Attendance Woes in Oklahoma City

by Scott Reynolds on Oct 27, 2011 6:30 AM MDT in Barons

On the ice, the Oklahoma City Barons are off to a roaring start (especially if we pretend that first game never happened). They sit near the top of the Conference with a 4-1-1 record and are tied for the Conference lead with a +7 goal differential. Granted, the team is doing it mostly with percentages (they've been outshot by an average of 5.7 shots per game), but they're winning, and hey, winning is fun.

The problem, then, seems to be that Oklahomans don't think Barons' hockey is much fun. With the NBA going through an indefinite lockout, it seemed like the Barons would be one of the beneficiaries of the Thunder missing games, but early returns suggest a much different story.

In the following chart, we'll look at a three-game rolling average for attendance at Barons' regular season home games both this season and last:

Not many points on that second line as of yet, but you'll notice that the last three-game segment is the poorest stretch the Barons have had in their short history, and this despite the fact that the team is winning, despite the fact that the NBA is in the middle of a lockout, and despite the fact that two of these games happened on a Friday or Saturday, which tend to have better attendance.

In terms of individual dates, the Barons have announced attendance of less than 2,700 people at each of their last three home games. Last season, the team had less than 2,700 just twice, and one of those was the Oklahoma City Blizzard game, which had an announced attendance of 2,005. That hints at what the problem might be for this year's team, namely, a smaller season ticket base (the low so far in 2011-12 is 2,287, which I'd have to think includes a lot more walk-up than the Blizzard game of 2010-11).

The team has averaged just 3,279 so far, which puts them second to last in the league and would have placed them second to last in the league last year too. With the Barons losing ground already, their future in Oklahoma City is probably in doubt once the original five-year agreement with Prodigal Hockey expires. With that five-year agreement in place, there is, of course, plenty of time to turn things around, but the early returns in the team's second season are not promising.

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I live in OKC and ticket prices are simply too high. This is development level hockey and even I, a rabid hockey fan, cannot afford to get my family to games.

OKC is never going to be a hockey hotbed. You will get the old Blazers crowd and those who can afford the current prices but the way Prodigal has put a focus on packages has pushed anyone except those directly in the Metro area out of the equation.

They’ve just done a really bad job trying to connect with people here.

Fanpost writer at Pensburgh :: Follow me on Twitter at @Ozman51

by ozman_fiftyone on Oct 27, 2011 6:53 AM MDT reply actions

Well, they’re obviously doing something wrong, and I think you’re probably on the money suggesting that they need to do a better job of connecting with people. The pricing complaint is interesting. The cheapest single game ticket that you can buy in advance is $14, which doesn’t seem overly expensive to me, but the seat you get might be just awful, so maybe it’s a bad deal. Is that seat still too expensive? What price would you be comfortable paying?

The biggest fanana of the Havana Bananas.

by Scott Reynolds on Oct 27, 2011 8:00 AM MDT up reply actions

$14 is for reds in the upper corners of the arena.

http://www.okcbarons.com/index.cfm?fa=SeatingMap

In theory, there is little difference between practice and theory, but in practice there is!

Tactical contributor to the Copper & Blue and just as boring on the twitters... @dawgbone98

by dawgbone98 on Oct 27, 2011 8:03 AM MDT up reply actions

It baffles me that people are so poor at judging markets.

You can’t go into a new market and expect people to pay going rates that other teams pay in a 2nd tier league.

You are far better off doing something like $15 adult $10 child general admission pricing than what they have now (offer $13 adult and $8 child for season ticket holders)

You are better off getting 10,000 fans at an average of $12/ticket than 5,000 at $24. You can build a fanbase, get people into your arena and create a market for your product that extends beyond the hardcore hockey fan.

In theory, there is little difference between practice and theory, but in practice there is!

Tactical contributor to the Copper & Blue and just as boring on the twitters... @dawgbone98

by dawgbone98 on Oct 27, 2011 8:02 AM MDT up reply actions

The attendance figures for the OKC Blazers were all smoke and mirrors. They padded attendance figures with freebies and such. City officials that I’ve spoken with were very clear when Prodigal approached them about the arena deal. There had to be more integrity with ticket sales. So I think the numbers we are seeing in Oklahoma City the last two season are better depictions of what the normal attendance will be. With that said, agree with those above. Ticket pricing is huge. I can cross the street, pay $10 for a Thunder Loud City ticket, and get an overall more enjoyable experience. Granted that’s the NBA and this is the AHL, the selling of this team is not going well. In the end, the deal that SMG (who manages the Cox Center) and the Barons is so cost effective that averaging 2500 a night still has them coming out okay. But the expectation of larger numbers equaling success will catch up with them.

Tending The Farm in OKC!

by Neal Livingston on Oct 27, 2011 9:01 AM MDT reply actions

Addendum to my statement about the Blazers. Indeed they padded numbers, but the actual numbers were far greater than the current OKC teams 2500-ish.

