On top of all of this, two days ago I received in the mail an NC$$ brochure
urging me to buy OFFICIAL Final Four (the basketball ones) and other NC$$
merchandise at outrageous prices, like a $13 mug.  Buried somewhere in the
middle was a hockey championship t-shirt for $18.  Anyone else who received
this has likely also noticed the propaganda they include, talking about what
a wonderful organization the NC$$ is supposed to be.
 
The sad thing is that those fans who want to see their team play have no
choice but to buy a ticket and in so doing, support the NC$$.
 
The comments about the NC$$ losing money just may be true.  In the East,
if Providence sells out both nights, that's
 
 12,000 (est. capacity) x $30/package = $360,000
 
But it looks like Providence won't sell out, which means no tv and no tv
rights fees.
 
If the games are instead held at the four Eastern sites in a best-of-three
series, then for the first round we have MSU @ BU and Wis @ UNH, with Maine
and SLU hosting the quarterfinals.  BU, UNH, Maine, and SLU all seat close
to 4,000 give or take a couple hundred, so let's call that a capacity of
16,000 a night.  And you can bet all would sell out.  Tickets last year at
BU and BC were about $8/night, but let's up it to $10 for inflation (they
were $6 just a few years ago).  That's a realistic increase.
 
 16,000 x $10 x 2 games/site = $320,000
 
That doesn't include rights fees which would definitely be paid by stations
in Maine and NH, and possibly in upstate NY both for SLU and for Clarkson
at NMU.  It also doesn't include any third games, which would gross 4K x $10 =
$40,000 each just from ticket sales.  So if just one Eastern series of the
four goes to a third game, then the possible revenue from Providence is
equalled.  Throw in the tv and extra third games, and Providence is surpassed.
 
This isn't including expenses, like hiring people to work for more games, but
it seems to me that these extra expenses might be more than offset by the
additional revenues from concessions, souvenirs, etc. at each of the games.
 
And of course, more people get to see college hockey's national playoffs
since they don't have to travel.  I'm not sure if the NC$$ realizes just how
difficult it is for students and hometown fans to suddenly take off half of
a week or more to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to see a team play
at most two games, maybe only one.  Why would an average fan from Michigan
come to Providence for a Thursday game when the Spartans might be finished
after that game?  Is it worth all the trouble?  EVERY team must travel to
get to Providence.  Four of the teams' fans likely must stay overnight.  BU
is probably the only team that would bus down and back after a game, since
Providence is about an hour from Boston.
 
The diehards will go anywhere, but to me, the business of sports marketing
goes like this (and I'm certainly no expert): there are three groups of
people you can appeal to.  The die-hards, the maybes, and the people who
hate it.  The die-hards will always go, and the haters will never go, so
there is really no need to appeal to them.  The people to go after are the
ones who might go...or might not go.  Previously, these people would attend
the on-campus games.  If home, it isn't much trouble and there's a good
chance their team would win.  If away, it's more trouble, but it only means
one day away from school/work (Fri-Sat-Sun series) and it's a nice break to
go to a place they may never go to again, on top of which they are guaranteed
to see their team play at least two games.
 
It seems that what is happening now in Providence (and perhaps in Detroit?) is
that the maybes have decided that the new format is not worth the trouble
for them.  And they are the biggest chunk of ticket-buyers, especially for
away games.
 
In addition, I would not be surprised if the Thur-Sat set in Albany results
in a disappointing turnout for similar reasons.  Fri-Sun would be much better.
Also, they probably want to avoid running up against hoop - but why?  Hockey
fans are going to choose hockey over hoop anyway.  If they are not going to
go after a new set of fans, then the least they should do is to not alienate
the ones they have.
 
 
- mike