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Post by jhendrix70 on Sept 16, 2009 18:08:13 GMT -5
** This has been reported in the past but, for those that don't know ** Coach Wayne Gretzky wasn’t at the Phoenix Coyotes preseason opener in Glendale Tuesday, and neither were many hockey fans as the team remains in the shadow of a possible move to Canada. About 1,000 people were at the 17,800-seat Jobing.com Arena for the Coyotes preseason 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings, according to stadium personnel and others. As a result some seating sections and some food stands were closed.
The Coyotes didn’t announce official attendance during the game, but later pegged it at 4,600. Gretzky, also part owner of team, has avoided taking a side in the Coyotes Chapter 11 reorganization saga and whether the team stays in Arizona or moves to Canada. Gretzky also has been absent from training camp. The team likely will be purchased by the National Hockey League, which is looking for new owner to keep the team in Glendale, or by billionaire Jim Bailsillie, who wants move it to Hamilton, Ontario. A U.S. Bankrutpcy Court is decidiing those options. Attendance figures has become a question in the Coyotes bankruptcy case and the team’s viability in Glendale. The team reported 2008-09 average attendance of 14,875, according to ESPN. But court documents show an average of 11,000.phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/09/14/daily39.html
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Post by JETStender on Sept 16, 2009 21:11:00 GMT -5
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Post by JETStender on Sept 16, 2009 21:12:46 GMT -5
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
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Post by jhendrix70 on Sept 17, 2009 8:43:26 GMT -5
Yup! Less than 1000 people really show how much Phoenix LOVES their hockey.........
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Post by ~Jiffy~ on Sept 17, 2009 9:40:03 GMT -5
EXACTLY - 1000 people... hell we can Go Jets Go that! (Sorry.. it sounded funny to me)
Seriously, 1000 people is what we get in a line up to some EX game tickets.
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Post by WildJetsFan on Sept 17, 2009 21:09:12 GMT -5
Where'd everybody go? Oh yeah, they were never there to begin with.
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Post by omnimaga on Sept 17, 2009 23:10:18 GMT -5
Lol, were there even 1000?
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Post by 22Neufeld28 on Sept 18, 2009 6:29:37 GMT -5
Must have been a Go Jets Go to find parking ;D
At least one fan is prepared for the future of hockey in Phx,he's wearing a Phx Roadrunners shirt.
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Post by WHA on Sept 18, 2009 8:04:05 GMT -5
I am surprised not much is being made about the potential for massive financial losses this coming year. Mind you if the NHL is controlling the team we will never know what the losses are. They will likely give tickets away for free just to make it look like people are in the building buying tickets etc. Maybe for TV they will put fake bodies in the seats or have a policy of no showing the seating area during televized games. It would awesome if only 2000 showed up during a regular season game. What are season ticket sales at?
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Post by JETStender on Sept 18, 2009 10:21:19 GMT -5
What are season ticket sales at? One report had it under One Thousand.
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Post by allthisgold on Sept 18, 2009 11:54:16 GMT -5
Seriously? Under one thousand. I would love that. You will get games with 5,000 people tops. Interesting that average attendance was reported at 14K+ last year and then the court documents said about 11K. Many of the southern teams are going to be in dire straights this season (look at the extra black outs in the NFL - imagine how hard the NHL will be hit). I believe that this is the year where multiple franchises will have extreme financial difficulties. Can't wait.
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Post by allthisgold on Sept 18, 2009 11:56:31 GMT -5
Also this year hopefully the media won't buy into the reported attendance figures and will provide more stories (and pictures) showing how bad attendance really is. This is based on the fact that Bettman repeatedly stated how everything was great when it clearly was not and the media will call him on this time and time again.
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Post by ~Jiffy~ on Sept 18, 2009 13:13:14 GMT -5
COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER!
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Post by JETStender on Sept 18, 2009 13:13:42 GMT -5
Here is a video just as the players are coming out for the first period. The attendance was actually inflated because one of the players, David Spina is a local product playing, got 300 tickets for the preseason game. Here is his interview from coyotes.com. coyotes.nhl.com/v2/ext/audio/Spinapodcast.MP3
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Post by ~Jiffy~ on Sept 18, 2009 13:15:14 GMT -5
That is such a great site to see for Winnipeggers!
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Post by 22Neufeld28 on Sept 18, 2009 16:16:09 GMT -5
I wonder where the "BAN the BLACKBERRYS"old lady was sitting,if she wasnt at this game,this team might just be in a little trouble,im starting to have my doubts if Phx is a good market after all these year,I REALLY never saw this coming.
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Post by WHA on Sept 18, 2009 17:09:52 GMT -5
Maybe Judge Baum delayed his decision to see what kind of fan rally/support there would be at the Coyotes home games. When is opening night? This kind of fan support should make it easy for Baum to favour Canada! (Winnipeg)
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Post by omnimaga on Sept 19, 2009 0:41:52 GMT -5
Wow that's really sad... ok it's just a split-squad pre-season game, but I think even the Bathurst Titan draw more than that...
I don't expect the announced attendance numbers to be much higher than the 1996 Jets real attendance for Phoenix 2009-10 season. That's unless the NHL buys tickets to inflate the numbers even more
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Post by 22Neufeld28 on Sept 19, 2009 4:10:37 GMT -5
Ok,time to start the "what will be the avg att for Phx home games" pool.
First number to jump out of my head is 7,685-lol,I need to rethink that,I even thinks it's low,or maybe not!
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Post by JETStender on Sept 19, 2009 12:08:33 GMT -5
Wow that's really sad... ok it's just a split-squad pre-season game, but I think even the Bathurst Titan draw more than that... I don't expect the announced attendance numbers to be much higher than the 1996 Jets real attendance for Phoenix 2009-10 season. That's unless the NHL buys tickets to inflate the numbers even more No matter how many is "announced" I have never in my life seen that few at a game. Even in the lame duck season here, the lowest was 6,700 then the next lowest was 8,200. And that was back when the people in the building, were the amount of tickets sold.
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