What position will Arizona Coyotes’ temporary home hold in hockey attendance rankings?
After a tumultuous two decades filled with memorable highs and off-ice drama, the Arizona Coyotes kicked off their Tempe era with a 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 28.
The team will be playing at Arizona State University’s newly built Mullett Arena for the next three seasons, with a potential fourth season, while awaiting Tempe’s decision on a new arena for the Coyotes. It is expected that the team will fill over 4,600 seats per night, making it the second full NHL season with legalized sports betting in Arizona.
The new arena, situated near Sun Devil Stadium on the ASU main campus, has set aside 400 seats out of its 5,000-seat capacity for visiting media and television broadcasts, resulting in a full sell-out capacity.
The impact of the Coyotes’ smaller home arena on NHL betting in Arizona remains uncertain, but it is certain to affect attendance numbers for the team compared to both other NHL teams and minor league teams.
Yengols.com used data analysis to forecast attendance for the Coyotes in comparison to all 32 NHL teams, as well as AHL and ECHL teams, using a 4,600-seat standard.
This website is the central hub for all sports betting promotions in Arizona.
Four years of sold-out games will not meet the NHL’s attendance requirements.
If the Coyotes were able to sell out all 4,600 seats in their temporary $134 million home for every one of their 41 home games each year, they would sell a combined total of 188,600 seats per year. In a span of four complete seasons, they would fill a grand total of 754,400 seats in the arena.
During the 2013-14 season, the Chicago Blackhawks had the highest total NHL attendance since the 2011-12 season, with an average of 22,623 fans per game (927,545 total over 41 home games).
Except for the 2020-21 NHL season, when attendance was limited due to COVID-19, the top annual attendance leaders in each season since 2000-01 have consistently brought in over 800,000 fans. This far exceeds the maximum attendance that Arizona is projected to have over their four-year tenure at Mullett Arena.
Based on attendance figures from the 2021-22 NHL season, the Coyotes would be ranked sixth in the league with a cumulative total of 754,400 over the past four years. This places them behind Tampa Bay, Washington, Minnesota, Nashville, and Chicago.
Over the span of four years, the Coyotes’ total attendance would surpass the 2021-22 figures for Las Vegas (742,124), Dallas (733,769), and Boston (731,850) by a small margin.
After their lease at Desert Diamond Arena was terminated by the city of Glendale, the Coyotes are now temporarily playing in ASU’s new multipurpose arena. During the 2021-22 season, they averaged 11,601 fans, which ranked them 29th in the league.
What Place Would the Coyotes Hold in the AHL and ECHL Standings?
The Coyotes’ average attendance of 4,600 per game is below NHL standards and ranks outside the top 10 in the AHL, the next highest level of competition.
In the 2021-22 AHL season, Arizona would be placed 16th in attendance based on statistics from HockeyDB.com.
The Coyotes would rank between the Syracuse Crunch (4,333) and the Milwaukee Admirals (4,786) in the 32-team league.
The Coyotes’ attendance numbers for the ECHL season place them ninth overall, sandwiched between the Idaho Steelheads (5,009 per game) and the Utah Grizzlies (4,249). This league is considered AA-level in the world of sports.
Is there relief in sight for the Coyotes?
Approval of the $2 billion development plan for a new arena and entertainment district on the southern banks of Tempe Town Lake by the Tempe City Council could potentially address the Coyotes’ short-term attendance problems in the coming years.
Sportsnet reports that the council members are set to vote on the plan on November 29th, but they have the option to let voters decide on whether to approve the arena through a public referendum in 2023.
The Coyotes plan to create a 46-acre entertainment hub at the location of an existing landfill near Priest Drive and Rio Salado Parkway. The development will include residential units, dining establishments, and a variety of shopping opportunities.
Pending approval from Tempe’s City Council and potential voter referendum, the proposed new arena would accommodate 16,000 seats, ranking it as the second smallest in the NHL behind Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg (15,321 seats). The Prudential Center in New Jersey (16,514) is currently the second smallest venue in the league.
If the Coyotes’ chances of getting a new arena were tied to their performance on the ice, they would be in serious trouble. Arizona betting apps are currently giving them the worst Stanley Cup odds in the league at +50000.
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Peterson Christopher brings over seven years of experience covering sports and sports betting in Arizona. He has worked with ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly, and the Green Valley News. Currently, he is the lead writer at yengols.com.
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