Canucks attendance hits lowest since 2001, fans are not buying tickets

[DonaldBrashear]

Summary: On Thursday's game against Winnipeg, the Vancouver Canucks hit the lowest attendance figures since 2001.

 

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-canucks-attendance-figures-lowest-since-2001-1.3631540

 

Attendance at a Vancouver Canucks game was the lowest it has been in nearly 16 years when the team took on the Winnipeg Jets Thursday night.

 

According to statistics from the NHL’s website, 15,589 fans showed up to the Rogers Arena—more than 3,300 spectators shy of the Rogers Arena’s 18,910-person hockey game capacity.

 

Attendance figures have not been that low since Dec. 10, 2001, when just 15,370 people went to watch the Canucks take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.

No Vancouver home games have had a lower attendance than 16,000 people since then

.

In addition to bemoaning the Canucks’ 4-2 loss to the Jets, hockey fans were quick to point out the large number of empty seats in the arena on social media.

 

But the team’s chief operating officer, Jeff Stipec, said Thursday’s game was “an exception” and that there is cause for optimism, citing single game ticket sales that are 30 per cent higher than at this time last season.

 

“We’ve got something to build on,” he said. “We think it’s going to be our low watermark for the year.”

 

The decline in attendance comes amid already low expectations for the 2017-18 season.

 

Last week, the team was offering rock-bottom ticket prices and a variety of perks and prizes in a bid to draw fans to the arena ahead of the Canucks’ home opener against the Edmonton Oilers.

 

More than 18,800 fans showed up to that game. By the time Vancouver played the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, however, attendance had already dropped off by nearly 1,600 spectators.

 

The Canucks will face the Calgary Flames on Saturday. Tickets to that game are still available for as little as $58.

[DonaldBrashear]

https://thecanuckway.com/2017/10/14/vancouver-canucks-fans-are-speaking-with-poor-attendance-figures/

 

Vancouver Canucks: Fans are speaking by not buying tickets

 

After a great atmosphere in the season opener, the Vancouver Canucks are seeing a lot of empty seats at Rogers Arena. It’s a sign that fans are fed up with the direction and performance of this team.

The Vancouver Canucks opened up their 2017-18 last Saturday in terrific fashion, defeating Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in a thrilling 3-2 victory. I was there to witness it, and the atmosphere was almost playoff-like, even if a large chunk of the folks were wearing Oiler jerseys.

Three days later, I was there to watch a fairly entertaining game against the Edmonton Oilers; one in which the Canucks lost 3-2 in a shootout. As Dario Balca from CTV News pointed out, however, there were nearly 1,600 less fans at the Sens game.

Yesterday, Jason Brough of TSN gave an alarming figure of what the Canucks attendance was, while also showing what attendance looked like during warmups against the Winnipeg Jets:

Per Balca, that’s the lowest Canucks attendance figures since 2001. This early in the season where Brock Boeser made his season debut? Against an exciting Winnipeg Jets team that boasts stars like Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine? Not good.

That’s a very bad sign for the Canucks. It appears to be yet another sign that fans are disgruntled with not only the way this team has played over the last two seasons, but the direction of this team.

After a disastrous 2014-15 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Brendan Shanahan to become team president.

He told the fans that long-term pain was coming. So how did the fans react? Despite having the NHL’s most expensive ticket prices on average, the Maple Leafs sold out every home game.

Ditto for the Calgary Flames. Expensive ticket prices and poor quality on the ice didn’t stop the fans from showing up during 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15, which were rebuilding years.

The Canucks haven’t been very clear with their direction, and the empty seats are the best way fans can voice their frustrations with this team.

After firing former general manager Mike Gillis and head coach John Tortorella in 2013-14, it appeared as though the Canucks would rebuild. They missed the playoffs and went three consecutive years without winning a playoff series, after all.

But since that time, the Canucks signed veterans Ryan Miller, Radim Vrbata and Loui Eriksson. They traded Alex Burrows a few years too late and have decided to keep fading veterans Alexander Edler and the Sedins here.

Last year, president Trevor Linden said he couldn’t rebuild, since it wasn’t fair to the twins. Then this spring, he said the Canucks were “rebuilding”. So what did they do after picking in the top-five for a second straight year? Sign veterans Sam Gagner, Thomas Vanek, Michael Del Zotto and Anders Nilsson.

The Canucks frustrating play on the ice is only so responsible for a decline in attendance figures. Judging by other Canadian teams with passionate fan bases, the fans will show up if the direction is clear.

But right now, the front office is lying to themselves by trying to add more veterans in hopes that it will create a playoff team. In the NHL, you either rebuild or you’re going for the playoffs and a Stanley Cup. There is no in between.

