Hockeytown's ("Bitter?") Fans Can't Afford the Seats

Detroit -- The Red Wings are winning, but the fans aren't filling the seats. Mitch Albom asked "why?" The fans told him straight. No money for gas. No money for parking. No money for eats. And, most definitely, no money for $300 seats!

Few cities can lay claim to the consistent domination of a professional sport as Detroit. With 14 division championships in 19 season and 3 league championships in the last 11 years, Detroit's Red Wings are a such powerful force, their community has simply become known as "Hockeytown" to legions of fans. After racking up the best record in the National Hockey League this season, the Wings have fought hard in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in hopes of capturing their 11th Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, hard times have hit Detroit with a force so intense that Hockeytown's fans have been left out in the cold. And, a widening sea of empty red seats has engulfed Detroit's Joe Lewis Arena.

When Detroit Free Press Columnist,Mitch Albom excoriated Detroit's fans for failing to show up with this little ditty...

Before I spend one more word on how good our hockey team played Thursday night, I have to say how bad it looked to see so many empty seats at Joe Louis Arena. Cheaper seats. Expensive seats. Empty clusters. Half-empty rows.

Hey, this ain't Nashville, folks.

This is Detroit, Hockeytown, where every seat should be filled, because these are the conference finals, the bridge to the championship, against Dallas, a team that hasn't been here for the playoffs in 10 years. That last time was a war that ultimately led to a Detroit Stanley Cup.

Remember the Cup? We loved that thing. We felt like we earned it -- every step. So what's the problem now? I know the economy is bad. I'm not telling people to hock the jewelry or find a job.

But we're not talking 100,000 spots here, either. There are enough fans and money in our area to fill those absent clusters. Hey, if we can fill Lions seats, we can fill Red Wings seats.

...Deservedly, the fans tore him apart in the commentary section of his online column. Their comments are revealing in the intensity of their frustration with the price of gas, parking, food, and tickets -- and the choices being made by America's once robust middle class.

If Beltway Democrats will take the time to read their comments, they might begin to understand the frustrations that Middle America is dealing with.

A few samples:

Dear Mitch,

I also hate to see all those wasted seats in JLA! Oh..if only I hadn't lost my job and I still have to pay all those pesky bills. And groceries? Well mostly I can purchase them every other week, so please don't feel too sorry for me.  I have lost a few pounds but you know how fat us Michiganders are...we can stand to lose a few here and there!

I do, however, have one request. I love the Red Wings and have for many, many years and I so would love to attend one of the playoffs games where there are so many empty seats. You see, due to the economy and the rising price of gas you know I have to find a job sometime I had to go to basic cable and I can't even watch a game on TV anymore. So here's my request...please go to your petty cash drawer and pull me out some money so I can sit my skinny butt in one of those seats at the JLA!

Hugs and Kisses,

A Broke Red Wings Fan

Mitch, what has happened to you?!  I remember when I was able to relate to your stories because you were one of us - Average Joe from SE Michigan.  Are you really that insensitive and removed from reality to realize that I would love to attend a Red Wing (or Tigers or Piston) game, but I need to put $4 per gallon gas in my car, try to help my 2 kids w/college expenses, buy groceries, and pay for my ever increasing utilities.  My family rarely gets carry out let alone 4 $65 tickets to a sporting event.  I love the Detroit teams, but it isn't like the days when I was a kid and I could go with my family and sit in the cheap seats & enjoy a hot dog and a beverage for under $50.  Show a little empathy for your fellow Michiganians!

Finally...

HHEEELLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOO Mitch............where have you been the last few years, asking the insane question "Why can't we fill playoff seats for the Red Wings?

Yes it's great that they are winning, and hopefully on their way to another Stanley Cup. But do you realize that the majority of people in Michigan are struggling financially? I have trouble trying to determine which bill I can put off for a few days because I have no job, and there aren't very many job opportunities here in Michigan. So instead of worrying how I should pay my bills, I should feel sorry that the Red Wings don't have a full house for their playoff games, don't pay a bill and go to a game where I can't afford the ticket or the gas to get there!

Maybe some of those who have grossed millions of dollars from their book sales and T.V. deals should buy up the tickets and give them away to those who won't ever get the opportunity to go to a game!

Your article was ludicrous and an insult to all of us readers struggling  financially here in the Metro Area.

Are these fans "bitter?" You bet they are. And the Democrats ought to take notice.

