In article <saross01.734885336@starbase.spd.louisville.edu>, saross01@starbase.spd.louisville.edu (Stacey A. Ross) writes: |> In <C5I2s2.3Bt@odin.corp.sgi.com> rickc@wrigley.corp.sgi.com (Richard Casares) writes: |> >You'll have a hard time selling any sport to a community that |> >can't play it on account of availability or financial reasons. |> >Hockey is pretty much a sport for the white and well off. |>  |> What?! White, yes. Well off, definitely not. Hockey season ticket owners have |> the lowest average income of any of the four major North American sports.  Do you have a basis for this claim?  Try these stats (taken from Playboy Magazine June 1989):  Percentage of pro football fans who have attended college:    39.7 Percentage of pro baseball fans who have attended college:    41.5 Percentage of pro basketball fans who have attended college:  39.9 Percentage of pro hockey fans who have attended college:      54.6  Percentage of pro football fans who earn more than $50K:      34.9 Percentage of pro baseball fans who make more than $50K:      22.7 Percentage of pro basketball fans who make more than $50K:    27.7 Percentage of pro hackey fans who make more than $50K:        44.0  |>  |> And think of where the majority of hockey players come from. From a farm out |> in Boondock, Saskatchewan or Weedville, Alberta. |>   The biggest advantage that kids from Boondock or Weedville have is the availability of ice.  In the San Jose area we have a population of 800,000 and that population is served by 2 ice arenas.  In contrast, Kamloops, British Columbia has a population of about 50,000 and has 5 rinks!  There are also myriad ponds, pools, etc that freeze in the winter.  Down here it's hard to find a kid without a bicycle; up there it's hard to find a kid without a pair of skates.  And before you say "what does he know? He's from California." let me say that I was born and raised in Trail, British Columbia, a town of about 8,000 with lots of ice in the winter.  My father did radio play by play for the local team, the Trail Smokeaters, who by  the way, were the last Canadian team to win the World Championship (back in 1961).  I was on skates almost as soon as I could walk, and have been playing recreational hockey for about 35 years.  |> >When was the last time you saw a hockey league in the inner city. |> >The insurance alone is a big enough barrier. |>  |> The inner city isn't the only place that is poor. |> I think the biggest barrier to hockey in the inner city is... no ICE to play on.   Lack of ice is a big factor, but costs is a bigger factor.  Both my kids play for the Santa Clara Valley Hockey Association and this season, which just ended, cost me $75 per kid for membership in Hockey USA, plus $750 per kid for club dues.  The Hockey USA fees cover excess medical insurance, and the club dues cover ice time, officials, trophies, etc.  Other areas have similar fees, unless the city government subsidises some of the costs, as Stockton does.  By the way; most ice arenas are located in what could be called the "inner city" areas.  Eastridge and Vallco are exceptions ... Redwood City's rink is in an industrial area on Bay Rd, near 101, Berkeley's is near Ashby and Martin Luther King, Stockton's is in Oak Park, Sacramento's is in an older section of downtown (I forget the name of the street), Fresno's is out on the edge of town, just west of 99.  Santa Rosa's is a nice rink, but it's in an older section of town. Dublin's is outside of town, off 580.  Most of the rinks are old, and expensive to run, with huge electric bills and insurance premiums.  If you want to buy ice time expect to pay around $100 per hour at any of these rinks.  Some of them give you a 60 minute hour for your money; others give you a 50 minute hour and include the resurfacing time in the fee.