So unless the Vancouver Canucks A) start playing better or show an actual direction, it’s hard to believe the attendance figures will return to their normal state. After all, leaving seats empty is the best way for fans to show they’ve had enough

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

One thing I hope doesn't happen is that Bettman sees this and the Ottawa Senator's attendance as a sign that hockey is no longer becoming a profitable place in Canada.  Only fuels his distaste to support the Canadian market.

 

Its already hard to get Free agents to come to Canada based on the taxes, and fish bowl markets.

 

But its true, the fans speak volumes of what kind of product they want to see, and if its not happening, we won't pay for them, especially for the prices they ask for.

[DonaldBrashear]

1 minute ago, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

One thing I hope doesn't happen is that Bettman sees this and the Ottawa Senator's attendance as a sign that hockey is no longer becoming a profitable place in Canada.  Only fuels his distaste to support the Canadian market.

 

Its already hard to get Free agents to come to Canada based on the taxes, and fish bowl markets.

 

But its true, the fans speak volumes of what kind of product they want to see, and if its not happening, we won't pay for them, especially for the prices they ask for.

Don't forget about the Calgary game tonight... it is not even close to being sold out. If the Canucks have poor attendance figures against Calgary on a Saturday night, then that is very worrisome.

[jovocop55]

Lower ticket prices and people will come.  U looking at $50 each ticket after fees for nosebleed, $130 for lower bowl.  And that’s for teams no one interested in watching..  

[J-Dizzle]

Fan base:  "Rebuild, Rebuild, Rebuild!"

 

TL:  "We're rebuilding:

 

Fan base:  "Oh we're rebuilding, we'll wait to buy tickets until we're competitive again...."

[Nuxfanabroad]

I see so many games(mostly sunbelt locales) where the cameraman is trying excrutiatingly hard to not reveal seats above the glass. Never seem to hear about their attendance issues in the f***ing tropical/desert locations.

 

Yet so far this season(only 2 wks), have also seen dramatic articles written for the Cal & Ott areas. They need shiny new, large downtown arenas in Canada, always packed to the hilt, in order to support their welfare-scheme. Have they EVER openly revealed accurate & updated "Revenue Sharing"(sic) numbers?

 

What a joke.

[Industrious1]

Come on now, the team has been awful for the last few years.  This is to be expected, no?

 

Outside of a few instances you don't really see rebuilding teams packing the house with any sort of consistency.  The silver lining is that management is actually acknowledging that we need to rebuild and aren't trying to jerk fans around with the whole  "anything can happen in the playoffs, just have to get there, yada yada yada".

 

Although the franchise did waste a good two or three seasons trying to play that game which a good chunk of us knew was a poor decision.  

[Zhukini]

I used to go to 3-4 games a year for while, now it’s down to 1-2, depending on what team is in town.

 

Its not to do with the prices, I’ll pay to watch a good product, and it’s not about the atmosphere or Winning or losing.

 

Its just not exciting. The last two Willie years especially, there’d be so often we would be overmatched and done by the midway point of the second I kept looking up to see when the game would finish.

 

Its unfair but I think you’ll see an attendance spike the first season after the Sedins retire, just out of curiosity 

[Toews]

22 minutes ago, J-Dizzle said:

Fan base:  "Rebuild, Rebuild, Rebuild!"

 

TL:  "We're rebuilding:

 

Fan base:  "Oh we're rebuilding, we'll wait to buy tickets until we're competitive again...."

Quote

“When you sit in this chair, you walk a fine line. You have paying customers that want to come to the games and be entertained. And part of being entertained is your team's competitive and they have a chance to win at the end of the night.”

It needs to be said that Leafs and Sabres management had the full support of ownership to bottom out. In Toronto, they promised there'd be “pain.” In Buffalo, the operative word was “suffering.”

Clearly, Canucks ownership hasn't been willing to follow a similar path (not intentionally, at least).
“As we're going through this rebuilding process, they want the team to put a good product on the ice, to entertain our fans that pay money to come watch the games,” said Benning.

Now, for the record, he was not complaining. “The ownership has been fantastic with us,” Benning insisted.

But he also said things like, “I don't like trading away draft picks, because I believe that's how we're going to get where we need to be.”

________________________________

For all the Canucks tried to maintain a “winning culture,” Benning conceded that it didn't work out the way they'd hoped.

“That was lost in all the injuries we had,” he said. “We had an older team. To be perfectly honest with you, we couldn't practise as hard as Willie (Desjardins) wanted to practise. We had to monitor the players' energy levels to save them for the games. Now we have a younger team, so we can practise hard.”
_________________________________

In hindsight, the Canucks should've just torn it down and tanked. They could've sold off their veterans sooner while using their cap space to take on other teams' problems (for a price). I mean, it's not like the last two years could've gone much worse.

