Avs challenged the Broncos during the glory days. That said Broncos will always be #1.
The majority of sports I have met in Colorado are fans of all the teams (Nuggets, Rockies, Avs, etc.), but they are also huge bandwagoners and will go to the team that is winning games. The attendance for The Can has been below average the last couple of seasons, but that is due to poorly constructed teams and rebuilding. Playoffs are usually soldout in every sport.
As the for the culture, I think the potential is very in Colorado, but it hasn't progressed as much as I thought for glory days of the Avs. Maybe we have to wait a few more generations. Though it has progressed astronomically. We have two fantastic triple AAA programs, one Junior A III team, and great college hockey culture where we get decent players.
The problem is kids growing up are playing multiple sports, baseball/football/hockey as I see it and they normally choose the baseball or football route instead of hockey.
I'd say that youth hockey has made a great recovery since the Nords moved to Denver. Before that many of the hockey rinks I remembered growing up had been converted to indoor soccer or storage or closed altogether. The hard thing is the climate doesn't allow the backyard/pond hockey experience for kids. It's cheap to go out with a football or baseball, bat & a few mits and play pickup game with your friends vs. hockey with out a indoor facility. With that you pretty much have to have the full set of pads, pants, gloves, helmet, etc. too to play a pick up game at the rink. Versus places just a bit farther north that has the local pond that has ice safe enough to play on day in and day out.
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Originally Posted by Av-merican
Eh...no different than any other fanbase, really. It's a rare occasion to see fans line up to watch a struggling team. Sure, there are the Leafs in Toronto or the Cubs in Chicago, but that doesn't happen very often. Even the Broncos started taking some hits at the gate when McDouchebag was in charge, hence the quick firing.
Yeah the Broncos are the exception which shows how bad it was with McDumb@$$ that folks decided not to show up for the games. Too bad it doesn't work the same way with the Rockies... people are just too happy to show up and sit in the sun for an afternoon game (unless they're a fan of the opposing team).
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Originally Posted by Avs
I'm not from Colorado, but it all depends on if the team is winning or not. The Avs do hold the NHL record for most consecutive sellouts, which came from 95-03 (the glory days, obviously.)
Yeah the typical "If you build it... they will come". There is still the CORE hockey fan that will go to games on a regular basis but IMO even back in the glory days the lower bowl was full of fans that where there because it was the place to be vs. going to watch the product on the ice. I had season tix from 98-06 and was amazed at the number of games that the upper level would be almost packed and the lower level would be half full. Could be because they're corporate seats and they couldn't find anyone to give them to but hey I got Rockies tickets behind home plate one season back when Vinnie Castilla and Andres Galaraga where playing.
Oh and OT... I enjoyed the game last night on my new HD tv I got for Christmas.
Guys, was there ever a time the AVS were the talk of town and everyone loved em. Like were they ever 2nd in the city behind Broncos and close to 1st? i am thinking around the 2000 or 2001 yrs, and even late 90's..
man, you guys had it all back then. i loved the avs. Sakic, Forsberg, Hejduk, Bourque, and of course, Patrick Roy. pls tell me they were close to number 1 in denver those days, and at least ahead of nuggets and rockies.. What a team you had.
Yes, they were ahead of Nuggets and Rockies back then.
Rockies and Nuggets were cellar dwellers, and Avs were at the top of the league. That's when we had the big sellout streak. Avs have never challenged Broncos for #1, though. Nor has any other sport.
There might be more fans at a Rockies game, but that's usually because of the opponent.
Plus, Avs fans are a more dedicated, die-hard bunch than Rockies fans.
Going to a Rockies game is something you do on a sunny day, if you have nothing else to do. You probably got the tickets for free anyway.
Going to an Avs game is much more expensive, and something you look forward to.
For me its Broncos 1A and Avs 1B
I'm a Nuggets and Rockies fan but can take or leave 'em to be honest. But yes I agree that your average Avs fan is much more dedicated than your average Rockies fan. I can remember them calling me up when I had Avs tix and offering me a discount for Nuggets tix back in the day too...
Broncos would definitely still be #1. Whether they have a bad season or not, they will get the vast majority of the media coverage.
That's a big part of the problem for the Avs -- ownership spends bare minimum to get them "out there". No advertising to speak of.
I live ~60 miles south of Denver, in Colorado Springs. In the "Good Ol' Days", there were Meet & Greet events throughout Denver and even down here, where you could meet the players and get autographs. People knew the names Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy. Nowadays people give you a blank stare when you mention Matt Duchene, Gabe Landeskog, Semyon Varlamov. "Hejduk? That sounds vaguely familiar..."
