Where are you seeing this?
- MBFlyerfan

multiple twitter post by Hall and someone else. Frost is rundown from being sick and will try to take pregame skate to see if he can go but Cates was called up.

To you and to psuhockey: how does it matter what fraction shows up? Tix sold is $ earned.
- PT21

Right - Comcast cares about tickets sold. They'd also like parking and concessions from butts in every seat. Butts in seats is a measure of fan satisfaction.

multiple twitter post by Hall and someone else. Frost is rundown from being sick and will try to take pregame skate to see if he can go but Cates was called up.
- wcorvette

Thanks

Philadelphia is much MUCH more of a basketball city than hockey. I would go to those games during the process era and it still packed a full house depending on opponent.

I would bet dollars to donuts even after Embiid is gone they'll still draw a crowd.
- Pelle31Forever

That’s not always been true.

“ In Philadelphia, the Flyers (3.3) topped the Sixers (2.4) during the regular season and beat them by 226% when their playoff games aired head-to-head on May 1”

https://www.sportsmediawa...and-the-nba-is-not-again/
And these:
https://www.inquirer.com/...gs-double-Phils76ers.html
https://www.inquirer.com/...s_popularity_contest.html

Fine. I buy it (the loss from others not buying it).

Now, put on your businessman glasses and tell me: what is the remedy? Gamble with Couts, Hayes healthy, overpay JG, have Risto throw a few hits, have TK yak it up, Allison play with vim and vinegar:that you can turn it around

Or

Rebuild for a few years, knowing you lose both tix AND revenue that you will never recoup?
- PT21

Yes, some of it is probably unrecoverable, but doing nothing different pretty much guarantees that you'll probably lose more. A rebuild will probably temporarily add to the current losses from butts in seats but on an incremental basis wouldn't be much. A very successful rebuilt team will fill the arena, sell concessions, and drive increased merchandise sales.

You really love to repeat yourself. Over, and over, and over...

And did nobody ever tell you that brevity is the soul of wit? Your posts read like a user manual for a washing machine.
- Tomahawk

At least the manual is useful

It was mostly Charlie from The Athletic asking the hard questions.
- Feanor

Correct. And not surprisingly, the one guy with professional terms of employment that is probably independent of Flyers goodwill.

Why would an organization who thinks that you don't have to do that to build a cup team, do that? It's not that they don't care. It's that they're incompetent.
- MJL

If they cared they'd replace the incompetence with competence. I haven't seen that happening.

You rebuild. If it’s done right it won’t take 3 or more years to get the fans back. Buffalo sold out once Eichel was drafted. A good pick this year and a little luck next year at the draft and the building would theoretically only be empty for the remainder of this season and all of 2022.

Maybe the Flyers get a bump with a Gaudreau signing but that will be short lived. There is nothing they can do this offseason to build a division winner. Without the high level talent they would have to play a boring defensive system trying to get games into overtime like Hakstol did so at best you are looking a a mediocre team in the wildcard spots followed by a quick playoff exit. Maybe Hart steals a round but then a it’s right to the curb in the 2nd round followed by a likely drop in the 2023 season because a team of 30 year olds isn’t staying healthy two years in a row. We will all be back having the same conversations two years from now but with what looks like a great draft in 2023 being a wasted opportunity to turn the team around for the long haul.
- psuhockey

I don't disagree with anything you said except the conclusions you draw. I am not convinced that the arena sales revenue that can be recaptured will make up for the financial drought during rebuild years (the arithmetic I was laying out earlier). Maybe you know more about this than I do (I am prepared to learn if you do). I believe that one reason they got Risto instead of say, Savard, is because they wanted to make the team play "Flyers Hockey". I think they are counting on fans to come streaming back and I believe they are right. They have a huge contingent of pros who are probably analyzing data from ticket sales and so on and I am not convinced they are wrong (again, unless you correct me otherwise).

Philadelphia is much MUCH more of a basketball city than hockey. I would go to those games during the process era and it still packed a full house depending on opponent.

I would bet dollars to donuts even after Embiid is gone they'll still draw a crowd.
- Pelle31Forever

sixers do not draw unless they are winning. Fair weather fans

flyers always had a packed house.

