Several teams in the National Hockey League are struggling with a rather worrying problem this season: fewer and fewer spectators are coming to games.
Renowned journalist Frank Seravalli provided an insightful report on the situation during a live broadcast on the Daily Faceoff platform. Even in a large market like Washington, it will be difficult to fill all the spots.
“I would say there are a lot of worrying elements,” he noted. The Washington Capitals’ sellout streak ended with 588 spectators. This is to be taken seriously because their arena was full for the opening game and the next game, only 16,489 spectators.
The Winnipeg Jets played the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night in front of their smallest crowd since returning to Manitoba. The Jets did not play in front of a sellout crowd in their opening game, nor did the Calgary Flames.
And the teams that played in front of sellout crowds saw the excitement quickly fade afterward. The Buffalo Sabers filled their arena for the home opener, but there were only 10,000 spectators in the next game. The same phenomenon was observed with the San Jose Sharks.
In an inflationary context, has attending a hockey game become an unaffordable activity for middle-class families?
“It’s difficult,” Seravalli admitted. That’s a lot of money for a family to go to a game. Even if it’s a pair of tickets, you’ll spend almost $500 on parking, food, drinks and everything else. I don’t know how many times people can afford that in a season, and we haven’t even talked about season tickets yet.”