As i sit here on August 3rd, the play-offs are both a distant memory and something well in the future. The play-offs are the ultimate weekend of hockey in my eyes, but for me, they were a massive, massive letdown last year. I don’t say this merely because Sheffield carted off the trophy (although i don’t imagine that helped), but it was more in the nagging feeling that i was getting ripped off.
Sure, the arena was gleaming, and the ice looked lovely but aside from that, there was a distinct lack of things to do when a game wasn’t in progress. I’ve always viewed the play-off weekend as an event rather than a collection of hockey games, but it’s becoming less and less so. Cast your mind back to the very first play-off final weekend held in Nottingham. The olympic rink was packed with stalls and games, the exterior courtyard was decked out wonderfully with banners and colour. The concourses had plenty of stalls too, with trinkets and interesting items to buy. What on earth happened to that?
In case you were unaware, the 07/08 play-off finals weekend was substantially subsidised by Nottingham City Council as part of the successful attempt to retain the weekend for the next few years. Hwever, ticket prices went up again and the quality went down. The exteroir courtyard held nothing but a cavernous beer tent and a little ‘rink’ for the kiddies. The olympic rink was empty, and the concourse held less stalls than ever before.
Where did this extra investment go? It doesn’t take David Caruso to figure this one out – the EIHL coffers. This is the flagship occasion of the British ice hockey season and it strikes me that the organisers of the weekend planned through their wallets. “We’ll skimp on the detail, give them the hockey and watch the profits roll in.” This would almost be understandable – if not acceptable – at an event such as the prestigious FA Cup final of football, the fans would turn up in their droves regardless of the product.
British hockey however does not have such a following, and whilst we sit in the middle of this (irritating media buzzword that i hate using) ‘credit crunch’, the fans may decide that the show put on is simply not worth £60/70 of their hard earned wages. My opinion is that the league needs to stop thinking about immediate profit, and start thinking of the long-term benefits of investing in the fans today.
I have concocted a few ideas through the years, and whilst i’m perfectly aware that things are not quite as simple as i make out here, i don’t believe that it will do any harm to try them out. I mentioned the word ‘prestige’ earlier, and i think this is one of many keys to bringing new fans into the game.
During the weekend, and for a week or so before it, make the play-off weekend be EVERYWHERE. Hang banners from the flagpoles running parallel along the new Market Square with adverts for the finals weekend and the teams partaking in it. Make up posters and plaster them all over the city. Look to set up promotional offers and events in the cities bars, shops and parks. I can guarantee that there wouldn’t be a single shop in Nottingham that wouldn’t like to get their name into the public sphere further. It’s a win/win for both sides.
Now, i’m aware that those ideas may not affect ticket sales too much that year, but i believe the long-term effects of this investment would be noticeable. As Saturday night TV gets worse and football hooliganism again raises its ugly head, families are looking for ways to spend their evenings out of the house and also possibly for a safe sport to follow. These posters/banners/promotions are eventually going to catch their sons/mums/dads eye and it’s a domino effect from there. In all my years of following the Panthers, i have never once brought a newbie along to a game who has not walked away having loved it. I’ve always maintained that it’s merely a task of getting them into the building, the game will take care of the rest.
Back to the arena itself, i defy anyone to convince me that more events cannot be afforded, and with a little bit of cheek and a touch of sponsorship nous, it could be done cheaply too. Look to Trent FM, to NASN, to Capital One, to Forest even to put on a stall or a game with their name on it. British hockey sides never usually have a problem with sponsorship deals, so let’s get them out there.
There was also a disappointing lack of memorabilia last season. I brought along a first-time play-offer and ridiculous impulse buyer to the weekend and he was disappointed by how little stuff you could pick up. T-shirts, pucks, jerseys and that are all well and good, but expand the line a little. Things like dedicated NHL stands would go down well, i’ve always thought that a whole line of replica jerseys would sell like hot cakes.
