No Hockey fans in Arizona?

The last few seconds of the Coyotes/Predators game last year

Uploaded as a response to those who claim coyotes fans only attend playoff games

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[JtHih]

The only reason phoenix got a team is because Bettman wanted to expand his hockey empire to the south while he took it away from small market teams with passionate fan bases. The reason that the Jets, North Stars, and Nordiques moved wasn't because of the fans, it was because Bettman wanted the NHL in economic powerhouses.

There are coyotes fans. But they do not compare to Jets/Wild fans. They are sold out every night, and Winnipeg is sold out for the next seven years. Not happening in Phoenix

[rockerseven]

@JtHih quebec faced the problem of being in the smallest hockey market, and since they didnt have as big of a support as other teams, they were hurting because of the financial situation at the time

and after quebec asked its government to help fund the team (you know, something that coyotes haters keep blaming the coyotes for trying to do) and was turned down, the only option was to sell the team to people who wanted the team in denver

[rockerseven]

@JtHih the north stars moved because of a lousy owner...because of controversy and scandals and all that, minnesota residents did not like the north stars owner one bit

it didnt help that he failed to secure a new arena deal

so because of this, people stopped attending games, which forced them to move the team

of course winnipeg sold out their season tickets, it was part of the deal to get them a team, and after 15 years of no team, the anticipation has built so people are excited again

[rockerseven]

@JtHih lets just hope jets fans continue to attend even if the jets miss the playoffs for a few years

(btw, its 3 years, not 7)

compared to the coyotes, who sold around 15K in an arena that was absolutely horrible for hockey...so bad, 1/3rd of the upper deck (and part of the lower deck) hung over the ice, meaning that for all those fans in those sections, they couldnt see the full ice (many of whom couldnt even see the goal on that end)

[rockerseven]

@JtHih but in their new building, which is a 30-60 minute drive away from their main fan base, they managed to still sell 15K averages during a time when the coyotes hadnt made the playoffs in a few years (only once in 8 years)

and phoenix is a city full of bandwaggoners...the fans here only support sports teams when they win

so to see an average of 15K people drive 30-60 minutes to see a losing team says something about the fans here

didnt happen in winnipeg

[rockerseven]

@JtHih actually...it doesnt happen in many cities

just a couple years not making the playoffs will drive attendance down in other cities

for phoenix, it took 6 years of missing the playoffs to get just below 15K

and before you quote the 11K or 12K figures...(i dont know how many times ive said this, and you probably will ignore it), ANY sports team that might move will not sell out

ask the jets in 96, ask the penguins in 04

if fans know the team may not be there, they wont invest in it

[rockerseven]

@JtHih so the NHL decided to move the team away from one of the smallest markets with an average attendance of only about 12K, and increase interest in hockey to the southern states, by moving it to phoenix

so clearly, to say that bettman moved the team is completely stupid, cause its not like he said "you know what, i dont like winnipeg, im moving the team"

[rockerseven]

@JtHih the reason phoenix got a team is because we are one of the biggest cities in north america, and to not have a team in one of the biggest media markets in the country just wouldnt make sense

plus the other team owners in the NHL would have to agree to let phoenix have a team

not to mention, they tried to keep the team in winnipeg, but after a year, no potential buyer even showed a bit of interest in the team (as opposed to phoenix, where theres about 2 or 3 people interested at a time)

[rockerseven]

@FischerFan and yes, you are exactly right, every seat for every canadian and northern US team starts at $100, no less, and every seat for phoenix and florida cost less than $10, even the ones on the glass

im done with you until you start making sense (which will probably be never)

[rockerseven]

@FischerFan because goldwater only threatened to sue if the sale went through

you cant counter sue if the first party hasnt sued yet

but in the end, goldwater made hulsizer tired of waiting so he dropped out

but thats ok, jamison would be a much better owner anyways if he does for the coyotes what he did for the sharks

this comment box doesnt give enough room to post the full story...but even if i did, or told you to look it up, youd just ignore it anyways