Opening year:2010th
Average ticket price: USD 63 (hereinafter, according to ESPN)
Who can you look at: Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby.
In the early 2000s, when after the exchanges of Kovalev and Jagr, only Mario Lemieux remained of the stars in Pittsburgh, the attendance of his arena dropped to 12-13 thousand, but after the lockout Crosby, Malkin and Gonchar appeared in the team, and the fans returned to tribunes. The last time the Penguins had their seats available was on February 14, 2007, and since then they have played 251 home games. Think about it, 251! The hockey players thanked the fans with a victory in the Stanley Cup, and the owners of Pittsburgh - with a new, even more spacious arena, opened in the fall of 2010.
9. Scottrade Center ("St. Louis") - 18809 (98.2%)
Opening year: 1994th
Average ticket price: $ 41.5
Who can you look at: David Backes, Alex Pietrangelo, Ken Hitchcock.
Since the 1997/98 season, the average attendance of the "bluesmen" only twice did not reach the mark of 18 thousand per match, which could be explained by the team's failure. It is interesting that in the last, not entirely successful championship, at every home meeting of St. Louis there were sold out, and with the appearance of coach Ken Hitchcock in the team, going to the Scottrade Center became a little worse. Perhaps the fan is discouraged by the low performance of the Blues and the lack of superstars in attack. In terms of the number of goals in the 2011/12 season, St. Louis was only 22nd in the entire league.
8. Rogers Arena (Vancouver) - 18884 (102.5%)
Opening year: 1995th
Average ticket price: US $ 68.4
Who can you look at: Henrik and Daniel Gray, Roberto Luongo, Ryan Kesler.
Killer whales have been failing to live up to the fans' expectations for several years with defeats in the playoffs, but their popularity does not suffer from this. And in the heat, and in the cold, and in the rain, and in the sun, the "Vancouver" arena has been filled to capacity for 10 years, and this despite the very expensive tickets. The Canucks own a record-breaking series of sold-out home matches - 406 of them already. However, there is a chance that the chain will be interrupted after the lockout ends. The resentment against the owners and athletes who deprived the people of hockey is too great.
7. Scotiabank Saddledome (Calgary) - 19289 (100%)
Opening year:1983-th
Average ticket price: 68.2 dollars
Who can you look at:Jerome Iginla, Miikka Kiprusoff.
The fans are the most stable thing a club from Calgary has. The goalkeeper Kiprusoff can do it, Iginla's stick can be silenced for a long time, but the fans, no matter how their favorites play, all, as one, take their places in the stands in due time. One of the oldest arenas in the NHL hasn't had empty seats since the spring of 2004, when the Flames unexpectedly wedged themselves into the Stanley Cup.
The current team is not capable of this, but for 7 seasons in a row, Scotiabank Saddledome has been sold out. This can be explained by both the insane passion of Canadians for hockey and the lack of real competition among hockey players. The footballers have finished playing by November, the baseball league has only appeared last year, and lacrosse is not capable of taking away a large audience from the "lights".
6. Scotiabank Place ("Ottawa") - 19356 (101.1%)
Opening year: 1996th
Average ticket price: 55.5 dollars
Who can you look at: Eric Karlsson, Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza.
The team's attendance graph shows the dependence on its results. As soon as the “senators” get out of hand, their fan starts wasting their time and dollars on something else, if Ottawa is in order - the arena is packed to capacity. In the past, pretty successful season For the second time in history, Eugene Melnik's club averaged more than 19,000 per match - almost 1,000 more than the year before.
5. Air Canada Center ("Toronto") - 19506 (103.7%)
Opening year:1999th
Average ticket price:US $ 123.8
Who can you look at: Phil Kessel, Mikhail Grabowski.
But "Toronto" with loyal fans was very lucky. Local residents have a dozen reasons not to go to hockey: “maple leaves” have not made it to the playoffs for 7 years in a row, and those who have caught their victory in the Stanley Cup are already babysitting their grandchildren, or even great-grandchildren; The most expensive tickets in the world for matches at Air Canada Center, and for 63.5 million Brian Burke has assembled a team without goalkeepers, normal defense and with two normal centers.
There are only three reasons to go to Maple Leafs - love of hockey, prestige and the opportunity throw a waffle at Phil Kessel ... These are all cons and outweighed. The Leafs' average home match attendance has never dropped below 19,000 since the Air Canada Center opened, and last season set a new club record of 19.5. Ticket sales bring Toronto nearly $ 100 million annually, the best in the league.
