Mighty Duck Fans Aren’t Flocking to Pond Anymore

Mighty Duck forward Mike Leclerc might have made the sweetest pass in his career. Too bad so few were there to see it.

Leclerc slid the puck across the crease to Teemu Selanne, who scored the Ducks’ first goal against the Boston Bruins Wednesday. All they thrilled in person were a measly 7,500, according to media estimates.

The Ducks’ announced crowd of 11,167 was another warning sign of the team’s free fall from popularity. Three days earlier, in a Sunday afternoon game against St. Louis, the Ducks announced a crowd of 11,134, the lowest in their eight-year history. Estimates for that game were only 8,500 in the 17,174-seat Arrowhead Pond.

That’s a grim reality for a franchise that sold out 90 of 93 games from 1993 to 1996. This season, the Ducks, who have won only one of their first three games, did not sell out their home opener for the first time.

Fans reel off a handful of reasons why attendance has plummeted. They grumble about a stealth marketing campaign, the cost of tickets and the team’s past sins.

President and General Manager Pierre Gauthier said this could be fixed by one thing.

“We’re at the stage with this franchise where people want a winning club,” said Gauthier, who added he was done answering questions about the Ducks’ sagging attendance. “We aren’t an expansion team anymore and fans expect more from the team. That’s fair.”

Sure, a couple Stanley Cups and the Ducks will pack the Pond. Until then, fans have a few concerns.

“The games cost too much,” said Anaheim’s Bob Coie, who has been a fan since the team’s first season in 1993-94. “A family of four can’t go there. I may go to two or three games this season. I used to go to more.”

Last season, the average cost of a ticket at the Pond was $46.18.

For the first time, the Ducks did not raise season-ticket prices during the past off-season. In fact, they lowered some prices on club-level seats. Yet that didn’t translate into increased sales.

In past seasons, the team cut off season ticket sales at 12,500. A hockey official familiar with the organization said the team is down 15% in season-ticket sales from last season. Gauthier also conceded that season tickets “have dwindled down in the last three seasons.”

Gauthier said the team has always had a tough time drawing fans in October. Yet, attendance figures only support that the last two seasons.

Only 16,520 showed up for this season’s opener against the Minnesota Wild, an expansion team. Even in the lockout year of 1994-95 the Ducks sold out their home opener.

“Orange County fans are fickle,” said Mission Viejo’s Jerry Didion, a longtime Duck fan. “If they win, the fans will come back.”

That is the opinion, Gauthier says, revealed by the team’s numerous fan surveys.

“If you put product on the ice, the fans will support it,” Gauthier said. “In the end, that is the short answer.”

But Gauthier’s theory isn’t supported by last season’s drop in attendance. The Ducks sold out only four of seven games in March, when they were pushing to make the playoffs.

It was a season-long spiral. The Ducks had reached the playoffs in 1998-99 but after selling out the season opener, they drew fewer than 14,000--in announced crowds--for eight of their next 10 home games.

The Ducks didn’t have a crowd under 15,000 for 190 consecutive games, from their start in 1993 through the first two games of the 1998-99 season.

It’s no coincidence, some fans said, that the drop in attendance followed a season of upheaval. Coach Ron Wilson was fired after leading the Ducks to their first playoff appearance in 1996-97. Comments from then-General Manager Jack Ferreira and Duck Chairman Tony Tavares angered fans.

Kariya’s holdout the following season was another public-relations disaster. The team finished 26-43-13 in 1997-98.

“It seemed like Ron Wilson was building something here,” said Apple Valley’s Howard Pomeroy, a longtime fan. “That took a lot of steam out of things.”

The Ducks have not been proactive in patching things up with fans. Their marketing campaigns rely on group sales pitches and telemarketing. The Kings, meanwhile, have flooded Southern California with a multimedia marketing campaign the last two seasons.

“I saw the Kings had a four-page advertising supplement in the newspaper,” said Rancho Santa Margarita’s Jim Reish, a Duck fan since their first season. “The Ducks never do anything like that. The Kings have this ticket promotion with McDonald’s. You never see any of that with the Ducks.”

The Ducks have had three marketing directors in the last three seasons. There is only one marketing department for the Ducks and Angels, who are both owned by Disney.

“That doesn’t affect anything,” Gauthier said. “What you decide to do in marketing efforts doesn’t have anything to do with how people do it or who does it. Most of it is bought advertising--radio spots and ads in papers. That’s not the issue. The challenge is to win some hockey games to get people in the building.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Where Is Everybody?

The Mighty Ducks’ games that drew the fewest fans to the Arrowhead Pond in the team’s eight-year history:

Oct. 8, 2000 vs. St. Louis: 11,134

Oct. 11, 2000 vs. Boston: 11,167

Dec. 1, 1999 vs. Tampa Bay: 12,047

Dec. 8, 1999 vs. Vancouver: 12,488

Nov. 22, 1999 vs. Montreal: 12,496

Source: Mighty Ducks of Anaheim?