This is very interesting and a good example of what happens when sports
teams coddle the corporate dollar.  When a team struggles, the "corps"
stop showing up.  Wisconsin too had some problems with empty seats the
last few years, due to their struggles. That is starting to  turn
around.  But, as far as I know, the good seats between the blue lines
were not sold-out to the corporate $ in Madison because those season
ticket holders have been there for many years.
 
I hope that when UW hockey moves to the Kohl Center, the UW officials
will fill the visible seats with deserving fans - students and
nonstudents - who want to come to the games, and keep the corporate $
locked away in their luxury boxes.
 
>----------
>From:  Kevin L Ames[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
>Sent:  Tuesday, January 20, 1998 11:24 AM
>Subject:       Hockey Notes from StPaul Pioneer Press
>
><<File: vcard.vcf>>
>> Published Tuesday, January 20, 1998, in the Pioneer Press.
>>
>>
>> Gophers officials study no-shows at Mariucci
>>
>> Ever wonder why every University of Minnesota men's hockey game in
>> Mariucci Arena is ``sold out,'' yet there always are lots of empty seats?
>>
>> Athletic department officials are wondering the same thing, which is why
>>they
>> are in the midst of a study to determine which season-ticket holders aren't
>> showing up and why.
>>
>> ``A person in the ticket office is going through every ticket stub for
>>every
>> game to find out which tickets aren't being used,'' assistant athletic
>>director Pat
>> Forciea said. ``Once that's done, we plan to have polite visits with those
>>people
>> and ask them why they're not showing up.
>>
>> ``Hopefully, we can convince them to use their tickets or allow us to get
>>them
>> to people who want them. It's frustrating that people who want to come to
>>our
>> games can't buy tickets. We have a waiting list of 2,000 (season tickets),
>>so
>> there are people who want to come. I hope to live to see the day when we go
>> through this in football.''
>>
>> Most of the unused tickets are held by corporations, and most of those
>>seats,
>> because a premium was paid, are the prime seats between the blue lines.
>>
>> ``Those bright yellow seats in the middle are tremendous reminders of our
>> problem,'' Forciea said. ``In the old arena, with its bench seating, you
>>never
>> knew how many people were in the building. You do in the new arena.''
>>
>> The no-show problem isn't new, and it isn't because the Gophers are having
>> their worst season in 25 seasons. Empty seats have been a problem, even in
>> good seasons, with the Gophers having between 10 and 15 percent no-shows
>> in recent years.
>>
>> When defending NCAA champion North Dakota was in town earlier this
>> season, the Gophers expected every seat to be filled. At the Saturday game
>>on
>> Nov. 1, a night after the Gophers won 6-5, there were more than 2,000
>>unused
>> tickets.
>>
>> ``It's unsettling to look in the stands and see all those empty seats,''
>>coach
>> Doug Woog said. ``It's a $20 ticket (actually $19.50), so you'd think
>>people
>> would use them. But when corporations buy them, maybe cost isn't as much
>> an issue as it is to an individual buyer.
>>
>> ``We want those seats filled because more people put more enthusiasm in the
>> building. There are enough passionate hockey fans out there who would love
>> to get tickets. We have to find a way to get them in here.''
>>
>> The Gophers believe they need to sell all the tickets in advance because
>>they
>> are paying off the debt service on the the arena without any taxpayer
>>money.
>> Since Gophers football does not generate as much income as football at
>>other
>> schools, hockey's income is needed to offset that.
>>
>> This season, at the suggestion of athletic director Mark Dienhart, the
>>Gophers
>> held 200 tickets for single-game sales. They were sold out within an hour,
>> which shows the demand of hockey fans.
>>
>> ``You could make a case that we should hold more back, but that's where it
