SAN JOSE – The Sharks’ common introduced attendance for dwelling video games this season has been among the many lowest within the NHL, however the workforce’s president is optimistic extra followers will return to SAP Heart as COVID-19 circumstances proceed to lower and native well being restrictions start to ease.
Jonathan Becher, president of Sharks Sports activities & Leisure, listed the pandemic as the largest motive why attendance for NHL video games on the downtown enviornment has cratered this season, although it seems the Sharks will miss the playoffs for a 3rd straight 12 months.
The Sharks have introduced a mean of 12,031 tickets bought by way of 25 dwelling video games, which ranks twenty third out of 25 U.S. cities and is down from a mean of 16,427 two years in the past earlier than COVID-19 halted the NHL schedule. The sector’s seating capability for hockey is 17,562.
Oftentimes, the precise crowd dimension seems to be a lot smaller than the introduced quantity of tickets bought.
“Some persons are not comfy coming again to mega-events, 5,000-to-10,000 or extra individuals,” Becher stated. “Frankly, some persons are comfy, however they don’t need to cope with (vaccinations), boosters, masks, and many others.”
In an effort to scale back the danger of transmission and hospitalization, the Metropolis of San Jose now requires guests to giant, indoor public venues comparable to SAP Heart to indicate proof of a booster shot or a unfavourable COVID-19 check earlier than getting into.
Previous to the newest ordinance, which went into impact earlier this month, all guests to the sector ages 3 and older had been required to be absolutely vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19 with both two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of Johnson & Johnson. If not vaccinated, patrons needed to present proof of a unfavourable COVID-19 check inside 72 hours of the occasion.
Santa Clara County additionally stays the one county within the Bay Space with an indoor masks mandate, as these restrictions had been lifted elsewhere regionally final week.
“By far the largest challenge affecting attendance is the mandates,” Becher stated Wednesday. “It appears like now we have extra mandates than another venue in the US.”
Common introduced attendance at Sharks video games had slowly decreased from 17,508 in 2016-17 to 17,266 in 2018-19, which was the final season the workforce made the NHL playoffs.
This 12 months, introduced attendance has ranged from 16,527 for the Sharks’ recreation vs. Washington on Nov. 20, to a low of 10,076 4 days later for a Sharks recreation with Ottawa. 
Of the final eight dwelling video games earlier than Thursday, solely two – Jan. 15 vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Jan. 22 recreation with Tampa Bay – had introduced greater than 12,000 tickets bought. The opposite six dates had introduced attendance figures between 10,489 and 11,513.
Becher attributed a few of that to the surge of the Omicron variant, including with circumstances receding, over 15,000 tickets have been bought for Saturday’s dwelling recreation with the Boston Bruins. Santa Clara County, as of Wednesday, had a seven-day rolling common of 555 new circumstances of COVID, down from round 5,000 in early January.
“In order that’s proof that folks will come again as restrictions ease and as they really feel safer,” Becher stated. “There’s no assure in life however it does appear that manner.”
Becher stated the workforce has bought about 9,500 season tickets for subsequent season, which is down from round 11,000 two years in the past, with a renewal price of about 85 p.c.
Barring a dramatic turnaround, the Sharks will miss the playoffs for a 3rd consecutive season for the primary time within the workforce’s 31-year historical past. Whereas he acknowledged that the Sharks’ lack of success has had an influence on crowd sizes, he felt the pandemic has had an even bigger influence based mostly on the suggestions the workforce has obtained.
“After all, workforce efficiency goes to be a bit little bit of an element as nicely,” Becher stated, “however it’s at all times manner down (our) survey based mostly on COVID.”
A decade in the past, the Sharks had a season-ticket base of roughly 14,000 because the constructing was crammed to capability regularly. Becher stated final 12 months that the Sharks bought simply over 9,000 season tickets for this season.
To try to entice extra followers to return, the Sharks are paying ticket charges for plenty of upcoming dwelling video games and so they’ve decreased season ticket costs for each seat by 5 p.c.
“Selecting up the charges and lowering costs ought to, if the value is a barrier for some individuals, assist with attendance as nicely,” Becher stated.