice in a Thrashers’ jersey and it all goes out the window. I enjoy watching the Thrashers play on the road because after the first ten to fifteen minutes of sleep skating they play with passion. At home the play stinks. It is uninspired, flat, emotionless, it is down right horrific. The fans do not show up because the players appear not to care. I do blame ASG and Don Waddell as well. I consider myself one of the core fans, but yes I have been driven away. Of course I still read the blogs and eat sleep and breathe Thrashers hockey, but I will not do it at Phillips Arena because to me going there and watching the players figure skate his heart breaking. “A Brutally Good Time” what in the wide world of sports has the players done that has been brutal in a home game other than play like a bunch of Ron Hainsey’s. NOTHING. Run the bleep over somebody for crying out loud. Boulton will you drop the gloves already. Somebody please have the passion on ice that I have when I watch the game dancing around the living room like a freaking idiot because good things our happening in the hockey game. Now I just sit there like a lump on a log because well the home games are boring. How many times have yall yelled at the screen because the pucks at our end and there is five Thrashers players standing around watching the other team cycle the puck. And the two point men at the blue line will have enough free ice space and time to rake up all the snow and build an ice sculpture out there. And it goes like this. He passes to the point and he shoots and scores. Then Darren Elliott tells us all about how the Thrashers D broke down in there on end. What are they doing out there talking about their latest stock picks? I truly understand Stendek now. It took me a while but I get it. Please somebody save this team I wanna spend my hard earned money at Phillips Arena so bad, BUT I WILL NOT WASTE IT THERE.
Hockey Biltong
November 5th, 2010
7:38 pm
AY CARAMBA!!!!!!
Thrashers Season Ticket Holder Who is Just Tired of Going
November 5th, 2010
8:05 pm
As far as why many NEW fans no longer go to Phillps to see the Thrashers as of Fall 2010, the team has 3 primary public enemies:
Public Enemy #1: College & High School Football
Public Enemy #2: Atlanta Spirit Group (Encompassing Arena Game Night Staff as well)
Public Enemy #3: Jeff Schultz and his Negative “Anti-Thrashers” & “Anti-NHL in Atlanta” rants
Sure the team has other local enemies, but the 3 above currently do the most damage in recruiting new fans, IMHO.
ablebody
November 5th, 2010
8:54 pm
i go to & watch on TV as many hockey games as i possibly can. so, winning or not, i LOVE to go watch thrashers hockey.
with that in mind, philips arena itself is beginning to sour on me. i remember dany heatley in a pre-game video they used to play at philips where he said it all happened “in a world class facility.”
but payment with credit cards is a crap shoot. jumbotron looks crappy, the sound quality sometimes crackles, and if any of the monitors in the lobby are even working the quality of the picture is abysmal. philips is the largest electronics retailer in the world. their slogan used to be “let’s make things better,” but they dumped that in 2004 for this one: “sense and simplicity.”
six years later and the only sense i get is that philips arena is simply falling apart.
Alan R.
November 5th, 2010
9:22 pm
Attention: Atlanta Spirit Group
I am interested in marketing the Thrashers, since your marketing department cannot seem to do so. Let Chris or Bill know that you want to talk to me, and my contact info will get to you.
Simple
November 5th, 2010
9:41 pm
Arrange a babysitter and pay her to watch the kid. Leave work early to get to the rink through horrible traffic. Get all hyped up. Get slammed back to reality that I just spent $40+/person for a product that you never know what you are going to get and the odds are not in your favor.
Get home completely disappointed and now out in the whole a couple hundred dollars. Wondering why I keep buying when the outcome is so often the same.
Simple! Fans pay money to go to sporting events to get a rush of excitement. There is the excitement in that they get to see their favorite team or players and that maybe they will be there when those few rare moments occur that we look back on for generations. Fans will only pay this money so long as they think they will get this excitement. Right now, the odds are against us and are more in favor of the opposite. Winning isn’t always the solution but at this point it is the only solution.
Sure, also there is the argument of the economy but I think that it would account more for the gap between 11k and 9k people. In today’s economy people tend to think more about what they get for their dollar before they spend it. If they don’t think they will get it back in equal memories then they will keep it.
Carlos
November 5th, 2010
9:45 pm
For homework before each game they should make the team and all staff read these responses. Maybe they can find some inspiration in that the overwhelming response is WIN and do it with gusto.
Curly
November 5th, 2010
10:08 pm
Bottom line… Why should the fans show up if the team fails to do so?
Chris S
November 5th, 2010
10:55 pm
When the Arena staff bans the use of noisemakers, it certainly kills any spirit there might have been. How else are we supposed to fight the bajillion Buffalo fans that invade the arena? They’re just doing everything they can to turn Philips Arena into the Philips Library. NO LOUD TALKING!
R. Stroz
November 5th, 2010
10:59 pm
Do any of you get disappointed when you go work each day and no one applauds when you perform your job?
I didn’t think so.