•  I was thinking the same thing

  I don't watch Hockey until the playoffs and it was really startling to see so many empty seats in Joe Louis on television.   Figured it was corporate buyers that bought up tickets for friends & clients but there are waaaaaaaay too many empty seats for that..

  by soros on Fri May 09, 2008 at 11:28:23 PM PDT

  •  Yeah

    The market will correct itself eventually.

    by woodstock007 on Fri May 09, 2008 at 11:39:56 PM PDT

  •  Yeah...

    ... I used to do stuff for an AHL team - will work for Hockey, you know - and the good thing about minor league hockey is that you can AFFORD TO GO!!! There were five$ to twenty-five$ seats available throughout the arena, with the most expensive being (I think) 50$ boxes... and there were deals where you got a ticket, a coke, a hotdog, and parking for 10$. That is good for families, working class folks, and hardcore (albeit poor) hockey fans such as myself.

    Another cool thing about minor league hockey is that you can acutally get to know the guys - and they aren't making $hitload$ of moolah in the minors.  The guys I knew used their money to help out their parents and siblings, or to pay off their student loans.  Most of the guys also knew they wouldn't get to move up to the NHL, but they were happy they got to play the sport they love and actually make money at it.  Many many more great attitudes and nice dudes in the AHL, ECHL, NAHL etc.

    I have since moved to a city that doesnt have an AHL team, but an NHL team, and the spirit and feeling is totally different. Here it's all about the money, commercialism, glitz, and being on the "winning team's bandwagon®" which is sickening to me.  A LOT of people here didn't even know what Hockey was until this team started showing up on the news and winning - and then they only want to follow it if they team is winning. In one of the last games in the previous series of games, one player made four shots on goal, three went in and only ONE couted because you can't use "a distinct kicking motion" to get the frakking puck into the frakking goal. THIS IS NOT SOCCER YOU FREAKS!!! But I tell you if I got five bucks for every asshole who was saying the rules should be changed so that their team could win, I could afford the gas to drive to two other cities nearby that have AHL and NAHL hockey - and afford to buy SEASON TICKETS!!!

    (Sorry this has become a rant, but Hockey is part of my religion, and I hate it being besmirched by stupid ass redneck sheeple who only follow it because its the new bandwagon sport here in Dallas... there I said it.)

    I am still angry that when I was in High School they STOLE the Minnesota North Stars and stuck 'em down in stupid Dallas... it really did not do anything to improve my image of Dallas (ironic I live here now) and caused me for a coupla years to go on a kick to only allow people from "up North" or in colder climes where Hockey is appreciated, could enjoy or go to hockey games. I was a Hockeyist. I admit it...

    End of rant... mebbe I should eat something and go scan nhl.com or the hockey web to satiate my crankinesss...

    by Hellenic Pagan on Sat May 10, 2008 at 11:14:12 AM PDT

•  Yesssss...

  Saw the same thing as the Pistons beat Philly...

  by Peter S Cohl on Fri May 09, 2008 at 11:30:05 PM PDT

•  Yeah

  The captive audience sports rip off has taken the fun out of it. The tickets should be the same price for fans as a pre season game.

  by woodstock007 on Fri May 09, 2008 at 11:38:54 PM PDT

•  Native Detroiter here...

  I live in Ann Arbor now.  The entire state of Michigan is really in dire straits.  

  Mitch ought to lighten up.

  by XerTeacher on Fri May 09, 2008 at 11:42:32 PM PDT

  •  Hey, neighbor!

    I'm right up US 23 from you.

    And, yes, things are terrible.  This isn't the first year that playoff games haven't been sold out because of the economy.  Trust me, if metro Detroiters can't show up for Wings games, then it's absolutely ghastly.  This town loves the Red Wings!

    by Neon Vincent on Sat May 10, 2008 at 12:47:02 AM PDT

    •  Detroit's Religion

      IS The Red Wings!

      by Hellenic Pagan on Sat May 10, 2008 at 11:15:18 AM PDT

•  Democrats, LISTEN TO THIS ONE

  THIS IS MIDDLE AMERICA 2008 -- and the media is talking about the good Rev...?

  Hey Mitch,

  You give me the money and I'll go. What's the matter with you? Let's see I have to pay my rent, my electric bill, my telephone, my student loan, not to mention gas and food; but I'll take $130 plus fees, taxes, parking, food & drinks,  etc.... so it ends up over $200 to one hockey game! Oh yeah the car and insurance payments. Oh yeah, that's ok. I'll walk to the game. The hell with the car. Gas is too expensive anyway. Of course then I wont have a job, which by the way, I have two of them, so don't give me any crapy about how you don't want to see the people without jobs getting financially strapped. This is why I stopped listening to your show on the radio, and kick myself when I read your columns. Is this what your friend Morey taught you? "F.... the poor!" I don't think so.  Besides, I'm not all that poor anymore, and still can't afford to go. Oh yeah the cable bill is $50 a month too. So I can barely afford to watch it on TV. Not to mention another $50 bucks for the internet so I can subscribe to your newsletter and write this stuff!

