Irishjim Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 This is pathetic.. and everytime I hear count chocula rumors about expansion i cringe... read full article and the sad photos here http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2230759-florida-panthers-nearly-empty-stadium-fuels-relocation-rumors?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=programming-national1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanflyer Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 This is pathetic.. and everytime I hear count chocula rumors about expansion i cringe... read full article and the sad photos here NCAA, CHL, ECHL all drawl more than that! You can't see the upper bowl, but it barely looks like 2000- and if you are in the upper bowl, I am sure security is not going to stop you from getting a better seat in the lower bowl. Seattle actually fills the Key Arena for Thunderbird games. Florida to KC, Quebec or Seattle I say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishjim Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 hell spokane averages 8-10k thats actual butts in seats for the chiefs..not bad for a WHL team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanflyer Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 hell spokane averages 8-10k thats actual butts in seats for the chiefs..not bad for a WHL team Exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toidi Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Last season I went to a Panthers home game against the NY Rangers. The Panthers' arena is really top notch and attendance at this game was close to a full-house. However, I'd say 80% of crowd were very avid and loud Rangers fans. I felt bad for the Panthers players - not hearing any of their fans cheering for them in their home arena. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 @Irishjim Good post Jim!! I agree with you absolutely unequivocally that the Panther situation needs addressed before any expansion. There is no love of hockey in southern Florida, the experiment has failed. Move on. This needs to be the first order of business. Find a city/Provence to move them to. Now as to expansion, i still think it is inevitable. 32 teams makes so much more sense than 30. Evening out the conferences, evening out the divisions makes a lot of sense to me. There has to be three cities, one for the Panthers and two for new teams, that make sense. Of course making sense in expansion is something that Bettman has never been known for..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlaskaFlyerFan Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Butts in seats doesn't mean anything. Tickets sold is the key. More than likely, the lower bowl is probably sold out due to corporate sales and ticket agencies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Pathetic..just pathetic. I just posted my comments in the shoutbox. Can we please end this failed NHL experiment known as the Fla. Panthers. Agree with everyone above. http://theahl.com/stats/schedule.php?view=attendance&season_id=43 According to the AHL stats from last year 7 teams averaged over 7000 fans over the seasons. The Hershey Bears have a beautiful arena known as the Giant Center and the Phantoms up in Allentown (Lehigh Valley), according to my dad, is an amazing new arena. I'm sure they will average near full capicity which is 9000-10000. Bettman should be ashamed when he witnessed an empty arean such what happened in Florida. It puts a black eye on the NHL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhedges1987 Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 thats pathetic.... Our CHL team here in Kansas City averages 6k (capacity). It's also not even located in Kansas City. About 25-30 min outside of KC in a suburb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I'd like to see the Panthers relocate Ekblad to the Colts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanflyer Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I felt bad for the Panthers players - not hearing any of their fans cheering for them in their home arena. Its akin to a lame horse. Just put it out of its misery. The only saving grace for the players is the weather (at times) and the nice golf courses and beach. It really is an interesting study between Tampa Bay and Florida (Miami) regarding the two franchises. Florida has allot of good players, but they are always missing some key ingredient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B21 Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 It's a South Florida thing. The Heat (pre and probably post LeBron), Marlins - heck, even the Dolphins - just don't draw. Too many transplants from other parts of the county with their own rooting interest. I don't blame the NHL from trying but yeah - time to move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaGreatGazoo Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Butts in seats doesn't mean anything. Tickets sold is the key. More than likely, the lower bowl is probably sold out due to corporate sales and ticket agencies.According to Bob Mckenzie-that was tickets sold. I also heard/read that FLA would give thousands of tickets away to every game for years. Simply to fill seats. Season ticket holders got pissed-obviously. So the new owners stopped doing it. Hence-all the empty seats. That may have come from Mckenzie as well. Just don't remember for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanflyer Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Butts in seats doesn't mean anything. Tickets sold is the key. More than likely, the lower bowl is probably sold out due to corporate sales and ticket agencies. Good point and accurate. Florida is not the basement dwellers when it comes to valuation. http://www.forbes.com/nhl-valuations/#page:3_sort:0_direction:asc_search: Pretty shocking when you really look at it. It just goes to show that perception is not always reality. As a side bar, the Maple leafs are valued more than 1/3 of NFL football teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDevil Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 I can't say as I blame the fans in Florida for not showing up. Their team has made the playoffs twice in the last 16 seasons. If you're in a non-traditional market and the product on the ice sucks, good luck building a fanbase. The reason hockey has worked in places like Dallas, San Jose, Nashville, and Tampa is because they've actually had good teams. Not all of them have won Cups, but they've at least been able to sustain enough success to build a fanbase. Florida has been a bad team for most of their existence. They went a decade between playoff appearances. Unless you're Toronto, I don't see how any fanbase is going to put up with that and keep coming back for more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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