NHL Panthers President & CEO Rory Babich yesterday admitted that the "vacant seats and the attendant Twitter derision directed at the team" during Monday's home game against the Senators "was embarrassing," according to Scott Burnside of ESPN.com. Babich: "That's not fun. And it's not acceptable." Burnside noted Babich came "aboard less than a year ago to try to restore order to the team's business operations." The team "has redesigned its business model, and an offshoot of that is the team no longer papers the house with heavily discounted tickets or what are outright freebies." The Panthers "have simplified their ticket pricing strategy, and the price point is, the team believes, competitive with some season-ticket packages providing lower-bowl seats for $25 a game." But crowds like Monday night's "simply fuel speculation that the idea of hockey in South Florida is simply past its best-before date, especially with new NHL-ready arenas being built in potential relocation markets Quebec City and Las Vegas" (ESPN.com, 10/14). Panthers Vice Chair & Partner Douglas Cifu said, "When it comes to hockey in South Florida, we can assure our fans that the past is not prologue." Panthers coach Gerard Gallant "downplayed the attendance" at Monday's game. Gallant: "That's part of the game and you get used to that stuff" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 10/15). The AP's Tim Reynolds noted Monday's announced crowd of 7,311 "was not only a franchise all-time worst ... it was also the smallest attendance figure for an NHL game in almost three years." Panthers D Brian Campbell: "I don't even like talking about it because it's out of my control" (AP, 10/14).
DESERT SUNRISE: ESPN.com's Burnside wrote it has "been a bit puzzling to see connections drawn between the attendance woes" of the Panthers and the "evolving situation" with the Coyotes. It is "hard to imagine" how the sale of 51% of the Coyotes to hedge fund manager Andrew Barroway for more than $150M "suggests instability." A source said that the Coyotes are "expected to turn a modest profit next season." The source added that ticket sales rose 16% last season and "were expected to go up" another 15-20% this season. Burnside: "In short, sometimes the line between A and B just can't be drawn" (ESPN.com, 10/14).