How about when you don’t do your job? You get fired.
Thrashers fans have fired the organization.
Fairly simple isn’t it?
Alan R.
November 5th, 2010
11:08 pm
Do any of you get disappointed when you go work each day and no one applauds when you perform your job?
Yes. I want 18545 people around me, cheering me on as I repair that computer that was built last century. I want them chanting “SCREW! SCREW! SCREW!” when I’m installing an expansion card, and a roar from the crowd (along with a goal horn) when the computer I just assembled powers on.
And then, I woke up.
Albert
November 5th, 2010
11:34 pm
Until Buff gets moved from D to forward I ain’t going. Nah, not really, but when he does move up the games will get even more interesting.
Turf Toe
November 6th, 2010
2:09 am
“Atlanta Knights Hockey. Come watch our yankees beat up their yankees.” Billboards on this side were were as far out as Waco, Ga.
Great AD at the time ! Too Bad Atlanta Spirit Just doesn’t get it !
kdh
November 6th, 2010
4:45 am
one reason – management was told several yrs ago not to change the start time and that 7pm was too hard to get a family there on time. second, they have changed places with the hawks. failed leadership and a poor product = no fans. three – someone advise ramsay to practice not looking like it is the first time he has been in a hockey rink.
Lee
November 6th, 2010
9:31 am
“…I truly can. But, in the end, I just want the team to succeed. I just wish that, for once, we’d have ownership that actually CARED about this team, enough to give it proper ‘accountability’ through the years, and nuture a winning climate. That continues to be my wish.”
So do I. And hopefully others wish for that too. Who doesn’t want to watch great hockey? And more importantly who doesn’t want to support a great team? Hopefully someday, this might become reality where fans can just be happy. Maybe….
Very well said Brendan
Taudawg
November 6th, 2010
9:34 am
Hard to build a fan base beyond the hard core hockey fans without a radio signal beyond 285 at night. The local radio stations, many times, don’t even mention the Thrashers scores. There seems to be no goal to build the fan base. Sad and uncomfortable.
Turf Toe
November 6th, 2010
9:39 am
Taudawg. I hear you on the Radio signal. Where the heck do they think the hockey fans live ? These people have a hard time selling basketball in Atanta. That should be as easy as selling firewood to Eskimos.
MM
November 6th, 2010
9:50 am
Bruce needs to go…..worst owner in all of sports
It is that simple
MM
November 6th, 2010
9:53 am
A little help for those who are tech challenged
Download 680 app and the signal will not be a problem
squawksmcgrew
November 6th, 2010
10:29 am
As long as the Spirit own the franchise, I’m not apt to hand them my money. (I was a STH for three years until they jacked my costs by 100%). I have no faith in ownership and don’t want to fund mediocrity. Yet, I watch every televised game and scream when we put one in the net and groan when we allow one. Go Thrasherrs, just leave the ASG behind.
JR
November 6th, 2010
11:04 am
it’s a vicious cycle. management won’t spend because the attendance is low. fans won’t come because they feel that management is taking a ‘cheap’ approach to payroll and the record reflects that.
i missed the win last friday, so the last three games i attended were all losses where the players were lackluster in their play and seemingly could care less.
address these issues and ‘they will come’.
i have to miss a few games in coming weeks and i’m not even distressed over it. i have two season tickets and i’m constantly bringing a friend or a date for the second seat. the dates haven’t petered out yet [pun intended] but already friends are finding excuses not to come.
Turf Toe
November 6th, 2010
11:46 am
JR I eat a lot of them too. Nice to stretch out sometimes though and keep a buffer in between me and some Tech nerd like MM.
Hockey Biltong
November 6th, 2010
11:49 am
Btw., my wife informs me that Thrashers tix are some of the lowest in the NHL…..I did not know that.
Turf Toe
November 6th, 2010
11:50 am
The team with the worst record in the NHL (0-7 at home too) had 18.2 K last night. Granted they were playing the habs and are only a river away from hockeyland ,but it still blows Bogosian’s rant out of the water.
Add the Atlanta Thrashers to the list of teams facing attendance issues | ProHockeyTalk
November 6th, 2010
12:33 pm
[...] Sadly, the trend of fledgling teams struggling to draw people in relatively young markets continues with the Atlanta Thrashers, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. [...]
kracker
November 6th, 2010
1:17 pm
Chris, can you do an article updating us on the lawsuit situation? Like how many more years is Belkin going to drage this out?
Tom B.
November 6th, 2010
2:15 pm
if the thrashers would play like they played on the road it may bring the people out. every game at home, they look like they do not want to be here. we keep saying to send them some coffee or something between periods. that might pep them up a little. people are not gonna come out and watch them lose, it’s that plain and simple
Supply vs Demand
November 6th, 2010
2:29 pm
Low attendance? Been there, done that:
“Supply vs Demand
August 12th, 2010
1:20 am
Taking care of the “needs” of STH and offering Flex Plans as the “next level of value” are great and all…But the last time I checked, we’re living in a macro economy that’s got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. Many of us have been forced to cut back on what used to be luxuries like tix to college fb/bb, professional fb/bb and yes, Thrashers Hockey. These budgeting decisions become more compelling when you have a family of 5 and all of the expenses that come with it. I’m not complaining, I’m just sayin’……How about a little love for the rest of us?
