Future Looks Bright For Caps Despite Financial Losses This Season
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Capitals' Sales, Sponsorships And Ratings Climb
Despite Financial Losses This Season |
Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis said that he "expects the team to lose more than $10[M] this season because of a higher payroll," even though every financial indicator including ticket sales, sponsorships and ratings is "spiraling upward,'" according to Tim Lemke of the WASHINGTON TIMES. Leonsis: "Every green arrow I look at is up ahead of plan." Tuesday's win over the Hurricanes "drew a sellout crowd of more than 18,200 fans, boosting the average attendance on the year by more than 10[%] over last season." Attendance since the signing of LW Alex Ovechkin to a 13-year contract extension in January has been "25[%] higher than during the first half of the year, and the team has drawn more than 17,000 fans at every game since February," with five of the last nine being sellouts. The Capitals' average attendance of 15,326 ranks 26th in the league, but the team "ranks 21st in the number of actual tickets sold, and only two teams have a larger percentage increase in attendance this season." Leonsis said that the team is "still operating in the red because he has added to the payroll while keeping ticket prices generally flat." Leonsis, however, "expects losses to decrease next season as attendance continues to rise." With season-ticket renewals at 81%, the team "hope[s] it can retain more than 90[%] of its season-ticket holders going into" next season. Sales of new season tickets are "twice as high as they were at this point last year."
RATINGS: Lemke notes local TV ratings have "more than doubled, particularly among the highly coveted young male viewers." Ratings have "risen from a dismal 0.3 last year to a solid 0.8 this season." About 37,000 fans tuned in to Tuesday night's game, giving it a 1.6 rating and making it the "most-watched Capitals game of the year" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 4/3). In DC, Tarik El-Bashir reports Versus has seen a "substantial increase in the [DC] market, where the five Capitals games broadcast this season averaged a 1.0 rating, up 150[%] from last season." Those figures could "increase substantially in the playoffs, particularly with" a Capitals-Penguins matchup, which would feature Ovechkin versus Penguins C Sidney Crosby. Comcast SportsNet's Senior VP/Business & Programming Development Scott Langerman: "I would expect the rating to be 1.5 range or higher. If you get an Ovechkin-Crosby matchup, the sky is the limit."
OVECHKIN: Sports industry execs believe that if Ovechkin's Capitals "reach the postseason, the presence of one of the game's most dynamic players and colorful personalities could increase interest in the league's showcase event and boost the team's profile locally and nationally." The Univ. of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center Managing Dir Paul Swangard: "Ovechkin's primary impact will be regional, but his impact potential could be national if the league markets him well, or if he has a breakthrough, show-stopping performance. He certainly has that potential" (WASHINGTON POST, 4/3).
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