Colorado Eagles change their minds about Rocky Mountain Rage

Posted on | July 1, 2009 | No Comments

I want to say I told you so, and I did predict some of this back in the day. Three years ago, the Colorado Eagles, our local Central Hockey League franchise, threw a temper tantrum and filed a lawsuit agains the league when the CHL awarded a franchise to the new Broomfield Event Center.

There was a lot of discussion about legal terms of the franchise agreement. It was just 37 miles away, and violated the non-compete terms of their contract. I thought it was laughable that the Eagles would cry foul and expect to lose fans from Broomfield when, clearly, the rapid local following they have developed is all right here in their back yard.

The new, close rival would be a good thing, in my mind, and it was — the Rage often gave the Eagles all they could handle, from the beginning of the series. A rising tide would lift all boats, and Rage fans — if they could get tickets — would come to the Budweiser Events Center/The Ranch to support their team; while Eagles fans — especially those who might not be able to get home tickets — could venture down the road and support their team at an away venue. How often does that really happen in the far-flung reaches of the CHL?

For a variety of reasons, the Broomfield Event Center, and the teams that call it home, have struggled to gain a following even as they have enjoyed some competitive success. The previous mangement company for the facility backed out, and now a new one is being sought. The NBA development league basketball team, the Colorado 14’ers, moved on to greener pastures in Frisco, Texas. And now the Rage is no more, either, according to a Fort Collins Coloradoan article from June 30. It may be temporary — they hope to skip a year and come back for the 2010-2011 season under new ownership.

Now, the Eagles are already missing the competition. And they are missing the short drive to play games — fuel costs are up, and now travel to other away games to fill their schedule will be much more expensive.

Now all the bluster of the Eagles management back in the day seems to be one of two things — ill-advised, short-sighted, childish and immature, or perhaps calculated to boost awareness. Either way, the struggles of team sports and the venue in Broomfield is in sharp contrast to the amazing job that the Eagles and those that run the local venue have done to generate interest and build a fan and user base for the facilities. Broomfield built it, and they did not come. The Eagles and the Larimer County Events Center seem very much to be in the right place at the right time.

Some think that competition from Denver — the NHL’s Avalanche — was a factor in Broomfield’s struggles, but clearly, it was not — the Avs were unwatchable this year, and people stayed away in droves as their dismal record continued to keep them in the league’s cellar. Desperate promos did not help.

The folks who pay for CHL hockey are clearly not the same demographic and target audience that the NHL covets. The price to take a family to a CHL game is in a different universe than what you have to pony up for a night at an NHL match-up. The Rage — and the folks at the Broomfield Event Center — have yet to figure out how to get to the sweet spot in their market. The Rage and the 14’ers put a good product on the floor at a reasonable price — just not enough of the right people knew about it.

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