If an early sampling is to be taken for a continued trend, then it would appear season-ticket holders of the Colorado Avalanche are not ready to abandon their seats en masse.
On my Twitter feed today, I posed the question:
Avs season ticket holders: are you renewing for next season or are you done? Some answers will be posted in a story
— Adrian Dater (@adater) April 5, 2017
With the Avs having their final home regular-season game Thursday against Minnesota, I thought it was a fair time to pose the question. After all, it has been the worst season in the team’s history and there have been plenty of empty seats of late (unless you count all the out-of-town, Stub-Hub-buying, carpet-bagging bandwagon fans from places like Chicago).
To my somewhat surprise, the vast majority of you said you plan on renewing, or have already done so. Good on you, Avs fan. Loyalty is what matters most as a fan in my book, not just showing up when the team is a winner.
Here is a sampling of the responses I received:
@adater Of course. Won't stop loving the game and team just because of one bad season.
— Jayson Ramsey (@JaysonRamsey9) April 5, 2017
@adater I'm renewing. Still find the NHL entertaining even though the Avs have been poorly run. Plus they dropped my ticket price from $115 to $99.
— Rider Jensen (@rider_47) April 5, 2017
@adater Renewing cheaper, but that's mostly due to buying our first house. If they didn't have that icebreaker package,we would have been done.
— Tony Luken (@thelukent) April 5, 2017
@adater @denver_avs Absolutely I renewed!! This is my team. Always and forever. #Avs #LoveMyTeam ❤️
— Heather ☕️ (@lvs2rdhrses) April 5, 2017
@adater Renewing, but reducing seats from four to two. Season tickets since day one, hockey fan overall.
— Brian Merrifield (@bmerri19) April 5, 2017
@adater I will be. I love hockey so I'll keep going. I'm not even an Avs fan I just live here and am a huge hockey fan.
— Bathtub Jim (@SixPieceTaye) April 5, 2017
@adater Giving it one more yr to see.Gave up tix the yr after we got MacKinnon, that was a mistake and came back.If next yr just as bad I'll be gone
— Devin Kaschinske (@Kaschman33) April 5, 2017
@adater Swallowing hard and renewing (and eating price increase)
— Les Sweeney (@abmp_les) April 5, 2017
@adater @BSNAvalanche yes, still renewing.
— Patrick (@manoftomorrow01) April 5, 2017
@adater I'm a partial-package holder, and will probably renew, because I'm stupidly optimistic.
— Mark K (@cultofbednar) April 5, 2017
@adater Renewing. Hockey is still hockey and we don't have the NHL where I'm from. Too many take it for granted and this team will be gone.
— Blake Williams (@KCAvsFan9) April 5, 2017
@adater partial season ticket holder here, and we're going to renew
— ♏️Merry ? (@emsabarns) April 5, 2017
@adater I'm in Canada. I will be renewing my NHL Centre Ice subscription and watching every Avs game. Does that count? If ur a fan, ur a fan
— Derek Los (@_DerekLos) April 5, 2017
Yes, there were a few of you who said you won’t be back:
@adater Not renewing after 12 seasons. Tough decision, but sticking with my @DU_Hockey tickets. Denver traffic and no resell market were big factors
— Jacob Dubin (@akadubin) April 5, 2017
@adater Not renewing. People next to me got tix on secondary market for half what I pay every game. Tired of being outnumbered by visiting fans too
— Steve Snyd (@SteveSnyd) April 5, 2017
@adater Want to renew, but live 3 hours each way from games, so hard to get to all games, no resale so don't feel like will be able to next year.?
— Tina_GoAvs_Peterson (@tinalpeterson00) April 5, 2017
@adater Dropped tickets after last season when they changed layout to raise our prices. Really frustrating and I'm glad I didn't renew.
— SuburbanBatman (@SuburbanBatman) April 5, 2017
Overall, I think it’s a positive poll for Avs ownership. I do think this team will be a lot better next season (can’t get much worse, I know, I know). I really like the additions of J.T. Compher and Tyson Jost, and I think Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen will have big years next year. They’ve had good ones already this year, under very trying times. Don’t forget, the Avs will have the highest odds of getting the No. 1 overall pick in June too. They have a couple of pieces to flip for needed help on defense, and I probably don’t need to name who they are.
I see better times ahead. I think you, dear season ticket holder, will be glad you kept the faith.
