KC Penguins? (Kansas City Star)

[KansasCityCraka]

dude that link is older than some of our posters here.

Doesn't matter how old that is, none of those cities have recieved a team and are still trying to get one. The only thing that may have changed is the order of importance.

[Ez Street]

NBA please.

Ain't happening. Sorry. Talk to Stern.

[Maitre D]

Doesn't matter how old that is, none of those cities have recieved a team and are still trying to get one. The only thing that may have changed is the order of importance.

How many of those cities have a pro team who is DEAD LAST in attendance?  Royals, 14th of 14 AL teams at the gate.  And 29th of 30 overall.


Forget about getting another pro team.  Not with that fan support.

[NDTeve]

But wait until the renovations are finished. I'm going to my fifth game tommorrow night.

[GRID]

How many of those cities have a pro team who is DEAD LAST in attendance?   Royals, 14th of 14 AL teams at the gate.  And 29th of 30 overall.


Forget about getting another pro team.   Not with that fan support.

We have been through this.  Although, I get rather frustrated myself with Royals attendance at times, you have to put things in perspective.

Please, tell me how many towns would not have very similar, if not lower, attendance than the Royals if they were a consistent 100 loss team and have not (except for one year) even threatened to compete for a playoff spot in 23 years????

You have towns with teams that KC would die for that can’t sell out playoff games.  23 years of absolutely horrible baseball in the second smallest market in MLB?  Shit, what do you expect.

I have always said that a winter pro sport would do well in KC.  But if we got an NBA or NHL team that was as bad as the Scouts and they come in a lose nearly every game before even getting a foothold in the city, what’s going to happen?  What would happen in nearly every city?  The honeymoon would be short-lived. 

There is demand in KC for a pro winter sport.  KC is much larger than many cities that support pro arena sports.  Right now, the reason KC doesn’t have a team has little to do with lack of support and everything to do with a lack of teams available to come to KC and a local ownership group or person that wants a team in KC.  That’s the ONLY reason OKC is getting the NBA.

Now, having said that, KC fans can downright sad at times.  They bitch about the price of Royals games when it cost more to go to most AAA stadiums than Kauffman.  They bitch about paying 8 bucks to park.  The “cheapness” of the Royals is one thing that really hurts the team and since the team has played so bad for so long now, their product is simply not worth much compared to other MLB teams.  But it’s the “chicken before the egg” issue there.  People would pay more if the product was worth it and I think the Royals are going to have to make the first move.  You can’t ask people to pay twice as much for this team right now.  I think it might be finally getting better though.  We will have a nice, modern stadium and our team has got to turn the corner eventually.  We are well beyond the law of averages.  It has to get better.

One more thing.  As a season ticket holder, I have had one hell of a time going to and enjoying the Royals so far this year.  The weather has been horrible.  We wasted one of our biggest attendance draws by playing the Yankees in the opening series.  Opening day sells out no matter what and the other two games just didn’t draw well with the weather and the fact that KC and most MLB towns don’t really draw well till May.  So, the Royals have essentially lost 3 near sell outs this year with that series alone.  That’s going to hurt.  But again, baseball in 35 degree wet weather?  No thanks.

What I’m saying is that even though the Royals attendance is bad, it may not be as bad as it looks, there are many factors that have created that other than just purely KC doesn’t support sports.  From what I have heard, the Royals have very healthy radio and tv numbers for this market size and for the team not really doing well on the field.  The interest is there.

The Royals attendance also has little, if any, to do with how well the city would support the NBA or NHL.  Give KC a good team in any league and the city will respond like no other.  This city is dying for a team that is competitive and with downtown now a top destination, I think a “pro” team has a very good chance of long term success here.

[geeman68]

Nicely put Grid. 

[bobbyhawks]

What I’m saying is that even though the Royals attendance is bad, it may not be as bad as it looks, there are many factors that have created that other than just purely KC doesn’t support sports.  From what I have heard, the Royals have very healthy radio and tv numbers for this market size and for the team not really doing well on the field.  The interest is there.

The Royals attendance also has little, if any, to do with how well the city would support the NBA or NHL.  Give KC a good team in any league and the city will respond like no other.  This city is dying for a team that is competitive and with downtown now a top destination, I think a “pro” team has a very good chance of long term success here.

I love me some Royals and watch every game on TV, but with 81 games, that stadium is just not convenient to visit for most people in the city (especially on week nights).  If it were downtown, I'd have been to 5 or 6 games already at least.  As of now, I'm a terrible fan in that I haven't gone to one game.  An NHL or NBA game?  While expensive, I guarantee I could talk my friends who work/live up North, East, South, and West to come see a game and get some dinner/drinks after/before at SC/P&L on a random Tuesday.  The K absolutely doesn't lend itself to spur of the moment treks to the game, though 2003 and the beginning of 2004 proved that people will make time when the team is performing well. 

