Attendance

[RWAH]

Found this on "Taking Note"
Interesting that the Pats are "Parkerless" and playing great hockey but the citizens of Regina stay away. Think the attendance will get better now that it is winter and our average at the end of the season should be higher than last year.
And don't forget the centre ice score clock and better replays

Here is a team-by-team look at WHL attendance, showing the number of home games each team had played this season (going into Friday night) and the average attendance, with last season’s ranking and final average attendance in parentheses:
1. Calgary 15 / 6,944 (1. 8,252)
2. Portland 14 / 6,076 (2. 7,329)
3. Edmonton 13 / 5,443 (3. 6,743)
4. Spokane 14 / 5,255 (5. 6,102)
5. Kelowna 13 / 5,121 (6. 5,141)
6. Vancouver 14 / 4,879 (4. 6,266)
7. Red Deer 14 / 4,707 (7. 4,949)
8. Everett 15 / 4,557 (8. 4,901)
9. Victoria 14 / 4,490 (9. 4,800)
10. Saskatoon 14 / 4,231 (10. 4,719)
11. Seattle 13 / 4,062 (11. 4,427)
12. Medicine Hat 16 / 4,006 (14. 4,006)
13. Regina 15 / 3,881 (15. 3,956)
14. Brandon 13 / 3,838 (17. 3,529)
15. Kamloops 14 / 3,801 (13. 4,148)
16. Tri-City 14 / 3,745 (12. 4,223)
17. Moose Jaw 14 / 3,158 (16. 3,613)
18. Lethbridge 13 / 2,862 (18. 3,089)
19. Prince George 17 / 2,709 (22. 1,693)
20. Prince Albert 16 / 2,392 (19. 2,496)
21. Kootenay 13 / 2,179 (20. 2,227)
22. Swift Current 13 / 2,072 (21. 2,119)
---

[Fight Guy]

I'm not surprised at all. People aren't going to just start flooding the rink because it's new ownership. Everyone knows damn well that it's just an excuse not to get off your ass and get to a game. Same with the scoreboard. It's not the real problem, it's an excuse. The only way you'll see the attendance rise is when the Pats start playing great hockey and consistently. Now that they are doing that and being recognized for their efforts by respected outlets rather than just Vanstone spouting off his skewed, bi-polar opinions in the Leader-Post, people are going to start to come again. Anyone who has been to game this season has raved about how exciting the brand is this season. Knocking off Brandon twice in a row, especially after Kelowna, will get people talking more also. I don't expect much of a crowd for the Wednesday game against Lethbridge, but I have a feeling, especially if the Pats keep this pace up, the Dec. 28 game should have a good crowd. As long as there is no Team Canada game on at the time, because TV is better than real life...

That being said, as long as these ridiculous TV deals are made and the number one goal is profit, then attendance will just continue you drop everywhere, like it has. They want to give the best coverage of whatever sport it is, and in turn, has made it more desirable to watch a game on TV because of all the extra coverage. The only teams that have good attendance has been the teams with huge fan bases and are consistently winning. Look at Detroit. They were a team that sold the rink out for years. Now that they haven't been as dominant and TV has taken over, you get a half filled Joe Louis Arena. I'm pretty sure NFL teams are feeling the effect too with some pretty empty 60,000+ seat stadiums. This affects the Pats overall as everyone wants to watch all the fantastic TV coverage of pro sports and "reality" TV from their couch rather than drive to the rink and support their local team. Even the Riders are feeling the effect. I'm guilty of it myself when it comes to the Riders. They don't black out the games anymore and the fans stay home.

As long as these TV deals get bigger and more expensive, the more attendance is going to decline where ever the product isn't top notch.

[RWAH]

Did a little arithmetic. The first 15 home games add up to 2014-58,214 average 3,881 per game. 2013-55,883 to average 3726 per game.
The Grey Cup last year would have attracted a lot of discretionary dollars and have a negative effect on attendance for the start of the 2013/14 season, As you say if the Pats keep playing this exciting up tempo game and win more than they lose "They Will Come".