Spirits High for Outdoor Game

By Brenda Leung, Eric Silverman, and Anna Stolzenburg
December 10, 2009

In the middle of winter, when snow and wind dominate the Syracuse forecast, the New York State Fairgrounds has plans to open its doors and embrace the weather. On Feb. 20, the Fairgrounds will host the Mirabito Outdoor Classic between the Syracuse Crunch and the Binghamton Senators in the first ever outdoor AHL game. How many people will come through the gates and how successful the event will be is difficult to predict.

With U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) among those at his side, Crunch President Howard Dolgon announced the game at a Nov. 24 news conference (above, photo from Crunch website) and went on local talk radio to promote it. Since then there have not been any public statements from the club.

The original announcement is still featured on the Crunch website. There has been no report on how ticket sales are going and repeated calls from NCC News to Crunch management from Dolgon on down have gone unreturned.

New York State Fair Director of Marketing and Public Relations Fred Pierce, who has been working with the Crunch, said Dolgon has set his hopes high for attendance at the game. Dolgon is hoping to emulate the success of the NHL’s outdoor Winter Classic games over the past two years with sold-out stadiums in Buffalo and Chicago, Pierce said.

The record for AHL attendance at a regular season game is 20,672 set in 1997 at the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina. The Mohegan Sun Grandstand (left) at the State Fair holds about 14,000 on a hot summer day, but may hold up to 1,000 fewer in the cold, “when everybody’s going to be bundled up and probably several sizes bigger than they normally are,” Pierce said. The State Fair will set up portable bleachers, a VIP section, and space for standing room in an effort to pass that attendance milestone.

“They sell out SU basketball games, so I don’t see why we can’t break the record. I don’t see why it couldn’t be up around there,” said Crunch season ticket holder Tom Waldt, 21, of Baldwinsville, standing outside the War Memorial before the Dec. 5 Crunch-Senators game.

Syracuse University Sports Management Professor Rick Burton makes a different comparison to attendance at SU men’s basketball games in the Carrier Dome. “I think in a lot of AHL towns that don’t have something like Syracuse University this would be a big deal, but…we put 30,000 in to see college basketball.”

The Crunch’s home arena at the War Memorial (right) holds significantly fewer than both the Dome and the Fairgrounds, but the team still has trouble filling it. Through 12 home games this year, the Crunch has averaged under 5,000 fans per game, according to the official AHL website.

Loyal Crunch supporters, local hockey fans, and everyday Central New Yorkers who have never seen a faceoff in person are all expected to make up the increased attendance at the outdoor game, Pierce said.

“There’s a bunch of people I know who haven’t even been to a Crunch game who are going,” said season ticket holder Waldt. “You don’t have to be a hockey fan to even go. It’s just a big thing if you live around here.”

Tickets to the Outdoor Classic were included in the season ticket package, and season ticket holders were able to buy additional seats before the general public, about a week before the game was officially announced. On Ticketmaster’s website, single game tickets range from $25 to $50, almost double that of indoor games.

The Crunch hopes to sell tickets to out-of-towners as well, said Jeff Mickle, the Sports Development Director of the Syracuse Convention and Visitors Bureau. He expects tourists to come to Syracuse for the weekend, which will temporarily boost the local economy, specifically hotels and restaurants.

“This event creates an opportunity for Central New York’s tourism industry,” said Empire State Development Chairman and CEO Dennis Mullen at the press conference to officially announce the game. “With an influx of hockey fans coming in from across New York State, and possibly Pennsylvania and Canada, the local economy…will stand to gain an estimated $1 million.”

But some people are skeptical. Crunch season ticket holder Dr. Thomas Osinski, 57, of Syracuse, said he does not think spectators are going to spend the night. “People might take in shopping…but I think mainly it’s going to be from a restaurant standpoint, and I can’t see people spending more than one day here.”