I don't really know what kind of advertising the Rockies or Nuggets get in Denver, but it's minimal down here -- only slightly better than the Avalanche.
All that said, I still see Avs gear worn everywhere I go. Restaurants, stores, schools, etc. They're not forgotten. Once they become perennial contenders again, the names of players will be on people's lips again, and the arena will be packed. Soon, I hope.
I'm a Nuggets and Rockies fan but can take or leave 'em to be honest. But yes I agree that your average Avs fan is much more dedicated than your average Rockies fan. I can remember them calling me up when I had Avs tix and offering me a discount for Nuggets tix back in the day too...
Hard to predict what fans would follow who if they all had losing records. But I agree that if all the teams had winning records it would be,
1. Broncos
2. Avs
3A. Nuggets
3B. Rockies
That said I could care less about every team in Colorado besides the Avs and the occasional Nugget's playoff push.
People are def selling the Nuggets short. You forget how truly awful of a franchise they've been at times. After they got Melo and with the current playoff streak things have been a little different. They've never had Avalanche or Bronco success. Broncos are #1 and that'll never change because it's football.
All teams equal, I won't comment on baseball because I don't follow it like at all. I don't listen when people talk about it and just tune it all out. I probably wouldn't even follow a Rockies playoff run, so I have zero knowledge of anything related to them.
Broncos
Nuggets
Avalanche
IMO. You give the Nuggets a Sakic, Foppa, Roy and those kinda players and I think they'd be just as popular as the Avs. Difference is with the Avs you take away those superstar players and they are near the bottom of the league in attendance. Roster wise a few years ago Avs were similar to the Nuggets, even with the typical first round out. Lots of youth, a great star to build around in Dutchy .. not like the Nuggets have any superstars anymore. Exciting team but no name value, yet everybody knows Ty Lawson and Danilo where as IMO Duchene is a better player/prospect than those too, as well as Landy.
In the end we should all applaud Denver because every team has shown that when you do things right they get the support. I believe the smallest area to have all major sports teams in the US? Even have Lacrosse and Soccer.
I don't really have a personal favorite. I'll watch an Avs game over the Nuggets if they are the better team, same with the Nuggets. Right now I'd watch a Nuggets game first. Always watch Broncos games and follow all 3 no matter what, I long for the day all 3 win a championship in the same year
People are def selling the Nuggets short. You forget how truly awful of a franchise they've been at times. After they got Melo and with the current playoff streak things have been a little different. They've never had Avalanche or Bronco success. Broncos are #1 and that'll never change because it's football.
All teams equal, I won't comment on baseball because I don't follow it like at all. I don't listen when people talk about it and just tune it all out. I probably wouldn't even follow a Rockies playoff run, so I have zero knowledge of anything related to them.
Broncos
Nuggets
Avalanche
IMO. You give the Nuggets a Sakic, Foppa, Roy and those kinda players and I think they'd be just as popular as the Avs. Difference is with the Avs you take away those superstar players and they are near the bottom of the league in attendance. Roster wise a few years ago Avs were similar to the Nuggets, even with the typical first round out. Lots of youth, a great star to build around in Dutchy .. not like the Nuggets have any superstars anymore. Exciting team but no name value, yet everybody knows Ty Lawson and Danilo where as IMO Duchene is a better player/prospect than those too, as well as Landy.
In the end we should all applaud Denver because every team has shown that when you do things right they get the support. I believe the smallest area to have all major sports teams in the US? Even have Lacrosse and Soccer.
I don't really have a personal favorite. I'll watch an Avs game over the Nuggets if they are the better team, same with the Nuggets. Right now I'd watch a Nuggets game first. Always watch Broncos games and follow all 3 no matter what, I long for the day all 3 win a championship in the same year
I grew up a Nuggets fan in the age of English, Lever, Cooper (before them KiKi was my favorite player), Issel, and Hanzlik. That was definitely the golden age of the NBA. They'd have probably had a legit shot at an NBA title if not for the fact that the Celtics and Showtime Lakers were running the show back then. I definitely averted my eyes during the dark times, but came back when Melo singlehandedly brought them back to relevance. But somewhere along the way, I just plain lost interest again. Even when they were arguably at their very best with Melo, K-Mart, and Chauncey, I just couldn't get excited. I knew they were just gonna get slapped around in the postseason, and it wouldn't be fun to watch.
