I Don't Like to Rag on the Panthers & Attendance Woes, But...

[RGM81]

This one looks like the ACC for the first 5 minutes of the second period:




Some of those sections don't even have 50 people in them. If there's 7,000 in the house, have I got some oceanfront property in Memphis for you!

[pwaldo]

Outside of the Dolphins does any team in Florida have a great attendance track record? Even the Heat with Lebron James didn't seem to sellout like they should have.

[30ranfordfan]

Heard on the radio today that there was actually less than 1k in attendance. They sold a lot more, but the tickets are cheap - people bought 'em, and just didn't show up.

[DnJcards]

The Lightning have great attendance even when terrible teams are in town, plus the fans are loud and right into the game which is awesome. its the complete opposite to the terrible attendance down in Miami. And even the game we went to in the playoffs last season i was expecting there to be more Habs fans than Bolts fans but it wasnt the case, at least for that game, it was about 70/30.

[pwskelly]

Tampa has built itself into a great franchise, they've won a cup, drafted tons of star players and held onto them for most of their careers. Other than one memorable run for the cup, what have Florida fans had to look forward to?

Simple put, the Panthers are one of the worst franchises in the NHL. Why would fans punish themselves?

[Crosby 87]

Outside of the Dolphins does any team in Florida have a great attendance track record? Even the Heat with Lebron James didn't seem to sellout like they should have.

Dolphins are hardly a "great attendance "team. Lightning are good. Jaguars are the best drawing Florida team of the 3 i believe and the Magic surprisingly draw well too for as bad as they have been.

[theboxbreaker96]

I think its time to relocate that franchise. Yes you can say that any team that has a good/contending team will draw that's obvious. Even if its Florida or Phoenix or Australia. The problem is that when the team isn't winning or has a bad team they don't have enough true fans to keep it going if that makes sense. I have been fully against relocating teams but I think its time.

If they were the only team in Florida then its different but they not and I think moving them to a better hockey town/city makes sense at this point.

I really feel bad for all the fans that loose their team. I would be devastated if the Pens OR Pirates and slightly less the Steelers left town. Its also disgusting for me to see an empty arena or empty ballpark like the Pirates had not too long ago.

[Wickabee]

In order to gain those true fans you need to be a Canadian franchise (and even then...) or actually string together some successful seasons and maybe a championship. Do that and any league can have a team in any city. It is that simple.

The Panthers have never been able to do that. Give Dale Talon a few years and see what he can do for them.

[one20]

I used to live down in South FL and every time I went to a Panther's game it seemed like there were always people showing up halfway thru the 1st and then they were leaving at the start of the 3rd. Never understood that.

[scottkoz20]

I used to live down in South FL and every time I went to a Panther's game it seemed like there were always people showing up halfway thru the 1st and then they were leaving at the start of the 3rd. Never understood that.

I went to a Ducks game in 2000 (when they were not good) and it was the same thing. However, that is a franchise that has built a base by winning. The Panthers have not consistently have done this, so it does create the apathy