Senators see ‘significant’ surge in ticket sales after busy off-season
Posted Sep 6, 2022 09:30:00 PM.
Fan excitement over the Ottawa Senators' summer moves has translated to a big boost at the box office.
Once a strong performer at the gate, the Sens have fallen on hard times in recent years as losing teams, a pandemic and the collapse of a downtown arena plan added up to spiralling attendance.
While the team did not release 2021-22 figures, it’s a poorly-kept secret that the Senators had fewer than 5,000 season ticket holders last season, believed to be the lowest in franchise history. On average, the Senators drew a little more than 9,000 fans per game, dead last in the National Hockey League (NHL). However, they had many games in which attendance was either limited or banned outright due to health restrictions, which killed any potential for gate momentum.
This summer, however, the Senators' ticket office has been busy (some numbers will be released this week) and the sales should rise throughout the season if the team plays as well as expected.
“I can tell you that the season ticket membership is the highest it’s been in years,” Senators president Anthony LeBlanc, who will be part of a business and marketing presentation to media on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at the Canadian Tire Centre, says in an interview. “We’ve seen a significant, significant increase — and it all started, really, around the time when Pierre (Dorion, GM) started making some trades.”
The hockey side of the Senators' operation has never had a bigger off-season, with trades to acquire forward Alex DeBrincat and goaltender Cam Talbot plus the free agent signing of centre Claude Giroux.
Beyond the excitement over a few new players, fans were already bullish on Ottawa’s bright and entertaining young core, led by captain Brady Tkachuk.
In fact, the hits just kept on coming for the organization, off the ice. During a five-day span in late June, former Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame and a corporate team that included the Senators won the bid to build an arena on LeBreton Flats land west of Parliament Hill. The National Capital Commission (NCC) and the Senators group plan to work out the details of a lease agreement by the fall of 2023.
