Steeltown blues
May 30, 2003 0:35:12 GMT -5
Post by M. Beaux-Eaux on May 30, 2003 0:35:12 GMT -5
The team has been bracing to lose at least $250,000 this year and attendance has been awful, especially given the region's population.
The Bulldogs have averaged 3,696 fans through each of their first nine home playoff dates this spring. As of the lunch hour yesterday, only 2,700 tickets had been sold for Game 1 tonight.
Sales representatives were fanned out across the city, wads of tickets in hand, looking to lure fans to Copps Coliseum one-by-one. The arena has been so quiet at times this season, a story in The Hamilton Spectator yesterday made reference to "Copps mausoleum."
"The local media here has really gotten aggressive in telling the community, telling the fans, 'Shame on you, you should be coming out and supporting this team,' " team president Steve Katzman said. "And yet, nothing happens. And yet, crowds only go up marginally ... it reminds me of telling a 12-year-old to clean their room. The more you tell them to clean their room, the less they're going to clean it. We might have a similar situation here in Hamilton, I don't know."
Local interest in hockey was left gravely ill when the Toronto Maple Leafs were bumped from the playoffs, he said. When the Ottawa Senators lost in the NHL's Eastern Conference final, the attention span may have died altogether.
- thanks to NWThabs for mentioning this article
The Bulldogs have averaged 3,696 fans through each of their first nine home playoff dates this spring. As of the lunch hour yesterday, only 2,700 tickets had been sold for Game 1 tonight.
Sales representatives were fanned out across the city, wads of tickets in hand, looking to lure fans to Copps Coliseum one-by-one. The arena has been so quiet at times this season, a story in The Hamilton Spectator yesterday made reference to "Copps mausoleum."
"The local media here has really gotten aggressive in telling the community, telling the fans, 'Shame on you, you should be coming out and supporting this team,' " team president Steve Katzman said. "And yet, nothing happens. And yet, crowds only go up marginally ... it reminds me of telling a 12-year-old to clean their room. The more you tell them to clean their room, the less they're going to clean it. We might have a similar situation here in Hamilton, I don't know."
Local interest in hockey was left gravely ill when the Toronto Maple Leafs were bumped from the playoffs, he said. When the Ottawa Senators lost in the NHL's Eastern Conference final, the attention span may have died altogether.
- thanks to NWThabs for mentioning this article
