Poor ticket sales, an unattractive venue and "front-office
bungling" are reasons the IHL Spiders' first year in San
Francisco may be their last, according to Tony Cooper of the S.F.
CHRONICLE. The team has lost anywhere from $4M to $7M this year
and will likely fold or move after this season. The Spiders
averaged 5,024 fans a game, 15th in a 19-team league and well
below the 8-9,000 fans Owner Dave Pasant envisioned before the
season. The practice of issuing free tickets and the antiquated
Cow Palace are cited for low ticket revenue (S.F. CHRONICLE,
4/27)
TACOMA BOUND: SC-based bagel mogul Harvey Nathan is close
to completing a deal to bring an IHL team to the Tacoma Dome.
John Lawrence of the Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE reports Nathan refused
to reveal the team he is buying or the price he paid, but he said
he toured the dome with IHL Commissioner Robert Ufer last week
and has received the league's blessing. Nathan is part-owner of
the South Carolina Sting Rays of the ECHL, and averaged 7,500
fans in a league that averaged 4,200 (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 4/28).
KNIGHTS OUT: In Atlanta, columnist Dave Kindred writes the
Knights' pending move to Quebec City is "particularly sad"
because the team was successful, winning a championship and
drawing as many as 15,000 fans at reasonable prices. Kindred, on
the irony of the city's quest for an NHL team: "Atlanta can't
keep a minor league team. So we'll replace it with a major
league team" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 4/27).
