UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
Slapshot was on Versus last night.
klein
Für Meno :)
Puck Daddy
Wed Oct 07, 2009 4:48 pm EDT
In this economy? Report says 11 teams jacked up ticket prices
By Greg Wyshynski
The new Team Marketing Report Fan Cost Index is out, in which the NHL's franchises are ranked by the average cost for an obese, materialistic family of four to attend a game. (Check out the .pdf for all the 2009 data and disclaimers.)
Team Marketing Report found that it would cost $585.57 for a family to attend a Toronto Maple Leafs game based on its combination of tickets, food, parking and swag; by far the highest-priced night at the rink in the NHL.
The Montreal Canadiens, at No. 2 in Fan Cost Index, were at $412.12 and were the only other NHL team over the $400 mark. Keep in mind these figures were computed using "general seating tickets" and not the premium seats.
From TMR, a few nuggets of information about this year's report:
Via Team Marketing Report, here are the average ticket prices (and percentage change from 2008) for the NHL; defined as a "weighted average of season ticket prices for general seating categories, determined by factoring the tickets in each price range as a percentage of the total number of seats in each stadium."
Wow, that's a lot of words. The list:
The hikers: Toronto Maple Leafs (10.2%), Montreal Canadiens (5%), New York Rangers (7.1%), Edmonton Oilers (3%), Chicago Blackhawks (2.2%; TMR says the Hawks actually didn't increase tickets, but "their percentage change was affected by the rescaling of some seat sections."); New York Islanders (5.4%); Ottawa Senators (1%); Pittsburgh Penguins (8%); Washington Capitals (7.4%); Nashville Predators (2.4%); and the St. Louis Blues (4.2%).
Again, it's according to Team Marketing Report. At this juncture, we must point you to Colorado Avalanche blogger Tapeleg's anti-TMR manifesto on Jerseys and Hockey Love from two years ago.
His points are well-taken: The Dallas Stars, for example, allegedly have the cheapest ticket in the NHL on average ($35.66), but how does the team's new variable pricing system affect that average when ticket values can rise or fall based on algorithms in a computer?
What about ticket deals throughout the season? The Nashville Predators, according to TMR, have raised their average ticket prices by over 2 percent. Does that include the new Day of Game ticket offer that has 100 seats for $10 each, the "lowest price ticket the Predators have offered since its inaugural season"?
What about the popular college-night discounts we've seen around U.S. cities, like the one in which the attendance-challenged New Jersey Devils take $20 off the price of a mezzanine seat?
It's not a perfect science, but it's one publication's snapshot of the financial state of NHL fandom; as well as a reminder that a family of four Phoenix Coyotes fans that buy "two small draft beers, four small soft drinks, four regular-size hot dogs, parking for one car, two game programs and two least-expensive, adult-size adjustable caps" are spending $221.80.
In other words, only about $92 more than the average premium ticker holder ($129.23) is spending for one seat at the game -- and no hot dogs.
Wed Oct 07, 2009 4:48 pm EDT
In this economy? Report says 11 teams jacked up ticket prices
By Greg Wyshynski
The new Team Marketing Report Fan Cost Index is out, in which the NHL's franchises are ranked by the average cost for an obese, materialistic family of four to attend a game. (Check out the .pdf for all the 2009 data and disclaimers.)
Team Marketing Report found that it would cost $585.57 for a family to attend a Toronto Maple Leafs game based on its combination of tickets, food, parking and swag; by far the highest-priced night at the rink in the NHL.
The Montreal Canadiens, at No. 2 in Fan Cost Index, were at $412.12 and were the only other NHL team over the $400 mark. Keep in mind these figures were computed using "general seating tickets" and not the premium seats.
From TMR, a few nuggets of information about this year's report:
The average premium ticket is $118.63. The average percentage of season-ticket-eligible seating classified as premium is 19.9 percent, according to TMR research. Three teams, Detroit (71.4 percent), Colorado (52.4) Dallas (51.4) have more than half of their season seating classified as premium. Detroit's premium average is $60.89, Colorado's $119.33 and Dallas' is $115.28.
