{"id":34976,"date":"2022-01-17T19:30:29","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T00:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/?p=34976"},"modified":"2022-01-17T19:30:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T00:30:29","slug":"adirondack-thunder-hockey-team-is-back-to-having-strong-area-economic-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2022\/01\/adirondack-thunder-hockey-team-is-back-to-having-strong-area-economic-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Adirondack Thunder Hockey Team Is Back To Having Strong Area Economic Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Adirondack Thunder president Jeff Mead said the community is embracing the team.
Paul Post<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Paul Post<\/p>\n

The Adirondack Thunder, the ECHL\u2019s smallest-market hockey team, is outperforming many of its biggest rivals both on and off the ice this year.<\/p>\n

The Thunder, bolstered by a solid New Year\u2019s Eve crowd (4,111), averaged 3,448 fans through their first 11 home dates, ranked 11th in the 27-team league. And by winning seven of 10 games (7-2-1) through Jan. 2, the team had moved to within six points of first-place Newfoundland in the tightly-packed North Division standings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a very strong start,\u201d team president Jeff Mead said. \u201cSeason tickets, group numbers and walk-up sales are all up and corporate support is in the league\u2019s top 10. Obviously we had a year off last year because of COVID, so there\u2019s a lot of pent up demand. But the community is really embracing the Thunder and quality of play.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hoped that two major upgrades currently under way at Cool Insuring Arena will be completed before the ECHL\u2019s Kelly Cup playoffs begin in April, perhaps even in time for the state high school boys basketball tournament in March.<\/p>\n

Rozell Industries is hard at work constructing five new luxury suites, extending out from the press box, on the north side of the building.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like the rest of the world, they\u2019ve been dealing with supply chain issues,\u201d Mead said. \u201cWe can\u2019t wait to see it finished. All arenas have private seating areas now. It\u2019s a big investment, but we think the return will be great for us long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

The suites are expected to generate considerable extra revenue, the same as other recent improvements such as the large video scoreboard that has created new advertising potential. The suites project is being funded by the Adirondack Coalition, which is in the second year of a five-year lease to operate the building with its owner, the City of Glens Falls. Mead, who is also the arena\u2019s general manager, declined to cite the job\u2019s price tag.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>Separately, the 43-year-old arena is also getting a brand new roof, paid for by the city ($1.8 million).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it rains outside it leaks inside, which is not a great experience for our guests, so it\u2019s very exciting to get both of these things done,\u201d Mead said.<\/p>\n

Cool Insuring Arena reopened last August after being closed since March 2020 when the pandemic struck, also bringing the Thunder season to an abrupt halt. Business rebounded slowly at first, starting with ice rentals and a two-week private event last September.<\/p>\n

In addition to the current Thunder campaign, the arena hosted the state high school girls volleyball championships and the Adirondack Stampede rodeo this past fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were 3,000 people here for the two-day volleyball tournament and 8,000 fans turned out for the rodeo, the most ever since I\u2019ve been here,\u201d Mead said.<\/p>\n

Pro wrestling returned to the arena with a WWE Supershow on Jan. 8.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, there\u2019s a possibility of a concert or two this winter and the arena is slated to host both the Section II wrestling and boys basketball tournaments, followed by a return of the state high school boys basketball tourney in March, for the first time in five years, officials said.<\/p>\n

Depending on how many local teams participate, the state tournament could draw more than 30,000 fans to Glens Falls, which hosted it from 1981 to 2017 when Binghamton won the next three-year contract. Last year\u2019s tourney, scheduled for Glens Falls, was canceled by COVID.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we get to April hopefully we\u2019ll be able to do a circus and a few other non-hockey events,\u201d Mead said.<\/p>\n

The pandemic continues to pose a challenge for the Thunder and overall arena operations. Four home hockey games were postponed in December followed by a fifth on Jan. 2.<\/p>\n

Four of the five games have already been rescheduled for Thursday, Jan. 27 along with Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, Feb. 22, 23 and 25. \u201cReplacing a Saturday with a Wednesday hurts financially, but it\u2019s part of the COVID world we live in right now,\u201d Mead said. \u201cWe\u2019ll get through it, we\u2019ll manage our best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Except when eating or drinking, visitors are required to wear face coverings at all times inside the arena. The state and Warren County mandate is in effect until mid-January when it will be reevaluated.<\/p>\n

Mead said the Thunder simply can\u2019t afford to ban concessions, a major source of team revenue. \u201cIf we don\u2019t sell food and beverage it doesn\u2019t make sense for the arena to open,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Of course, this presents another challenge to Thunder attendance, but Mead said he\u2019s confident fans will continue to support the team, especially if it keeps winning as playoffs approach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always going to be a small number of people who won\u2019t come because of a mandate or will voice their displeasure with it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut as we have since day one, we\u2019re going to follow the mandates. Hopefully the team continues to play well on the ice and fans continue to come out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Paul Post The Adirondack Thunder, the ECHL\u2019s smallest-market hockey team, is outperforming many of its biggest rivals both on and off the ice this year. The Thunder, bolstered by a solid New Year\u2019s Eve crowd (4,111), averaged 3,448 fans through their first 11 home dates, ranked 11th in the 27-team league. And by winning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":34977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nAdirondack Thunder Hockey Team Is Back To Having Strong Area Economic Impact - Glens Falls Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.glensfalls.com\/glensfallsbusinessjournal\/2022\/01\/adirondack-thunder-hockey-team-is-back-to-having-strong-area-economic-impact\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Adirondack Thunder Hockey Team Is Back To Having Strong Area Economic Impact - Glens Falls Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Paul Post The Adirondack Thunder, the ECHL\u2019s smallest-market hockey team, is outperforming many of its biggest rivals both on and off the ice this year. 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