What happens if the IAW keeps selling out?

[Gwynfor]

When it was revealed that the new arena was going to feature 3000 seats I thought that it was a brilliant step up from 2300, but I also thought that the Devils would take a while to up the numbers to anywhere near 3000.

As it turns out the opening weekend in IAW sold out both games as did the Panthers game the following week. The P/O qualifier against Stars I am not so sure about, but I was very surprised to see 700 extra fans per game for 3 consecutive games (where have they been hiding! haha).

As far as I've heard, the capacity is stuck at 3088 seats only, so what do we think is going to happen if sellouts continue into next season?

 

[Wannabe2]

Nothing can happen, they may try to get a few people standing, if it's sold out, then it's sold out, let's hope we have a team to keep selling out.

 

[jimmy snels]

Im not sure how accessible the upper walkway area is above the bar but id guess you could potentially move anything team related from that area and have a row of seats and a row of standing up there? Or as i think finny(?) previously mentioned possibly a balcony area coming from it?
Other than that i hope ticket prices remain the same as a sell out every week could lead less scrupulous persons to up the tickets a tad to feed off the extra demand. I don't for one minute think todd would do this mind especially in a volatile market

 

[Wannabe2]

Think our managment team are more professional and decent than to even think of hiking prices up, they need us as much as we need them. We are all in this together we all know that.

 

[DevilDom]

If we get to the point where we are selling out every week including games against teams that traditionally don't bring many fans (Caps, Fife, Stars, Storm) then I think we will be in a very good place however once the novelty has worn off I personally don't see this happening for another year or two at least.

For the Games against the Giants there must have been around 200 Giants fans (as it was a double header / new rink) and we never saw more than about 20-30 for most games in the BBT. For the game against Panthers I would estimate they had slightly more but again I wouldn't anticipate that number every game we play them.

I would add that for the game against the Stars there was probably only around 2,000 but there were mitigating reasons for that with it being Easter weekend, the 1st leg of 2 and a very small number of Stars fans there.

I think if we can increase our crowds by around 10-15% next season so we are averaging 2600-2700 that would be a very good achievement.

 

[Gwynfor]

they may try to get a few people standing

Yeah I remember hearing this being spoken about during the run up to the opening. Something about IAW 'looking at' implementing standing for next season, although I'm not quite sure where the standing places would be now that I've been in the new arena.

 

[Milky]

Then we end up with a great atmosphere, a superb promotional story and lots of money in the bank :RAWK

 

[Finny]

I had a look during the last game in IAW and I reckon there is some space for expansion. You could add a balcony above the players-bench side and although it wouldn't be more than a couple of rows it could get you a couple more hundred seats.

It would be interesting to know why the design of IAW has a sloping roof to that side of the arena. If it was the same height all across then there would definitely be space to add a balcony tier.

I can't see it being an issue though unless/until we start selling out 90% of our games.

 

[Electro]

The benefit to selling out, beyond the obvious sales increase is that fans who struggle to purchase tickets may choose to buy season tickets. That increase in season tickets has a benefit to the club as sell outs are not guaranteed.

Cardiff Devils twitter page has 25k followers, there are a few people around.

We have a Council and an assembly though full of people with very little vision, business acumen and a miniscule amount of balls. If only their failings could measure their arrogance. We could have had an actual sports village containing some of there many published plans, although that may have meant less housing.

 

[Electro]

It's a bit of a squish to put a balcony it this area.

 

[Milky]

I normally question it when people say 'I heard.....' but this kind of makes sense.

Apparently expanding upwards and outwards / backwards from the top tier in Electros picture would prove next to impossible as those steel pillars on the back row of seating are the main supports to the whole building so no way of moving them. Given the footprint of the building as well that would mean crap sight lines in those new seats.

Kind of makes sense I suppose but I have no knowledge of construction or engineering.

Can't see standing happening either. Where exactly? The walkways behind the top of the blocks are pretty narrow. Fire / safety protocols and all that.

The only expansion would be a Corporate / sponsors bar on the third tier in the far corner above the toilets and a sky lounge type arrangement (similar to Cardiff Blues) next to it running up to the cameras where IceTime TV film on the half way line.

Basically we have what we have.

Could definitely see it leading to more season ticket sales which has to be a good thing though.

 

[Electro]

Increased capacity would only be in the tens, hundreds is likely to need major work. It's not just adding seats, you have safety issues, access points and added amenities.

 

[Koop11]

Likewise I don’t work in construction but the design of he build and capacity of lead doesn’t appear to lend itself to expansion, not a cost effective one anyway.

I don’t think the club can make a judgement on this for a couple more seasons yet. Sure we may sell out some games but the crowd numbers need to be offset against some of the smaller teams.

At the end of the day, give me an rink that can sell out week after week than an arena which is a half/quarter empty.

 

[El Supremo]

I was always ridiculed for saying that a 3,000 seat capacity was too small. Don't get me wrong, I'm over the moon that we've got a great new arena - I just think that we should have been more ambitious and aimed for a capacity of 6,000-7,000 (at least), we are a capital city after all.

I do appreciate that money constraints probably resulted in us having what we've got. I think our best chance of increasing our seating capacity by more than a few hundred would for the new arena in town (which I believe will have a capacity of 10,000+) to be able to accommodate an ice rink - whether it ever gets built is anyone's guess though.

Luckily, as I now live in Vancouver I'm getting my arena hockey fix by watching the Canucks

 

[Wannabe2]

I was always ridiculed for saying that a 3,000 seat capacity was too small. Don't get me wrong, I'm over the moon that we've got a great new arena - I just think that we should have been more ambitious and aimed for a capacity of 6,000-7,000 (at least), we are a capital city after all.