But even if he'd wanted to, tanking just wasn't an option for Benning. He accepted the job knowing what ownership wanted, and he did it knowing full well he'd face criticism along the way.

“This is what I signed up for,” he said. “I can't worry what people are saying. I've got to have the conviction and the focus to do what I think we need to do as an organization.”

https://theathletic.com/124788/2017/10/13/a-chat-with-canucks-gm-jim-benning-who-walks-a-fine-line/

 

The bolded comments are the biggest issue. Guess what... when you are rebuilding the product on the ice isn't going to be very good. The Aquilinis want to have their cake and eat it too, they want to rebuild but they want a good product on the ice so that they can sell tickets too. That's not how rebuilding works, you have to suffer short term in the hopes that you can turn it around in the long term. I am glad Benning is openly admitting that he was hired with the mandate to pursue this solution and it wasn't his plan. The Aquilinis shortsightedness and lack of ambition deserves to be punished with empty seats. Had they done what was right with this fan base, many of the disgruntled fans who have boycotted going to the games might have still supported this team by buying tickets. As of now why should someone hand over their hard earned money to pad the pockets of a man that refuses to do the right thing and admitting that this strategy has failed.

 

PS: Article is behind a paywall, I was just able to get this tidbit off a poster on HF and I found it infuriating. If Benning doesn't like trading draft picks, then why is he doing so? Because there is a mandate from ownership to provide a good product. 

[BananaMash]

The atmosphere in Rogers arena is horrible. Rebuild or not, I can have a more rewarding experience watching the game in my house with a few friends rather than being shushed by some grumpy suits.

[Kurt Nirvanagut]

Are they kneeling for the anthem? - American 

[Roberts]

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Like I mentioned in the other thread, this is a winning city, and until the team doesn't bring in a group of exciting new players that will lead the team deep into the playoffs, it will stay at this rate. If you take a look at our sellout streak, a total of 12 years, in those 12 years they only missed the playoffs three times.

 

It went downhill after the 2011 playoffs, as the expectations were set very high. They did have 50+ wins the following season in 2012 but were eliminated in the first round. Then in 2012-13, there was the lockout, where the interest for some fans declined even more, and the team lost in the first round again. The next four seasons, they only made the playoffs once and that too lost in the first round yet again.

 

There are other factors too as mentioned (ticket prices, affordability, team decisions), but I think most of it has to do with how the team does, the way they play and the group of players that lead.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

There are some socioeconomic factors to consider.  It's never been more expensive to live in Vancouver.  We also have an abundance of tasty and pretty things to spend our disposable income on.  It's getting harder to justify the cost, especially given how great the product is at home.  It's unrealistic to think the tickets are going to sell as well when we're not as competitive.  The fever doesn't cover as wide base when we aren't a top team.  If/When the price goes down, I bet attendance will rise.  As it is, I'm sure ownership is still making ends meet.

[-AJ-]

Unless I'm mistaken, ticket prices have become dirt cheap. I saw ads for tickets starting from 40-something dollars. I can't remember a time in my life when the team sold tickets that cheap.

[ken kaniff]

I would go to a ton of games if they were 30-40$ for upper bowl after taxes and fees. As it stands now prices for upper bowl are usually $50+ at least. After taxes you're looking at $70 each on average. You can't charge people as if you have a championship caliber team. The team is weak and going through a rebuild. Lower the damn prices.

[ken kaniff]

2 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

Unless I'm mistaken, ticket prices have become dirt cheap. I saw ads for tickets starting from 40-something dollars. I can't remember a time in my life when the team sold tickets that cheap.

Maybe for pre season. I check Ticketmaster and StubHub(They use USD I'm pretty sure) all the time and their prices are usually $50+. Taxes and fees are an extra $10. I don't trust Craiglist. I'd like to see where you found these cheap tickets

[Zhukini]

8 minutes ago, ken kaniff said:

Maybe for pre season. I check Ticketmaster and StubHub(They use USD I'm pretty sure) all the time and their prices are usually $50+. Taxes and fees are an extra $10. I don't trust Craiglist. I'd like to see where you found these cheap tickets

There were plenty of times last season where if you really wanted, you could go to a weekday game, and stand outside Rogers and get yourself $25 tickets.

[DonaldBrashear]

11 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

Unless I'm mistaken, ticket prices have become dirt cheap. I saw ads for tickets starting from 40-something dollars. I can't remember a time in my life when the team sold tickets that cheap.

All the Canucks have really done is re-distribute how prices are assigned. They have raised prices of higher in-demand games and lowered prices of lower demand games. So the cheap tickets "starting at $40-something" are going to be garbage games on weekdays against garbage teams. Likewise they have jacked prices up of higher in demand games. It evens out in the end.