People Who Work At Stadiums Are Exposing The Shocking Differences Between NBA And NHL Crowds

"As someone who frequently shops at the malls near my house, this is a necessity. I remember having trouble finding Ohtani jerseys for my brother back when he was an Angel (of course, now that he's a Dodger and off the team my brother loves), but tbh there were ZERO hockey things. You might get lucky enough to maybe see a Penguins hat or a Red Wings hat, but even the hometown team (Hurricanes, also the only sports team in the Carolinas to even win a chip) had little to nothing. You pretty much have to buy hockey merchandise online or in the stadium." "My experience as a fan is that everyone at the Blackhawks games are wearing jeans and a jersey or a hoodie, but at the Bulls game I went to, lots of guys were wearing suits or designer outfits, and a lot of the women were dressed for the club in all black with jewelry and makeup and everything. It was impressive. I kinda felt underdressed. And as someone else said, I've had a couple of guys try to start fights with me at Hawks games. At the Bull's game, everyone was happy and friendly. I had conversations with strangers every time I was in the concourse." "The NBA is much later arriving and cares less about watching the first 75% of the game. They’ll come in right before the gates, walk around, buy merch and food, then make their way to their seats. Concession stands tend to stay a little busier for the NBA because they’ll get up and wander around during the play a lot. Hockey fans are generally in their seats for puck drop and don’t leave till the buzzer. Hockey fans have a higher per-cap spend. Basketball fans get pizza, chicken fingers, and pop. Hockey fans have more gourmet items available on the concourse, and our premium spaces have seen a noticeable uptick in sales. Merch and memorabilia (specifically autographs) sales are also noticeably higher for the NHL." "Honestly depends on the team. I freelance in video production and have worked on a ton of in-house productions in different sports. There are teams that really make an effort to have non-stop entertainment the whole game with really creative promotions during game breaks, and then there are really cheap teams that don't want to spend the extra money to put in the effort. Honestly, when I go to games as just a fan, I judge a lot of front offices by how good their in-game production is. It's honestly surprising because you can guarantee you can have the fans go home satisfied with a great game production even if the team sucks." And finally, "NBA and NHL games are more exciting in person, I think, because you can truly appreciate how fast they are moving, and especially with hockey, you have a better vantage point to see plays developing that I feel is lacking on TV. Especially with good seats. NBA players are also massive human beings that you need to see up close to truly appreciate. But I agree on all the stupid music and other sound effects, could do without most of those."