I was talking this week with a pro team executive (he's not involved with a winter sport) on the various segments of fans that are pursued to buy tickets:
There are the corporate customers. There are the "this is my favorite sport'' hard-cores. There are the suburban families with two kids that have been captured so magnificently by the Wild. And there is the post-college crowd — perhaps married, but no kids — that gets out three nights a week to a drink a couple of beers, listen to music or, perhaps, go to a game.
The Wild and Wolves were at home Tuesday. The Wolves were hustling a 2-for-1 ticket deal during Sunday's FSN telecast and had a crowd announced at 14.353. The Wild was sold out again in St. Paul.
The hockey team's crowd — the corporations, the hard-cores, the Woodbury families — isn't going away. What the Wolves might have in 2017-18 is a chance to attract the 20- and 30-year-olds with no kids, who are looking for the cool vibe.
PATRICK REUSSE
