Tavares Knows Why Fans Avoid Ducks
No longer are Disney’s Mighty Ducks the darling of Orange County sports fans. But why should fans continue to support the Ducks when Disney might not?
The lingering uncertainty over the possible sale of the franchise helps explain this season’s alarming decline in attendance, said Disney sports chief Tony Tavares.
“I think that has had a very negative impact in the marketplace. I really do,” Tavares said.
“It’s the attitude about the team: What are they doing? Well, they’ve got an owner in the sales mode, so are they really committed to winning? I think that creates as much of an undercurrent to what we’re seeing as anything.”
The Ducks sold 98% or more of their seats in each of their first five seasons, including 51 consecutive sellouts from 1993 to 1995. This season, however, the Ducks are averaging 13,988 at the 17,174-seat Arrowhead Pond, down 11% from last season and 18% from two seasons ago.
Henry T. Nicholas III, the billionaire co-founder of Irvine computer chip powerhouse Broadcom Corp., led a partnership that negotiated for four months to buy the Angels and Ducks from Disney. Since October, when Nicholas announced he would only pursue minority investment, Tavares said Disney has not conducted serious discussions with any other party.
“There is no active discussion going on at any level for either team,” Tavares said.
Disney never publicly announced the teams were for sale. Since the Nicholas group withdrew, Disney never has announced whether the teams remained for sale. Sources suggest Disney Chairman Michael Eisner might prefer to keep the Ducks and sell the Angels but would sell both to any buyer willing to meet a $450-million asking price.
Tavares believes the media turned on the Ducks this year in favor of the Kings, who acquired star winger Ziggy Palffy and moved into the new Staples Center. But Tavares also believes the Ducks contributed to media skepticism with the firings of coaches Ron Wilson and Pierre Page in the summers of 1997 and ’98.
“Some of the things we did over time--the Wilson thing was not a positive, certainly the step back we took with Page was not a positive--affected the perception about our product.
“And the increase in ticket prices is also a negative.”
The Ducks list their average ticket price at $42.56, below the $45.70 NHL average compiled by Team Marketing Report. The Ducks are not the only NHL team learning that many fans refuse to pay such prices, but the attendance drop is so steep in Anaheim that the Ducks’ price hike may actually cost the team money.
Tavares said the Ducks will generate more ticket revenue this year, although he counts luxury suites. By limiting calculations to regular seats, however, the Ducks generated $26.7 million in ticket revenue last season and are on pace to generate $24.4 million this season.