Frankly, i’m amazed i’ve got this far without mentioning ticket prices. If you decided to buy after February 25th last year, you would have been faced with the non-too-diminuitive price of £75 for the weekend! If you could only afford/find the time to come down for one day it would have cost you either £43 or £48 for Saturday and Sunday respectively. Yes, you read that correctly, £48 to watch a youth game and a final in which it is highly possible that your team is not even going to be involved in. How on earth can they justify this pricing scheme to anyone? Especially when part of the cost of the event had been previously subsidised? Even if you bought the ‘early bird’ (cheapest) weekend pass, it would have cost you £22.66 per competitive game! To my knowledge, that’s at least 30% more than any Elite League side charges for its most expensive seat to a league game. People talk a lot (and correctly too) about football clubs ripping off their fans with ticket prices, but at least they are taking a calculated risk with their inflated fanbase. Hockey most certainly cannot continue to keep taking their fans for a ride and milking them for everything they’ve got, that’s if the empty seats this year were anything to go by anyway.
To conclude, there’s a very good chance that a lot of these ideas may prove to be too poorly cost-effective, or just fall flat on their face, i couldn’t possibly say. If they were implemented though, even for one season, at least something would have been tried, the ambition to improve would have been made and i’m sure the fans would appreciate that. One thing is for sure, hockey in this country needs as many fans as it can get, and it needs a strong flagship event to help do this. In this modern time of financial hardship for many, if the product doesn’t begin to improve or the price doesn’t come down, these people will start thinking that the Elite League Play-Off Finals weekend is a luxury they just cannot justify.
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NB – If anyone involved in the organisation of the weekend is reading this, i would love for you to contact me and explain in better detail the state of the weekend.
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Excellent article Dan, mor or less agree with everything there. However, there were several BMI Baby bus shelter advertisements advertising the play-off weekend two weeks before the event.
I think we have ‘spoken’ on this before Dan.
A great article btw, lets hark back to the ISL days, these weekends were great first Manchester then in Nottingham, a theme was followed and it just seemed a little more professional.
The problem is now, the EIHL want everything done for free, they want programme sellers for free, they want journos for free, they want the clubs admins to work for free, they expect the off ice officials to work for free, what other sport charges punters top dollar, for an event (last year was apx 50% more a game than a regular season game) and runs it like a sham.
Fan power is needed, show the yellow card to the EIHL and let them know who pays their wages, this weekend should be a showcase for the league.
Bottom line is they now less tickets for the final than you could sell for a Panthers v Steelers ‘friendly’, whats that tell you.
But Milkman, you seem to forget that the Panthers v Steelers is the biggest rivalry in Europe!!!
Regarding last year’s playoffs, I was a bit disappointed about the lack of, well, basically, anything there. In between 1st and 2nd games on the Saturday, my mate and I tried to find something in the arena or immediate surrounding area to do. We found nothing. At the event of the British Ice Hockey Calendar, that is pretty damn appalling!
All this being said though, there is still no doubt about me going. I had great fun last year and the year before, and at the end of the weekend I did feel that it was a good end to the season (although not as good as it could have been, and I’m not even referring to Steelers winning).
Amen! Superb article…
I personally think (and am having a right old ding-dong with people at the moment on the Breakaway because of it) similar to you-the game will do much better selling itself OUTSIDE the rinks and getting people through the doors rather than trying to make them feel like the experience is the same as anything else once they’re in there-emphasise the culture (rock, aggression (on the ice, not in the stands) and passion, and the game will sell itself without all the kiddie stuff/flex-tickets/fun etc…but at the showpiece weekend you need more around the rink to further this culture for newbies…
Well said Dan – all too true! Having been to games in the US where they have all manner of entertainment for the fans (both before the game AND during) there is no excuse for a lack of ideas – an obvious cheap and easy one is the catapulting t-shirts etc into the crowd in the interval by a dedicated band of ‘crazy fans’ on skates – there should be no shortage of volunteers surely?? Whats a dozen T-shirts against the excitement i have seen it generate!
I imagine the organising ‘powers’ will no doubt cite cost and resources (or even the dreaded ‘health and safety’ for NOT doing something – but surely if it brings the fans in and they feel they got value for money THEN THEY’LL COME BACK and p’raps bring a friend or two!