Amid Thrashers talk, we ask: Is Atlanta a lousy sports city?
Corporate synergy: Basketball mascot dances at hockey rally! (AJC photo by Hyosub Shin)
Should the Thrashers leave for Manitoba, ours would become the first American city to lose two NHL franchises. Word of the pending sale has spawned yet another round of Atlanta-is-a-lousy-sports-town boilerplate harrumphing, and again I pause to ask: Are we a lousy sports town?
The Thrashers were 28th among 30 NHL teams in attendance last season. The Hawks were 22nd among 30 NBA clubs. The 2010 Braves made the playoffs for the first time since 2005, and their attendance ticked upward from 15th to 13th among the 30 baseball teams. (The average Turner Field crowd grew by 1,685 year over year.)
Of note: The 2010 Falcons, who had the NFL’s second-best record, were 15th among 32 teams in attendance and 19th in capacity at 95.3 per cent. But the Falcons’ average gate was 67,850. Put it this way: Over their last full seasons, the average Braves, Hawks and Thrashers crowds together still fell 6,000 below the Falcons’ yield.
That’s instructive. Since 2004, Hawks and Thrashers fans have faced a shared dilemma: Do I buy tickets and support the team even if it means endorsing the maladroit Atlanta Spirit? Since 2007, the Braves have been owned by faceless Liberty Media of faraway Colorado. (Last week Liberty Media offered $1 billion to buy Barnes & Noble; the Braves’ payroll remains under $90 million.)
My point: The only local pro sports owner who inspires any confidence is Arthur Blank. We’re more inclined to support the Falcons because we believe they’re well run. About the other teams, it can be tough to know. Example: Frank Wren signed Derek Lowe to a four-year contract paying $60 million in January 2009 and was trying to dump him 10 months later. Another: The Hawks paid $120 million to keep Joe Johnson in the same summer they promoted Larry Drew to head coach at a cut-rate price.
My question: If we have qualms about a team’s management, are we wrong for keeping our money in our wallets? Isn’t that essentially what Americans do every election — vote our pocketbooks?
Addressing Thrashers fans, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said on a radio show Thursday: “I understand that there may be dissatisfaction [with ownership] there, but demonstrating your dissatisfaction by not going to games is an interesting strategy. It’s your absolute right. But if it becomes a turnoff for anybody who might want to buy the franchise, the long-term consequences could be severe.”
So Bettman’s recommendation would be to spend money on a bad product just so somebody else might come along and snap it up? In what solar system is he living?
News flash: Money’s tighter than it was in 2005, or in 2000, or in 1995. For a family of four, a game at Philips Arena can run more than $200. (A trip to Turner Field can be done for less.) At a time of lower income and higher prices, the issue becomes: Do we need to go watch this team play in person? For many Atlantans, the teams that meet that criterion tend to be based on college campuses.
Whenever I’m hit with the Atlanta-is-a-lousy-sports-town line, that’s my rebuttal: We might not be the best pro sports city, but we’re the absolute best for college football. All you need do is drive around the Perimeter on an autumn Saturday morning and you’ll see the festooned cars bearing Fulton and DeKalb and Cobb and Gwinnett plates headed for Athens and Auburn and Knoxville and Tuscaloosa and Clemson and Columbia and Tallahassee and Gainesville. (And yes, for North Avenue, too.)
Loading ...In our love for college football, we’re different from Boston or Philadelphia or New York or Miami or L.A. (Among big cities, Dallas would be the closest to us, but it’s not really close.) Our sporting priorities are those autumn Saturdays. As Gary Stokan, the president of the Chick-fil-A Bowl, says: “Our two biggest pro teams are Georgia and Georgia Tech.”
Last year I asked Michael Adams, Georgia’s president, how Sanford Stadium kept playing to capacity crowds in an uncertain economy. “For our folks,” he said, “[football tickets] are second to the mortgage.”
It would be nice if a pro team grabbed us by the lapels and made us care — the Braves did it in 1991, and the Falcons did it with Michael Vick — but that’s the job of the team. It’s not on us.
