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Attendance drop leaves latest Americans owner perplexed Darryl Porter sat in the mostly empty stands of the Tri-Cities Coliseum last Friday night in a state of abject disbelief. Despite a resurgent hockey team that has had the best record in the U.S. division since Nov. 1, the Tri-City Americans drew an all-time low for attendance last weekend. The 1,922 who showed up to see Kelowna beat the Americans 5-3 was the smallest crowd ever for a Friday night. On Saturday, only 2,475 showed up to watch the Americans beat Portland, the smallest crowd ever for a Saturday night. Dwindling attendance is the continuation of an ominous trend that started seven years ago. For each of those seven years, attendance has dropped about 500 a game. It isn't quite that much this year, but that's of little solace to Porter or his ownership group that includes Brian Burke, the Vancouver Canucks general manager, Glen Sather, the New York Rangers GM, and Bob Tory, the Americans GM. "The scary thing," Porter said, "is that nobody has been able to reverse it." Part of the reason is that Porter's group is the fourth different one in the last four years. From Ron Toigo, to Wayne Overland, to Mark Wagstaff, to Porter, many of the promises have become familiar and tired. So far, unlike Wagstaff, Porter has stuck to his promises, but all of his marketing and advertising strategies have yet to pay dividends. After stating last month that the Americans need to average 3,500 to be stable and successful, Porter has watched the attendance dwindle to 2,551. Part of the reason, without doubt, was the team's 12-game losing streak early in the season. That, however, has been turned around and the Americans have climbed into a position where they could still challenge for a title in the weak West Division. There were only 2,420 there on Tuesday night for a 5-2 loss to Kootenay and more than a few around the league have suggested the waters here have been poisoned so deeply that recovery may be impossible. The Americans aren't alone in watching crowds disappear. Attendance is also down in Portland, Seattle and Spokane. One reason for the drop here last weekend was that Porter learned that giving away tickets to showcase his product, and hopefully draw new fans down the road, is a losing proposition. For complimentary tickets, Porter has to pay the city $2 apiece and does not share in any of the parking or concession revenue. Earlier this season, Porter had a promotion where each season ticket holder could bring a friend for free. About 500 people attended on the free ticket, a promotion that cost Porter $1,000. So before last weekend, Porter pulled all his comps and watched as attendance plummeted for what he hoped would be a good weekend. "I am thoroughly confused," Porter admitted. "We're now getting less support than Wagstaff did and we didn't think that was possible." Of course, winning cures everything. Should the Americans be able to get deep into the playoffs, losses could be recouped fairly quickly. "You have to have at least six home games in the playoffs to make some money," Porter said. "We think we've got a team that could do that." Porter hopes his latest ticket offer will be a hit. Beginning Dec. 28, half-season tickets for the final 19 home games are priced at $199 for adults, $175 for students and seniors and $125 for children. "We're not giving up," Porter said. "We're frustrated, but we're resolute." | ||||||||||
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