4. Joe Louis Arena (Detroit) - 20114 (100.7%)
Opening year: 1979th
Average ticket price: $ 53.3
Who can you look at: Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg.
Despite the difficult economic situation in Michigan, an abundance of matches with non-star Nashville, Columbus and St. Louis, as well as physical deterioration, the Joe Louis Arena remains among the most visited NHL venues. Five years ago, marketers sounded the alarm, noticing a drop in the popularity of the team in the eyes of the fans - from 20 thousand to 18.8 - but after the Red Wings' victory in the Stanley Cup, Detroit residents were drawn to the stadium's box office.
3. Wells Fargo Center ("Philadelphia") - 20,433 (107.4%)
Opening year:1996th
Average ticket price: 66.9 dollars
Who can you look at: Ilya Bryzgalov, Claude Giroud, Daniel Brier.
Almost 40 years ago, when Ed Snyder was just thinking about creating an NHL club in Philadelphia, he was told that hockey in Pennsylvania would not take root and the project would be unprofitable. The aspiring businessman did not listen and did the right thing. The Flyers are now one of the few consistently earning teams in the league, and their arena is filling up regardless of whether the team is playing well or not. 19 thousand gathered at Wells Fargo Center both in the disastrous 2006/07 season (then still the Wachovia Center) and in the “silver” 2009/10.
After controversial exchanges between Richards and Carter, it seemed that fans might turn their backs on Philly, but instead a club attendance record was set. However, this is largely due to the "Winter Classics", which brought together almost 47 thousand people.
2. Bell Center (Montreal) - 21,273 (100%)
Opening year: 1996th
Average ticket prices: 88.7 dollars
Who can you look at:Tomas Plekanec, Carey Price, Alexey Emelin.
Like Toronto, Hubs offers the consumer a product of not the highest quality for a lot of money, but the client does not even think to refuse. The crowded stands were at the Canadiens meetings even in the preseason, and what can we say about the official championship games. After moving from Forum'a, the club's average attendance has never dropped below 20 thousand, and the series of sold-out home matches (314 in a row), which began in December 2004, continues to this day.
1. United Center ("Chicago") - 21,533 (105.0%)
Opening year: 1994th
Average ticket prices: $ 55.7
Who can you look at: Jonathan Taves, Marian Gossa, Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith.
In the spring of 2007, the BlackHawks arena had a paltry 62 percent occupancy (29th in the league), forcing the club's management to engage with fans. New marketing and ticket programs were drawn up, funny videos were shot, and hockey returned to local TV channels. All this, coupled with the successful performance of "Chicago", quickly yielded results. Just two years later, United Center became the NHL's most populated arena, with attendance jumping from 13,000 to 22,000.
An example of Black Hawks should be given to the leaders of Ak Bars, who, while entertaining the half-empty stands with the songs of the Blue Birds VIA, whine about the satiety of sports in Kazan, computerization and laziness of young people. Hockey players "Chicago" withstand competition from "bears" from the NFL (average attendance 62.3 thousand, 102%), "Wolves" from the AHL (7.9 thousand, second in the league), basketball players "Bulls" (22.1 thousands, first place in the NBA), baseball players "Cubes" (36 thousand) and "White Sox" (25 thousand) and football players "Fire" (16.4 thousand). So whose laziness is it?
Figures and facts:
The longest sold-out streak in NHL history belongs to the Colorado (Pepsi Center) - 487 (1995-2006).
In the 2011/12 season, the attendance at home matches of 16 NHL clubs out of 30 was 100 percent (in addition to those named, these are Winnipeg, San Jose, Rangers, Los Angeles, Edmonton, Boston, "Washington").
The worst in the 2011/12 season went to Dallas (14.2 thousand, 76.8%), Islanders (13.2 thousand, 81.3%), Phoenix (12.4 thousand, 72 ,5%). Interestingly, Stars and Coyotes have the cheapest tickets in the league - $ 29.95 and $ 36.15.
A hockey trip for four in Toronto (2 adults plus two children, including parking, food and souvenirs) will cost $ 626, in Dallas - 224. The average for the NHL is $ 328.