We attended 10 Thrashers games @ Blueland last year, including opening nt, the 1/9 Snowstorm pummeling of 8-1, the 2/6 post-Kovy debut, the Devils game that knocked us out officially and the season finale win over the Pens. With a mortgage, orthodontics, college & retirement savings and all of the other “benefits” of a credit-based society, we probably would’ve been forced to watch all the games on Fox Sports South if we’d really had to pay some $50 per ticket to sit in the upper bowl, $12-15 parking & $60 for Cokes/hotdogs/popcorn/nachos per game.
Obviously Philips will not fill up with just STH and Flex Plan owners. Many of us were there because of single game ticket promotions like the TravelZoo $8 tix in the 300 level. Would I love to sit Rinkside every game? Sure…..But I won’t take out another equity line for all 5 of us to do so.
I hope this is not forgotten while single game promotions are in “full discussion mode”. The harsh reality is this economy sucks right now and Thrashers avg home attendance declined last year by 1,019 (per game) from the previous year. Normally, when supply is fixed (excessive) and demand is decreasing, either the product (quality) must be improved and/or price must fall. They do still teach things like that in Marketing classes, don’t they? At this time, any perceived increase in product quality is still unproven on the ice, so removing extreme single ticket discounting prior to the start of the season probably won’t do anything to reverse the trend of declining attendance.
Surely a team that is 3rd to last in avg home attendance and that’s struggling to meet the Cap Minimum can afford to continue offering extreme discounts on single game tix. Please don’t forget this when considering “the rest of us” who LOVE Thrashers Hockey, but can’t financially commit to game packages without taking on more family debt.
I don’t need free tix. But give us deep discounts and we’ll bring the family and drop $100 or so per game, while an empty seat = $0 Revenue. Please don’t forget this…….”
Unfortunately, they forgot. Next question, please?
Curly
November 6th, 2010
3:51 pm
I tried calling my STH rep and the box office to purchase 2 more tickets to tonight’s game (for two college students). – Do they still have the 50% discount for students? Guess what … No one answers the phone. Just a recorded message to leave a message. No wonder they can’t sell tickets. You can’t buy one if you wanted to.
East Point Bob
November 6th, 2010
3:57 pm
Joe Friday nailed it, Don Waddell and his total inability to be a good GM. He got in way over his head, had no idea what he was doing, was very easily duped into bad moves by other smarter GM’s and simply had no idea what he was or is still doing. Albeit, these owners suck, Waddell is the one
constant that has been here since day one and since day one this team has stunk.
Sure we won the SE one season, but when star players leave because the GM is a halfwit idiot at
putting at team togather, well you have a disaster. That is what we have a complete disaster and Waddell is the only real reason we stink. look at his awful draft’s, poor trades and inability to keep star players and yet more inability to attract top flight UFA’s.
Waddell is like Cancer, he has eaten the heart and soul out of this franchise and has destroyed it.
I believe it to be too late to save it from moving now, I believe after next season they will be gone.
Waddell should never never never have been selected as GM, even to this day he still has no idea what he is doing, he talks a good game, but that is all a front of a man who has failed at every aspect of professional hockey. Waddell should be embarrassed as hell to stay employed with the team, it is amazing to be a complete failure and get promoted, amazing. Where I come from you don’t do your job, you are fired and someone else is brought in who can. But not in Atlanta, where losing fans, players is far less important to these owners, than firing Waddell. If I were Waddell I would be so disgraced I could not show my face, and one thing that needs to stop is Waddell being employed here a day longer, but with the owners we are stuck with… They would likely give Saddam the key to the city, which is like letting Waddell be President, What Next ?
Winnipeg in 2012-2013 Thanks to Waddell and his stupidity !
Sandy
November 6th, 2010
6:49 pm
The main reason I don’t attend that many games anymore is that the Thrashers have traded or let go of their major stars (you all know who they are) and at present the team has no stars. This pattern goes back many years. The good part of having bad attendence is that if you want great seats to almost any game they’re their for the taking.
For a true hockey fan this is outstanding. For the mangement/owners it’s something less.
Thrashable.com » Taking attendance at Philips Arena
November 8th, 2010
10:45 am
[...] about small crowds coming out to watch Thrashers home games, including Thrashers. Zach Bogosian airs the issue out: It’s never good feeling when you come out and you are all pumped up and there’s not that many [...]
Blondie
November 8th, 2010
3:32 pm
I wish I could go to more games, but I just don’t have the $ right now. Now, if they would offer $5 or $10 seats every home game – I’d be there.