That more folks haven’t turned up to see the Thrashers lose doesn’t make us lousy civic stewards. Gary Bettman might not be happy with us, but he has to admit we’re savvy shoppers.
By Mark Bradley
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353 comments Add your comment
Brendan
May 23rd, 2011
11:27 am
Mark Bradley, excellent column. My $0.02, I think Atlanta is a great sports town. By that, I mean the following. “We won’t spend our hard earned money foolishly, or blindly, in support of a team or product.” (Other than College sports, apparently.) If the major professional teams are faltering, hampered by uncommitted ownership or mismanagement, we withold our support, until they provide us with a belief that the organization is committed and is being competently run. The Toronto Maple Leafs, of the NHL, sellout every game. And ownerships impetus to effect change would be, what? They got their money!! Why change a thing?!
In case you’re curious, Mark Bradley, the Maple Leafs have not had a “sniff” at a Cup since they last won it in 1967. In the 43 seasons that followed, the Leafs mustered four (4) appearances in the Conference Finals, in 1993, 1994, 1999, and 2002. They lost them all. It’s hard to believe that the “Mecca” for hockey in North America, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, could or would come up short, for such a prolonged run.
Mark, any thoughts as to why the drought has been so long, in Toronto, where hockey MATTERS moreso than any other sport, on the front page of the newspaper? I don’t mean to influence your response, but isn’t the answer … “because fans BLINDLY throw their money at the team, selling out the arena, night after night?” It’s a consequence-free environment, for ownership. It’s staggering to think about a business that can be so badly run, for so very long, and not even have a remote, passing thought … of going out of business.
Brendan
May 23rd, 2011
11:28 am
Mark, I’m in SPAM Filters.
Smoker
May 23rd, 2011
11:30 am
Yeah, I’m not showing up to these games to watch the leftovers of the league play. The Braves and Falcons are the only two in this city that work to better the team, and the Braves really don’t try that hard. We just get good young talent come up through there, so its exciting to go see them play. The Hawks suck and aren’t getting any better, and yeah, let’s go watch the Thrashers, who have traded away any good talent they have. Screw those two, I could care less to go watch another game for either of those teams, until they decide to actually try to compete in the league, and not just milk the fan base for stockholder gains.
Jackets21
May 23rd, 2011
11:32 am
rtrrteryeryreeray
marcus
May 23rd, 2011
11:36 am
you people are pathetic.. atlanta is a great sports city. just because the teams here have not won “championships” it takes nothng away from the dynamics of the sports teams here. why do you think so many athletes and and celebrities live here. they know the city is happening! all we need is decent coaching and owners who are dedicated to bringing championships to the city. the falcons will get it right! they’ll spend what it takes to get the job done. players want to come here, it’s the coaching/managemnt that keeps them away. look at the hawks, they make the wrong decisions in regards to draft picks and signings. the joke around the nba is joe johnson’s contract. atlanta is a great place to live, play and work and that’s what makes a great sports city. stopping selling the city short!
gotcurry04
May 23rd, 2011
11:38 am
Losing the Thrashers doesn’t make us a lousy sports town. It makes us a lousy hockey town….and I have no problem with that.
real talk
May 23rd, 2011
11:41 am
Mark Bradley where are you and Schultz from? Both of you all are such douchebags. Go jump off a bridge or something
Time
May 23rd, 2011
11:41 am
ATLRav hit a great point pages ago. All these supposed great northern sports towns are just fans rooting for players, who for the most part, come from “lousy” sports cities like Atlanta and even worse ones with no major professional sports like Birmingham, Tallahassee, Macon, etc.
I think that’s the key difference. Places like Atlanta are full of sportsmen (and women to be PC) while places like Boston and NY are full of sports fans. Big difference.
The real problem
May 23rd, 2011
11:50 am
For many many years, the Flames, Thrashers, Falcons, Braves, and
Hawks all had the EXACT same problem: the Owners.
It wasnt until OWNERSHIP changed that the Braves and Falcons began to seriously improve.
Thashers and Hawks are the poster children of dysfunctional ownership.
G52PlM228
May 23rd, 2011
12:09 pm
then why can’t the braves sellout playoff games ?
