How television ratings impact the Coyotes

by James Mirtle on Jun 9, 2009 5:16 PM CDT Comment 7 comments

More photos » by AARON J. LATHAM - AP

I mentioned both the declarations from Gary Bettman and Jim Balsillie yesterday and some of the tidbits they included, but today, but Tripp Mickle from the SportsBusiness Journal unearthed some more revenue-related figures in the declaration of a fellow named Gerald Sheehan.

Hired by the city to look into more efficient ways for the team to be run, Sheehan said in a weekend court fililng that there are numerous revenue sources the Coyotes have had difficulty tapping:

Sheehan said the team has the lowest local revenues in the NHL and the 11th-highest non-player payroll expenses. He also said the team ranks 28th in the league in total local broadcast revenues with $3.4-million a year compared to the NHL average of $11.7-million a year. The team has 28.5 available suites, the lowest average ticket price in the NHL of $31.45 and $7-million in unsold sponsorship, he said.

I'm not sure he's making a great case for the team to stay in Phoenix.

The Coyotes, however, are far from alone when it comes to negligible revenues from local television, and the $3.4-million figure is frankly decent given they have just 7,000 households on average watching their games. (And since we've been talking so much about Canadian vs. American viewing habits these days, note that that means only about 280,000 cumulative households watch the Coyotes' entire season. The Leafs would easily draw more than that for a single local telecast on Sportsnet.)

Local TV revenues are one of the sources of great inequity in the NHL, as some teams like the Rangers, Flyers, Penguins, Sabres and Bruins have between seven and 12 times the number of viewers per night as teams like the Coyotes, Panthers and Thrashers. Combined with the six Canadian teams, those 11 well watched clubs make up a huge portion of the $350-million in local TV revenue NHL teams bring in.

If you kick out the American teams generating as little as the Coyotes do from television, the average the top 20 teams are making is at least $15-million a season.

Phoenix makes that difference up in revenue sharing, but gaining more television viewers has to be part of the long-term solution when it comes to limiting the losses in the desert. We hear a ton about the meagre national television contract in the U.S., but these local deals can make the difference between surviving and, well, ending up in bankruptcy court.

0 recs | Comment 7 comments | Add comment | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

The Washington Post and New York Times did an interesting analysis of TV ratings for games in local American markets at the midpoint of this year’s season. Phoenix viewership was weak at 1 in 200 households, or just over 9,000 households, watching each game. In light of the recent data, it appears these estimates were generous.
http://puckreport.blogspot.com/2009/02/statistical-anomaly-tv-ratings.html

by puckreport on Jun 10, 2009 3:01 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed in general, James, although I would also note that the Sheehan Report (which I have and was preparing to write a report on – damn that Mickle guy!!!) observed that PHO’s media revenue went up to $4.5 million this past year. They did pick up some new broadcast partners to supplement their previous package, so I assume that is where the increase was generated.

by Gerald on Jun 10, 2009 6:56 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

28.5 available suites?

I’d like to purchase half a suite. But not the one that’s already half-occupied. I want the entire suite, while only paying for half.

Unless, of course, that half-filled suite comes with the prime rib already paid for.

Seriously though, who cares about selling 12,000 or 17,000 tickets at $40 a pop. They need to focus on the corporate community and fill those loges, first and foremost. Do you have any idea how much the bartender takes in during the course of a game?

The money spent on wine alone would make up for any amount of empty seats in the upper bowl.

by TD O'Dell on Jun 10, 2009 11:17 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

"Half-suites"

The Coyotes converted some of the lower-bowl seating areas on the mezzanine level to “pseudo-suites.” Basically, they are comfy barstools and a shelf for food and drinks in a moderately sized cubicle, with HD TVs carrying either the game feed or satellite TV in the upper corners and curtains that can be drawn at the back for privacy from the rest of the mezzanine.

I priced one of these out for my own company but the cost-to-perks ratio was not good enough for me to justify reserving one.

You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.

by zyllyx on Jun 10, 2009 11:22 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

So no roast beef? No bartenders? Then no thanks

Although the idea of drawing a curtain has a certain cache. That way the riff raff can’t watch your TV screens. Make them watch the latest Queen Latifah movie back there in economy class.

- “She’s never gonna learn to stand up on those skis.”

Side note: I had tickets for the IIHF under-20 quarter-finals in January located one row lower than Eugene Melnyk’s loge. At one point, a woman sitting on a barstool spilled a glass of wine on my shoulder (thankfully white wine) and the glass didn’t even break when it hit the floor. She was sitting so close to me that I figure my sightline was a much better bargain than what she would have paid, had she not been invited by the owner.

I decided then and there that:

a) I would never consider paying for a suite, no matter how many lotteries I ever won
b) I should really invest in some better quality stemware at home
c) Nikita Filatov was good enough to score a hat-trick, if called up by the BJs

by TD O'Dell on Jun 10, 2009 11:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

If you want to know why the Coyotes don't sell any of their suites...

…all you gotta do is look at how much they upsell the in-suite perks.

At those prices, if they sold three suites they could probably pay Gretzky’s salary.

I kid. I kid because… well, I’ve probably got less than a month before I lose my team.

You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.

by zyllyx on Jun 10, 2009 4:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Chin up

Maybe a decision comes down the pipeline within a few months, and maybe the state of limbo causes Maloney to be ineffective on July 1st, but there will be another 41 games for you to attend.

BTW, have you requested a refund on your tix, yet? I purchased football tix in Montreal one year at Olympic Stadium, where there was no chance of selling out. By the midpoint in the season, people were sitting ten rows behind me for single-game purchases at less than what I had paid to commit to the whole season.

I don’t know what kind of discount the Yotes offer for STH, but at this point, you’re almost guaranteed to get a better deal if you buy your seats on 41 different occasions.

by TD O'Dell on Jun 11, 2009 5:35 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs