Barons Fans in OKC. Photo courtesy of Steven Christy Photography. All rights reserved.
When Scott looked in on the attendance problems in Oklahoma City, the comments focused mostly on ticket prices at the Cox Center. A sampling of those comments show that the locals think the Barons lack affordable tickets, especially considering how new the Oklahoma City market is.
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...
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?
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...
I decided to compare the Barons individual game ticket prices to the rest of the AHL. I surveyed team sites, and when necessary Ticketmaster, to come up with the pricing table below. I've broken the table down by conference, as I assumed the more populous northeast, with more established hockey markets, would have more expensive tickets overall. The table is sorted by the lowest-price ticket available.
| Team | Location | Lowest | Highest | NHL Affiliate |
| St. John's IceCaps* | St. John's, NL | 26 | 38 | Winnipeg Jets |
| Providence Bruins | Providence, RI | 24 | 36 | Boston Bruins |
| Springfield Falcons | Springfield, MA | 23 | 37 | Columbus Blue Jackets |
| Syracuse Crunch | Syracuse, NY | 21 | 25 | Anaheim Ducks |
| Binghamton Senators | Binghamton, NY | 20 | 23 | Ottawa Senators |
| WBS Penguins | Wilkes-Barre, PA | 18 | 40 | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Manchester Monarchs | Manchester, NH | 18 | 32 | Los Angeles Kings |
| Hershey Bears | Hershey, PA | 18 | 26 | Washington Capitals |
| Worcester Sharks | Worcester, MA | 17 | 33 | San Jose Sharks |
| Albany Devils | Albany, NY | 16 | 25 | New Jersey Devils |
| Bridgeport Sound Tigers | Bridgeport, CT | 15 | 47 | New York Islanders |
| Portland Pirates | Portland, ME | 14 | 18 | Phoenix Coyotes |
| Adirondack Phantoms | Glens Falls, NY | 12 | 26 | Philadelphia Flyers |
| Connecticut Whale | Hartford, CT | 12 | 25 | New York Rangers |
| Norfolk Admirals | Norfolk, VA | 12 | 17 | Tampa Bay Lightning |
Overall, my assumption was correct. The teams in the northeast do have more expensive ticket prices.
| Team | Location | Lowest | Highest | NHL Affiliate |
| Hamilton Bulldogs* | Hamilton, ON | 26 | 33 | Montreal Canadiens |
| Abbotsford Heat* | Abbotsford, BC | 20 | 45 | Calgary Flames |
| Peoria Rivermen | Peoria, IL | 19 | 26 | St. Louis Blues |
| Charlotte Checkers | Charlotte, NC | 18 | 38 | Carolina Hurricanes |
| San Antonio Rampage | San Antonio, TX | 17 | 31 | Florida Panthers |
| Chicago Wolves | Rosemont, IL | 16 | 50 | Vancouver Canucks |
| Houston Aeros | Houston, TX | 16 | 84 | Minnesota Wild |
| Grand Rapids Griffins | Grand Rapids, MI | 14 | 32 | Detroit Red Wings |
| Toronto Marlies* | Toronto, ON | 14 | 43 | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Oklahoma City Barons | Oklahoma City, OK | 14 | 36 | Edmonton Oilers |
| Rochester Americans | Rochester, NY | 12 | 24 | Buffalo Sabres |
| Milwaukee Admirals | Milwaukee, WI | 12 | 26 | Nashville Predators |
| Lake Erie Monsters | Cleveland, OH | 10 | 63 | Colorado Avalanche |
| Texas Stars | Cedar Park, TX | 10 | 50 | Dallas Stars |
| Rockford IceHogs | Rockford, IL | 8 | 27 | Chicago Blackhawks |
*Indicates prices listed in CAD
This chart was created using Ticketmaster's arcane interface, so there may be mistakes. Please let me know if any of these single-game ticket prices are incorrect in the comments. I'll update them as quickly as possible.
Thanks to the alert WBS Pens fan for the e-mail stating that the lowest walk-up price is $18, not $30.
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