More than 10,000 fans filled Hershey Bears Stadium on Tuesday night to watch America’s oldest hockey league. The newest franchise, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, takes on the Calder Cup Finals.
It was the third consecutive game in the AHL Championship Series to be sold out and pushed the total attendance for the NHL Development League playoffs to over half a million fans. That’s a record for the nearly 90-year-old league that also set a new high water mark for revenue, which President and CEO Scott Howson estimates is 15% to 20% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Three years after the playoffs were canceled and two years after a shortened season with almost no fans in the arenas and few teams that folded, From playing in its entirety, business is finally booming again for the AHL.
“We just recovered really quickly,” Howson told the Associated Press this week. “It’s a testament to our product. It’s a testament to our markets. It’s a testament to what our teams do and what our teams’ employees do to put people in the building.”
Howson, who was assigned to the job in February 2020 Just before the pandemic began and longtime coach David Andrews took over that summer, he was credited in the NHL To support her getting through the days of empty yards and daily virus tests. The AHL’s revenue is down 85% to 95% from its last full season in 2018-19, and a handful of teams have sought federal relief money.
Of the 32 teams (21 NHL club-owned and 11 independent), Howson said, some haven’t made up for all the ground lost by the pandemic, but there’s no concern of any shutting down or folding operations — which has been a fear across minor league sports. This time three years ago.
“There are really no weak points,” Howson said. “Obviously some are doing better than others, some markets are better than others, but we’re really stable from an ownership standpoint and from a market standpoint.”
The final game between Coachella Valley and Hershey, the remainder of which will be broadcast on the NHL Network, is the perfect example of how the AHL can pick up. While the Bears are a central Pennsylvania institution, the first-year Firebirds had to spark interest in hockey in the California desert 120 miles east of Los Angeles.
In fact they had to do it twice. The Snowbirds made up a large portion of their fan base during the season, and when they departed this spring, Coachella Valley snapped up the market for a home crowd that has since embraced the team in what could be a year-long tournament.
The Coachella Valley, owned by the Seattle Kraken and Henderson Silver Knights, is owned and operated by the new Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights, Howson said., “upgrading everyone” as income generators. He called Hershey a typical franchise, one the AHL likes to replicate in other cities due to the history, tradition, and keen interest.
But even for the Bears, construction has been slow, given the challenges of the pandemic financially and reticence to return to full arenas. Previous playoff games in Hershey and Coachella Valley weren’t sell-outs, but fans have since returned in droves.
“It’s a big job to get her back on track, but I really think she’s done it,” said John Walton, a Washington Capitals radio play-by-play announcer who spent nine years as the voice of the Hershey Bears. “You can look at what happened and say, ‘Hey, they’re back now.'” “
Walton, who captured three Calder Cup championships before earning his NHL call-up, cited the changing media landscape and the lack of playoffs in 2020 or 2021. as obstacles facing AHL teams. Players earned 48% of their salary for completing the 2021 season and not missing out on a full year of development.
Larry Landon, executive director of the Professional Hockey Players Association, said Thursday, referring to the next round of collective bargaining talks. “It’s great to see hockey. I think the whole sport has bounced back.”
There has also been the challenge of expanding the NHL from 30 to 32 teams since 2017, which has squeezed nearly 50 players out of the talent pool. However, the AHL has maintained its standards.
“There are a lot of positive things going on with the league we have now from a business standpoint, and I think it starts with hockey,” Howson said. “The entertainment value is really high, and that translates to business.”
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