January 11, 1999
Struck down
Tampa Bay Lightning's attendance, scores sink
Carl Cronan Staff Writer
The Tampa Bay Lightning's first-year president says he still expects clearer skies ahead through the remainder of this hockey season and beyond.
That's despite the team's current last-place standing in the National Hockey League, which in turn has resulted in lagging attendance, an estimated $20 million loss to its new owner and rumors that the franchise is up for sale again.
"We have inherited a tough situation and are making it better," said Billy McGehee, who was hired as Bolts' president, CEO and governor by retired insurance magnate Art Williams last summer. Williams, a Palm Beach resident, bought the hockey club from Kokusai Green Co. Ltd. of Tokyo for $117 million.
So far this season, the Lightning's new management has had to spend a lot of time cleaning up what McGehee terms the "graveyard" left by the former owners. He said Williams has asked for no public money in refurbishing the Ice Palace arena in downtown Tampa.
But at the same time, the new owner cut out one perk some fans had become dependent on -- complimentary tickets.
The elimination of those freebies has resulted in a 30 percent decline in attendance at Lightning games this season, averaging around 10,400 fans, according to statistics from The Hockey News and Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal, a sister publication of the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
That's almost as low as the Lightning's first year as a franchise, when the team played at the much smaller Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall in 1992-93.
Only the Carolina Hurricanes have a lower turnout among the 27 teams making up the NHL this season.
McGehee said past owners gave out as many as 4,000 passes to Lightning home games last year, angering many season ticket-holders in the process. Factor out those comps and the team's attendance is about even with the 1997-98 season, he said.
He added that the new Lightning management has stuck with previously set ticket prices, which range from $16 for upper arena seats to $72 for club level.
"We're not going to give out any free tickets," McGehee said. "If you want to see the games, come out and buy a ticket. If you don't, I understand."
That doesn't mean the team is cutting out other promotional events and giveaways that attract fans to games, but he said it's going to take more than that to fill as many of the 19,758 Ice Palace seats as possible. The players have to do their part.
As of Jan. 6, the Lightning's 9-25-3 record was the worst in the NHL, with only five of 17 home games won (plus one tie) since the season began in October. (The Bolts' next home game is Jan. 12 against Toronto.)
Numerous roster changes have been made in recent months, including trades of marquee players for possible future stars. Phil Esposito, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame who is credited with bringing the NHL franchise to Tampa Bay seven years ago, was also dismissed from his duties as general manager.
Head coach Jacques Demers, who added the GM title following Esposito's October ouster, has since publicly criticized some players for not performing to their full potential.
McGehee says Williams, who once used the word "pansies" to describe his team earlier this season, is assigning the blame where it belongs, rather than where it's most convenient.
"He has never once criticized the fans," McGehee said. "That's the kind of owner I'd want in my community."
He added, though, that some fans are apparently projecting their anger toward the Lightning front office, where 67 employees earn a mere fraction of the players' salaries.
"The people in the front office don't deserve the (criticism) they're getting from the fans," McGehee said. "The players are the ones who ought to be hammered."
Williams, who built his fortune selling term life insurance policies in the 1970s and '80s, stated previously that he expects to lose up to $20 million on his investment in the Lightning this year. That's about twice the loss he took as owner of the Canadian Football League's Birmingham (Ala.) Barracudas in 1995.
He figures the Lightning can become Stanley Cup contenders in the next three years, and is seeking another investor to help him work toward that goal. (McGehee vehemently denies Williams is seeking to unload the team.)
"It's going to be our responsibility to put a team on the ice that the fans can be proud of," Williams said in a September interview with the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
McGehee said Williams is honoring commitments made by the Lightning's former owners, including taking season ticket-holders to Nashville, Tenn., to see the first game between the Bolts and the expansion Nashville Predators on Jan. 21.
In the meantime, he said, Lightning players are stepping up their involvement in the community as a way of expressing appreciation to fans and, hopefully, cultivating new ones. Examples include speaking at Bay area schools, visiting hospitals during the holidays, hosting charitable events, even signing autographs at shopping malls.
"We've done more work in the streets than any other team before us," McGehee said.
Ideally, McGehee would like to see the Lightning garner the same type of loyal, thick-and-thin following as baseball's Chicago Cubs or football's Green Bay Packers.
He noted that the Bolts have 21 home games through the second half of this season, following the NHL All-Star Game at the Ice Palace on Jan. 24 and continuing through mid-April.
"I think as we make the turn, maybe we'll be the surprise team of the NHL," he said. "We're going to make this work, and all I ask is that the fans keep grinding it out with us."
McGehee, who has been involved in sports promotion for at least two decades, said the last six months with the Lightning are the toughest he has ever worked.
"It's been like climbing Mount Everest," he said, "but I can see the summit now."
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