Season ticket base could drop if this trend continues

The last few years we started Sat night games - last yr we had at least 4 back to back - Sat/ Sun games

This year the trend is worse than ever and many seson ticket holders are complaining - yes we do have rain check nights

But we pay to see the games The crowd last Sat for Ottawa was not that great - I like Friday - Sun

Yes we know the Arena is booked for other events but concerts work better on Sat too

I sure hope our main game day is Sat

Back to back games are problematic. Crowds are better when there is only one game on the weekend.

Sunday night has been the Gens traditional time and that should remain.

8 weekends with Saturday -Sunday home games will have an impact on ticket sales. A good performance by the Gens this season might offset some of that but for a season ticket holder it is not a good thing.

I'm not a big fan of back to back games either. I prefer Friday and Sunday home games. Would rather spend Saturday night at home watching the Leafs

I will also agree I'm not a fan of the Saturday night home games. Friday and Sunday night are fine.

I don't mind the Saturday/Sunday occasionally, but back to back weekends is a little much. I get the point that it will happen do to scheduling, especially this month with 3 weekends in a row with two games. Then again I own two seats and take different people to each game, so It's harder for me when they all end up at the same time to find lots of people.

that would be very bad news cause it appears the walk-up crowd has dropped off significantly, cause the GM Centre is now looking more and more like the Ghost Town arena's from Brampton and Mississauga! Forget what other teams are charging for tickets for seasons/single game/family packs, I think the Gens are starting to outprice themselves out of the Oshawa market in all three of those areas!! Plus it doesn't help that their games are no longer on the radio for added exposure to the product!!!

$5 for parking. $4.50 for a hot dog. $4 ish for a bottle of pop. The prices are way to high for someone looking for a night out. As for season ticket holders. We seem to be getting less and less perks every year. There's no incentive to go to a game. Also there's is no real advertising for the team around the city.

I like to know what they got instore for season ticket holders next season as an incentive as at the end of this season it's the end year of that 3 years freeze that they offered.

I'm not a fan of Saturday-Sunday double headers personally, I love working at the games but it's really tiring getting up for work on Monday morning after spending a few hours at the rink on Saturday and Sunday - especially knowing that it's Saturday and Sunday again this coming weekend. However, when you look at the numbers, Gens fans don't come out based on the day of the week at all, they come out based on who the opponent is and how late in the season it is.

The average attendance was 3979 for the season last year.

Saturday-Sunday doubleheaders

January 15-16
Attendance: 5547 vs Ottawa, 4570 vs Sudbury

January 22-23
Attendance: 4595 vs Kingston, 3744 vs London

March 19-20
Attendance: 4210 vs Brampton, 4522 vs Peterborough

Games against division rivals attracted more fans regardless of whether the game was on Saturday or Sunday. The average attendance at Saturday night games was substantially higher than the other nights with an average of 4784 (vs 3979 overall) but to be fair, the Saturday night games were all in the second half of the season where attendance is always higher no matter what day of the week. Overall, attendance is lower this year by 300 fans per game (3673 last year after 5 games, 3350 this season). However, the Saturday game was the second highest of the season with the only one higher being the next night against the Petes - it's always higher against Peterborough no matter what day of the week it is. I hate coming in on Saturday and Sunday but when I look at the numbers, it doesn't look like Saturday night games are an explanation for low attendance because it's lower on all nights than last year although it is still early. A lack of radio could be one answer or it might just be because 5 games is too small a sample size. We'll see how it plays out over the next few games. I enjoy looking at attendance stats, perhaps after 10 or 15 home games, I'll update this and see how attendance compares to last year.

Not everyone jumped on that three year deal. So it's just the three year deal people who will now feel the crunch.

There are several factors hurting the Gens, parking #1 so maybe it's time everyone starting calling city hall and voicing their greivances over broken promises!! When all the fans thought it was such a great move to build downtown instead of at the civic for promised free parking to all Generals games. If you don't demand it in writing and on the city books, you know that it will get taken away by the next council and so it did. Arena Prices are brutal, but I don't think the team has any control over that, I may be wrong as I don't know if the teams gets a cut on concessions or not. Ticket prices are high, but they are at most of the OHL teams. The only thing I didn't like this year was, less exhibition home games and that there was no bring a friend tickets, have they forgotten that bring a friend tends to hook new fans that way!!

