nivek_wahs
03-18-2008, 10:37 AM
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=51b5f9a5-6d5f-4ad0-97e2-7ee430eb95c0
Patrons please Pats
Greg Harder, Leader-Post
Published: Tuesday, March 18, 2008
If you win, they will come.
The Regina Pats proved that theory by averaging 5,095 fans over 36 regular-season home games this season. It's the first time in franchise history that the WHL club has reached the 5,000 mark.
The Brandt Centre holds about 6,200 people.
"I'm very pleased," said Pats GM Brent Parker, whose parents Russ and Diane purchased the team in 1995. "When we got here 13 years ago, that was one of the goals we set was to get to an average attendance of 5,000 a game. It's exciting to get to that number. It has been a lot of hard work from (director of sales and marketing) Cliff (Mapes) and his group. The nice thing about it, especially down the stretch, was that there weren't a lot of empty seats. That's the exciting part when, not only the tickets are being purchased, but the people are here and enjoying the product."
The Pats' attendance this season is an improvement of more than 400 fans per game over the 2006-07 campaign. It had dipped as low as 4,259 in 2003-04.
The Pats also raised their season-ticket base to 3,200 this season, which was partially attributed to the pre-season buzz about the team. Attendance improved steadily over the course of the season -- especially in the second half -- as the Pats began to establish themselves as one of the WHL's elite teams.
"There's no question people are going to be more excited when you're winning," said Parker. "When we went on that little run after the trade deadline I think that really started getting people into it and excited. The Saskatchewan economy is also doing better and I think there has been some spin-off from the Riders' season. People were excited about sports and they had a championship team (to celebrate). We said at the beginning of the year we wanted to pick up where they left off and run with it. In an ideal world we can take it right to the end and about the time that we finish our season their training camp would start and we could make it a year-long celebration."
That said, the Pats' work is far from done in terms of building their fan base. In fact, Parker wants to establish 5,000 as a basic foundation, not a benchmark.
"You want to see them come in good times and bad," he said of the fans. "Junior hockey is a development game and there are going to be ups and downs. If you look at a team like Kelowna, I think they've sold out 150-or-something straight times. Last year they missed the playoffs yet they were selling out every game. Red Deer, the same thing this year. That's where we want to get to. It's nice for the kids to come out and see a full building. It certainly plays a big part in what our home record has been over the years."
Parker is hoping the fans will continue to play an important role in the team's success during the playoffs, which begin Friday against the Swift Current Broncos. Since the Pats have home-ice advantage, Games 1 and 2 will be played at the Brandt Centre.
"One of the challenges we always face that first couple home playoff games is getting people to realize there are tickets available," said Parker. "Because our crowds were so good down the stretch -- we sold out our last game and had some crowds in the high fives and standing room for our last seven or eight -- instantly people are, 'Well, I'm not going to bother, I don't want to stand or I don't want to sit in the bleachers.' Yet, inevitably, we always get to that first game and there's five, six, seven, 800 tickets that haven't been sold.
"We want them to get here and make some noise. We want them to bring their noisemakers and be a big part of what we're trying to accomplish."
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008
Patrons please Pats
Greg Harder, Leader-Post
Published: Tuesday, March 18, 2008
If you win, they will come.
The Regina Pats proved that theory by averaging 5,095 fans over 36 regular-season home games this season. It's the first time in franchise history that the WHL club has reached the 5,000 mark.
The Brandt Centre holds about 6,200 people.
"I'm very pleased," said Pats GM Brent Parker, whose parents Russ and Diane purchased the team in 1995. "When we got here 13 years ago, that was one of the goals we set was to get to an average attendance of 5,000 a game. It's exciting to get to that number. It has been a lot of hard work from (director of sales and marketing) Cliff (Mapes) and his group. The nice thing about it, especially down the stretch, was that there weren't a lot of empty seats. That's the exciting part when, not only the tickets are being purchased, but the people are here and enjoying the product."
The Pats' attendance this season is an improvement of more than 400 fans per game over the 2006-07 campaign. It had dipped as low as 4,259 in 2003-04.
The Pats also raised their season-ticket base to 3,200 this season, which was partially attributed to the pre-season buzz about the team. Attendance improved steadily over the course of the season -- especially in the second half -- as the Pats began to establish themselves as one of the WHL's elite teams.
"There's no question people are going to be more excited when you're winning," said Parker. "When we went on that little run after the trade deadline I think that really started getting people into it and excited. The Saskatchewan economy is also doing better and I think there has been some spin-off from the Riders' season. People were excited about sports and they had a championship team (to celebrate). We said at the beginning of the year we wanted to pick up where they left off and run with it. In an ideal world we can take it right to the end and about the time that we finish our season their training camp would start and we could make it a year-long celebration."
That said, the Pats' work is far from done in terms of building their fan base. In fact, Parker wants to establish 5,000 as a basic foundation, not a benchmark.
"You want to see them come in good times and bad," he said of the fans. "Junior hockey is a development game and there are going to be ups and downs. If you look at a team like Kelowna, I think they've sold out 150-or-something straight times. Last year they missed the playoffs yet they were selling out every game. Red Deer, the same thing this year. That's where we want to get to. It's nice for the kids to come out and see a full building. It certainly plays a big part in what our home record has been over the years."
Parker is hoping the fans will continue to play an important role in the team's success during the playoffs, which begin Friday against the Swift Current Broncos. Since the Pats have home-ice advantage, Games 1 and 2 will be played at the Brandt Centre.
"One of the challenges we always face that first couple home playoff games is getting people to realize there are tickets available," said Parker. "Because our crowds were so good down the stretch -- we sold out our last game and had some crowds in the high fives and standing room for our last seven or eight -- instantly people are, 'Well, I'm not going to bother, I don't want to stand or I don't want to sit in the bleachers.' Yet, inevitably, we always get to that first game and there's five, six, seven, 800 tickets that haven't been sold.
"We want them to get here and make some noise. We want them to bring their noisemakers and be a big part of what we're trying to accomplish."
© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008