World Junior Championship Attendance Lowest Since '05; Return To Buffalo In Doubt?

Attendance numbers at the World Junior Championship in Buffalo has "not been what organizers hoped for," but hockey officials urged that success is "not measured in ticket sales," according to Amy Moritz of the BUFFALO NEWS. Officials from the IIHF, USA Hockey and the Sabres on Thursday gave a "unified message" of support for the event. But Moritz notes the optics from KeyBank Center have "been poor, with plenty of good seats available in all price ranges." The "largest crowd" before Thursday's Sweden-U.S. semifinal was 9,552 for Canada-Finland on the opening day of the tournament. But "thanks in large part to the 44,592" at the U.S.-Canada matchup at New Era Field, the '18 World Juniors will go "over 200,000 for total attendance and rank in the top 10." Without the outdoor game, "average attendance is 4,928." In '11, the "last time the event was in Buffalo, average attendance was 10,635." Both HarborCenter this year and Dwyer Arena in '11 "utilized a smaller venue for some games." There is no question that "everyone wanted more fans in the stands, but organizers touted the quality of the games, the live TV coverage of the NHL Network, and the experience for the players." USA Hockey Exec Dir Pat Kelleher said, "We always want to put more fans in the seats. I don't think that's anything we would ever debate or question, but we've had great hockey here." Sabres Senior VP and Host Organizing Committee Chair Mike Gilbert said, "Obviously ticket sales haven't been as robust as we would have hoped them to be" (BUFFALO NEWS, 1/5).

ANYBODY WATCHING? SPORTSNET.ca's Arden Zwelling wrote empty seats will be "lasting in the minds" of those watching the World Juniors from afar. It has been "impossible to miss the vast expanses of blue plastic" at 19,200-seat KeyBank Center. It "seems many hockey fans in the Western New York and Southern Ontario region have decided to watch from home, with only three games at KeyBank Center drawing more than 8,000 fans." Excluding the semifinals, this year’s event has "drawn 172,079 spectators through 26 games, an average of 6,618 per game." But even "if those four games sell out, the final total will be lower than last year’s tournament, which drew 257,882 fans in nearby Toronto and Montreal." In fact, total attendance is "guaranteed to be the lowest for a tournament held in North America" since '05. IIHF officials on Thursday "conceded it was likely time to move the tournament elsewhere when it’s held in North America." IIHF President Rene Fasel said, "It shows us that in the future we should be more careful and maybe go more west than in the east" (SPORTSNET.ca, 1/4).