The poor economy has forced professional sports team to re-think major price increases, and the NHL is no different. This year saw a dramatic turn from recent NHL FCI surveys. In the three seasons since the league's return from a locked-out season, average tickets rose 3.7 percent (2006-07), 7.7 percent (2007-08) and 5.1 percent (2008-09). In the 2005-06 season, the league dropped prices by 7.5 percent, with 22 teams decreasing prices.
According to TMR, there are 11 NHL teams that decided the "poor economy" wasn't a good enough reasons to flat-line or decrease ticket prices. Who are the price-hikers for the 2009-10 season?The poor economy has forced professional sports team to re-think major price increases, and the NHL is no different. This year saw a dramatic turn from recent NHL FCI surveys. In the three seasons since the league's return from a locked-out season, average tickets rose 3.7 percent (2006-07), 7.7 percent (2007-08) and 5.1 percent (2008-09). In the 2005-06 season, the league dropped prices by 7.5 percent, with 22 teams decreasing prices.
Via Team Marketing Report, here are the average ticket prices (and percentage change from 2008) for the NHL; defined as a "weighted average of season ticket prices for general seating categories, determined by factoring the tickets in each price range as a percentage of the total number of seats in each stadium."
Wow, that's a lot of words. The list:
The hikers: Toronto Maple Leafs (10.2%), Montreal Canadiens (5%), New York Rangers (7.1%), Edmonton Oilers (3%), Chicago Blackhawks (2.2%; TMR says the Hawks actually didn't increase tickets, but "their percentage change was affected by the rescaling of some seat sections."); New York Islanders (5.4%); Ottawa Senators (1%); Pittsburgh Penguins (8%); Washington Capitals (7.4%); Nashville Predators (2.4%); and the St. Louis Blues (4.2%).
Again, it's according to Team Marketing Report. At this juncture, we must point you to Colorado Avalanche blogger Tapeleg's anti-TMR manifesto on Jerseys and Hockey Love from two years ago.
His points are well-taken: The Dallas Stars, for example, allegedly have the cheapest ticket in the NHL on average ($35.66), but how does the team's new variable pricing system affect that average when ticket values can rise or fall based on algorithms in a computer?
What about ticket deals throughout the season? The Nashville Predators, according to TMR, have raised their average ticket prices by over 2 percent. Does that include the new Day of Game ticket offer that has 100 seats for $10 each, the "lowest price ticket the Predators have offered since its inaugural season"?
What about the popular college-night discounts we've seen around U.S. cities, like the one in which the attendance-challenged New Jersey Devils take $20 off the price of a mezzanine seat?
It's not a perfect science, but it's one publication's snapshot of the financial state of NHL fandom; as well as a reminder that a family of four Phoenix Coyotes fans that buy "two small draft beers, four small soft drinks, four regular-size hot dogs, parking for one car, two game programs and two least-expensive, adult-size adjustable caps" are spending $221.80.
In other words, only about $92 more than the average premium ticker holder ($129.23) is spending for one seat at the game -- and no hot dogs.
klein
Für Meno :)
More news :
Leafs and Oilers almost swapped cities: Pocklington
Former Edmonton owner says he might have taken whole team to Toronto
Last Updated: Sunday, October 11, 2009 | 2:57 PM ET
The Canadian Press
Peter Pocklington says Wayne Gretzky might have celebrated his 1987 Stanley Cup victory in Toronto rather than Edmonton. (Larry MacDougal/Canadian Press file)
A new hockey book says the NHL's Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs almost traded cities in the early 1980s.
The biography of one-time Oilers owner Peter Pocklington says the scheme called for his entire team to move to Toronto to play in Maple Leaf Gardens.
Toronto's club, in turn, would have found a home in Edmonton's new arena, which at that time was called the Coliseum.
In the book I'd Trade Him Again, Pocklington says Leafs owner Harold Ballard was having financial troubles and made the proposal in 1980.
Ballard also wanted Pocklington to pay him $50 million in cash.
Leafs and Oilers almost swapped cities: Pocklington
Former Edmonton owner says he might have taken whole team to Toronto
Last Updated: Sunday, October 11, 2009 | 2:57 PM ET
The Canadian Press
Peter Pocklington says Wayne Gretzky might have celebrated his 1987 Stanley Cup victory in Toronto rather than Edmonton. (Larry MacDougal/Canadian Press file)
A new hockey book says the NHL's Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs almost traded cities in the early 1980s.
