Barons Update

[jedicurt]

The entire issue with Houston was the inablility for them to resign a lease with the Toyota Center. And they said that the alternative locations were all too high of a price. so the Wild decided that it was time to move them

[Dubya61]

I agree having Des Moines in the league will create a nice synergy and from a proximity standpoint its not bad for OKC. Could have been worse, like Peoria moving to Utica. It was just surprising considering how well Houston was performing attendance wise.

Speaking of team affiliation and collocation of teams (by the way nice word) there are some long distance ones in the league like; Colorado with Cleveland, Phoenix with Portland Me, L.A. with Manchester, Anaheim with Norfolk and San Jose with Worchester.

Instead of expansion I was thinking more in terms of relocating some of the existing teams. The list of candidates would be Abbotsford, Adirondack, Albany, Binghamton, Hamilton, Springfield, Worchester. Those struggling with attendance.
Of those seven candidates, six are in the Northeast the area in which the AHL is top heavy.

Agree. When I saw the Barons would be the AHL affiliate of Edmonton Oilers, I thought it was a horribly long-distance to maintain a relationship, but its better than some of those you mention. I just had a short time to look at the facts of the Peoria to Utica move, and it's hard to believe that the Canucks would want to move their affiliate that much further away. On the other hand, they looked at collocation options and nothing panned out, so ... Utica, here we come. The Abbotsford team is actually an affiliate of Calgary (IIRC) -- that distance probably works OK, even in the shadow of Vancouver.
The AHL has a history of being in the rust belt, so I guess that's why they are content to put their center of gravity there. On the other hand, they seem to have inherited/stolen/bought the mantle of being the NHL-lite, so they really should look at relocating to match the NHL. I just hope that if they choose to do that, they pick and choose carefully so that they don't fluctuate so wildly like the lesser leagues do. The CHL is almost unrecognizable from year to year, as are the West Coast lesser leagues.

[jedicurt]

Agree. When I saw the Barons would be the AHL affiliate of Edmonton Oilers, I thought it was a horribly long-distance to maintain a relationship, but its better than some of those you mention. I just had a short time to look at the facts of the Peoria to Utica move, and it's hard to believe that the Canucks would want to move their affiliate that much further away. On the other hand, they looked at collocation options and nothing panned out, so ... Utica, here we come. The Abbotsford team is actually an affiliate of Calgary (IIRC) -- that distance probably works OK, even in the shadow of Vancouver.
The AHL has a history of being in the rust belt, so I guess that's why they are content to put their center of gravity there. On the other hand, they seem to have inherited/stolen/bought the mantle of being the NHL-lite, so they really should look at relocating to match the NHL. I just hope that if they choose to do that, they pick and choose carefully so that they don't fluctuate so wildly like the lesser leagues do. The CHL is almost unrecognizable from year to year, as are the West Coast lesser leagues.

The big things that help OKC were made in Edmonton after the NHLers went back up. the loved it here, and had nothing but great things to say about their time in OKC as a city. Also it is the fact that the flight from OKC to Edmonton is easy, as there apparently is a single layover location and that the timing of the flights works well. I'm not sure if this layover is in Denver or somewhere else, but it has been something mentioned by front office personal in Edmonton that have made the trek down here as well.

[Kokopelli]

On the other hand, they seem to have inherited/stolen/bought the mantle of being the NHL-lite, so they really should look at relocating to match the NHL. I just hope that if they choose to do that, they pick and choose carefully so that they don't fluctuate so wildly like the lesser leagues do. The CHL is almost unrecognizable from year to year, as are the West Coast lesser leagues.

Speaking of that other hand, for grins and giggles I took a peak the other two top minor leagues in hockey. Here is the interesting tidbits gleaned from view.

In the CHL three teams in our neighborhood seemed to be doing quite well:
The Wichita Thunder with average attendance in 2013 of 5599
The Missouri Mavericks (KC) with average attendance in 2013 of 5522
The Tulsa Oilers with average attendance in 2013 of 4166

In the ECHL;
The Colorado Eagles with average attendance in 2013 of 5289

Ave attendance of the bottom five teams in the AHL 3726


Because they would be the western most outlier of the AHL the Colorado team would probably be a tough sell for the AHL.