Correspondent "MK" made a trip to American arenas
Americans know how to sell. Be it an ordinary donuts or an expensive triplex in a house in Manhattan - they wrap it in such a beautiful package that the hand itself reaches for a wallet or checkbook. Judging by the TV picture on sports channels, they also know how to sell sports. In what way do they make real business out of what is most often a social project in our country? For these secrets, the MK correspondent went to the United States.
To cover all the popular sports in the United States, and even in all corners of a not small country, not even a year will be enough. In addition, tickets must be bought in advance, otherwise there is a chance to fly. So for the first time, alas, I had to sacrifice baseball and basketball. As a result, there were four points in the plan: the hockey matches of the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals, the holy football for every American (not to be confused with soccer) performed by the Redskins, and soccer itself in the form of the New York match. Red Bull".
There was so much material that the text had to be divided into a series consisting of the following parts: attendance, etc. Let's start with attendance.
Attendance
If we talk about sports as a business, then attendance is undoubtedly an important value, since in an ideal business model income from matchday (that is, all income received on the day of a home game from the sale of tickets, merchandise, food, drinks, parking lots, etc.) make up about a third of all club income. So in the USA there are no problems with this.
A few examples. Europeans are accustomed to believe that football is not honored in the United States, and somehow condescendingly look at North Americans, they say, they do not understand anything in the number one sport and for some reason call it contemptuously “soccer”. Nevertheless, the exhibition match between the European giants Manchester United and Real Madrid, held in Ann Arbor, Michigan in August this year, gathered a record audience for football matches in USA. More than 109 thousand spectators came to the Michigan stadium! The previous record was recorded back in 1984, when the Olympic match football tournament between France and Brazil, more than 101 thousand fans have visited.
The most visited ice hockey game took place here at Michigan Stadium on January 1, 2014. "Winter Classics" performed by "Toronto Maple Leafs" and "Detroit Red Wings" came to see 105 thousand 491 spectators.
But the most visited record among all sporting events a game has become in the USA ... between student teams of american football Michigan and Notre Dame. In 2013, 115 thousand people came to the stadium. No wonder that all records were set in Ann Arbor: just Michigan Stadium, home arena for the college football and lacrosse team, the largest arena in the United States. And not only the United States, but the entire Western Hemisphere. It ranks third in the world (with a capacity of over 109,000) after the Indian Youth Stadium in Calcutta (120,000) and the First May Stadium in Pyongyang (150,000).
In general, about indicators of attendance, for example, the National football league (NFL) every other league in the world can only dream of. The average attendance of matches in the season is 65-70 thousand people, and the average stadium occupancy is 92 percent. While some stadiums have up to 108 percent of the audience. Do not be surprised, it happens when standing places are sold for the game.
In the NHL, the average attendance is about 18 thousand per match, and the occupancy of arenas is about 96 percent.
In Major League Baseball (MLB), the average attendance is 31,000, the average occupancy is 70 percent, and the difference between clubs is sometimes large. For example, in 2013, San Francisco boasted almost one hundred percent occupancy, while Seattle and Cleveland were not even half full (45 percent on average).
The NBA gathers an average of 17.5 thousand spectators per game, filling the basketball halls by 90 percent, and this is again an average figure.
And the Major League Soccer (MLS) is simply putting our Premier League on its shoulder: the average attendance according to the latest data is almost 19 thousand per match with a 90.7% occupancy rate.
Comparing the indicators of our Premier League with these figures is even somehow offensive (less than 12 thousand per game with a 57% occupancy rate), and at the same time, football is the number one sport in our country, and soccer is an alien game for them. In the KHL, the situation with the occupancy rate is slightly better - about 70, despite the fact that many arenas are sold by more than 90% (and this applies, by the way, not only to foreign participants of the Continental Hockey League). But the attendance figures are three times less than in the NHL: about 6 thousand people on average per game. Simply ice palaces we have less.
But all these are just dry numbers. What do the vaunted sold out houses look like in reality?
Madison Square Garden in New York is an almost iconic place, having seen Mohammed Ali, Joe Fraser and Mike Tyson, all-star games in the NHL and NBA, hearing John Lennon, Elton John and Michael Jackson. And also hockey Rangers and basketball Knicks play in MSG. While the latter were resting, the Rangers fought with might and main in the NHL regular season.