Mirabito Fuel Group, the main sponsor for the Outdoor Classic, is promoting the game to attract as many people as possible, said Lindsay Meehan, Mirabito’s Marketing Manager. “It’s a big happening coming to the area, so we want to do what we can to promote it,” Meehan said. “I think the big hockey fans will come from all over for it, and it’s already gaining some national attention. We’re going to make it as big as it can, so if people see that then I think they’ll come from as far as possible if they’re really into it.”

Outside of the War Memorial before the Crunch-Senators Dec. 5 match-up, Senators fan Bob Tokos, 61, of Binghamton, said he is excited about coming to back Syracuse for the outdoor game. Its outdoor atmosphere is what makes it appealing to tourists, Tokos said. “I think it’s a big draw for this area.”

“There’s just a kind of great special feeling to seeing a high level sport played outdoors in what we perceive to be like the good old days,” Burton said.

It may be a big production, but the game is taking on a simple feel to the fans, reminding many of the times they played hockey on their neighborhood pond or outdoor rink, Fred Pierce of the State Fair said. “There is a certain atmosphere there that has good memories for people they want to recapture.”

This light, nostalgic environment is even drawing people to the game who aren’t concerned with their team putting more pucks in the back of the net, but are simply there to take it all in. “I think it’s just going to be a fun game,” said Crunch fan Beverly Schiedler, 71, of Oswego, “I don’t think anybody really cares who’s going to win or lose, it’s a unique thing for us here, now.”

This isn’t just a game, it’s a special event, said Jeff Mickle of the Visitor’s Bureau. It’s one of 80 games on the schedule for both the Crunch and the Senators this season, but it’s getting far more publicity than any of their other match-ups. The Crunch is currently in last place, with little chance of making the playoffs, so many fans at the game won’t be as concerned with the outcome as they will be with the spectacle, Schiedler said.

“To me the outdoor game is more of a novelty thing that I think is going to attract a lot of people who’ve never seen a hockey game before or just want to go and say they were there,” said season ticket holder Osinski. But he said he thinks the novelty won’t create long-term ticket sales for the Crunch. “This game might help, but I can’t see it enhancing attendance at all.”

The event will generate income in the short-term because of its uniqueness, but will not have a long-lasting financial impact, Professor Burton said. The economic effect, “isn’t insignificant, but it’s also not massive.”

Mirabito, however, is looking at a long-term economic impact from the game, said Lindsay Meehan. “As with the whole community, we really just hope it brings the spotlight to Syracuse and Binghamton and kind of shows people that we’re here, and what the major businesses in the area are.”

Mickle agreed, “I think it will put the city in a good spotlight and show what Syracuse can do. I think that will help down the road too. There will be visitors and out-of-towners; they’ll go back and spread the word.”

Pierce said he hopes the Outdoor Classic will lead to more winter events at the Fairgrounds such as snowmobile races, cross-county skiing and other skating events, which he hopes will keep the visitors coming.

Whether or not it will provide long-term economic help for the city or the team, the event almost didn’t become a reality. Initially, Dolgon sought approval from the Onondaga County Legislature to hold the game at the county-owned Alliance Bank Stadium. In a vote on June 2, the Legislature decided against providing Dolgon $350,000 to finance the game at the stadium. After looking into other venues for an outdoor game, Dolgon even explored a Crunch double-header with the Syracuse University women’s hockey team at the Carrier Dome.

The possibility of an outdoor game in Syracuse seemed hopeless until Senator Schumer took interest, Pierce said. Schumer involved Governor David Paterson, who contacted New York State Fair Director Dan O’Hara about hosting the game. After discussions with Dolgon, the game became official at the Nov. 24 press conference.

The Governor is excited about using the state asset during the winter months, when it usually goes unused, Pierce said. “Once the snow comes, the place is closed up, locks are put on the door, no one goes near it.”

But this year when the snow comes to the Fairgrounds, so will the fans, Pierce said. “By that time of year, we’ve all pretty much had it with winter, but it’s what we live with day-to-day, and I think one of the ways here in Upstate New York people get through this winter is to go out and enjoy it, and that’s exactly what they’ll be doing.”