The University of Maine’s eighth-ranked hockey team’s surprising performance is reaping benefits both on and off the ice.
Entering this weekend’s home Hockey East series against UMass Lowell, the Black Bears had sold out five of their eight home games at Alfond Arena and had averaged 4,849.5 fans per game, which is 96.2 percent of capacity (5,043).
The two UMass Lowell games were also expected to be sellouts, according to UMaine Athletic Director Jude Killy.
Obtaining a UMaine men’s hockey ticket has become one of the most elusive accomplishments of the season, with requests flooding both the ticket office and Facebook fan groups. This renewed obsession has given the university a bump in revenue that could be in the vicinity of half a million dollars compared with last year, Killy said.
“It’s something we haven’t experienced at the school in 10 or 15 years, at least,” said Caleb Whittemore, the ticket office manager for the past three years.
The program’s demise since the last NCAA tourney appearance and Hockey East semifinal berth in 2011-12 had resulted in a significant drop in interest and attendance.
Last season, the Black Bears drew 3,776 per game, which is 74.9 percent of capacity, and had just two sellouts. The previous year, the team had no sellouts and drew an average of 3,446 fans, which is just 68.3 percent capacity.
They were 15-16-5 and 9-11-4 a year ago after a 2021-22 campaign in which they wound up 7-22-4 and 5-17-2 in Ben Barr’s first season as the head coach.
The team’s success last season, plus the addition of National Hockey League first round draft pick Bradly Nadeau (Carolina Hurricanes) along with his brother, Josh, generated a lot of interest.
UMaine sold $100,000 worth of season tickets in the first week of sales this past summer alone, Whittemore said.
The Black Bears, picked to finish ninth in the Hockey East coaches’ preseason poll after winding up sixth last season, entered the UMass Lowell series with an overall record of 14-4-2 and a league record of 6-3-1.
“I knew it was going to be better this year but I didn’t think this level of interest would come until next year. It hit us all at once. The Boston College series helped a lot,” Whittemore said, referring to the two-game set against Boston College on Nov. 10-11.
The Eagles were ranked No. 1 in the country at the time and the 13th-ranked Black Bears posted a 4-2 win and 2-2 tie in front of back-to-back sellout crowds.
Whittemore said UMaine sold hundreds of tickets in the week after the Boston College series.
They also had sellouts for the second of two games against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the New Hampshire game and the second of two against Colgate.
The luxury boxes were sold out prior to the season, but there wasn’t a waiting list.
“Now we have 15 names on a [waiting] list but I don’t think anyone is going to leave,” Whittemore said.
There are 14 private boxes plus the big club box, which seats 81 and is purchasable by seat.
There are approximately 3,000 to 3,200 seats available after accounting for the student section, the luxury suites and partially obstructed seats.
UMaine limits the season ticket capacity to 80 percent of those available seats.
“Going into this year, we had 65 to 70 percent of them filled and I will be shocked if we don’t get to 80 percent this year,” Whittemore said. “We’re prepared to start a waiting list so we can get people in the door.”
During UMaine’s hockey heyday, when the Black Bears won two NCAA championships and appeared in 18 NCAA Tournaments and 11 Frozen Fours between the 1986-87 and 2011-12 seasons, 100 percent of the seats were occupied by season ticket holders and there were long waiting lists to obtain season tickets.
“We don’t want to do that. That’s not the way to build a fan base. For people who can’t afford season tickets, it would make it really challenging for them to come and see a game. That’s why we settle on an 80 percent figure,” Whittemore said.
Season tickets range from $250 to $700 per person. Single game tickets range from $20 to $40.
Killy said the atmosphere at Alfond Arena these days is “electric.”
“Ben and his staff and the student-athletes have done a great job drawing interest and we have been able to sell around it,” Killy said.
In addition to more interest from fans, UMaine’s sales staff has taken a more aggressive approach to selling tickets, contacting people who have attended games in the past and enticing them to come back.
“The dollars and cents are tremendous and they certainly help, but the reality is there is a residual effect from all of the rest of the exposure. More people in the building, more eyeballs on TV. We have that momentum now,” Killy said.
Whittemore said Killy outlined a goal to increase entire athletic revenue by 35 percent this year and he said they have already reached that goal thanks to the success of the hockey program.
Those wanting to attend a hockey game can go online to goblackbears.com to see if there are seats available for upcoming games.
Whittemore said tickets will go on sale at the box office at 5 p.m. on game nights. There are almost always additional tickets available because around 120 tickets are reserved for UMaine players and coaches and another 65 are for the opposing team for their friends and family, which don’t always get used.
“Some nights we may have 100 available and, another night, we might have just 10 or 20,” Whittemore said.
