Is the Reign of the Manchester Monarchs Coming to an End?

What's happening in Manchester?
On Feb. 26th, 2019, a tweet was sent out by Mark Divver, the hockey writer for the Providence Journal. His tweet mentioned that he was hearing talks that the Manchester Monarchs, the ECHL farm team of the NHL Los Angeles Kings, could suspend operations once the 2018-19 season concludes. He also mentioned that the team has been "bleeding red ink" and that the franchise was up for sale. The latter part has been confirmed since news started breaking on January 18th earlier this year.

How did this all start?

Back during the Summer of 2015, the minor pro hockey landscape saw major changes, as the American Hockey League began having a "Pacific Division", bringing up ECHL teams in Bakersfield, Ontario, San Diego, and Stockton as a part of this major shift, which meant the AHL teams in markets like Norfolk and Manchester were forced into replacing these promoted teams in the ECHL. The effects of this shift is very much still being felt today, especially in those former AHL markets that went down to the ECHL.

The story how it unfolded...

During their last season in the AHL, the Monarchs had a very solid attendance average of 5,621, which was the highest out of any teams that ended up being moved out West during the off-season. The crowd in New Hampshire loved the higher level of play despite the average ticket costing an average of $26.50, to them it was fully worth the price especially worth it, as the Manchester Monarchs ended the season has the Calder Cup Champions. That's right, the Monarchs won the championship their last season in the AHL. Then, the AHL Western Shift, this caused the Monarchs to be moved by their owners AEG (who also own the parent club Los Angeles Kings) to Ontario, California to become a new iteration of the Ontario Reign. This is of course to bring the farm club closer to the parent club, as was the main reason for the entire western shift in the first place. Since the beginning of the 2015-16 ECHL season, the Monarchs have had a drop in attendance. In 2015-16, the Monarchs attendance dropped down to 4,622, nearly a thousand less than the previous season. At the current moment, the Monarchs have an announced average attendance of 2,359, about half of their Calder Cup season in 2014-15. Also, according to fan accounts I have come across on forums and comment sections regarding this exact subject, that number of 2,359 is very much inflated. I can't verify this though, but inflating numbers to make a horrible attendance not seem as bad is a fairly common practice in sports. Anyways, there are a number of reasons why there is this massive drop in the number of fans at SNHU Arena. One of the most infamous reasons is comments made by ownership/management during that fated Summer of 2015, saying the ECHL was the exact same as the AHL, just with different teams. Saying this to fan base of a team that just won minor pro hockey's top prize was a VERY bold move. Fans recognized that this wasn't the case, however, as they saw firsthand that the ECHL level of hockey was quite a bit lower than the level of play the fans had watched in the AHL. This, along with reported multiple very poor fan experiences with the team the last couple of seasons, have been the main driving force in driving away fans from attending games.

My final thoughts and opinions... 

If you are living in the Manchester, NH area and are a hockey fan, please go support this franchise as I do believe that they are nearing the end of it's run. Monarchs attendance has never been this low, fan interest has died almost completely, and the management/ownership is doing a swell job in destroying a once thriving minor pro hockey market. I do hope that this won't be the complete end for the Manchester market. I feel like a season or two away and coming back with a new ownership group and a new brand would be the best course of action into reviving the Manchester market. Other than that, I do think this will be the end of the Monarchs as a brand.