Merry Christmas, it’s been a while! For those of you wondering where I’ve been, click here. For the majority of you who don’t care read on!

South Florida has long been in mired in relocation rumors from the mainstream hockey media. Outlets like TSN and NBC Sports have been constantly publishing relocation rumors surrounding the franchise, despite constant reassurance from Panthers Ownership that they were committed to the market. Recent news of the Panthers receiving an $86 million bailout have quieted down the rumors for now, but the team is still heavily scrutinized for its attendance woes in internet comments sections across the internet. To say the least, it’s annoying.

However, if you look at the ESPN attendance statistics you see a sign of encouragement. The Panthers sit in 27th in NHL attendance through 17 home games. This isn’t exactly encouraging news at face value, but given the Panthers recent finishes at 30th and 29th in attendance in 2014 and 2013 respectively I personally take it as a sign of encouragement. Before we look at why it’s encouraging, let’s take a brief look at why the Panthers struggle so badly to get butts in seats.



What’s with the Empty Arena?

Year Finish (Regular Season) Playoffs? Attendance Ranking 2011-12 14th Yes 21st 2012-13 30th No 22nd 2013-14 29th No 29th 2014-15 20th No 30th 2015-16 Currently 11th ?? 27th

I have always said and will continue to say that a team’s attendance will suffer if they are not winning. This is true in South Florida and it is true in any other location for any other sport. Let’s look at the team’s performance since 2011.

When you couple the attendance with the team’s performance from 2011 to now there is a very clear pattern that emerges. Once the Panthers made the playoffs there was a growth in the amount of people who wanted to see the Panthers. “Perhaps they don’t stink anymore” some fans said and started to come into the building; however, two straight cellar-dweller finishes chased the fans away and led the calamitously bad attendance of 2014-15. Nobody wants to pay to see a bad team.

There was also the matter of an ownership change. Vincent Viola and Doug Cifu ended the policy set by previous ownership of giving away free tickets just to get people in the building to see the team. While free tickets got people into the building and boosted attendance figures it didn’t actually make the team any money. When Viola and Cifu did away with comping free tickets, there were crowds like this in Sunrise. However, Panthers ownership made it clear that this was a way to increase transparency with the fans.

So the two main reasons we saw such a tip in attendance from 2011 to now are poor performance and a change in the Panther’s business model.

Things are getting better, though.

‘Tis the Season to be Jolly

This blog post comes out Christmas Day, and as of now the Panthers are 3rd in the Atlantic having won 5 in a row and currently occupy a playoff spot in the east. There is plenty of time for the team to backslide or vault ahead, but for now the Panthers are in a good spot. The team has shown marked improvement from last season, and last season from the season before. The slight uptick in attendance numbers also reflect this uptick in the standings.

Aside from the previously mentioned policy change knocking the Panthers down a peg last year in attendance despite improved performance, this year the team is improving in the standings and in attendance.

This small trend is merely an indicator of what is to come. Solid and consistent crowds are built by a tradition of winning. This is something the Panthers traditionally lack with only 2 playoff appearances in the 21st century. Things are looking up for the cats, though, and to see what the future holds lets look at an instance of a team turning bad performances and bad crowds into Stanley Cups and Sell-Outs.

Let’s take a look at Dale Tallon’s previous team, the Chicago Blackhawks. This chart will be a little bigger because it shows a more complete story.

Year Finish (Regular Season) Playoffs? Attendance Ranking 2003-2004 29th No 27th 2004-2005 LOCKOUT LOCKOUT LOCKOUT 2006-2006 28th No 29th 2006-2007 26th No 29th 2007-2008 21st No 19th 2008-2009 6th Yes 1st 2009-2010 3rd Champions 1st 2010-2011 13th Yes 1st 2011-2012 10th Yes 1st 2012-2013 1st Champions 1st 2013-2014 7th Yes 1st 2014-2015 7th Champions 1st

As you can see the now mighty Chicago Blackhawks were the laughing stock of the league in the mid-2000s and their attendance suffered mightily. However, add some high draft picks with names like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Duncan Kieth and win a few Stanley Cups and Chicago becomes the most well-attended franchise in the NHL for the past 7+ years.

Let me be very clear. I am not saying the Panthers are going to win 3 Stanley Cups, nor am I saying that they are going to lead the league in attendance. The Panthers are definitely a much smaller market than Chicago, and won’t garner the same kind of enthusiasm that Chicago gets. What I am saying is that sustained periods of poor performance hurt crowds and sustained periods of good performance help build crowds. It’s not just a thing I made up. The Panthers probably won’t find themselves 1st in the league in attendance, but with the team getting better every year the Panthers could find themselves playing to fuller crowds with every passing season.

It might seem like a drag to be a Panther fan and deal with attendance-based teasing from the rest of the league. But it’s Christmastime and things are looking up for the Panthers. Let them look up in the standings and the attendance figures, because if the team continues to get better the Panthers may no longer have to deal with crappy crowds.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

NOTE: I understand this piece is slightly simplistic about the direction the team is headed, but it’s Christmas and everyone wants a positive story on Christmas