As WOOD TV8 notes, the news that Little Caesars Arena will be replacing its red seats with black ones isn’t all bad news:
A Grand Rapids company will be replacing over 18,000 seats in the home of the Detroit Pistons and Red Wings.
Little Caesars Arena announced Monday that it will begin swapping out its 18,600 red seats with black ones in December.
Crain’s Detroit reported Tuesday that Irwin Seating Co. will be the company doing the job. Irwin also installed the original red seating.
The venue began using black seat covers last season after the empty red seats drew attention on telecasts. Covers will remain on the seats until the changeover process begins.
This is by far a low point for Detroit Sports. Ludicrous. This pond was built on the foundation of a storied hockey franchise in Detroit since 1926.
They are the Detroit RED Wings. The red seats are awesome and truly speaks of our team and HockeyTown.
Maybe lower ticket prices.
Frustrated life long fan.
It would be amazing if the dawning of new, much younger team, and a new arena, could be met with the realization by ownership that it’s worth it for both short-term energy and fan engagement – and for the prestige of the franchise, to meet fans halfway and made actually showing up for the games and cheering a more affordable experience.
A reported drop in renewals speaks for itself. And putting obviously lower attendance on attractions in the concourse or blaming the visibility of the seats is just lame. The overall fan experience around attending an NHL game is just too expensive.
Corporate tickets that go unused – even at big games and during winning seasons have always been an embarrassment. There has to be a way to engage younger fans who actually want to show up and cheer, as well as life-long working class fans Maybe people are so addled with immediate entertainment options that expecting as many to show up and actually watch is asking too much these days.
But kids sitting in the seats even staring at their phones half the time would be better than empty seats.
This is the model the NHL has chosen: favoring corporate and more affluent ticket-buyers, while trying to extract maximum profit from every possible revenue stream – restaurants, parking. This is the business school, bottom-line approach to pro sports. The owners ought to do well, but they’re walking a fine line in delegitimizing the magic and fan connection that make team sports so special.