I do appreciate that money constraints probably resulted in us having what we've got. I think our best chance of increasing our seating capacity by more than a few hundred would for the new arena in town (which I believe will have a capacity of 10,000+) to be able to accommodate an ice rink - whether it ever gets built is anyone's guess though.

Luckily, as I now live in Vancouver I'm getting my arena hockey fix by watching the Canucks

If only you knew the crap and hassle Sorac had to put up with to get what we have, Sorac was aiming for a 4,000 seater initially, and was met by a Council who didn't give a rats Arse if they built one or not, as long as John Lewis were coming to town the Devils could bugger off as far as they we're concerned. In the aftermath of a 10 yr struggle, and believe me it was a struggle they didn't want anything to rival the CIA or St David's hall for concerts etc etc. There was a limited amount of space dedicated to the new rink and that was never going to change, we have what we have and it's a far cry from across the road, the other thing Sorac achieved was free ice time for the Devils, Panthers pay anything I believe between 10/12 k for there ice time.Is our new gaff perfect no sir, is it in town, unfortunately no, has it kept the Devils alive and well, it sure has. We have only played 4 games in our new home, let's see how things pan out, it could be just fine.

 

[El Supremo]

I was always ridiculed for saying that a 3,000 seat capacity was too small. Don't get me wrong, I'm over the moon that we've got a great new arena - I just think that we should have been more ambitious and aimed for a capacity of 6,000-7,000 (at least), we are a capital city after all.

I do appreciate that money constraints probably resulted in us having what we've got. I think our best chance of increasing our seating capacity by more than a few hundred would for the new arena in town (which I believe will have a capacity of 10,000+) to be able to accommodate an ice rink - whether it ever gets built is anyone's guess though.

Luckily, as I now live in Vancouver I'm getting my arena hockey fix by watching the Canucks

If only you knew the crap and hassle Sorac had to put up with to get what we have, Sorac was aiming for a 4,000 seater initially, and was met by a Council who didn't give a rats Arse if they built one or not, as long as John Lewis were coming to town the Devils could bugger off as far as they we're concerned. In the aftermath of a 10 yr struggle, and believe me it was a struggle they didn't want anything to rival the CIA or St David's hall for concerts etc etc. There was a limited amount of space dedicated to the new rink and that was never going to change, we have what we have and it's a far cry from across the road, the other thing Sorac achieved was free ice time for the Devils, Panthers pay anything I believe between 10/12 k for there ice time.Is our new gaff perfect no sir, is it in town, unfortunately no, has it kept the Devils alive and well, it sure has. We have only played 4 games in our new home, let's see how things pan out, it could be just fine.

I am fully aware of the struggle SORAC faced - indeed, I was at one of the first protests outside of County Hall circa 2005. I am extremely thankful for what they achieved - I'm just saying that in the perfect world we'd have a larger capacity to assist with future growth.

 

[Wannabe2]

Your spot on in a perfect world we would have a bigger facility, it would be located in the City Centre, and we would have won 4 trophies season just gone. Think there will be games when it will be big enough and games that will be chocker block. 3,000 season tickets would be a perfect scenario.

 

[Electro]

The issues of the last few months to be honest have put increasing the fan base and regularly selling out the rink back several yrs, if ever.

The perfect start would have been a fully functional arena, run by a company actually interested in it being successful with a team bringing back to Cardiff some silverware.

What we actually have is a Council happy to receive whatever benefits they get from awarding a contract to a company not interested in running an arena, but in the lucrative world of house building. An embarrassing opening of a new home, no real PR or big opening who ha. Nada. The team failed to deliver anything of use to use as promotional material in the media.

Please don't shot me down for the last comment, I'm well aware how fans feel about the results now and the past. It's about promoting the club within the media.

Had the Arena been fully ready, been opened and fully promoted. Then the team winning, retuning to a celebration, yeah it would have benefited the club hugely.

If you want to know what caused the issues with the team, think about what the consequences could be and who had the responsibility to win.

Lord l believe had a lot more stress on his shoulders.

It's correct all that Wannabe has stated. There where though alternatives, it could have been different, what we got was not the only option.

 

[Finny]

Why do you say they have no interest in running the rink when they've already turned down bids from the Devils and Planet Ice to take it over?

I also don't understand your comment about the club not gaining from a big opening? We sold out 3 of the 4 games in it.

 

[Wannabe2]

The issues of the last few months to be honest have put increasing the fan base and regularly selling out the rink back several yrs, if ever.

The perfect start would have been a fully functional arena, run by a company actually interested in it being successful with a team bringing back to Cardiff some silverware.

What we actually have is a Council happy to receive whatever benefits they get from awarding a contract to a company not interested in running an arena, but in the lucrative world of house building. An embarrassing opening of a new home, no real PR or big opening who ha. Nada. The team failed to deliver anything of use to use as promotional material in the media.

Please don't shot me down for the last comment, I'm well aware how fans feel about the results now and the past. It's about promoting the club within the media.

Had the Arena been fully ready, been opened and fully promoted. Then the team winning, retuning

to a celebration, yeah it would have benefited the club hugely.

If you want to know what caused the issues with the team, think about what the consequences could be and who had the responsibility to win.

Lord l believe had a lot more stress on his shoulders.

It's correct all that Wannabe has stated. There where though alternatives, it could have been

different, what we got was not the only option.

Please enlighten us to what the alternatives were, pity you weren't around 10 yrs ago we could have had a MSG in the city centre.