Hockey will always be the 4th sport.
- MJL

false. Eagles clear #1. Then it fluctuates for the other 3

Right - Comcast cares about tickets sold. They'd also like parking and concessions from butts in every seat. Butts in seats is a measure of fan satisfaction.
- Scoob

I'm don't think Big Daddy Comcast gives a flying (frank) about any money gained or lost in the WFC. Their interest in the Flyers is as a tent pole to their live sports broadcasting -- keep the general public hooked on paying for cable TV, keep Dish/DirectTV paying out the ass for the rights to carry those channels, and sell ads during that 5-hour window of pre-game/game/post-game. The marginal difference from a few thousand fans in attendance is, as others here have said, a rounding error.

The most important thing for them is to sell hope and excitement every off-season, because that's when most people make decisions about cord cutting, which sports packages to buy, which provider to choose, etc.

Make a splash or two, the fans keep watching. How many of you were sure that Ryan Ellis, Risto and Atkinson were gonna make them good?

Pavlovian response.

sixers never ever were a draw unless they were good. Cant compare them agreeing to tank to the flyers.
- hello it's me 2050

Philadelphia is much MUCH more of a basketball city than hockey. I would go to those games during the process era and it still packed a full house depending on opponent.

I would bet dollars to donuts even after Embiid is gone they'll still draw a crowd.
- Pelle31Forever

That’s not always been true.

“ In Philadelphia, the Flyers (3.3) topped the Sixers (2.4) during the regular season and beat them by 226% when their playoff games aired head-to-head on May 1”

https://www.sportsmediawa...and-the-nba-is-not-again/
And these:
https://www.inquirer.com/...gs-double-Phils76ers.html
https://www.inquirer.com/...s_popularity_contest.html
- psuhockey

In 2012, the teams were on completely different trajectories. There was real hope surrounding the Flyers. Sixer were just going through the motions as a 8th seed.

For the latter, there is a huge minority base in the city that cannot afford to go to games and spend the $, but you walk through West Philly when the weather gets warm and you hear zillions of tv sets tuned in to the game. I suspect advert prices for Sixers broadcasts are higher than for Flyers.

Point is though, both with Sixers and Flyers, a corporation like Comcast is unlikely to implement the radical changes in philosophy that a group of private owners/investors will. Their business thinking is based on stability, not risky growth. That's why the Sixers process years occurred after Comcast sold, not before.

If we are even in on Gaudreau, I want all our bad deals gone! Hayes, JvR! All of them.

I'm don't think Big Daddy Comcast gives a flying (frank) about any money gained or lost in the WFC. Their interest in the Flyers is as a tent pole to their live sports broadcasting -- keep the general public hooked on paying for cable TV, keep Dish/DirectTV paying out the ass for the rights to carry those channels, and sell ads during that 5-hour window of pre-game/game/post-game. The marginal difference from a few thousand fans in attendance is, as others here have said, a rounding error.

The most important thing for them is to sell hope and excitement every off-season, because that's when most people make decisions about cord cutting, which sports packages to buy, which provider to choose, etc.

Make a splash or two, the fans keep watching. How many of you were sure that Ryan Ellis, Risto and Atkinson were gonna make them good?

Pavlovian response.
- Tomahawk

If they cared they'd replace the incompetence with competence. I haven't seen that happening.
- Scoob

I think they are very competent. Dave Scott is a highly admired CEO:

https://www.bizjournals.c...tt-comcast-spectacor.html

You are looking for competence in the wrong place.

false. Eagles clear #1. Then it fluctuates for the other 3
- hello it's me 2050

I think the order of the other 3 depend on who's playing best at the time

If we are even in on Gaudreau, I want all our bad deals gone! Hayes, JvR! All of them.
- SuperSchennBros

you know the feasibility of that right?

I'm don't think Big Daddy Comcast gives a flying (frank) about any money gained or lost in the WFC. Their interest in the Flyers is as a tent pole to their live sports broadcasting -- keep the general public hooked on paying for cable TV, keep Dish/DirectTV paying out the ass for the rights to carry those channels, and sell ads during that 5-hour window of pre-game/game/post-game. The marginal difference from a few thousand fans in attendance is, as others here have said, a rounding error.

