JACKSONVILLE, Fla – We have gotten to that time of the year where every team has a few home games under their belts. In that regard, people start looking at the box score and try and see how a team is doing. However, this is not the time to judge a team’s attendance. Not yet anyway.
For the most part, a team will not have major problems until after the first of the year.
Every team comes into the season, usually, with enough operating capital to survive for a little while. Even if they are drawing bad in the beginning, they should make it until the first of the year.
In fact, in recent memory, there have been only three teams that didn’t make it to the first of the year before they had to close their doors, The 2004 UHL Columbus Stars and the 2008 Augusta Lynx and Fresno Falcons of the ECHL. However, the Lynx and Falcons probably should have never started the season in the first place and the Stars are a discussion for another day.
Let’s face it, there are just too many demands on a family’s income to go to too many hockey games the first two months of the year. You can discount season ticket holders because they already paid for their tickets months earlier. Now think about the casual fan with a limited amount of disposable income. The average family that goes to hockey games likely also goes to high school or college football games so a lot of their Friday and Saturday nights are already spoken for.
Then comes December.
A lot of a family’s disposable income is going to purchasing presents so sporting events are out of the question. The casual fan will still not been seen at the arena.
January is different. Major distractions are gone, families are getting their income taxes back and are looking for entertainment outlets to spend that money. January and February is traditionally the dumping ground for movies that the studio did not have faith in so sports are the better option. The NHL and minor-league hockey is a very viable option.
It simply comes down to this. People will not start coming to the games until the first of the year. The financial numbers are just not there. So, if your team isn’t drawing very well right now, stay calm. The New Year is coming and the casual fan will be there.
However, if there is no major bump in attendance, then you might want to start worrying.
Contact Kennth.Holdren@prohockeynews.com
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