DETROIT —
Each night, right here on this site, we post attendance figures from around the league. The idea was to see how teams did in the post-lockout era attendance wise.
Last night, the Red Wings lost to the Flames and announced a typical sellout of 20,066. And yet, when our report hit last night, we got several e-mails and a few Tweets about The Joe being far from sold out.
Our good friend and resident Flames fan Kyle Mayer, @kymayer on Twitter, sent me a Tweet to inform me that despite the Red Wings' announcement of a sellout, it looked like it was about 75 percent full.
And the images don't lie.
There are some arenas where it often looks like there are a lot of empty seats because of bars and lounges on concourses, where fans at the games can remain to watch the games. This is especially evident in Sunrise, Fla., where the Panthers play. We're told though it often seems like lower-bowl seats are empty, it's actually because people go for drinks and food — and choose to watch the games from the lounges and bars.
But from what we understand — correct us if we're wrong here — such a system isn't in place in Detroit, so what you're really seeing is empty seats, unsold seats, that the Wings organization are saying ARE sold.
Many thanks to Kyle for the tip. Please follow him on Twitter @kymayer.
Have a look here.