It was a weekday, but the official protocol stated that all tickets were "sold out" and the box was full (the MSG holds 18 thousand). However, such an idyllic picture did not look. With the starting whistle, the bald spots from the empty chairs began to slowly overgrow with spectators, but the palace was never filled. Either some of the season ticket holders did not come, or people simply constantly migrated around the under-stands with beer and hot dogs. And most likely, both. Moreover, as soon as the fourth goal flew into the Rangers goal and it became clear that there was not enough time to recoup, the fans began to leave their seats in hundreds.
Spectators in the United States, by the way, do not worry at all about what they need to watch the match from and to. They walk, chat, drink alcohol, eat fast food, buy up paraphernalia. The same picture was in the Washington Verizon Center at the Capitals. All 18.5 thousand seats were occupied, according to official figures. If you believe your eyes, about 10-15 percent of the seats were empty.
Fedex Field, home to the Redskins American football team, has a capacity of 79,000. The NFL's official website claims that 75,227 spectators attended the match, which seems to be true. The stadium was like an anthill: hundreds of little people (on the scale of the arena, of course) scurried back and forth along rather steep stairs. They left with twenty bucks in hand, came back with fries and beer. And someone just walked with a glass of foam through the open galleries around the "Fedex" (fortunately, that day the sun was burning) and only with one eye watched the progress of the match on numerous screens hung everywhere. The day off, the great weather and the affection of the American people for American football did their job.
The situation with going to soccer was exactly the opposite. Knowing that the Americans also go to our European "football" in droves, we were not ready for the depressing picture that appeared before us at the "Red Bull Arena".
Wednesday. Pouring rain. Piercing wind. To get to this "tmutarakan" called the city of Harrison, New Jersey, I had to take the subway, train and walk about 25 minutes, because for some reason the free shuttle promised in the ticket did not go from the station. Once at the stadium, we understood why. It makes no sense to throw pearls in front of pigs and send buses for a handful of idiots stupefied by soccer, even in the rain. At the home stadium of the New York Red Bulls team, with a capacity of 25 thousand, one and a half were soaking
thousands of people. And this is at the Champions League match! The disappointment became even greater as soon as it became clear that Thierry Henry, who has been owned by american team.
After reflecting on why the replicated attendance statistics (on average there are 18 thousand people on the Red Bull) deceive gullible Russians, we came to the conclusion: for us the Champions League is cooler than the matches of the domestic (read, Russian) championship. For mega-patriotic Americans, MLS is probably much closer than some kind of CONCACAF Champions League. Well, the weather factor probably affected. Still, judging by what we have already observed earlier on sports facilities New York and Washington, for the American viewer, comfort is very important, as he goes to have fun and rest. Or maybe they just knew that Thierry Henry would not play?
Among those who came, the overwhelming majority were Hispanic immigrants from Latin America. And apparently, the same picture is observed in the MLS matches, since the heroes of the commercials during the break spoke the language of Cervantes.
At the turn of a new three-year agreement on the delegation of rights to host the Russian Ice Hockey Championship from FHR to the KHL, strategic changes in the League's business are especially attractive and interesting. The oil trader widely known in narrow circles, Mr. Timchenko, became the main "hockey player" in SKA, having replaced Alexander Medvedev, the founder and main inspirer of the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating the Continental Hockey League, as his deputy. Intrigue? Certainly! And the inclusion of the first in history in the KHL hockey club from Slovakia "LEV" - is it cool? Who would argue? Only now we know and remember the fact that in our country it is impossible to "talk apolitically". Because it's more expensive for yourself.
In the magazine "Dengi" colleagues of the publishing house "Kommersant", with their characteristic irony and texture of numbers, once again looked at "their" NHL and "our" KHL. We look together:
In fact, the most popular sport in Russia is football. But the most politicized, the most revealing, of course, is hockey. This has been the case since the time when, along with ballet and space, he personified our achievements and power. When hockey players could not give the title of world champion to anyone for ten years. When the legendary 1972 Super Series against Canadian professionals became a worldwide event. And, by the way, in the same Canada, summing up the results of the 20th century, it was the victory in that series that was recognized as the main historical milestone in the history of the country. It was precisely this detail - we are against America (albeit in the person of Canada) - that strengthened the political moment to the limit.