>> gets tough for us. It's hard to turn away from that guaranteed ticket
>>revenue,''
>> Forciea said. ``In the entertainment business, scarcity is the most
>>powerful
>> thing. Once you lose that demand, you might lose interest. So it's a
>>ticklish
>> problem for us.''
>>
>> Sioux No. 1 in RPI
>>
>> Going into last weekend's play, North Dakota was No. 1 in the Ratings
>> Percentage Index, which is one of the factors used to determine the 12-team
>> NCAA field.
>>
>> Following the Sioux were New Hampshire, Boston University, Michigan,
>> Michigan State, St. Cloud State, Wisconsin, Colgate, Boston College, Miami,
>> Providence and Yale.
>>
>> The Gophers, whose record of appearing in 13 consecutive NCAA
>> tournaments is in jeopardy, were ranked 26th among the 45 Division I teams.
>>
>> Other WCHA teams were: 13, Colorado College; 22, Minnesota-Duluth; 36,
>> Alaska Anchorage; and 39, Denver. Independent Mankato State was 33rd.
>>
>> Around the WCHA
>>
>> North Dakota plays at St. Cloud State this weekend in a series that could
>>go
>> a long way toward determining the regular-season champion. Friday's game
>> will be televised on KMSP Ch. 9 in the Twin Cities.
>>
>> Colorado College makes its debut in the new 7,343-seat Colorado Springs
>> World Arena this weekend against Wisconsin in another key league series.
>>
>> The Tigers have moved out of their on-campus Honnen Ice Rink and will
>> practice full time in the World Arena.
>>
>> Around the country
>>
>> Boston College's recent scoreless tie against Maine was the Eagles' first
>>0-0
>> game since the 1919-20 season against Fordham. Maine played a 0-0 game
>> against Boston University on Feb. 19, 1994.
>>
>> Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Colgate will represent the ECAC, and
>> Maine and New Hampshire will represent Hockey East in a doubleheader at
>> New York's Madison Square Garden on Dec. 22.
>>
>> Women's hockey
>>
>> Just like the pros: The St. Lawrence women's team wrapped up what
>> essentially was a two-week road trip on Sunday.
>>
>> The Saints left Canton, N.Y., on Jan. 5 to play two games against the
>>Gophers
>> the next two days. But because of ice storms in the East, when they flew
>>into
>> Syracuse on Jan. 8 (after being swept by the Gophers), they were advised to
>> stay away from home because there was no electricity in Canton.
>>
>> So the weekend of Jan. 10-11, they played ``home'' games in Cornell's arena
>>in
>> Ithaca, N.Y., beating Harvard and losing to Northeastern. And they played
>> two more ``home'' games over the weekend against Boston College and
>> Dartmouth, also at Cornell.
>>
>> The first women's national championship, to be determined March 20-21 in
>> Boston, calls for the two semifinal games to be played on a campus site
>>with
>> the title game in the FleetCenter at 3 p.m. before the Hockey East playoff
>> championship game. Hockey East has eliminated its third-place game, which
>> made room for the women's title game.
>>
>> The Gophers play their most-important home series of the season on
>> Saturday and Sunday afternoons against Northeastern, the preseason No.
>> 1-ranked team in the nation. The Huskies have been overtaken by New
>> Hampshire for the top spot.
>>
>> Around the area
>>
>> Three former Gophers -- goalie Frank Pietrangelo, defenseman John Brill
>> and forward Cory Laylin -- are playing in the master round of the Italian
>>Elite
>> League playoffs. Pietrangelo plays for Asagio AS, Brill for SHC Fassa and
>> Laylin with HC Gardena.
>>
>> Former Boston University goalie Derek Herlofsky of Minneapolis Edison is
>> 12-6-3 with two shutouts and a 2.65 goals-against average and .903 save
>> percentage playing for the Cardiff Devils in Wales.
>>
>> Gregg Wong's college hockey notebook appears Tuesdays.
>>
>
>
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> |        Kevin L. Ames        |
> *=============================*
> |     [log in to unmask]     |
> |      [log in to unmask]      |
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>
 
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