The Business of HockeyDiscuss the financial and business aspects of the NHL. Franchise sales, valuations, TV contracts, ratings, expansion, relocation, the CBA and work stoppage discussion goes here.
i disagree in somehow an NHL team needing time to develop a fan base in Seattle.
I live in the Tacoma area.
In Washington you have a large % of people who are transplants from northeast , midwest, and Canada.
Seattle area has 2 WHL teams, and in their actual market which would include Washington State and Portland there are 3 other WHL teams.
If you have cable in the Seattle area you get CBC aired (satelitte appears not to carry it).
Hockey will not have any issue in establishing a fanbase.
If hockey were to come in first they would get a head start on marketing than if they waited for an NBA team to come.
I lived in Tacoma for ten years and am well versed in the state of hockey in Washington and the Northwest in general, and I do not disagree with any of your points. Comparatively speaking however, they will need time to develop a fan base while the Sonics have a built-in fan base already. A new NHL team would do quite well, in terms of fan support, during its first season, but the real kicker would be to see how things look in Year Two, especially if they do not play especially well during Year One. I personally love the idea of hockey coming to Seattle and think they will do well, but it's not as though they would sell out all their season ticket packages in an hour or anything.
Misrepresentation in longshore workers’ arena lawsuit.
Apparently in their claim that the city/county/hansen have voliated SEPA law they intentionally omitted out key words/statements from what King County Executive had sad. Thus misrepresenting the case.
Misrepresentation in longshore workers’ arena lawsuit.
Apparently in their claim that the city/county/hansen have voliated SEPA law they intentionally omitted out key words/statements from what King County Executive had sad. Thus misrepresenting the case.
I lived in Tacoma for ten years and am well versed in the state of hockey in Washington and the Northwest in general, and I do not disagree with any of your points. Comparatively speaking however, they will need time to develop a fan base while the Sonics have a built-in fan base already. A new NHL team would do quite well, in terms of fan support, during its first season, but the real kicker would be to see how things look in Year Two, especially if they do not play especially well during Year One. I personally love the idea of hockey coming to Seattle and think they will do well, but it's not as though they would sell out all their season ticket packages in an hour or anything.
I dunno, it took the Sounders all of several weeks to develop a massive fanbase, as they were only drawing a couple thousand a game in the minor leagues and there wouldn't be too many holdovers from the old NASL days.
I dunno, it took the Sounders all of several weeks to develop a massive fanbase, as they were only drawing a couple thousand a game in the minor leagues and there wouldn't be too many holdovers from the old NASL days.
The Sounders are inexpensive family entertainment. The NHL is pricey.
The Sounders are inexpensive family entertainment. The NHL is pricey.
We have no idea how much a NHL ticket will cost in Seattle until a team actually arrives. So you can't compare a price of a sounders ticket to a price of a ticket to a non existence Seattle NHL team.
The Sounders are inexpensive family entertainment. The NHL is pricey.
Yeah? I've never been to a game, but I don't get the impression they're marketed to families. Looks more like a college-aged crowd to me. Although I'm sure you're correct that tickets are a lot cheaper than the NHL would be.
We have no idea how much a NHL ticket will cost in Seattle until a team actually arrives. So you can't compare a price of a sounders ticket to a price of a ticket to a non existence Seattle NHL team.
But there's a team close enough for comparison. Since Seattle would be smart to NOT want a bunch of people north of the 49th buying season tickets just to go to Canucks (plus other Canadian teams) games, and since Seattle is Seattle, figure it being more than a bit more expensive than the Sounders. It really should be within 70% of Canucks pricing IMO.
But there's a team close enough for comparison. Since Seattle would be smart to NOT want a bunch of people north of the 49th buying season tickets just to go to Canucks (plus other Canadian teams) games, and since Seattle is Seattle, figure it being more than a bit more expensive than the Sounders. It really should be within 70% of Canucks pricing IMO.
That is the way to pay for season tickets....
Buffalo fans do this....
they buy the season tickets and sell 2 of the 3 games against leafs and canadian tickets to Canadian friends and it about covers the costs of the season tickets.
Seattle fans can fo that with fans of Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and throw in San Jose and LA game.
Yeah? I've never been to a game, but I don't get the impression they're marketed to families. Looks more like a college-aged crowd to me. Although I'm sure you're correct that tickets are a lot cheaper than the NHL would be.
I can do this more precisely for you, since I'm in Timbers Army and all.
Post-college age for the most part. Kids in college MIGHT be able to afford season tickets when it comes out to $18 per game ($360 for low-end to stand in Timbers Army), but I know Portland has a lot of people in that 23-35 bracket and they're going to Timbers games... and not baseball.
I'm fairly certain the Sounders track about the same. That includes a handful of lamentable visits.
BTW, speaking of comparisons, not only do you figure how the Canucks price, with the NBA in the house, you're also going to have to figure that NHL prices will be comparable to NBA ones. I'll say for starters that I was surprised to pay $10 more in Dallas for my NHL seat ($45) than I did for my NBA seat ($35) in virtually the same row. It may not work that way in Seattle.
So first, how much would NBA charge. Portland is your comparison there.
The base good seats in 100-level AND club seats in 200-level run $140-160 (there is some variable pricing, naturally).
In terms of ticket prices. I've heard former NHL team presidents say a good rule of thumb to break even is to have ticket revenue cover the salary expenses of players. Other revenues would essentially cover the remaining expenses. Obviously its not a fool proof rule but it will give a good estimate.
The salary floor next season will be $40MM so in terms of ticket revenue the ownership would want to generate at least $40MM from ticket sales, unless they don't mind losing money.
Not sure how big the building will be, assuming around 17,000 the average ticket price would be around $60 on the low end. Ignoring potential revenue sharing.
Direct comparison to NBA is tricky cause TV revenues are greater than those of the NHL.