It's not because of the Nuggets that I don't follow the Nuggets--I just don't like the NBA anymore. Stern has run the league into the ground, and should've left a long time ago. I can't wait for the day Stern, Kobe, and the entire roster of the San Antonio Spurs are wiped off the basketball world. The game will be better off without them.
If the Broncos ever suffered a prolonged state of true ineptitude, something the franchise really hasn't suffered since the 60's and early 70's, coupled with another one of the Denver franchises winning titles amid a stretch of prolonged success, I think that franchise could overtake the Broncos popularity. Everyone assumes the Broncos are untouchable in this town, but since Denver became a four sport town in the 90's, the worst run the Broncos had was the recent stretch of mediocrity from 2006-11 when they were basically a .500 team. Yet even in that stretch they'd tantalizingly flirt with success.
Granted, all things being equal, the Broncos are an easy #1. But if they were really bad again they wouldn't have it as easy as they did in the old days when this was a one sport town.
It's not because of the Nuggets that I don't follow the Nuggets--I just don't like the NBA anymore. Stern has run the league into the ground, and should've left a long time ago. I can't wait for the day Stern, Kobe, and the entire roster of the San Antonio Spurs are wiped off the basketball world. The game will be better off without them.
Yup, basketball is a pretty cool sport to play, but I have zero respect for the NBA because every player is like Evander Kane; primadonna.
I still think Avs would be the better (fan support) of the two franchises in a winning season.
Yup, basketball is a pretty cool sport to play, but I have zero respect for the NBA because every player is like Evander Kane; primadonna.
I still think Avs would be the better (fan support) of the two franchises in a winning season.
Not sure about that--I've been to Nuggets and Avs games in recent years, and the energy levels are completely different.
Too often at Avs games (even when they were still a dominant NHL franchise) you get "fans" who only stand when the jumbotron tells them to. I remember going to an Avs game and this couple sat next to me. Any time I even bothered to raise my voice, they both looked at me like I was crazy. They just sat there the whole time like they were at a movie theatre. Every now and then I'm quite pleased when there are fans sitting near us who are actually loud and into the game.
Nuggets games, on the other hand, were always raucous affairs, and the place would EXPLODE after a big basket. Sure, fans cheer whenever the Avs scored, but it's just not the same.
Ticket prices and catering to corporate block sales make a big difference here. The Avs far too often ignore their very passionate fanbase or just plain price themselves out of those fans' price range. So instead you get doofuses who merely got their tickets as a gift from a company and don't know or don't really care about the game. That may be less of an Avalanche problem and more of an NHL problem, but I would (naively) hope that a fringe benefit of two lockouts would be more sensible ticket prices.
Not sure about that--I've been to Nuggets and Avs games in recent years, and the energy levels are completely different.
Too often at Avs games (even when they were still a dominant NHL franchise) you get "fans" who only stand when the jumbotron tells them to. I remember going to an Avs game and this couple sat next to me. Any time I even bothered to raise my voice, they both looked at me like I was crazy. They just sat there the whole time like they were at a movie theatre. Every now and then I'm quite pleased when there are fans sitting near us who are actually loud and into the game.
Nuggets games, on the other hand, were always raucous affairs, and the place would EXPLODE after a big basket. Sure, fans cheer whenever the Avs scored, but it's just not the same.
Ticket prices and catering to corporate block sales make a big difference here. The Avs far too often ignore their very passionate fanbase or just plain price themselves out of those fans' price range. So instead you get doofuses who merely got their tickets as a gift from a company and don't know or don't really care about the game. That may be less of an Avalanche problem and more of an NHL problem, but I would (naively) hope that a fringe benefit of two lockouts would be more sensible ticket prices.
Guess it depends on what games you go to.
I've been to some pretty rockin Avs games lately (one against Vancouver last year comes to mind)
Last night was not one of those nights. Worst crowd ever
Nuggets - 17,270 per game
Avalanche - 14,935 per game
It's not TV ratings, but it's obvious the Nuggets draw more than the Avs and I believe they're more popular in general in Denver. I'm definitely not a NBA fan but the numbers speak for themselves.
Nuggets - 17,270 per game
Avalanche - 14,935 per game
It's not TV ratings, but it's obvious the Nuggets draw more than the Avs and I believe they're more popular in general in Denver. I'm definitely not a NBA fan but the numbers speak for themselves.
Also, aren't there more seats when they convert The Can for basketball?
