Former NHL General Manager (Anaheim, Toronto, Calgary) and President of Hockey Operations (Calgary, Pittsburgh) Brian Burke iterated many times that he was never in the sports business; rather, he was in the entertainment business.
Here in Los Angeles, we know all about entertainment. It's our industry. From actors and actresses, to musicians, to athletes, LA isn't short of talent.
In the Los Angeles sports market, the Kings will likely always take a backseat to the NBA's Lakers and MLB's Dodgers. The Lakers' recent acquisition of superstar Guard Luka Doncic and the Dodgers' 2024 World Series victory make it even more of a challenge for the Kings to supersede them. Add the NFL's Rams and Chargers into the mix, coupled with the NBA's Clippers' new Intuit Dome arena, pitching the Kings as a must-see event is a hard sell.
"[O]ur competition is not other sports teams or other hockey teams, it's every place that people can spend money for entertainment outside of their working hours. So: the theatre, movies, these are all things we compete with for people's hard earned money. [...] I happen to sell hockey tickets but I'm in the entertainment business." - Brian Burke-
One thing that will undoubtedly sell tickets to sporting events here in Los Angeles is winning. We love winners.
Fortunately for the Kings, they are on a remarkable winning streak at Crypto.com Arena, this season, with a league-leading 19-3-3 home record.
What the Kings are selling is this: you buy a ticket to come watch us play, you walk out to the sound of "Hollywood Nights" by Bob Seger.
"There are three pillars that I base my teams on. One, I try to run it like a business. Because, I think, to get people to buy tickets and sponsors to invest in the game, they've got to see their dollars being spent intelligently. So, I've always prided myself on running it like a business; making sound decisions with other people's money. Second, we try to entertain the fan. We try to play a style that's consciously entertaining and that's a trademark of my teams. We try and chase the puck... we don't sit back and trap. We try to hit in all-three zones. We fight. We try to score a lot of goals. I want to entertain you. I have to get you to the edge of your seat several times a period for you to feel that this was a fun evening. And the third is the charity work. We insist on not just our front office staff do a ton of charity work, we make the players do it as well." - Brian Burke-
Let's start with pillar number three. The Kings recently hosted their Skate for LA Strong charity event to raise money and awareness for those who suffered dearly during the recent wildfires across LA. The event featured former NHL players, celebrities, musical performances, and first responders all suiting up for a great cause. There's your charity.
Pillar number one... the Kings have certainly run things like a business. If you've attended a Kings game at the Crypt, this season, you know what I'm talking about. From the players finding ways to win, to Mikey Alexander and Kayla Knierim keeping the energy up during lulls in the action, to Patrick O'Neal and Jarret Stoll hosting the game in the concourse while those dudes standing in the background stare into the camera without blinking... everyone does their job and they do it well.
Which brings us to pillar number two, the entertainment aspect. According to Burke, his entertaining teams: chase the puck, they don't sit back and trap — check. They hit in all-three zones and fight — double check (see what I did there?). They score profusely — check, sometimes. Point is, going to a Kings game is entertaining.
When the Kings return to LA beginning on Wednesday March 5, 2025, there will only be sixteen home games during the 2024-25 NHL Regular Season. Angelenos, if you haven't made it out to a game, I'd seriously suggest you do.