  So when they come to repo my car I'll tell them, "hit up Mitch for the payment I took my fiance to the hockey game!"

  by Peter S Cohl on Fri May 09, 2008 at 11:43:27 PM PDT

  •  First, cancel Detroit Free Press subscription!

    For insulting its readers.

    They're a scab paper anyway...

    by aufklaerer on Sat May 10, 2008 at 12:56:13 AM PDT

•  I can't imagine paying 50$ for a damn seat

  for 3 hours.  Professional sports is nuts.

  I've been a sports fan all of my life.  I have never payed more than 20$ for an event... mostly WI college hockey and Seattle Mariners.

  I had kids.  Sorry kids, we have to eat potatoes all week because we blew the food budget on a pro hockey game?

  Not my game.  

  Even now, with my kids grown, I won't pay that kind of money for a game.  I can get a ticket to Shakespeare for 20-30 dollars.

  by tecampbell on Fri May 09, 2008 at 11:45:23 PM PDT

  •  I agree. I don't know why people

    throw money away like that.  As I said, Detroit is a huge city and there are plenty of people who are rich enough to buy a ticket.  Poor fan support from the wealthy.

    by alliedoc on Sat May 10, 2008 at 04:20:34 AM PDT

•  I was raised on the Wings

  especially McCarty, his fights were always the highlight of the game for me. He's back, pulled himself up from his bootstraps after a tough run, like any good Detroiter, and I would give anything to go see him at the Joe. it's not going to happen. We were ALREADY in a recession when the nation started sinking into one too, and I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel for us here in Michigan. Frankly, I think we were fucked over by the corporate profit margin. They failed to anticipate or care about the future, which was NOT gas-guzzling SUVs, so domestic automakers went bust and tried to recoup their losses by fucking over the planet in cheaper countries with cheaper laborers.

  by terra on Sat May 10, 2008 at 12:00:42 AM PDT

  •  I, too, never understood hockey and

    only went to watch the fights.

    <snark>

    by Endangered Alaskan Dem on Sat May 10, 2008 at 01:36:37 AM PDT

•  MIllionaires playing for billionaires

  To take a family of four to the game costs at least $260.00, plus $15 for parking, ridiculous sums for snacks, $18 for gas and $25 for snacks (at least).  That's $318 to see a game played by ants.  At least they don't charge for the vertigo!

  For comparison's sake, a 37" LCD HDTV is on sale at Best Buy for $649.00.  Instead of two games played by ants, you get unlimited games played by humans on a large screen.  (Unless you don't have cable.)

  by Yamaneko2 on Sat May 10, 2008 at 12:04:28 AM PDT

  •  A bit off topic but

    even in the upper deck you have a pretty good view of a hockey game. Also hockey just gets an extra something added to it when you see it live, more than other sports do. It's just sad that between the corporate ticket gouging, the economy, and Gary Bettman's idiotic marketing campaign people just don't get exposed to the  great game I was raised on. Just one more thing Bush has helped to mess up.

    by ZilV on Sat May 10, 2008 at 01:04:05 AM PDT

    •  Extra something: audience making some noise.

      Without the audience, it's not really a complete hockey experience.

      All the shouting and singing and cheering has to be the main factor of the home field advantage.

      by aufklaerer on Sat May 10, 2008 at 01:11:02 AM PDT

      •  Also you can just appreciate the amazing speed

        and hits of the game way more live.

        by ZilV on Sat May 10, 2008 at 01:39:53 AM PDT

    •  Don't even get me started on Buttmann

      I heard from a good source that when they moved him to the NHL  and showed him a puck for the first time he tried to unwrap it and eat it because he thought it was candy.

      The commissioner of the NHL didn't even know what a frakkin' puck was when he took the job - and we wonder why he sucks?

      by Hellenic Pagan on Sat May 10, 2008 at 11:19:03 AM PDT

•  Someone should send this

  to "Canada's Treasure" Don Cherry -- just heard him on ESPN saying, "Don't tell me it's the economy" that's keeping the seats at Joe Louis empty, but that they don't like the type of hockey being played (meaning it's not gooned up enough for him any more). I think those garish jackets he wears are clouding his brain.

  by Cali Scribe on Sat May 10, 2008 at 12:06:01 AM PDT

  •  Who said his brain was ever clear? n/t

    by Neon Vincent on Sat May 10, 2008 at 12:48:27 AM PDT

•  Well, at least this time...

