Thrashers Attendance Rises Early in Season

by The Falconer on Oct 28, 2009 11:37 PM EDT Comment 16 comments

James Mirtle pointed out that using ESPN's attendance numbers the Thrashers are seeing the biggest attendance gains of any NHL team (+934 per home gain). However, those numbers mis-state the change so far.

On the one hand, adding the sold out home opener to a three game average might overstate gains because of the same sample size (just three home games). On the other hand, attendance in the fall is usually lower than it is in the spring. Let's consider an apples-to-apples comparison of the first three games last season to first three games this season.

2008-09 Atlanta
Game 1: 18,545
Game 2: 11,843
Game 3: 11,293

2009-10 Atlanta
Game 1: 18,545
Game 2: 13,192
Game 3: 14,945

Net Change
Game 1: no change
Game 2: +1,349
Game 3: +3,652

So if you throw out the 1st games (both sell outs) attendance in Atlanta is actually up 5,000 in Games 2 and 3 compared to last year. That is an average increase of 2,500 gain across the two non-home opener dates. A 2,000 gain per home date would be a major step forward if it can be sustained.

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I went to the game on Saturday and while the announced attendance was close to 15,000 the arena wasn’t even close to having that many people there. In fact, I was pretty discouraged by what I saw. The upper deck was mostly empty. Some sections had no more than 4 or 5 people in them. There were plenty of empty seats in the lower deck too, even on the side with the team benches. And if any of you out there were convinced that Evander Kane was going to put about 5,000 African Americans in the seats, well, all I can tell you is that I saw fewer African Americans in the stands at that game than I did at the games I went to last season.

by Zontar on Oct 29, 2009 6:13 AM EDT reply actions

I’m not sure that anybody expected Evander Kane to put 5,000 African Americans in the seats of Thrashers games by GAME THREE.

It’s more of a long-term strategy. Same thing if Vinny Saponari makes the big club – if he starts to play well, the news is, “hey, you hear some kid from Powder Springs [that’s where he’s from, right?] is playing for the Thrashers now?” Eventually the game might draw in more folks.

I’m not sure what it’ll take to make hockey hit the big time in Georgia, but crazy enough, a black kid named Evander might have a better shot than a Russian dude named Ilya.

by timmyf on Oct 29, 2009 8:46 AM EDT up reply actions

I’m not here to start an argument, but
1) Yes, some people did think that the second Kane arrived he would lead to sell outs.
2) The Hawks don’t even sell out. Good luck with that hope that Kane is going to lead to increased attendance. It will make no difference at all and time will prove me right on this.

A winning team and nothing else will make hockey popular here. Crowds come when the team wins.

by Zontar on Oct 29, 2009 9:18 AM EDT up reply actions

some people did think that the second Kane arrived he would lead to sell outs.

Who?

by MortimerPeacock on Oct 29, 2009 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions

On the other hand, I was impressed at how many people were in the stands for the Washington game on Thursday. I remember October of last year and there were probably only about 8,000 people in the stands some nights. A lot more bodies for a weeknight game.

I don’t think anyone with the Thrashers expected a quick change with the African-American attendance. It is a long term opportunity and you have to take a long term perspective. This team needs to win some more hockey games to get through to causal sports—both white and black in the ATL.

All things Thrashers + stats: www.birdwatchersanonymous.com

by The Falconer on Oct 29, 2009 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions

At this point, considering there is precious little marketing for the hockey team, I’d be surprised if the non hockey portion of this town would know if Evander Kane even if he were green.

by 0vermars on Oct 29, 2009 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions

DING DING DING

We have a winner. I’m pretty sure a majority of Atlantans aren’t even aware that we have an NHL team.

Yes, I’m serious.

by timmyf on Oct 29, 2009 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Attendance

Not to rain on the parade, but games 2 & 3 last season were Tuesday & Thursday. Games 2 & 3 this year were Thursday & Saturday. The good start has helped, but I think the fact that we had a Saturday game really inflates the total

by J(Z) on Oct 29, 2009 8:53 AM EDT reply actions

Not to rain on the rain but the good news is that of the first 20 home games, only 2 games are not on Thursday-Sunday, and those are 2 Monday games….so the early schedule of weekend-ish games should help. I beleive the last 21 games include 8 Tuesday games and a Monday game, so hopefully the team will have some “Mo” at that point to help sustain attendance.

by Triple h on Oct 29, 2009 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions

Well if you compare the Thursday to Thursday, that is still a gain of 1,000+ which is a solid up tick.

All things Thrashers + stats: www.birdwatchersanonymous.com

by The Falconer on Oct 29, 2009 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions

This is more than I thought. I’ll be interested to see if it sustains.

by ThrashersRecaps on Oct 29, 2009 9:14 AM EDT reply actions

Good to see...

….Atlanta deserves a hockey team…

Let's go Caps!

by MikeL-Caps on Oct 29, 2009 11:28 AM EDT reply actions

Let’s not forget the Thrashers were selling $98 seats for $30 for two of the first three games (bolts and caps.)

“Statistics, sufficiently tortured, will confess to anything.”

by LetNoneIn on Oct 29, 2009 12:22 PM EDT reply actions

And how is that any different from selling $10 seats to an empty building—everyone knows you can move down on a Tuesday night. Most people were only paying $30 last season anyways.

All things Thrashers + stats: www.birdwatchersanonymous.com

by The Falconer on Oct 29, 2009 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Some people are never happy

Can’t we just enjoy the fact that that we saw something that finally reflected something positive about hockey in Atlanta?

by antbogey on Oct 29, 2009 12:56 PM EDT reply actions

i know its very early in the season, and we only have 3 home games to go off of, but compared to the attendance average in ‘06-’07 (16,240) and ‘07-’08 (15,831), the average this year so far is lower at 15,560.. However, we ARE trending upwards from one of our worst years last year (14,626).

by dennylambert!! on Oct 29, 2009 5:49 PM EDT reply actions

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