Tending The Farm in OKC!

by Neal Livingston on Oct 27, 2011 12:18 PM MDT up reply actions

Ticket cost may have quite a bit to do with it. The Stockton Thunder have frozen ticket prices for the past few years, so my three seats in the 10th row above end zone faceoff dots are still $15 each. The average attendance has declined over the past few seasons, but they still are one of the best teams in the ECHL in terms of attendance (in a market where the SJ Sharks reign supreme).

Opening night in Stockton is typically the best attended game of the season… Here are the Opening Night numbers for the past few seasons:

2006 – 8,747
2007 – 8,609
2008 – 8,723
2009 – 5,805
2010 – 6,117
2011 – 6,827

I suspect there are fewer people with the disposable income to blow on a fringe sport in the Central Valley of California, and this may be also true of areas that are not traditional hockey markets. For Stockton, 2009 was a poorly attended season relative to seasons prior. With people gradually spending money a bit more freely the past couple of years, the attendance seems to be improving.

by T Ambrosini on Oct 27, 2011 10:39 AM MDT reply actions

Not a new theme...

There’s a 10 page thread on the forum from last year … which basically echos the comments.

http://www.okchockey.com/showthread.php?789-OKC-Barons-Attendance-Thread

Ticket prices are huge. Anything in the upper deck should be $10 period. The rest could be dropped a bit but I think Ozman is right – who’s gonna spend $150 for a family of 4 to sit up close?

The $10 last minute ticket deal they had last year was a joke too. I think they limited it to 500 per game (in a 11K or so arena??) Stupidity in my opinion.

by Brett LaBare on Oct 27, 2011 1:01 PM MDT reply actions

Clause to sever the agreement between Prodigal and the Arena

I believe there is a clause in the agreement with the city and Prodigal that if the average attendance falls below 4,000, then the city or Prodigal can ask to sever the agreement. So there is a possiblity that we don’t even make it five years. Here is the link that describes the agreement between the city and Prodigal hockey.

Section I.P. Economic Benchmark Termination Right: The agreement may be terminated if the average paid attendance per regular season home game at the Arena falls below 4,000.

http://www.ksbitv.com/news/50136702.html

by Jack Thompson on Oct 27, 2011 3:16 PM MDT reply actions

Thanks for the link!

The biggest fanana of the Havana Bananas.

by Scott Reynolds on Oct 27, 2011 3:24 PM MDT up reply actions

I’m an OKC resident, avid hockey fan/coach/player and make a decent living. Can’t afford decent seats at a minor league hockey game. Not for a family of four. My fault for having two kids? Prodigal’s fault for not recognizing the market? Probably a little bit of both. I know the 7-0 ass-kicking for the first game (on the road, but I checked the score before deciding not to go to opening night) may have affected the perception of this year’s team a little.

If we don't get our sauce, we ain't watching the game!

by Mike @ MHH on Oct 27, 2011 8:08 PM MDT reply actions

okc attendance

I’m a season Ticket holder in OKC (since 1993), Over the summer i was contacted numerous times as were my friends (that have season tickets) about how they (Prodigal ) could make my hockey experience better. I had several suggestions and oddly enough those suggestions were improved upon this season. I think we all agree the product on the ice is at least three times better hockey than we were used to. The price change for seats vs attendance isn’t a relative argument! Many hockey teams give away tickets to inflate the numbers. I know that the Blazers used to do that and that comes with BAD consequences over time. Vouchers, buy one get one etc… lead to the very argument we are having today! Don’t forget this is a business and giveaways or super cheap seats are a thing of the past. If you have taken the time to look at the league OKC is priced comparably. Remember we went to playoffs our first season. WOW!! not a bad product!! Look at the Dallas Stars. No one is there! Guess what, Years of giving away tickets has caught up to them and now it’s a marketing nightmare. They have to reset the market some how! You show me an equal or better product at a cheaper price and ill show you a company that folds.. oh yeah have you been to a local club hockey game? 10.00 to get in! REALLY?? Anyway, enjoy the hockey cause guys that you love to watch in OKC you may get to see on tv that weekend in Edmonton. You never saw that with the Blazers.

by 2funny on Oct 28, 2011 11:02 AM MDT reply actions

But we aren’t talking about giving away 3,000 tickets to fill up your rink.

We also aren’t talking about needing to fill a rink a pro level prices in order to be successful.

It’s all well and good charging league average ticket prices when you are in a hockey market. OKC has a small base of hard core fans but it is not a hockey market.

Giving away tickets when you are over pricing them in the first place is a dumb idea (that I agree with). Reducing ticket prices to reflect your market isn’t. This isn’t the NHL, you don’t need to make sure you are charging pro-level ticket prices.

It shouldn’t be cheaper to see an NHL hockey game in Florida than it is to see an AHL game in OKC.

In theory, there is little difference between practice and theory, but in practice there is!

Tactical contributor to the Copper & Blue and just as boring on the twitters... @dawgbone98

by dawgbone98 on Oct 28, 2011 1:50 PM MDT up reply actions

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