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NHL attendance is up 0.2 percent from December last year. While it isn’t a large gain, the numbers indicate that 16 teams have seen bumps in attendance anywhere from 0.1 percent to 13.2 percent. The Nashville Predators had the biggest gain going from 80.2 percent at last mid-season and 93.4 this season. Nine teams suffered a drop in attendance from the mid-point of last year, including losses of 13 percent by the Dallas Stars and New York Islanders.
Last year, the NHL ended two percent up from their mid-point attendance numbers. Some of the teams who have low numbers this year at mid-point such as the Phoenix Coyotes at 58.8 percent could see major recovery if they are again competitive. The Coyotes filled 12 percent more of their arena in the second half than they did in the first. The Atlanta Thrashers have struggled to bring fans in, but if they continue to pressure the Washington Capitals for the division lead, it’s likely they’ll see a similar recovery to Phoenix.
The Los Angeles Kings have filled nine percent more of their arena while the Carolina Hurricanes are putting seven percent more bodies in seats than at this point last year. Here are all the numbers:
Team (mid-season 09-10 % of capacity) - (mid-season 10-11) = +/- %
Blackhawks - (105.1) - (107.6) = 2.5%
Canadiens - (100%) - (100%) = 0%
Red Wings - (95.3%) - (96.1%) = 0.8%
Flyers - (99.6%) - (100.5%) = 0.9%
Maple Leafs - (102.3%) - (102.8%) = 0.5%
Flames - (100%) - (100%) = 0%
Senators - (96.2%) - (96.2%) = 0%
Canucks - (102.1%) - (100.3%) = -1.8%
Wild - (100.7%) - (96.5%) = -4.2%
Blues - (97.7%) - (100%) = 2.3%
Sabres - (98.2%) - (97.9%) = -0.3%
Rangers - (100%) - (98.9) = -1.1%
Capitals - (100%) - (100%) = 0%
Stars - (91.6%) - (78.6%) = -13.0%
Sharks - (100.3%) - (100.4%) = 0.1%
Bruins - (97.9%) - (100%) = 2.1%
Ducks - (86.5%) - (84.6%) = -1.9%
Penguins - (100.6%) - (100.7%) = 0.1%
Oilers - (100%) - (100%) = 0%
Hurricanes - (76.3%) - (83.6%) = 7.3%
Kings - (88.2%) - (97.7%) = 9.0% Devils - (84.3%) - (82.1%) = -2.2%
Panthers - (74.6%) - (77.7%) = 3.1%
Blue Jackets - (80.7%) - (70.6%) = -10.1%
Avalanche - (76.1%) - (82.6) = 6.5%
Predators - (80.2%) - (93.4%) = 13.2%
Coyotes - (56.1%) - (58.8%) = 2.7%
Thrashers - (73.7%) - (66.3%) = -7.4%
Islanders - (75.5%) - (62.2%) = -13.3% *Lightning - (72.9%) - (84.5%) = 11.6%
Totals (90.4%) - (90.6%) = 0.2%\
*Correction - Tampa Bay was included in final numbers, but was accidentally not transfered over to the list. The Lightning have filled 11.6 percent more of their arena than at mid-season last year. My apologies.*
Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter
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