Granted attendance isn’t everything and it is still a free market country and you have to have willing franchisees and facilities that are affordable.

Hopefully the AHL is having serious discussions with the other three.

[Kokopelli]

Another reason it would be nice to have Wichita in the AHL.

Wichita seeks grant for rail extension to Oklahoma City | News OK

full story here: Kansas, Wichita seek federal grant to complete planning for passenger rail extension | Wichita Eagle

The same could be said for Tulsa and KC considering discussions for Amtrak service to Tulsa and KC

[jedicurt]

season opener for the Barons tonight at the COX center. Another game tomorrow night, and they are giving away, i believe a Dodge Ram pickup.

[Sonny_Crockett]

The Houston Aeros could have used The Summit or smaller Sam Houston Coliseum or Houston Fairgrounds arena etc. Aeroes fans who came up from Houston OKC were some of the best people you meet. Rocket fans on the other hand...

Also, it looks like more people will go to Barons games this year as Thunder tickets have gone through the roof and are hard to get now.

[ahlokc]

Here is the link to my stats sheet I have been doing for all the past and current Barons Season if anyone is interested. I usually have it updated after the games or if not then, by the next morning/afternoon.

Barons 2013/14 Season Stats

Got a bit of a rough start this season, losing the first 3 games. But we won 4 - 2 today against the Iowa Wild (Houston Aeros replacement team). Next 3 games are home vs Texas Stars (Tue, Oct 15 @ 7pm) and Abbotsford Heat (Fri/Sat Oct 18/19 @ 7pm).

[GoOKC1991]

The Barons are currently 16-22-1-5, a season that has featured 100 transactions.

The Barons have also alienated many fans with the way they have banned from fans from their Facebook page for comments regarding the team and Edmonton. The staff isn't very helpful at games either, if you have a question, they are quite rude.

[GoOKC1991]

Barons have won 5 straight, including completing a 4-0 road trip today .

[jedicurt]

Next home games are this friday and saturday night!

[Dubya61]

Solid post but would argue that the myriad is not a "great facility" for AAA hockey.

Why do you say that? What would you do differently?

[OKCretro]

Why do you say that? What would you do differently?

it was built 42 years ago.

[ljbab728]

it was built 42 years ago.

and?

[Dubya61]

Great is another debate; however we have progressed throughout the years...


Stockyards Coliseum, 1930-60s . . . . . . . . Fairgrounds Arena 1963-70s . . . . . Myriad Great Arena 1973 . . . .

I don't see why the Barons can't look at using the Fairgrounds Arena when (/ if) the Myriad closes down. I know we (somebody) just sank some money into upgrading the Myriad, but it's demise isn't a year out, yet, either. When it's time to shut down the Myriad, the Barons and city ought to look to making better use out of the Fairgrounds Arena (again) for minor league hockey.

[Snowman]

It sounds like the Abbotsford Heat (who are in our division) are moving, not sure where but it would hard to get any farther away

[borchard]

Wow, SO many thing wrong with that situation!
Apparently the city spent something like $66 million in taxpayer money to build an arena, in a city with a population of about 125,000.
Then, they gave the team a pretty sweet deal, but they have had to pay over $5 million just to cover the teams losses in the last 5 years, (which apparently doesn't include THIS year's losses which are looking to be around $2.1 million!).
They have only averaged ~ 2,500 per game.
PLUS, it looks like the city will ALSO pay $5.5 million to terminate their contract with the AHL!
And Abbotsford is a suburb of Vancouver, and the team was a Calgary Flames affiliate?!?!
And I LOVE the reaction for their fan:

Beth Dudka, who has been a season ticket holder since the team’s arrival in Abbotsford, said the community is responsible for the dismal attendance.
“This team was here for five years and nobody would come out and support it,” she said. “We didn't get support from the people in the community. They were too busy being upset about having to pay more taxes.”

Holy crap!

[shawnw]

At least they're not still upset about losing the Grizzlies in 2001, some 13 years later. I feel like in 2021 we'll still be hearing about it from Seattle if they don't have an NBA team yet by then.

