The NHL Panthers announced a crowd of 11,419 for Saturday's 5-1 loss to the Devils, the "smallest gate in the franchise’s 21-season history for a home opener," according to Greg Cote of the MIAMI HERALD. The small crowd is "bad for any night," but "embarrassing to start your season." Cote wrote it "was one of the more depressing sights I have seen in four-plus decades chronicling sports in South Florida." The Panthers took the ice for warmups to a crowd "literally numbering in the hundreds." When it "finally filled in," BB&T Center "still was half full." Several upper sections "had been curtained off, reducing capacity to begin with." Cote: "I cannot call Saturday’s Panthers 'crowd' shocking because I’d been forewarned about the expected sharp drop in attendance this season." The club’s new ownership "made a business decision to eliminate the freebies and discounts that had dubiously padded attendance in recent years." But even "expecting it, the sight jarred the senses." Panthers President & CEO Rory Babich said, "I think it’s about what we expected. We’re taking the long-term view." Cote wrote the "short-term view, the combination of a lopsided loss in a half-empty house -- especially the latter -- made you wonder about the future of professional hockey in South Florida, even as the new owners trust in their new business model" (MIAMI HERALD, 10/12).
FILLING THE VOID: In Ft. Lauderdale, Brittany Wallman noted as Broward County officials "grapple with" the Panthers' $78.4M bailout request and "agonize over the fate of the publicly owned BB&T Center in Sunrise, a consultant is analyzing whether the arena could survive without" the club. Though a "decision on the Panthers subsidy was expected in October, county officials now say the vote is months away, possibly in May" (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 10/12).
