When the Florida Panthers hosted the Ottawa Senators at BB&T Center in Sunrise Tuesday night, they did so in front of a lightly-attended crowd.
The announced attendance of 10,074 was the franchise’s lowest number since Halloween 2008 when they drew 10,063 to a game against then division-rival Carolina.
As George Richards of the Miami Herald shares via Twitter, that number may have been a bit higher than what actually attended the game.
Here's what the start of the #Sens at #FlaPanthers looked like on Tuesday pic.twitter.com/enkdjqi3c3
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) December 4, 2013
You have to wonder what new owner Vincent Viola thinks of all this.
Of course, the Panthers haven’t had much success in recent years. Aside from their Southeast Division title in 2012, playoffs have been an extreme rarity in South Florida. As we’ve seen just about everywhere that isn’t Canada, missing the playoffs every year takes its toll on attendance.