Mike
May 23rd, 2011
12:09 pm
If Atlanta is such a great hockey town and deserves Les Thrash, then why did only 200 people show up for the event? Thats like half of 1 section of seats, or to put it in better perspective, twice as many people that show up for a wednesday night game vs the predators. You dont deserve a hockey team. youre a transplanted city with transplanted people who probably dont deserve the Bravos either, bunch of ungreatful whiners. Be happy you had them (the thrashers) for that long, Winnipeg is thrilled to be getting a non expansion team i bet, and they will put money into the team. Pretty ironic that one of your most popular players in team histroy was Moose Hedberg, and now their going to be the Manitoba Moose. Go announce when the thrash are back to full strenght or when its icing. Hillbillies.
Mark Bradley
May 23rd, 2011
12:09 pm
I would not pretend to be an expert on Toronto sports. It’s hard to believe that club, alone among the Original Six, hasn’t won a Cup since the ’60s. (Even the Chicago skaters took the title last season.)
Time
May 23rd, 2011
12:11 pm
G52PIM228 – I didn’t know Terrence Moore was still paying attention to what’s going on in Atlanta. Figured you’d be too busy crying racism at your beloved ND.
ATL Observer
May 23rd, 2011
12:14 pm
re: the whole “bad part of town” argument, I’ve gone to several sporting events in this city (all 4 teams) and have never been robbed.
I’ve taken the train to these games. I’ve driven to these games. I’ve been to the under ground and above ground parking lots. And I’m about the least threatening individual (physically and otherwise) you’d ever want to meet. And I’ve never been robbed.
But the PERCEPTION is that you will be. I’m not naive: we have a high crime rate here. But once you push a part of town as a “bad part of town,” it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The less reputable people are willing to venture somewhere, the less reputable the area as a whole will be, but if everyone had showed up, there’d have been nothing to worry about.
That’s PART of what bugs me about this town. A bunch of scaredy cats in the northern parts of the city that are terrified to come down to see a game because they think they’ll get mugged. But guess what? If you don’t own a car (and plenty of people that live in major cities don’t), heading up north ain’t exactly a dream either!
And the pro sports leagues don’t do the northern-city dwellers any favors either. Most games typically start at 7…not exactly giving enough working folks any reasonable time to gather up the kids and get to the game with ATL traffice being what it is and the public transit being as insufficient as it is.
Bottom line, between scared northern-part-of-the-city dwellers, crappy public transit, inconvenient scheduling…….Atlanta just isn’t BUILT to be anything but a lousy sports city, even if there are plenty of people here who care.
Ted
May 23rd, 2011
12:16 pm
You are asking a legitimate question and I’ll answer it as best as I can. Atlanta is (thankfully) a melting pot of people from different places. Most people who live in Atlanta are transplants and are diehard fans of their hometown teams (and college football teams). So to answer your question, those of us who are from places other than Atlanta DO NOT CARE about Atlanta sports teams. Thank goodness for NFL Sunday Ticket, MLB Extra Innings, NBA League Pass, and NHL Center Ice. We can watch our hometown teams on TV. Luckily, because of the Internet, we’re not subjected to Atlanta sports talk radio either.
get real
May 23rd, 2011
12:16 pm
The only really good pro sports cities are Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Everywhere else is mediocre at best.
G52PlM228
May 23rd, 2011
12:17 pm
Chicago hadn’t won since the 50’s before last season.
Boston hasn’t won in 40 years either.
Buffalo is at 40 years
Vancouver is at 40 years
UGA=YAWN
May 23rd, 2011
12:35 pm
I’m a big Braves fan. Becoming more of a Falcons fan but still – and will probably always be – a Browns fan. And I love GT sports – all of them!!!
Brendan
May 23rd, 2011
12:38 pm
Chicago, Boston, Buffalo and Vancouver, over the past 40 years, have had ebbs and flows that correspond to the successfulness of the franchises. They also have MEDIA powerful enough to effect change. I cannot ever recall the AJC putting out a print edition of the sports section that read, “Don Waddell Should be Fired! Do it now!” It just didn’t happen. Nor did it happen for the equally inept Billy Knight, who was GM of the Hawks. Or for Coach Woodson, who lost something like 200 games while he was Coach of the Hawks. Woodson was actually quoted as once saying, “Records are records. I’m not concerned about our record. We can’t control our record.” Thud. Atlanta media gave him a huge pass on that one, too! I’d have fired Woody on the spot for a comment like, “We can’t control out record. I’m not worried about that.”