The Business crowd is also undersold in this discussion.  Many businesses now have season tickets to Allen Fieldhouse because that is the most impressive place to take a client.  Downtown/core companies would be foolish not to buy season tickets for a pro franchise that is blocks away.  Also, the fact that I can walk and not pay extra for parking is big... the fact that I am already downtown, which is the biggest hurdle to anyone going to the K (how will we get there and who will pay for parking?).

[Highlander]

How many of those cities have a pro team who is DEAD LAST in attendance?   Royals, 14th of 14 AL teams at the gate.  And 29th of 30 overall.


Forget about getting another pro team.   Not with that fan support.

As opposed to the late 70's and early 80's when the Royals were consistently near the top of baseball in fan support?  I think people realize that KC fans will back a winner and even back a loser pretty well for an extended period of time.  No city in the US consistently turns out for consistently poor teams. 

[GRID]

I’m sorry, but I don’t think the location has anything to do with attendance.  Move that exact stadium, non renovated and all with that exact team downtown, and doubt you would see much change.  Any gain would easily be canceled out by a loss of people that don’t want to deal with downtown.

Poor excuse.  A downtown stadium would get more of the “happy hour” crowd and it would get more of the traveling business crowd, but again, probably at the expense of suburban families.

Go to stadiums around the nation and see.  Denver, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Houston etc and you will see attendance has come down to normal.  Milwaukee, Anaheim, Texas etc, same deal.

I would love to have a downtown park to.  It’s not going to happen.  But blaming the attendance on its location?  Not buying it.

Again, it’s 23 years of horrible baseball.  A new park and the revenue it would have produced might have helped change that.  But even though there are 10,000 people that might walk to the stadium.  There are 500,000 people within a ten minute drive, many of which don’t want to get in  care and drive back downtown for a game. (I would, but I’m not most of KC or most Royals fans.)

The Royals need to win more games.

Then they can attract 35-40k on Fridays and Saturdays and 25k during the week without having to give away of slew of freebies.  They would come out to see the game and the stadium, just like they do in other towns and just like they did in KC for 20 years.

[Maitre D]

As opposed to the late 70's and early 80's when the Royals were consistently near the top of baseball in fan support?  I think people realize that KC fans will back a winner and even back a loser pretty well for an extended period of time.  No city in the US consistently turns out for consistently poor teams. 

Yes everyone loves a winner.  But bringing up 1979 attendnace to a potential Arena tenant, will probably elicit laughs.

[MidtownCat]

The coldest and rainiest Spring in a long time in Kansas City has most definitely contributed the attendance this year.  I know we've planned and backed out on more than two weekend games this year due to the weather.

The team sucks less than usual and there are really some bright spots on the roster.  Obviously, decades of a bad product has taken it's toll, but there are other factors at play here affecting the numbers this year. 

Things will pick up.

[Mhudson]

Yes everyone loves a winner.  But bringing up 1979 attendnace to a potential Arena tenant, will probably elicit laughs.

Sure, the Royals have the 28th worst attendance record, but like Grid said, its hard to maintain strong support for a poor product.  Also, in 2003, they jumped up to 22nd in attendance, clearly if the Royals were a better team, attendance would rise.  Do you have an excuse for the Chiefs having the 4th highest attendance in the NFL last year?  Surely that was a fluke that should be laughed at by potential Arena tenants as well?

[Maitre D]

Penguins blast Philly 6-0 to take the Eastern Conference and earn a spot in this year's Stanley Cup finals.


Woulda been nice to have them in the Sprint Center this year.  Thanks LIEweke for "being respectful" instead of going after them with a vengeance.

[shaffe]

Thanks LIEweke for "being respectful" instead of going after them with a vengeance.

what the hell else was he supposed to have done?  signed the lease of the arena over to mario lemieux?

[Maitre D]

what the hell else was he supposed to have done?  signed the lease of the arena over to mario lemieux?

Sorry - my sarcasm didn't come across in that email.  I am poking fun at LIEweke's "attempt" to get the Pens here, when we all know he played harlot for his good buddy Ron Burkle (part-owner of the Pens) to get that Arena done there.

[Ez Street]

http://blogs.cjonline.com/index.php?entry=7256

I wrote about how Kansas City was "this" close to playing for the Stanley Cup, but it's better off the way it is.....

[Maitre D]

Remember when we all fell hook-line-and-sinker for those bogus photo ops?

[KCMax]

No.

[Maitre D]

No.

liar

[aknowledgeableperson]

Remember when we all fell hook-line-and-sinker for those bogus photo ops?

Who's "we"?