Columbus Blue Jackets Gain $32.8 Million in Gate Receipts

I just read this post from a Canadian writer gloating about how the six Canadian franchises make more than the bottom 14 U.S. cities combined. Here are the stats from his post:

Gate Receipts, Six Canadian Teams = $356,700,000
(Toronto: $77.9 mil, Montreal: $69.7 mil, Vancouver: $57.4 mil, Calgary: $53.3 mil, Ottawa: $49.2 mil, Edmonton: $49.2 mil)
Gate Receipts, Bottom Fourteen Teams = $360,800,000
(Columbus: $32.8 mil, Tampa Bay: $32.8 mil, Boston: $32.8 mil, Buffalo: $30.75 mil, Carolina: $28.7 mil, Los Angeles: $26.65 mil, St. Louis: $24.6 mil, Nashville: $24.6 mil, Washington: $22.55 mil, Atlanta: $22.55 mil, NY Islanders: $22.55 mil, Chicago: $20.5 mil, Florida: $20.5 mil, Phoenix: $18.45 mil) 

Okay I'm not going to get into the whole Canadian vs. US hockey thing as he's got a point and I can't argue that there should not be more Canadian franchises.

However, gate receipts are just part of the argument as there are many more things to consider. I certainly wouldn't want my beloved Jackets moving north, so I'm certainly not going to get into the relocation talk about other franchises.

What I did find very interesting about this article was that, according to his number, Columbus was at the top of that 14's worst list. They were tied with the best gate receipts out of that group.

Now how in the wide wide world of sports can that be possible when according to espn.com's attendance figures, Columbus was ranked 28th out of the 30 teams in attendance? 

I'll tell you how.

With Priest in charge, fan giveaways are scarce. Doug MacLean drew fans with frequent handouts. This inflated attendance greatly. With a lack of gifts, fans are finding other things to do in Ohio's capital.

Obviously, teams below us are handing out freebies like toilet paper during a late night visit to White Castles. That or they are severely reducing ticket prices. How else you explain teams like Tampa Bay, who ranked eighth overall in attendance at 18,692 per game, reporting the exact same gate receipts as Columbus?

There is no other explanation.

Gate receipts are just one revenue stream as some of these markets can charge much higher advertising rates, have better local TV and radio deals, etc, etc.

Still, Columbus isn't quite as bad as I thought. I've long thought that even though attendance was reported a lot lower this year than previous years that the actual butts in the seats weren't much different than before, at least the last year or two. It's just that the numbers were no longer being artificially inflated.

There is certainly room for major improvement, though. There are still an unacceptable amount of fans dressed up as blue seats and we need that trend to stop. A winning team should help considerably.

For those interested in season tickets, there are some sections—good sections—within the arena that the Jackets' staff are no longer requiring a PSL to be purchased. Of course, if you pass you no longer get the merchandise discounts or other arena events ticket priority, but you do get playoff priority which to me is the key.

-LTL