In Vancouver, I’d imagine that the morning paper might demand the head of a head coach or GM, and get it. Thinking back on it, Didn’t ex-GM David Nonis get fired, after just three seasons in Vancouver, and two of them were 100-point campaigns? The reason? It was his job to advance the Canucks into the CF, and he didn’t do it. Therefore, he got fired. That’s accountability. The Canucks are a win away from the Finals now, and are probably odds on favorites to win the Cup, as the President’s Trophy winner, too, for best overall record. Point of fact, Vancouver is 5 wins away from the Cup, as we speak.
When the lockout ended, and a $39 million salary cap went into effect in hockey, the “Final Four” teams of such a “lean, financial year” were (1) Buffalo, (2) Carolina, (3) Edmonton, and (4) Anaheim. Anyone think of them as the “big spenders,” historically, of the NHL? Edmonton is the smallest market in the league, and Carolina is pretty close behind them. What made them successful? Accountability. Look at the GM’s of those teams, when a responsible budget was required. Darcy Regier in Buffalo. Jim Rutherford in Raleigh, NC. Glen Sather in Edmonton, (exception that proves the rule, I believe,) and Brian Burke, in Anaheim.
All Atlanta ever needed, to be successful, and to have fan support, was ownership willing to be within $3-5 million of the cap, with accountability over results. Do that, and watch the fans fill the arena. Field a league minimum team, while retaining a GM without a playoff win in a decade’s worth of seasons, and watch the team get relocated. No commitment level from ownership. No accountability over results. Honestly, now. Why put a team in Atlanta, or anywhere ELSE, for that matter, if the NHL isn’t going to properly vet the ownership, to ensure they have adequate financial resources and a heartfelt desire to own/run the franchise? Gary Bettman has some answering to do about John R. Rigas, in Buffalo. And some of the other crooks that ran NHL teams under his watch. I’m sure Gary Bettman is getting better about scrutinizing potential owners for his teams.
Brendan
May 23rd, 2011
12:40 pm
Mark, I’m in SPAM filters, yet again. Sorry.
ChillyMutt
May 23rd, 2011
12:44 pm
If you consider college football, is Atlanta a bad sports city?
Thrashers
Cost – Decent seats (where you can somewhat see the puck) for a family of 4 + Parking + Snacks = $400 or more. That’s a pretty big night out. And then they don’t even start really playing until midway in the 3rd period.
Hawks
I grew up playing and watching basketball and today I can’t tell you what is a foul. So arbitrary. I remember when basketball was considered a non contact sport.I do know what ‘traveling’ and ‘double dribbling’ are – I see it ALL the time in Pro (and college) basketball and the refs rarely if ever call it.
Falcons
Pro Football is exciting. The Falcons are fun to watch.
The problem is:
The Georgia Dome is a drab, characterless stadium.
The Georgia Dome is a dome. Fall weather is spectacular in Atlanta. As a fan do I really want to spend $$$$ to sit in that depressing stadium? No.
Tailgating at The Georgia Dome is a joke.
Braves
The only pro sport that I will pay for a ticket.
Do I think Atlanta is a bad sports city? Are you asking if the fans are bad, the ownership bad, or the management of the sport is bad? I think for the most part, its bad fan experience associated with some/most pro sports.Even though Atlanta is a transient city, fans will come out if given and compelling, affordable product.
Steve D
May 23rd, 2011
12:49 pm
not going to games because fans dont like the ownership? please. did your dog also eat your homework?
wrap it up in any excuse you want but Atlanta just flat out does not care about hockey. Hockey is not a national sport, its a regional one. There are other NHL teams with bad ownership that still draw in the fans because, bad ownership or not, people who care about hockey will go see it.
G52PIM228
May 23rd, 2011
12:51 pm
I don’t think the Thrashers are moving anywhere..