The USSR is long gone, and for all its importance sports victories they still ceased to be presented as the results of the opposition of systems. However, in hockey, this atavism remained. Three years ago, the Continental Hockey League (KHL) was created. From the very beginning of its existence, she set herself the goal of doing "better than theirs", that is, in the National Hockey League (NHL). And all these three years, citizens, closely following hockey, every day hear with or without reason: "already approached", "it turned out no worse than ...", "but in some ways they have already surpassed", "could even envy the NHL. "
Economy decides
In fact, comparing the KHL and the NHL is simple. The NHL is a stronger, more economically viable league, more organized. The best russian players - Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchuk, Datsyuk, others - they perform not at home, but there. And all best players European countries too. In addition, the KHL has existed for three years, and the NHL began its first season just in the days when “Aurora” banged around the Winter Palace. But the main thing is that the KHL will not catch up with the NHL until Russia, in the economic sense, catches up with America, or at least comes closer more or less decently.
Here it is worth taking a closer look at some numbers. Let's start with the simplest thing - audience interest. The most capacious sports palace on the territory of the KHL (and this is Russia, Belarus, Latvia and Kazakhstan) - in Minsk, 15 thousand seats. In the NHL, such an arena would be the smallest. Any hockey palace there is more capacious than the Minsk one. We have more than 10 thousand people who can go to hockey together in Moscow on Khodynka (14 thousand places), in St. Petersburg (11.5 thousand), Riga and Omsk (10.3 thousand each). And this is more than enough. Because the average attendance at the KHL is about 5800 at the game, and most of all go in the same Minsk - 10 540. That is, the largest hockey stands are also not filled.
Are their giant facilities empty in the NHL too? Yes, there are not always sold out houses, somewhere half the seats remain free. But even the most unpopular club, the New York Islanders, have 10,470 fans at every game. The worst club in the NHL is only slightly behind the best in the KHL.
It is more difficult to talk about the television audience. Because in Russia sports broadcasts are generally a failure for the rating, and if football does receive money from television, then hockey does not receive, in fact, anything. IN North America the situation is such that Canadians are ready to watch hockey at least 24 hours a day, but in the States baseball, American football, NBA, auto racing are much more popular - and the hockey audience is small compared to these entertainments. But recently, the Versus channel nevertheless signed a contract with the NHL, a record in the history of hockey: $ 2 billion over ten years. The KHL would dream of having at least 2 billion rubles.
The most expensive NHL clubs in 2010
Hockey score
1. Toronto - $ 470 million
2. New York Rangers - $ 416 million
3. Montreal - $ 339 million
4. Detroit - $ 337 million
5. Philadelphia - $ 273 million
2010 was the most successful year for Chicago, which won the Stanley Cup after a 40-year hiatus. The cost of the club immediately increased by 26% - to $ 258 million.
Over the year, the value of 14 clubs fell, that is, almost half. The worst was the case with “Colorado” - it fell by 11%.
14 teams are losing money. The largest losses were incurred by Phoenix - $ 18.5 million, Florida - $ 13.6 million and Columbus - $ 9.9 million.
Data from Forbes.com used.
Pocket ache
When you go to the movies, ticket costs are often not the only waste - often not the biggest. You must also sit in a cafe. Along the way, buy something in the store. If you are with a child and do not want to take him with you to the session, then you can "hand over" it to the play center, to rides and trampolines. So it is with the stadium. So, going to hockey in Russia is, as a rule, no more than 1 thousand rubles, and in very good places.
In the NHL, for that kind of money, you can only watch the game from the gallery. And the closer to the ice, the higher the price. $ 300 is quite decent money for good view to the site. And this is not to mention the corporate lodges. In America, going to a professional league match is a prestigious, social event. Corporations or simply rich people buy out boxes for the entire season for tens of thousands of dollars and bring business partners, friends, shock workers of capitalist labor there. We also have VIP seats - in new arenas in Kazan, St. Petersburg, Omsk and, I would like to especially note, in Yaroslavl, where the palace is almost half the size accepted in the NHL, but very cozy and with rich opportunities for the public.
Our problem is that arenas are not owned by clubs. This is the property of the state, which is little concerned with extracting spin-off from the spectacle. Come to the hockey - and at best you will be offered a cold sausage in crusty bread, Fanta and a cheese sandwich. And it costs twice as arrogantly as in a city. It is almost impossible to buy the attributes of your favorite team so that it is of high quality and varied. But you can't just leave the branded NHL stores. You can pack even a newborn from head to toe! And the $ 150 jerseys go away with no problem. It is inconvenient to get to our palaces, you cannot park nearby. Plus the redneck police-police. In general, our unobtrusive service in all its glory.
