The attendance conversation is not going away anytime soon.
When 8,000 fans show up to the second home game of the season, people are going to notice. And people are going to talk. But what is clear through the first week of the NHL season is the attendance conversation is evolving.
It’s no longer just about small markets like Ottawa. Instead, it’s looking more like a league-wide trend with the Canadian franchises at the centre of the discussion (and some large American markets too).
When teams like Toronto and Montreal have significant numbers of empty seats, you know something is up.
And it’s not hard to figure out what that something is.
As a society, we are still squarely in recovery mode from a global pandemic. While things are gradually getting back to something that resembles normal, not everybody is ready for that transition just yet. When you consider that children under the age of 12 still aren’t vaccinated, it’s easy to see why there might be a lingering hesitancy when it comes to venturing into crowded arenas. Add in the wide-spread economic impact of this pandemic and it only complicates things further.
It’s going to take time. And both fans and the league have to be patient.
Of course, the situation in Ottawa is a little more complex. For a whole host of non-pandemic related reasons, ranging from ownership, to product quality, to staffing issues, to fundamental flaws in the market and most importantly, a shockingly low season ticket base, the team is already behind the eight ball a little bit.
Attendance has been trending downward in this market over the last few years now. Even though excitement around the team is building and those old excuses are fading, it’s going to take time. Especially when you factor in the new pandemic-related concerns that are complicating matters for all professional sports teams.
What the first week of the season has emphasized though, is here in Ottawa, we’re going to have to be patient. It doesn’t mean the fan base is off the hook entirely but the situation is no longer unique to the Nation’s Capital. This franchise obviously has things pointed in the right direction but it will take time to really capitalize on that newfound excitement that exists around the Ottawa Senators.
Converting buzz into ticket sales is not going to be easy in this environment.
And on a bigger scale, the first week has made it abundantly clear that this is no longer just an Ottawa issue. Instead, it’s something the entire National Hockey League is going to have to deal with in the weeks and months ahead.
Plenty of tickets available for tomorrow night.
-According to Nick Kypreos, the Ottawa Senators are one of as many as 15 teams that have shown an interest in disgruntled New York Rangers forward Vitali Kravtsov. The situation around the 21-year old first round draft pick has been well-documented to this point but considering how talented he is as a player, it’s not surprising that a lot of teams would have some level of interest.
-DJ Smith had his team back on the ice for practice this morning ahead of tomorrow night’s game against the San Jose Sharks. Same look up front and on the blueline which suggests that’s the alignment they’ll go with on Thursday. The Head Coach also took some of the mystery out of tomorrow night by announcing that Matt Murray will indeed make his first start of the season. Filip Gustavsson was returned to Belleville this afternoon.
