Mark Lewin wrote:
> When I read earlier this year about Nebraska-Omaha fielding a
> division 1 hockey program, I recall thinking that this was a boondoggle
> in the making. They don't play hockey in Nebraska, they play football
> and grow wheat.
 
> In 2 short months, UNO has established Omaha as a hotbed of college hockey
> and is well on its way to becoming one of the premier college hockey programs
> in the country.
> Who's have thunk it????
 
I agree with the sentiment -- it's great for hockey ... but it's not
really a big surprise.  Omaha has been packing in 8,000 a game for their
USHL team for years.
 
It's amazing ... but the more I'm around minor pro hockey, the more it
startles me about attendance.  We go head to head with a CBA team.  We
are both the best teams in the league ... we've been in town a decade
shorter ... we draw 8,400 per game ... they get about 3,000.  Baseball
is worse.
 
It's like this everywhere.  Despite the theory that basketball is much
more popular in the US than hockey ... it's not true in places where the
two sports go head-to-head.  Take a look at the minor pro attendance
figures for hockey in Oklahoma City, Austin, New Orleans, Baton Rouge,
Kentucky -- the list goes on.  The key, I suppose, is for hockey teams
to go into more cities -- especially college.  But to college AD's ...
look up and notice, that in towns where pro hockey goes up against pro
hoops, pro hockey is winning.  The same might be able to be said for
college.
 
AW
 
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