Thunderbird ticket sales down after Jan. 3 opening night
Published 12:21 pm Friday, January 9, 2009
After a sold-out crowd of 6,125 attended the Seattle Thunderbirds inaugural hockey game Jan. 3 at the new ShoWare Center in Kent against Everett, attendance dropped to 3,265 the following night at their home game against Kamloops.
“I was disappointed in the walk-up crowd,” said Rick Ronish, director of operations for the T-Birds. “We had a steady flow at the box office during the day, but then the weather changed and it started to snow. Maybe that put a little damper on it.”
Ronish expected a crowd of more than 4,000 for Friday’s game against the Tri-City Americans.
The crowd could be larger at the T-Birds’ match Sunday against Prince George, compared to a week ago.
“Ordinarily, Sunday is a good family day with a 5 p.m. start,” Ronish said.
Ticket sales have picked up for groups of 20 or more for the remaining 23 home games, Ronish said.
The T-birds have sold nearly 2,000 season tickets. Those remain on sale until the end of January.
Prices for single games are $22 for most seats or $16 for adults and $12 for children in the arena’s “family zone,” where no alcohol is allowed.
The T-birds play six straight games at the ShoWare Center from Jan. 17-27.
T-birds upcoming games
Jan. 11 5:05 p.m. Prince George Cougars ShoWare Center
Jan. 16 7:35 p.m. at Everett Silvertips Comcast Arena
Jan. 17 7:05 p.m. Everett Silvertips ShoWare Center
Jan. 18 5:05 p.m. Tri-City Americans ShoWare Center
Jan. 21 7:05 p.m. Kamloops Blazers ShoWare Center
Jan. 23 7:35 p.m. Spokane Chiefs ShoWare Center
Jan. 24 7:05 p.m. Portland Winter Hawks ShoWare Center
Jan. 27 7:05 p.m. Medicine Hat Tigers ShoWare Center