The most important thing for them is to sell hope and excitement every off-season, because that's when most people make decisions about cord cutting, which sports packages to buy, which provider to choose, etc.

Make a splash or two, the fans keep watching. How many of you were sure that Ryan Ellis, Risto and Atkinson were gonna make them good?

Pavlovian response.
- Tomahawk

It's very complicated with a giant company like Comcast with so many small pieces. Folks in the little pieces, of which the Flyers are one, do care about financial growth (the care is mostly driven by their own wallets: more growth = more bonus). Most of those folks probably also care about winning the Cup but many of them can't do a dang thing about it so they keep an eye on their money. The ones that do care about winning and can actually do something about it - team management, if you will - then have the herculean task of getting the Corporate guys to buy into the caring. Much easier said than done. And they also have to worry about self-preservation.

I see it all the time in business. A little group or division wants to embark on a project to improve but the Corporate guys shrug as it won't impact the whole so they veto the funding request.

That’s not always been true.

“ In Philadelphia, the Flyers (3.3) topped the Sixers (2.4) during the regular season and beat them by 226% when their playoff games aired head-to-head on May 1”

https://www.sportsmediawa...and-the-nba-is-not-again/
And these:
https://www.inquirer.com/...gs-double-Phils76ers.html
https://www.inquirer.com/...s_popularity_contest.html
- psuhockey

Thanks for the links.

I think they are very competent. Dave Scott is a highly admired CEO:

https://www.bizjournals.c...tt-comcast-spectacor.html

You are looking for competence in the wrong place.
- PT21

Subscription required. I'm not sold that DS is what the hockey team needs for success. If that article describes otherwise I'm all ears.

I don't disagree with anything you said except the conclusions you draw. I am not convinced that the arena sales revenue that can be recaptured will make up for the financial drought during rebuild years (the arithmetic I was laying out earlier). Maybe you know more about this than I do (I am prepared to learn if you do). I believe that one reason they got Risto instead of say, Savard, is because they wanted to make the team play "Flyers Hockey". I think they are counting on fans to come streaming back and I believe they are right. They have a huge contingent of pros who are probably analyzing data from ticket sales and so on and I am not convinced they are wrong (again, unless you correct me otherwise).
- PT21

I think Savard didn’t want to play for the Flyers. Ristolainen was just the next right handed defenseman they could get.

Like I said earlier, this upcoming season will be the test. They will absolutely attempt to make a big splash this offseason. Will that be enough for the fans to come back is the question I have. I think after awhile fans get numb to the same plan over and over again especially when it continues to fail and will be very skeptical this time around.

This is funny coming from you
- black_francis

lol

It's very complicated with a giant company like Comcast with so many small pieces. Folks in the little pieces, of which the Flyers are one, do care about financial growth (the care is mostly driven by their own wallets: more growth = more bonus). Most of those folks probably also care about winning the Cup but many of them can't do a dang thing about it so they keep an eye on their money. The ones that do care about winning and can actually do something about it - team management, if you will - then have the herculean task of getting the Corporate guys to buy into the caring. Much easier said than done. And they also have to worry about self-preservation.
- Scoob

Oh for sure, that's why it's important to differentiate between Comcast Corporate, Comcast-Spectacor and Flyers management when we're talking about these kinds of things.

Chuck may know the Flyers need to tear down/rebuild. Dave Scott may even understand that. But if Brian Roberts isn't on board, then yeah... it ain't happening. We'll get Gaudreau or whoever instead.

Subscription required. I'm not sold that DS is what the hockey team needs for success. If that article describes otherwise I'm all ears.
- Scoob

Don't need to read the article. Just this line will do (just over 1 years ago, btw -Dec 2020).

"Meet David Scott, who leads Comcast Spectacor and is among our Most Admired CEOs for 2020."

My central argument against those who suggest that there is a win-win available for Flyers hockey and Flyers management, where we can get on a contending track AND Comcast can make more money with sufficiently high likelihood is this: Explain to me how you figured this out and a profit maximizing corporate guy like Dave Scott, who ran an entire division of Comcast for many years (essentially a Fortune 500 CEO in and of himself), doesn't see it.

I mean I want to believe it, but I am not seeing the logic here. I don't buy the "they are too dumb/incompetent" argument.