The biography of one-time Oilers owner Peter Pocklington says the scheme called for his entire team to move to Toronto to play in Maple Leaf Gardens.
Toronto's club, in turn, would have found a home in Edmonton's new arena, which at that time was called the Coliseum.
In the book I'd Trade Him Again, Pocklington says Leafs owner Harold Ballard was having financial troubles and made the proposal in 1980.
Ballard also wanted Pocklington to pay him $50 million in cash.
klein
Für Meno :)
DS, are you next on ebay ? LOL
How a disgruntled Maple Leafs fan sold loyalty on eBay for $25
By Greg Wyshynski
A loyal Toronto Maple Leafs fan his entire life, Lee Kirby's frustrations with the franchise reached their zenith this month as they struggled to the worst start in team history. So he finally decided to put a price on that loyalty: Placing his "allegiance up for the highest bidder" on eBay, and vowing to ditch the Leafs for whatever team the winner chose for him.
"I will remove all Leaf Memorabilia from my home and replace it with the team of choice of the winning bidder. I will root for my ‘new team' whenever they are on TV. I will argue with the guys at work that my new team is the best," wrote Kirby. "The best part for me is now I can laugh at the Maple Laughs."
The bidding for "Very Used Toronto Maple Leafs fan" began at 1 cent. After 13 bids, Kirby's fan loyalty was sold for just $25 Canadian (US $23.48).
"I'm a Leafs fan. I'm surprised I got that much, really," said Kirby, who promptly forwarded the payment to the Southlake Regional Cancer Center project in Newmarket, Ontario, which was the benefactor for this auction.
What was Kirby's new favorite team? Had his worst fear been realized, with a Montreal Canadiens fan winning the bid and damning him to a lifetime of indentured servitude to his hated rivals?
Nope. Turns out winning bidder, Chris Dawson, is a Dallas Stars fan; and now, so is Lee Kirby, for life.
Kirby is a 39-year-old father of two who lives in Keswick, Ontario. As a Leafs fan, he had suffered through their 42 years without a Stanley Cup, though annual unfulfilled promises and unmet expectations; through trading a first-round draft pick that became Scott Niedermayer(notes) (and almost Eric Lindros(notes)) and endless other tales of managerial bumbling.
His breaking point came this season, not only because the Leafs have one win in nine games but because he feels General Manager Brian Burke has mortgaged the team's future by trading draft picks for former Boston Bruins forward Phil Kessel(notes), who is currently injured.
"We have no one in the system, no first-round pick and just to Kessel to show for it," he said. "I don't see any of those [Doug] Gilmour deals happening, and I don't see a quick turnaround because of the salary cap. I think Burke overestimated how good this team was going to be."
Kirby works at the local hospital with other hockey fans that support successful franchises like the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins. "For the last few years, they've had good teams. I had the Leafs," he said. "I had enough."
Hence, the auction, which included this blurb:
How a disgruntled Maple Leafs fan sold loyalty on eBay for $25
By Greg Wyshynski
A loyal Toronto Maple Leafs fan his entire life, Lee Kirby's frustrations with the franchise reached their zenith this month as they struggled to the worst start in team history. So he finally decided to put a price on that loyalty: Placing his "allegiance up for the highest bidder" on eBay, and vowing to ditch the Leafs for whatever team the winner chose for him.
"I will remove all Leaf Memorabilia from my home and replace it with the team of choice of the winning bidder. I will root for my ‘new team' whenever they are on TV. I will argue with the guys at work that my new team is the best," wrote Kirby. "The best part for me is now I can laugh at the Maple Laughs."
The bidding for "Very Used Toronto Maple Leafs fan" began at 1 cent. After 13 bids, Kirby's fan loyalty was sold for just $25 Canadian (US $23.48).
"I'm a Leafs fan. I'm surprised I got that much, really," said Kirby, who promptly forwarded the payment to the Southlake Regional Cancer Center project in Newmarket, Ontario, which was the benefactor for this auction.
What was Kirby's new favorite team? Had his worst fear been realized, with a Montreal Canadiens fan winning the bid and damning him to a lifetime of indentured servitude to his hated rivals?
Nope. Turns out winning bidder, Chris Dawson, is a Dallas Stars fan; and now, so is Lee Kirby, for life.