[Fantastic]

I don't see why the Barons can't look at using the Fairgrounds Arena when (/ if) the Myriad closes down. I know we (somebody) just sank some money into upgrading the Myriad, but it's demise isn't a year out, yet, either. When it's time to shut down the Myriad, the Barons and city ought to look to making better use out of the Fairgrounds Arena (again) for minor league hockey.

While everyone is on the "Tear-Down-The-Old-Myriad-Now-Called-The-Cox-Convention-Center" bandwagon... I've got some bad news for you... I foresee this building persisting for some time. Once the new CC is built, expect the convention space at the Cox to remain until at least the first expansion of the new CC, then I would expect the original MAPS convention space to be torn down leaving the arena itself intact until the Peak is replaced... at THAT point we can talk about the Cox being torn down... and even then, if we still have hockey, I would imagine the Barons to move to the Peake until the new arena is ready to be replaced.

Now, I recognize the fact that the post I am quoting was from Feb, and there hasn't been much talk about my beloved Barons since then... (because for some reason no one here seems to care about hockey, nevermind the fact that it has the second longest running tradition in OKC behind baseball) but I would like to point out that the team has been here for FOUR years and made the playoffs FOUR times!!! And this year they did it with Arcobello, Pitlick, and Ford injured.

[GoOKC1991]

Attendance for tonight's playoff game: 1,278

[Fantastic]

Attendance for tonight's playoff game: 1,278

Beyond sad... But, while low on the AHL's attendance list, the Barons have one of the highest season ticket renewal rates and high merch sales. As long as Edmonton is happy with the player development and Prodigal is willing to absorb the financial losses, I'm not worried.

[GoOKC1991]

Beyond sad... But, while low on the AHL's attendance list, the Barons have one of the highest season ticket renewal rates and high merch sales. As long as Edmonton is happy with the player development and Prodigal is willing to absorb the financial losses, I'm not worried.

If the Barons are going to be around long term, Prodigal won't be involved, they have turned their focus to soccer, most of us fans realize this. Heck, this Saturday the Barons game is at 8:00 and the doors aren't opening until 7:30, 30 minutes before (ALWAYS an hour before). I haven't gotten an explanation, but my guess is all the staff will be at the Energy game and then SOME will come work the Barons game.

Also, the Energy haven't played a single game and have THEIR OWN STORE. Only way to get Barons gear is at games and online.

[borchard]

Beyond sad... But, while low on the AHL's attendance list, the Barons have one of the highest season ticket renewal rates and high merch sales. As long as Edmonton is happy with the player development and Prodigal is willing to absorb the financial losses, I'm not worried.

I really think Prodigal is giving up on the Barons and focusing on the energy. I have nothing to base my contentions on, but I think they have seen this coming for awhile, and soccer is a fall back position for them. When I think of how important hockey used to be in Oklahoma City, it makes me sad to see what has happened. I do think some of it can be attributed to the popularity of the Thunder, but not all of it.
Sometimes it's just the shiny penny phenomenon. Before the Blazers came to town, we had the Cavalry. They weren't a huge success story, but they did OK. As soon as the Blazers came in, their attendance almost literally dried up. They even played a Championship series at UCO, in front of a couple hundred people, if I remember right?

[borchard]

Here are the 2013-14 attendance figures for the AHL. The only teams below OKC are Abbotsford (a team that is moving at the end of the year due to non-support), and Portland, ME.

Hershey 9,664
Grand Rapids 8,220
Lake Erie 8,144
Providence 8,135
Chicago 7,927
San Antonio 7,001
Charlotte 6,360
St. John's 6,287
Toronto 6,013
Iowa 5,883
Milwaukee 5,844
W-B/Scranton 5,804
Manchester 5,608
Syracuse 5,574
Rochester 5,412
Texas 5,294
Norfolk 5,004
Hamilton 4,946
Bridgeport 4,860
Rockford 4,804
Adirondack 4,192
Hartford 4,071
Worcester 3,958
Binghamton 3,936
Springfield 3,787
Utica 3,435
Albany 3,360
Oklahoma City 3,348
Abbotsford 3,007
Portland 2,185

[shawnw]

the Energy haven't played a single game and have THEIR OWN STORE. Only way to get Barons gear is at games and online.

Haven't been in the store yet, might go today, but was hoping the Barons would get a corner. Cross marketing just a little couldn't hurt.