Fred
May 23rd, 2011
12:53 pm
Your comments about average crowds at the Falcons games exceeding the others combined ignores that there only 7-8 Falcons home games per season vs 40 something for the Thrashers, 80-90 for the Braves and while I don’t know the numbers for the Hawks way more than the Falcons. So if I miss the Braves game today, big deal there will be one tomorrow or the next day. A 10 day road trip is considered a long time. Supply and demand and price elasticity.
AFB
May 23rd, 2011
1:00 pm
quote “Last year I asked Michael Adams, Georgia’s president, how Sanford Stadium kept playing to capacity crowds in an uncertain economy. “For our folks,” he said, “[football tickets] are second to the mortgage (read trailer payment).”
Brendan
May 23rd, 2011
1:02 pm
Ownership ANTAGONIZED the hockey fanbase here. I’d never seen anything like it. Bruce Levenson called a fan, during a season ticket holder meeting, a “smartass.” And while the team was rebuilding, which it vehemintly denied it was doing, they raised ticket prices. When STH’s complained, Levenson said, “DEAL WITH IT!” And when fans actually bought season tickets, by November/December, their same seat was discounted 50% to the general public.
You tell me … is that a ‘right and proper way’ to run a franchise? Or, how to ‘run off’ a franchise. Now, think it over. I’m sure the answer will come to you.
If you say, “You buy anyway,” would you also tell a cheating spouse that their lover may now move into the house with you? All because, “It’s important to maintain the marriage,” and not, sayyy, that the marriage actually “function?” When you stare at a house, from the curb, you have NO IDEA how much dysfunction might dwell within. It’s only when one of the spouses moves out … that the neighbors learn of the discord and abuse.
In 1999, the Atlanta Thrashers set an NHL attendance record for an expansion team, selling out 38 of 41 hockey games. An aberration? Or proof, demonstrably, where hockey interest lie, IFFFFF the fans believe that ownership is trying to win. If ownership doesn’t care, the fan is left to wonder, “why should we?”
“Marriage for One, anyone?”
Fred
May 23rd, 2011
1:06 pm
All you folks that keep talking about how the Braves weren’t good until the ownership changed have short memories. Ted Turner owned the Braves for 14 years before they became serious, consistent contenders. It has more to do with management style than anything else.
bitter "OLE" School Dogs-fan
May 23rd, 2011
1:07 pm
collage football will always rule————-over payed —no tallent so called pro sports
———-can go ———-i love the 70’s loosing braves and there 5 $ front roll tickets
—————————-paying 400$ for a family of 4 to watch a 3 hr game———20$ beer
————————————————————————-10$ hott dogs——please
—————————————leave the ATL quick—————–at list paying high dollar tickets
=—————————————————————————at a dawgs or jackets support higher learning
———————————————–not drug habbits yyyyyaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww
bitter "OLE" School Dogs-fan
May 23rd, 2011
1:12 pm
no por player should ever earn more that 100,000 to play a kids game——–f——–pro sports
BaseballBuff
May 23rd, 2011
1:19 pm
Is Atlanta a lousy sports city? Well, the fan base is jaded, and with good reason. Even the hapless Mets started winning after being in existence 8 years or so. The Falcons were so bad for so long, and the on again-off again Hawks have never looked like a true championship contender. Ironically, the Braves’ run in the 90s and early 2000s fueled the negative attitude instead of turning it around, because several of those teams were clearly talented enough to win it all but didn’t. There’s nothing wrong with Atlanta that winning won’t cure.
Michael
May 23rd, 2011
1:24 pm
Thrashers have few fans, not bad fans.
SSgt Jones
May 23rd, 2011
1:28 pm
This whole article just described a terrible fanbase. Fair weather, all of you. You don’t want to pay for a bad product, that’s fine. The Chicago Cubs are a terrible product too, but they sell out every game, because the fans love the team and the sport. You can try and rationalize it by adding college in, but the fact is EVERY college town is full of die-hard college fans. University of Michigan just had the worst 3 years in it’s history, and the still sell out the biggest stadium in the country. No one has been hit harder be the recession than Detroit, and the attendance figures are generally higher all across the board (with the Lions as the exception, but 50 years of mediocrity will do that). So yes, Atlanta is a terrible sports city and probably doesn’t deserve to have most of the teams that they do. And hey, that’s perfectly fine. Don’t go to games, markets like Oklahoma, Las Vegas, and Canada will buy all your franchises and appreciate them.
