The Phoenix Coyotes finally have it all, in trying to attract a strong fan base.
A winning team. An attractive, up-to-date arena.
And, most important of all for this once-shaky organisation, a stable ownership group that has warded off rumours of inevitable relocation.
Somehow, that is still not enough to fill their arena.
Why not? The answer to that for a long time has been that the desert-dwellers of the US southwest have no historical connection to the winter sport and have been resistant to growing an interest.
The Coyotes sell an average of 12,662 tickets per game, the lowest figure in the league. The sales rate of 73.9 per cent of arena capacity trails only the small-market Columbus Blue Jackets’ 73.2 per cent. The new owners, led by George Gosbee, have been aggressively promoting the team, but it appears the Coyotes are unlikely to break out of the low-attendance pattern. They have been last or next-to-last in attendance each of the past four seasons.
That was understandable when an owner-less franchise was being operated by the NHL, but last summer’s transfer to the Gosbee group was going to change things. That has not happened yet.
The Coyotes’ record is 19-10-6 (10-3-2 at home), and the team figures to stay in the play-offs hunt. That may bring attendance numbers up a bit as the season progresses. But the long-term concerns about community apathy have not gone away. So far, in warm-weather Arizona, ice is strictly for fizzy drinks.
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