from Ian Mendes of TSN,
When the Ottawa Senators host the Arizona Coyotes at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday night, there will be plenty of attendance-related jokes on social media wondering if the game is being played in a Canadian market or at the Coyotes’ home rink in Glendale, Ariz.
The Senators have plummeted to the bottom of the league in attendance during the 2019-20 campaign, averaging just over 12,000 fans per game. Thursday’s contest against the Coyotes will struggle to crack the 10,000 mark.
The sparsely attended games in Ottawa have led to the Senators being a punchline for many hockey fans who used to save those attendance-related zingers for franchises like the Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers.
With the spectre of another poorly attended game on the horizon, the club’s new CEO, Jim Little, made his first public appearances on Wednesday, granting interviews to Bell Media properties in Ottawa.
Little – who has officially been on the job since Jan. 10 – is well aware of the stigma surrounding the franchise.
“As I’ve said to the owner, it’s a small business that has a big brand problem. It’s not that complicated. The fix is right in front of us and it’s going to be a lot of hard work to fix,” Little told TSN 1200.
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