Call it like it is
May 23rd, 2011
1:33 pm
Hmmmmm……..
Braves one Championship, 20, million division titles, Fans get tired of going for the ring, then they choke, and choke and choke.
Falcons, Nothing, One shot at the title and they got their feathers handed to them
Hawks, nothing, not close
Thrashers, nothing, not close.
And the one big factor, they all play in downtown, where the tail gating sux, you have to deal with surly cops, bums, and no parking.
In the cities where they have a great fan base. Well one either their team has at least made it to the championship or the city itself sux, and they really have nothing better to do then support the bums.
At least our college teams get in the hunt each year. I’ll stick with them.
Bye Tharashers, turn off the lights when you leave.
G52PlM228
May 23rd, 2011
1:41 pm
I don’t think they are moving… I know they are moving
Anti Spirit
May 23rd, 2011
1:43 pm
As a former season ticket holder to the Thrashers, I am glad to see that the veil the Spirit had put up in front of Bettman saying the fans were lousy has given way to the reality that the fans left the ownership. I held my tickets for 8 years, and when one of the owners berated a fan for questioning why we should accept rising season tickets despite them never committing to talent (they had just let Hossa walk), and his angry retort was “Ticket prices will go up this year, they will go up next year, and they will go up every year until we sell this team. Get used to it.” That was it for me. They are a bunch of clowns who never committed to the fans or to the City. Bettman approved the deal, and he would have been better off telling Turner that David McDavid’s offer should be ratified. Would have saved Turner $238M in judgements and this City the embarrassment that Spirit has brought this city, and forcing us to write emails like this to defend our sanity and get the truth out.
Time
May 23rd, 2011
1:47 pm
Enough with the Cubs fans are so great and go to games even though the team is bad. It’s not the team that’s selling out that stadium. It’s the stadium itself. Not only is it almost a national monument. It seats so few that it’s hard not to sell out.
Anti Spirit
May 23rd, 2011
1:50 pm
Hey Manitoba Mike
We are discerning sports fans, and at least we “hillbillies” know how spell.
StungByAYellowJacket
May 23rd, 2011
1:52 pm
Some of the statements are completely off, while I respect anyone’s opinion, some of them are complete ignorance… People complaining about location, people trying to compare “US” with boston, new york, chicago, L.a, etc. It gets very old!!! Places like Chicago have a LONG PRO History that would compare teams such as the Cubs to the Bulldawgs here. Not to mention that areas such as chicago, ny, etc have generations and generations of fans and have enormous populations of “home grown” people from top to bottom. No, Unfortunately, I’m not much of a College Football Fan and I was raised here! However, I will support any Georgia product… For those saying that Downtown isn’t a great spot are just hoping for a venue that is only convenient for themselves! Traffic is absolutely horrible in the Northern Suburbs, Yes, it might be true that several Fans come from the Northern corridor, but its still only about 1/4 to 1/2 depending on the day and without public transportation around the arenas up there, it will be imaginable traffic going right through your neighborhoods!!! That would really give some of you something to complain about!!!
what a load of crap
May 23rd, 2011
2:14 pm
SSgt Jones names the Cubs as an example of a team who is not very good but still sells out. Ok, how about the Islanders, Mets, Pirates, Cavaliers, Indians, Bengals, Wizards, Tigers and Lions? I thought northern cities really supported their teams? Do these not count?
But…but…but…
aswingruber
May 23rd, 2011
2:25 pm
Atlanta’s passion for college football is the best point to be made when considering if we’re a good sports town or not. We simply do not have the pro sports tradition and pedigree that the biggest cities have, and the histories of our pro teams are relatively short. Our tradition lies in college football and that is reflected in the passion fans have for the sport in this city. It is unrivaled. When you talk about sports in general, college football is as important to the country as any pro sport, and fans don’t get anymore passionate about it than in Atlanta. With that said, how can one one say we’re a bad sports town?