  Mitch isn't filling the seats with his imagination -

  In 2005, Albom was suspended from the 'Detroit Free Press' for pre-writing and submitting an article about an event that didn't occur.

  Something has always rubbed me the wrong way about the guy, and this provides an excellent example as to why.  

  "Wealthy Writer Preaches Down to Struggling Working People; Give Mike Ilitch More of Your Money!"

  by Hardhat Democrat on Sat May 10, 2008 at 12:17:37 AM PDT

•  Unfortunately, the usual "solution"...

  ...to this kind of situation is for the owners to move the team to a better-off community (and, however bad times may be, there are still a lot of cities better-off than Detroit) with the money to build them a new, state-of-the-art arena, give them tons of tax breaks, and fill their luxury boxes.

  Fan loyalty be damned; if a community can no longer afford to support a team, the sports-business logic goes, that team has the right to move to somewhere that will.  Simple supply and demand, folks.

  For the sake of Detroit's fans, I hope the Red Wings have signed an ironclad lease with many years left to run.  Otherwise, goodbye.

  by regnaDkciN on Sat May 10, 2008 at 12:50:59 AM PDT

  •  The Red Wings are an original six franchise,

    they'll leave Detroit when the Yankees leave New York.

    by ZilV on Sat May 10, 2008 at 01:08:57 AM PDT

    •  But even that was a possibility once...

      Or at least, a very real 'threat'.

      New York's lost teams before (the Nets, NFL Giants and Jets originated in NY), and of course the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants.

      And Steinbrenner did threaten to move the Yankees to Connecticut a few times...

      by Hardhat Democrat on Sat May 10, 2008 at 01:16:45 AM PDT

    •  I agree with you, but

      would change your line to "The Red Wings will leave Detroit when the Pakcers leave Green Bay."

      Frankly, the Yankees will leave New York well before the Pack leaves Green Bay.

      by Endangered Alaskan Dem on Sat May 10, 2008 at 01:39:41 AM PDT

  •  True...

    won't happen in this case - the Wings would cease to exist before they left Detroit.

    But the NBA appears to be helping this same thing along right now in Seattle, giving the finger to the Sonics fans who've supported that team there for decades.  And Seattle's much better off than Detroit these days...

    by Hardhat Democrat on Sat May 10, 2008 at 01:09:48 AM PDT

  •  That happened to the North Stars nt

    by Hellenic Pagan on Sat May 10, 2008 at 11:20:55 AM PDT

•  In answer to your poll: one could only hope

  by erin r on Sat May 10, 2008 at 01:22:51 AM PDT

•  The Penguins are playing fantastic too

  and their playoff tickets are selling like hotcakes.  They are selling out in minutes.  Maybe there is more hockey excitement here than there.

  Yes, I know Detroit is in harder times than Pittsburgh but it is also a much bigger town.  Plus, it seems to me that people always seem to spend money they don't have.  If a sports team is beloved, people will be there to buy the tickets.  I notice a lot of out-of-state plates at the Pens playoff games (I work right by the stadium).

  Things are rough but this doesn't prove it.

  Go Pens.

  by alliedoc on Sat May 10, 2008 at 04:18:14 AM PDT

•  Mitch Albom is a waste of time

  wanna be hack writer.  please, his writing makes me vomit.

  by realwischeese on Sat May 10, 2008 at 04:37:39 AM PDT

•  A Sign of Levelling Off of Sports Revenues?

  For years, it has seemed to me that the resources we devote to spectator sports in this country show how affluent we really are, despite that many were left behind.

  Sports ticket prices and revenue have spiraled upward and dedicated fans continue to shell out the money.  Playoffs get longer and longer as the owners cash in on the fans' loyalty.

  Not filling seats in Detroit, then, seems to be an indicator that we may have bumped up against the margin here, where there is not enough affluence in a community to pay the huge prices just to watch.

  Several years ago, I quit going out of my way to attend  major league sporting events.  While I really like baseball and hockey, I came to the conclusion that participation is more desirable than being a spectator.  So instead, I participate, by coaching baseball, umpiring, playing in an adult hockey league and officiating hockey.

  Such participation is truly more fulfilling thatn watching the pros.  It allows me to participate in llife.

  by Justus on Sat May 10, 2008 at 06:28:40 AM PDT