Kirby is a 39-year-old father of two who lives in Keswick, Ontario. As a Leafs fan, he had suffered through their 42 years without a Stanley Cup, though annual unfulfilled promises and unmet expectations; through trading a first-round draft pick that became Scott Niedermayer(notes) (and almost Eric Lindros(notes)) and endless other tales of managerial bumbling.
His breaking point came this season, not only because the Leafs have one win in nine games but because he feels General Manager Brian Burke has mortgaged the team's future by trading draft picks for former Boston Bruins forward Phil Kessel(notes), who is currently injured.
"We have no one in the system, no first-round pick and just to Kessel to show for it," he said. "I don't see any of those [Doug] Gilmour deals happening, and I don't see a quick turnaround because of the salary cap. I think Burke overestimated how good this team was going to be."
Kirby works at the local hospital with other hockey fans that support successful franchises like the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins. "For the last few years, they've had good teams. I had the Leafs," he said. "I had enough."
Hence, the auction, which included this blurb:
klein
Für Meno :)
Big Hockey game on tonight 7:30 pm eastern time/4;30 pm pacific. Should be televised everywhere !
World Junior's in Buffalo, NY.
Canada vs USA in the semi finals.
Winner goes on to the Gold medal game against either Russia or Sweden.
Loser plays for Bronze against either Switzerland or Finnland, Czechs or Slovakia.
There will NOT be a US-Canada final, unlike last year, where the US won Gold over Canada 6:5, breaking Canada's 4 or 5 goldmedals streak in a row.
btw, this tournament is being held in Alberta next year (Calgary & Edmonton). I have already entered the lottery draw for ticket purchases.
That's the only way we get tickets here.
World Junior's in Buffalo, NY.
Canada vs USA in the semi finals.
Winner goes on to the Gold medal game against either Russia or Sweden.
Loser plays for Bronze against either Switzerland or Finnland, Czechs or Slovakia.
There will NOT be a US-Canada final, unlike last year, where the US won Gold over Canada 6:5, breaking Canada's 4 or 5 goldmedals streak in a row.
btw, this tournament is being held in Alberta next year (Calgary & Edmonton). I have already entered the lottery draw for ticket purchases.
That's the only way we get tickets here.
DS
Fenderbender
Life after brown for some of us includes hockey.Its not a sport,its way of life,I will move it if you insist.
Canada vs Russia for gold on tsn Wed
USA vs Sweden for silver
Doh you are right and so did we....good game
UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
DS, this thread is fine where it is.
klein
Für Meno :)
Been here for almost a year and a half, and just now get a complaint. Not, that I started this thread, I just added to it.
moreluck
golden ticket member
I only bring it up because there will also be baseball season, football season, bowling, curling,archery, olympics, figure skating....All of these are sports. Sports is a thread already. Don't say, "you don't have to read them". I have to open the post to make it go away as a new post. If the sports is something I'm not interested in then I don't have to go to that thread.
A place for everything and everything in it's place !!
A place for everything and everything in it's place !!
moreluck
golden ticket member
What Do You Believe Hockey Is ...
Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman all die and meet in heaven. God is sitting in his chair waiting for them. God says to the three legends, gentlemen before I let you in, you must tell me what you believe. "Mario we'll start with you, in what do you believe?" "I believe hockey is the greatest thing in the world and the best sport in history". To that God says "take the seat to my left". God then turns to Steve and says, "Steve, in what do you believe?" To which Steve replies "I believe to be the best, you've got to give every ounce you've got!" To that God says "take the seat to my right". God then turns to number 99 and says "Wayne, tell me what do you believe?" To which Wayne replies "I believe you are sitting in my seat."
Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman all die and meet in heaven. God is sitting in his chair waiting for them. God says to the three legends, gentlemen before I let you in, you must tell me what you believe. "Mario we'll start with you, in what do you believe?" "I believe hockey is the greatest thing in the world and the best sport in history". To that God says "take the seat to my left". God then turns to Steve and says, "Steve, in what do you believe?" To which Steve replies "I believe to be the best, you've got to give every ounce you've got!" To that God says "take the seat to my right". God then turns to number 99 and says "Wayne, tell me what do you believe?" To which Wayne replies "I believe you are sitting in my seat."
