Kamloops Blazers’ attendance off to a slow start this season

KAMLOOPS – Residents of Kamloops don't appear to be taking advantage of live, local hockey as much as they used to.

The attendance at Kamloops Blazers' games so far for this season is off to a rocky start. The Blazers' home opener, facing off against long-time rivals the Kelowna Rockets, drew only 4,063 people leaving more than 2,300 empty seats at The Sandman Centre and fans are starting to call out the people of Kamloops for not attending games.

hate to see this. Such good memories of a full house every night. Obviously attendance an issue at all levels of sport: pro & junior https://t.co/Bz1FEt1jBt

— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) October 20, 2016

Announced attendance in Kamloops is 2,948. Smallest regular-season crowd since facility opened for 1992-93 season.

— Gregg Drinnan (@gdrinnan) October 20, 2016

It's a trend that has become apparent in recent years. Last season's home opener saw an even smaller turnout of 3,937 people. 

The lowest attendance this season came on Oct. 19, a Wednesday night when less than 3,000 people showed up to cheer on the home team, well less than half the 6,400 capacity. Although numbers have been falling over the past few seasons, this was the lowest attendance on record, according to data kept online by the Blazers.

The Blazers don't have a terrible record to blame, sitting at 10th overall with a record of seven wins and six losses.

The Kamloops Blazers have not responded to multiple requests for comment.

— This story was corrected at 2:58 p.m. Oct. 25. The original version attributed an attendance from the wrong building. It was removed. It also corrects a date. This story was filed in corrections.

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