Just my two cents !!

UGENS(Karon)

I would think the restaurant owners in the area aren't happy about the charge as well. The idea of free parking wasn't only for the GMC, it was to make going downtown more attractive any day of the week. I like what I've seen, it's still not exactly the nicest of downtown cores but it's noticeably better than in 2006. Starting to charge during GMC events is the exact opposite of what needs to be done to get people hanging out downtown and of course, it's a slippery slope to charging money to park every night.

Beats... you hit the nail on the head in regards to radio. In my opinion that's the reason why the crowds in the last several years haven't been the "normal" crowds we are accustom to. Although I don't have any statistics to back up my claim that is my opinion. The radio is not only a great tool for providing the broadcasts on the road/home it's constant advertising for the team every time a game is on the radio. Today, people that have BELL TV at home or that watch there TV on the internet will not see the game on their TV at home. I'm talking about the casual fan... the fan that will watch hockey when it's on TV but not the type of fan that will shell out the $7 to watch the game on the internet. In my opinion this is a MAJOR MAJOR mistake by the organization. Sure there is the radio side to the negotiation but the club has to take the initiative to get a deal done.

Maybe ... of course radio is good advertising. A huge reason why the Battalion and the Majors have such poor attendance is the non-existance of local media. No radio, very little newspaper coverage drowned out by pro sports news in the Toronto papers. Having full-page articles on the Generals in the Whitby This Week/Oshawa This Week delivered to everyone's door is something Gens fans don't appreciate because you're used to it. With radio, it's not so much having the game on itself but the frequent mentions of "Tune in tonight @ 7:30 to hear the Oshawa Generals take on...". The walk-up crowd is a spur-of-the-moment decision crowd. The more reminders they get, the better. However, we don't have access to the numbers. Of course the Gens want the games on the radio but we have no idea whether or not the radio station's terms are unreasonable.

I've decided not to pay for parking others should do the same, for now i'm parking where its free and walking, and when eventually that gets taken away i will pay 10 instead of 5 and cab as that all a cab costs me from my place.

Yes i get not everyone can do this.

Or you could just show up early and go out to eat before they start enforcing the $5. Dinner costs more than $5 but at least you get dinner with it. I've parked as late as 90 minutes before puckdrop and I always park at the Celina St. lot and I've never seen them charge yet.

KHE, don't be giving props to Beats for the radio comment as I was the one who first said it in my post above, geez, Beats gets enough compliments as it is on this site (HA HA HA HA) - anyhow, it's a shame the games are no longer on the radio, as a father of two kids who play rep hockey, we're in the car all the time, so we would always listen to the games on the radio on the way to the rink and on the way home, and the kids would always fall alseep listening to the games on the radio in bed, but now, we're obviously denied those opportunities, and because of that, the kids no longer have as much interest in the Gens as it's an Out-Of-Sight-Out-Of-Mind kind of scenario now

I did only mention it to say that I argee with the previous person that wrote it. So I deserve no compliments.

The topic is the back to back week end games is too much of a trend this year

Oct 16-17 Oct 22-23 - Nov12-13 Nov 19-20 Jan21-22 Jan 28-29 - Feb 11 - 12 - March 17 -18 - that is 8 back to back week ends

Parking issues are there no matter what night or day the game is played - I have not paid for parking and don't mind a 5 - 7 minute walk

No doubt I will not attend all of these games - The GENS have just advertised for another ticket manager promoter - maybe game day scheduling

might be a problem - The food problem is there no matter what - try a game at the ACC then complain - that's a food problem

Bring a friend night actually cost the team $$$$ due to the cities ticket surcharge

If you check around the OHL Petes avg 2,500 - Bulls bit more - it is said game promotions raise attendance but that would work on any night

Tick off your long time seson ticket holders with all of these back to back - see how much more promoting they will need

I often wonder how many would renew their season tickets if they knew the schedule first

I often wonder how many would renew their season tickets if they knew the schedule first

The early bird renewal deadline was June 30th. The schedule was released during the first week of June.

