Avalanche Owner Stan Kroenke and President Josh Kroenke "agreed to substantially increase payroll" despite the club being in the "bottom five of the NHL in ticket revenues" last season, according to Adrian Dater of the DENVER POST. The club's ticket revenue, at about $26M, was "low enough that it qualified for the NHL's revenue-sharing plan." The increase will make the Avalanche a "cap team again, one with a payroll coming close" to the NHL's $69M cap ceiling for the '14-15 season. The team's payroll is up about $15M from the "highest it got last season." Avalanche Exec VP/Hockey Operations Joe Sakic is both "thankful to the Kroenkes and hoping fans will reciprocate by coming out to games more often this season." Sakic: "We're a cap team now, despite us being in the bottom five of the league in ticket revenue. Even knowing that, they still want to win a championship and gave us the green light to do whatever we can to make this team win." The Avalanche said that they have "increased their season-ticket base from last season," which they would not disclose. Sources said that it is now "around 6,500" (DENVER POST, 9/19).
