■ TEAMS (FIRST SEASON): ECHL Fort Wayne Komets (1952), Midwest League Fort Wayne TinCaps (1993), NBA D-League Fort Wayne Mad Ants (2007)
■ VENUES (YEAR OPENED): Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (1952; renovated 2002; multiple upgrades 2013-15), Parkview Field (2009)
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Fort Wayne County has spent $8 million in upgrades to the Komets’ arena in recent years.
Photo by: FORT WAYNE KOMETS
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Over the past nearly six decades, the ECHL Komets routinely have been one of the top draws in minor league hockey despite the local team having no affiliation with an NHL club until 2010. The team has ranked first in the ECHL in attendance since joining that league in 2012.
That the club has spent its entire existence in the same barn is a point of pride for the market. That it is weeks away from being one of the most modernized minor league arenas is another.
Fort Wayne County owns the venue and this summer spent $2 million to upgrade the building’s ice plant, expand and update the home and away locker rooms, and replace all lighting with an Ephesus LED system. Randy Brown, executive vice president and general manager of the facility, said the current projects follow $6 million in upgrades to fan areas that were completed during the previous two summers. The improvements were all publicly funded.
Komets President Michael Franke, whose family has owned the franchise since 1990, said the team’s finances are strong. The club has an annual season-ticket base of just over 3,000, he said, a total that includes a few fans who have held their rights since the team was born. Additionally, Franke said the team’s merchandise sales were up 13 percent in the past season compared to 2013-14, marking the team’s highest level in 13 years.
As for the TinCaps, they drew a record 411,000 fans in their 2014 season, the club’s third straight year with an attendance increase. The Mad Ants have averaged more than 78,000 fans per season since they began play in 2007.
Overall, the area’s attendance-to-population ratio of 1.8-to-1 is the second highest of any multiple-team market in our study. Only Portland, Maine, has a higher ratio (2-to-1).