The early bird renewal deadline was June 30th. The schedule was released during the first week of June.[/quote]

But as previous years season tickets holders are asked to put their deposit down by end of March, beginning of April for the next season.

The schedule sucks this year---last year we spent almost the whole month of Febrauary and March at home games, this year it seems to the be at the beginning of the year. Not sure if the gens asked for all these back to back's or if they were just given them.

As for parking- I agree with Ugens, call the "wonderful" Mayor Henry and complain. Also for those in Oshawa remember who stuck you with the $5.00 parking fees next election! Having said that, there's nothing from stopping the Generals from going to the City and asking for a special parking rate for season ticket holders to buy a pass. The Mayors Office actually told a friend of mine that when she called.

As for season tickets holders, our perks aren't great anymore. The gens try to make them out as something special but they really aren't. I've been going for 18 years now and every year we get a little less and less. Perhaps the generals should stop and ask their season ticket holders exactly what they think, what would they like to see (doesn't mean they have to listen, just shows they might care). Its the season tickets holders who are going to be there year after year and where guarenteed revenue comes from. They can't count on the one off group that makes an appearance every 2 years. In my personal experience they seem to care more about those one off's then true fan themselves. Have you noticed the seaon ticket holder prizes at the games....a signed stick? Really? Couldn't they make a deal with East Side or Home Depot etc for something a little more decent.

Any Gens fan who voted for Henry deserves what they got. The people spoke for mayors like Ford and Henry, congrats they got what they wanted.

5forfighting wrote:

But as previous years season tickets holders are asked to put their deposit down by end of March, beginning of April for the next season.

Ah, so it's like TFC then where I'm putting in the first deposit now near the end of the regular season. I didn't know the deposit schedule.

As for perks, fair enough, everyone's entitled to their opinion but when I had season tickets for the Ottawa 67s, I don't remember getting any of this stuff that the Gens season ticket holders currently get. They also have paid parking if you want to park in the arena's main parking lot and that area of Ottawa is MUCH harder to find free street parking than it is in downtown Oshawa. Then again, I skated to the games along the canal for free. That was an awesome perk that would be pretty hard to replicate.

I'm a season ticket holder who did take advantage of the three year freeze. My firm also has an additional 8 season tickets in the same section and did not take advantage of the three year freeze but continue to renew.

At the start of last season, I actually switched from Bell satelite to Rogers digital so I could watch away games.

Yes, I will be back next year as a season ticket holder.

Am I happy about everything though, no certainly not. The concession prices are absolutely ridiculous but I don't know if the Generals have any control over that. I can always find a place to park at no cost so that doesn't bother me either. Saturday-Sunday games no big deal as I don't watch the Leafs.

Having said all that, I'm not sure what it is but something seems to be missing this year. Less attendance and less season ticket holders leads to less atmosphere OR what appears to be no real sense of direction or inspiration from the coach. Not sure.

Here's hoping things get better, it's still very early in the season.

There is grumbling in my part of the arena (Section 120) about all the weekends with Saturday & Sunday night games. People generally don't like this scheduling. I personally don't like it. Much as I love my Generals hockey, it starts to feel a bit like a chore on back to back weekends. Those of us who work all week sometimes would prefer to just stay home & chill with friends/family or go to a movie on the Saturday night. (Could care less about the Leafs).
Re parking, we have never paid for parking. We park up the street a block or so and walk, or in my case hobble, down to the arena. Not fun on a January night, but not unreasonable.
Re prices, we had to really consider whether to continue our seasons tickets this year or not because we are beginning to reach our maximum ceiling for discretionary entertainment spending. We seldom buy anything from the concessions other than a tea & coffee. We will definitely take into account the schedule too if this back to back trend continues when making our decision for next year.