Someone else's money
The only thing in which our league undeniably and quickly caught up with the North American one is the players' salaries. Sports salaries in Russia, in principle, are not adequate to either the level of skill or the popularity of the show. It didn't start yesterday, and the reason is very simple. The remuneration of the players is not determined by any economic indicators. It does not depend on stadium attendance or TV rights sales. In the same NHL, clubs are owned by private individuals, and in Russia almost all of them are officially financed either directly from regional and city budgets, or through structures connected with the authorities in one way or another.
For example, Forbes recently made a cost estimate for the current KHL champion, Salavat Yulaev from Ufa. Interesting arithmetic came out. The team is financed by the Ural charity foundation, named after his son former president Bashkiria Murtaza Rakhimov. Of 2.85 billion rubles. more than 200 million goes to the subsidiary team of Salavat, Ural Rakhimov gets a few more hundred million, and finally, about 2 billion is the champion's budget. Moreover, about 90% of this amount is salaries, bonuses and bonuses for hockey players. In other words, “Salavat Yulaev” spends about $ 60 million on wages. It is curious that this season of the NHL is precisely this amount - the maximum salary ceiling for the entire team. So in Ufa, they have already caught up with the overseas league.
However, the KHL also has a salary ceiling - it appeared along with the league itself. But if in the NHL this size is rigid and, moreover, open to information, then our athletes' income is still a secret, known only to the leadership of the league. In addition, the KHL immediately accompanied the salary ceiling with reservations. Either from under it it was possible to deduce the salaries of one star, then for exceeding the ceiling it was possible to pay a "luxury tax", which was not an obstacle for rich clubs. Thus, the teams remained in an unequal position, and the same “Salavat”, if the calculations of “Forbes” are correct, exceeded the ceiling two and a half times. But Ufa is not the leader in hockey salaries. The St. Petersburg SKA, sponsored by Gazprom, is spending even more, bringing together several players from the Russian national team and expensive veterans from the NHL.
By the way, about SKA. Just the other day it became known that billionaire Gennady Timchenko, who is considered a good friend of Vladimir Putin, became the chairman of the board of directors of this club. For him, this is the first position that implies publicity. And for SKA - additional financial support. Now the club's budget is likely to exceed $ 100 million.
Copy can't catch up
However, we must give the KHL its due. It does not have what used to happen in domestic sports all the time. The scandalous story with the football “Saturn” is well-known, where salaries and bonuses were multimillion, but they were not paid for months. Now in our hockey this is impossible. When the Togliatti "Lada" was virtually left without a livelihood, the KHL took over its financing, paying salaries from the crisis fund. There is something similar in the NHL. There, too, from time to time some clubs find themselves in a difficult situation, but in none of them the salary was not cut or delayed even for a day. Now “Phoenix”, which crashed in desert Arizona, belongs directly to the NHL, and that, picking up the “coyotes” of a new owner, continues to comply with all contractual agreements.
It should be noted that with all the desire to "insert the fuse for America" \u200b\u200bthe KHL is actually copying the overseas league in many key aspects. This includes the salary cap, guaranteed contracts, and the draft procedure. The NHL played outdoor games, calling them "Winter Classics" - and we want to do the same. And the division of the league into divisions and conferences, and even the tradition of players not to shave until the end of the play-off - all this is imported from overseas. And there is nothing to be ashamed of. Why reinvent the wheel? If some system has been functioning effectively since the October Revolution, why not take all the best from it? But we, on the one hand, copy, and on the other, we strive to show our independence, selfhood, uniqueness and compete until complete victory.
We constantly reproach the NHL for expansionism, attempts to turn Europe and Russia into a raw material appendage (such and such, the best young players are lured away!), While the KHL itself has been energetically trying to expand its borders since its inception. The nostalgic idea of \u200b\u200busing clubs from the former Soviet Union was correct, since we have common hockey roots. But the KHL is trying to go abroad as well. Last season, everyone was striving to join the league with a team from the Czech Republic, then from Slovakia. Then the gaze was turned to the club from Sweden. Now we are talking about the Finns, the team from Berlin and even from Milan. And when local federations interfere with these plans, our hockey bosses stigmatize them, they say, but how dare you be dissatisfied? I wonder what they would say if, say, Moscow “Spartak” were invited to play in the NHL? So it turns out that in our hockey, politics turns out to be stronger than sober calculation.
