TBirds attendance trend for 2014-15
Much was made about the fact that there were two teams in the WHL who had attendance increases last season: Portland and Seattle. In fact, the Thunderbirds attendance numbers for last season probably went a long way to their marketing department winning an award from the WHL. It’s early but let’s take a look at the path Seattle is on so far:
From the website HockeyAttendance.com we can see what the Thunderbirds drew for the 2013-14 season as an average and game by game. Seattle had 159,836 for the season. Over 36 home games, that averaged to 4427 per game. As a comparison, the season before Seattle had 145,303 which averaged out to 4036 per game.
Through just 6 games so far this season, the TBirds have had 24770 attend which is a fraction over 4128 per game. It would seem that the number is trending behind last season and ahead of the season before. But you need to drill down a little deeper to see that it is more positive than it seems on the surface.
Through 6 home games in 2013-14, Seattle had 21787 or a little over 3631 per game. So already we can see that they are averaging almost 500 people more per game so far this season compared to last. But there is room for more optimism than that:
- Last season’s home opener was against Portland. Home openers usually draw well no matter the opponent and Portland games usually draw well due to the opponent. By not opening with the Winterhawks, Seattle has moved a high attendance game to later in the season.
- Portland hasn’t come to town yet. Seattle has built this season’s average without a Winterhawk bump. Attendance vs Portland went up as the season went on in 2013-14. This season, with the appearance of a weaker Winterhawk team and the better chance for a win, attendance should start strong and stay strong.
- Game #7 this season may be the difference maker. With less than 1400 tickets left at the time of this writing, this Thursday’s game vs Edmonton should have an attendance of over 5000. Last season’s game #7 was a Tuesday Brandon game that drew 4096. So the TBirds should draw more than 1000 extra than last season, further widening the gap between season averages. (That Brandon game was the first 2-for-Tuesday of last season. The first 2-for-Tuesday this season vs Spokane drew 4105, also a comparable number.
Granted, there are mitigating factors that may add to the bump in attendance so far this season. There have been ticket deals for 4 of the 6 home games so far. Thursday’s game has tickets available for $5 to season ticket holders and that would account for a lot of the projected crowd for that night. However, I’m sure the team would tell you that they can’t grow the fanbase unless people come to a game. Even some of their marketing materials were built around the fact that experiencing hockey in person is more likely to make you a fan than anything else. So they would probably take a crowd of 5000+ where half the tickets were only $5.
Also, if one looks at just the numbers from this season, every game so far has had a lower attendance than the one previous. But even then, the numbers have started out higher than last season so once the Everett and Portland games start happening at home, those numbers will level out. Put another way, if the same pattern occurs this season that did last, the average attendance will stay just as high or get higher as the season goes on.
We’ll be keeping an eye on the TBirds attendance trend as the season goes on but, as it stands now, this might be best attended season for the TBirds in a long time. And well-attended games are something that are good for the team, ShoWare Center, the city of Kent and all the nearby businesses.
The T Birds mostly market from social media for the most part, I know 1090 has the games and coach K’s show but for the most part, 1090 is the smallest sports radio station versus 710 and 950.
Everett does allot of marketing in Seattle Times the last 5 years with bio of players and also their upcoming schedule at Xfinity arena.
In your opinion should the T Birds market in the Seattle Times similar to the Tips? Please note that I know they market in the south sound free paper but that only reaches south sound folks.
I would like to see some sort of marketing campaign around all the NHL to Seattle buzz, the T Birds should jump on that and have something like ” Hey Seattle, we do have a Hockey team come check us out in preperation of a NHL team”, not in those exact words but something to the effect.
Maybe reach out to the Angry Beaver hockey bar up north in Greenwood part of Seattle, just because they are in north seattle and the Birds play in Kent should not deter that.
I think you bring up some good points.
We wrote about this a little before and we wondered out loud how good Everett’s return on investment would be on those ads. If they are bringing in 100 extra people a game, then it’s probably worth spending the money. If you aren’t getting a bump from it, it still might be worth it for brand awareness but you really need to be getting people in the rink.
If the TBirds did decide to advertise, I think they would be better off focusing on the south sound areas. Ads in the Tacoma News Tribune may reach a more receptive audience than advertising in the Seattle Times. The only games I think it might make sense to advertise in Seattle are the Everett and Portland games, rivalry games that people want to see that are going to be on the weekends. All the advertising in the paper isn’t going to get fans to drive in traffic for a Friday game vs Swift Current.
Along with that, I do love the Angry Beaver but that is way out of the TBirds focus area. Even in West Seattle, it feels like Kent is far away. Having said that, showing away games there might not be a bad thing. Partnering with more sports lounges in Kent might be beneficial, as well. The Ram is a good spot but a place that can focus more on hockey may be a good idea. Perhaps the new wing place opening at Kent Station could become a home away from home for fans (Just an idea, I don’t know what their plans are there)
I think they have done a good job but could be doing more. The problem is how much do you spend and still get money back for doing so?