Seawolves hurting; Aces about even
By DOYLE WOODY
With three home games remaining at Sullivan Arena, the UAA hockey team is on pace to register its lowest average attendance in more than 20 years.
Going into tonight's series opener against North Dakota, the Seawolves are averaging 3,348 tickets sold per home match, a drop of nearly 300 per game from last season's average of 3,641.
And last season's average attendance was the lowest since the 1987-88 season, when the Seawolves averaged 3,520 tickets sold per game.
UAA's attendance is down 8.0 percent from last season, the second-largest loss in the 10-team Western Collegiate Hockey Association behind Michigan Tech, where attendance has fallen 9.0 percent.
Eight of 10 WCHA teams have lost attendance -- granted, some of the drop-off is negligible -- and Minnesota State-Mankato has actually raised attendance 5.0 percent.
In the ECHL, where 18 of the 20 teams returning from last season have suffered drops in attendance, the Alaska Aces are among the top franchises in retaining fans.
The Aces have averaged 4,649 tickets sold per game, down 68 per game from last season.
Alaska's 1.4 percent loss in attendance ranks third-best in the league, behind defending Kelly Cup champion Cincinnati, which has increased attendance 6.9 percent, and Bakersfield, which has raised attendance 1.9 percent.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
UAA attendance problems.
Earlier this weekend I touched on the attendance woos at UAA.From watching the hockey broadcasts from UAA on their webcast and from this weekends hockey broadcast you can see there wasn't anyone in the stands. Here is an article by Doyle Woody that breaks this down even further.
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I have to say that UAA actually drew a good crowd this weekend. The difference between UAA and the Aces is, the Aces win.
ReplyDeleteI have been watching hockey all my life, I have been a Sioux fan since I was like 3, I grew up watching Troy Murray, Eades, Phil Sykes etc...in '03 we made the drive from Fairbanks to Anchorage to watch UND, and had a blast. This past weekend though, was some of the best hockey I have seen in some time. The Sioux looked good on Friday, and even better on Saturday. I watch UAF every game they are home, and they get some big hitters up here, Michigan, Notre Dame, Miami, but they don't even compare. The passing was tremendous, hitting was great too. Ryan Duncan is the real deal, as is Chay Genoway. We drove to Anchorage in blizzard conditions on Thursday, and if I had to do it all over again, I would do it in a heart beat. My family and I had a great time. Here's hoping for a strong finish to the regular season! Go Sioux!