The KHL is a good league, the most literate of all sports leagues in Russia. Interest in it is really growing, even if we are here and far from Canada. KHL fights against banditry of players' agents, kickbacks, "gray" schemes. She streamlined the "labor market". Hockey is a sport where we are really competitive at the highest world level. You just need to understand: we are not America. And until Russia as a whole is not as powerful, we will not have such powerful leagues as overseas. And you don't have to chase the NHL - you have to try to make a quality product in your own conditions, without mixing politics and slogans.
Average attendance at stadiums for KHL clubs in 2010/11
1. Dynamo Moscow (Mn) 10 538
2. "Vanguard" 9303
3. "Locomotive" 8998
5. "Salavat Yulaev" 7998
6. Dynamo (R) 7619
21. "Knight" 3009
22. Spartak 2952
In the National Hockey League, the regular season has ended, with Boston as the winner. But in terms of attendance, for the sixth year in a row, there was no equal “Chicago”, whose fans were sold out at every game. Moreover, there was not enough space for the far from small arena "United Center", which accommodates 19,717 spectators, so the club's management sold tickets even for standing places. As a result, the hawks' attendance amounted to 117.6 percent of the arena's capabilities.
In addition to Chicago, due to the great excitement, standing places were also sold in Detroit, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Calgary. At the same time, the Maple Leafs failed to make it to the playoffs, and the Flames were one of the weakest teams in the league throughout the season. However, Canadian fans love hockey so much that they are ready to watch their favorites lose regularly. Note that some of the clubs have 100% attendance, but do not sell tickets for standing places... These are Rangers, Boston, Winnipeg and Montreal.
The top ten of the most visited are traditionally representatives of the Big Six - the oldest clubs. Only two teams from the Big Six - Boston and Rangers - did not make the top 10, but only because of the low capacity of home arenas. Both teams have 100% attendance.
Among the best, as usual, there are many Canadian clubs. This year, four out of seven have made it to the top 10. Traditionally, Winnipeg is not included in the list of the most visited, despite the sold out in every match. The Jets have the smallest arena in the world, with only 15,004 seats. Even Edmonton, which had a terrible season, were 99.9 percent full. Only "Ottawa" stands apart with an occupancy rate of 94.5 percent.
In the top ten, as usual, you can see "Philadelphia" and "Pittsburgh". Hockey traditions are strong in these cities, plus both "penguins" and "pilots" regularly go to the playoffs. 10th place was taken by "Tampa", the attendance of which directly depends on the success of the season. The team finished third in the conference this year, providing a 96.8 percent occupancy rate for the home arena.
Outsiders in this indicator are practically the same from year to year. Phoenix, which almost changed its registration last summer, cannot make it to the playoffs for the second year in a row. Florida had another disastrous season. And the only way to drive spectators to the stands in non-hockey states is to win.
Dallas is also reaping the benefits of poor management and poor play for several years. The stars, who won the Stanley Cup at the end of the last century, seem to have acquired a decent fan base, but five consecutive seasons without playoffs led to a significant drop in audience interest. This year, the club's young leaders returned the Stanley Cup matches to Texas, so the Stars will probably not be anti-ranked next season.
There are similar reasons for the low audience interest in Columbus. The team has made the playoffs only twice in 16 years of history, and this year finally won its first match in the Stanley Cup series. If the Blue Jackets do not slow down next season, they may well expect a significant increase in attendance.
As for the Islanders, here one can only sympathize with the fans of the team. The Islanders play in a real barn, to which they turn a blind eye only because of the glorious history of the team, plus the club has one of the lowest budgets in the league and a dubious transfer policy. However, their home arena, which ranks second in capacity from the bottom, is 93.4 percent full.
In terms of team attendance during away matches, the top five include some of the most successful teams season, plus Toronto and Rangers. Maple Leaves are very popular at home and dozens of fans in blue and white sweaters can be seen at almost all away matches. The high audience interest in Anaheim and Boston can be explained by their strong play - the teams won their conferences.
Pittsburgh is traditionally at the top of this rating, as those who want to see the game live Sydney Crosby and Evgeniya Malkina will always be.
