It is that time of year when I check in on how attendance is faring across the NHL. This is data, not an indictment of any fan base. It is natural for teams take a hit in attendance with extended periods of playoff droughts that are inevitable for all teams. There are also many other factors that should go into determining overall health of a franchise such as ticket prices, TV ratings, sponsorship deals, and merchandise sales, attendance is just one small part of the picture.

TEAM BY TEAM CHANGE IN AVERAGE ATTENDANCE

In relatively predictable manner, the teams that are on up swing on the ice, are seeing a resurgence in attendance, while teams that have missed the playoffs the last few seasons have seen a drop in attendance.

SELL OUTS

Another metric I like to look at is the % of games that are sold out. As a league, there is no change year over year but it gets more interesting when you look at it on a team by team basis.

Here is one last detailed view of how all the teams are trending season over season.

New York Islanders

For those that don’t know, the New York Islanders have a unique situation where they are splitting their home games between Barclays-Brooklyn and NYCB Live-Nassau Coliseum. For a look at their attendance I put this chart together.