As far as pro sports, after the Braves run of the 90s and early 2000s they have a fan base that rivals any baseball. With a run of sustained success from our other franchises, which you’re beginning to see with the Falcons and even the Hawks have a window if they make the right offseason moves, you will see growth and strengthening of those fan bases as well.
We’re a unique town that contains as many transients as natives, and we’ve seen an unusual amount of losing from and mismanagement of our pro teams. These reasons and more contribute to less than stellar attendance at our pro teams’ games. But knowing how we root for college football, and the opportunity our franchises have to take a turn for the better in terms of ownership and quality of play, Atlanta has the potential to be one of the best sports towns, college or pro, in the country.
So says this eternal optimist from the ATL.
TV Watcher
May 23rd, 2011
2:41 pm
Atlanta’s problem is tickets are too high, difficult to get to venues and pro owners are greedy.
AceDawg
May 23rd, 2011
3:13 pm
Smaller cities with pro teams probably have less options for entertainment than Atlanta, and they have less traffic to get to the game. Larger cities like NY or Chicago or Philly have many people living a stone’s throw from stadiums, and/or swaths of loyal blue collar folks that worship their teams. Plus, Atlanta is more transient than the average city. Those are my excuses as to why Atlanta fans are mild, but I do think they are indeed a bit mild compared to the upper tier cities.
Still, there are places like Pittsburgh that worship the Steelers and love the Penguins, but they loathe the Pirates who consistently lose.
G52PlM228
May 23rd, 2011
4:13 pm
awwww, poor things
Josh
May 23rd, 2011
5:01 pm
You guys had stars, good teams and you still didn’t show up. Heatley, Hossa, Kovalchuk, Savard and even this year you guys were in a playoff spot with the highest scoring D-man in the league and you still didn’t show up. Stop making excuses, the majority (and I stress the majority) doesn’t like hockey. Sorry to the minority that actually does like hockey.
Five Holer
May 23rd, 2011
5:22 pm
Look, this is more complicated than most think. In addition to Atlanta having a lot of sports (pro and college) to support, these arenas are not in locations convenient to those who have the $ to support them. Frankly, mass transit STINKS compared to northern cities – so that eliminates one way to get there, and there’s just not enough folks living in the city proper to support teams. Also, Atlanta tries to come off thinking it is cosmopolitan BUT IT IS NOT. Fans here are in love with high-school and college sports – not pro. Lastly, I don’t think Atlanta has the disposable income that some other larger cities do… I think wages here are pretty low overall and a huge segment of this population is extremely frugal when it comes to spending on sports.
G52PlM228
May 23rd, 2011
5:23 pm
Thanks for proving ATL is the worst sports town. The comments as to why you don’t support your teams is proof enough.. bunch of f’n whiners. waa waa waa
Five Holer
May 23rd, 2011
5:29 pm
TO G52PlM228: You have to be a complete geek to waste your time trolling here. Get out of your parents’ basement and try dating…
concerned mothers
May 23rd, 2011
5:42 pm
We have a bad announcer for the Hawks i’m so sick of him saying let’s go hawks, let’s go hawks, let’s go hawks, let’s go hawks, let’s go hawks he is very annoying. He is not getting the fans into it he’s making them sick
JSS
May 23rd, 2011
5:48 pm
The Truth
May 22nd, 2011
2:07 pm
“Atlanta sports suffer from Atlanta heritage. The best place for Atlanta’s stadiums and arenas would be in North Atlanta, not on the south side of the city. Most of the wealth in Atlanta is concentrated in Cobb and North Fulton, but crony Atlanta politicians insist on having our venues in the south part of downtown. Nobody really wants to touch the issue for fear of being branded a racist.”
“And despite all these barriers, our four major sports teams all went to the playoffs last year.”
DING!!! And that is not a good thing!
G52PlM228
May 23rd, 2011
5:59 pm
keep crying losers
waa waa waa
we have bad announcers
we have bad owners
the arenas are in bad spots
can’t wait til you lose your next team