Let's remind that "Chicago" became the most visited club for the sixth consecutive year. After appearing in the team Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith interest in hockey in the Windy City has grown tremendously. For the 2008/09 season, the Blackhawks made a leap in attendance from 19th place to first and have been at the top of the podium ever since. The team does not disappoint the fans with its game. The updated franchise has already won the Stanley Cup twice and will be one of the main contenders for the trophy for many years to come.
Colorado has made the most progress in attendance this season. After taking over as head coach Patrick Roy Denver fell ill with hockey again. And as a result, instead of last year's 15,444 spectators at the match - 16,295, and at the end of the season - regular sold out. Recall that it is Colorado that holds the record for the number of sold out houses in a row - 487. The Avalanche sold all tickets for their matches from 1995 to 2006.
We will evaluate the attendance of teams based on relative indicators (% of occupancy), and absolute (number of people).
One more point. Chicago's attendance last season was 110.4%, while Montreal had 100%. Based on these numbers, it might seem like more people go to Chicago. But this is not the case, since the hawks sell standing places (going over 100%) and the Canadiens do not. Therefore, it is not advisable to calculate the average relative attendance for 9 seasons, because this is incorrect in relation to Montreal (and to everyone who does not sell standing places).
In addition to Chicago, the following clubs sell standing places - San Jose, Toronto, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Detroit, Ottawa.
To make it easier to navigate - in yellow, I highlighted the seasons with 100% attendance.
Canadian clubs are among the leaders, and this is logical considering that in Canada hockey is the number one sport (while in the USA it is inferior in popularity to American football, baseball and basketball). At the same time, the maximum attendance of even weakly performing "in the regular season" Toronto and Edmonton (For 9 years, Maple Leaves have only 1 cup participation, and the oil industry has none at all).
Montreal and Toronto - the only teams with 100% attendance in all 9 seasons.
A sharp rise in attendance Winnipeg due to the relocation of the franchise. Until 2011, the team was based in the United States and was called Atlanta, which was not particularly visited. After moving to Canada, as they say, people went.
The worst single season attendance in 9 years was off St. Louis - in 2006/2007 only 59.6% went to the "bluesmen".
The most exemplary team among American clubs Rangers ... Based in the largest city in the United States (8.5 million), it quite naturally has such high traffic. Ironically Islanders are also based in New York, but they don't go there, moreover, for this part of the problem.
Walks a lot to Minnesota , located in the hockey state of the United States.
It is impossible not to note the progress of attendance in chicago ... In the 2006/2007 season it was only 62.1%, and having confused 2 seasons it was already 100%. In general, the "hawks" for the last 7 seasons have no problem filling their 19 thousand arena and even sell standing ones, which allows them to have up to 22 thousand people in total.
In my time Colorado set an NHL record (not beaten to this day) for the number of matches in a row with "sold out", of which there were 487! (from November 1, 1995 to October 16, 2006). But times have changed and now there is no close attendance - out of 9 seasons, 6 had less than 90% occupancy. This is largely due to weak results - out of the last 9 seasons, only 3 of the team made it to the playoffs.
IN last years big problems with attendance at Carolina ... In the 2012/2013 season it was 94%, in the 2013/2014 season - 82.9%, in 2014/2015 - 76.4%, and in the current season only 57.6%.
Sports successes Florida identical to Toronto (also 1 playoffs in 9 years), but the “panthers” are not able to collect the same number of people. Moreover, at the beginning of last season, the club record was set for the smallest number of spectators - only 7311 people came to the match against Ottawa on October 14.
The worst is in arizona ... The Coyotes are the only NHL team in 9 years to have had at least one season with 90% or more attendance. Moreover, in 4 seasons it was less than 80%. Even in their best regular season 2009/2010 (the team scored a record 50 wins and 107 points), the attendance was only 68.5%.
Now let's look at attendance in absolute terms.
Based on 2 tables, we can conclude that Montreal - the most visited team in the NHL.
In relative terms, the worst in terms of attendance is Arizona , but in absolute - Islanders .
The absolute maximum in 9 years was near chicago - in the 2013/2014 season, the average attendance was 22,623 people. But at least for the same period at the Islanders - in the 2010/2011 season there were only 11,059 people.
The most visited season was the shortened 2012/2013 lockout season - 530,705 people. Least of all came in the 2006/2007 season - 508813.