Bridgeport, Connecticut was never going to work as a longterm home for a PWHL team writes Ian Kennedy, and it's time the PWHL pulls the plug on the experiment before it's too late.

Bridgeport never had a chance. Nor should it have been given a chance to be home to a major professional sports team. Forget the fact it's in Connecticut for a team called New York. Forget the fact the arena itself, Total Mortgage Arena is actually an appropriately sized, professional calibre venue.

The writing however, was on the wall long before the PWHL chose this location, and that fact was punctuated this week.

Bridgeport itself is more than an hour outside New York City, and has a population of only 150,000 people. The Bridgeport Islanders of the American Hockey League are currently averaging the fourth lowest attendance in the AHL with approximately 3100 fans per game, a nearly identical total to last season when they had the third lowest attendance in the AHL. When attendance is that low with a long established team, asking the market to support more hockey, was a big ask.

Last season, the PHF's Connecticut Whale were on their last leg in the state. The team was looking to relocate as they had failed to develop a strong fan following in eight seasons in the league, which included bouncing between multiple Connecticut facilities looking for support.

Red flag after red flag should have popped up about Bridgeport, but none was more vibrant than Wednesday night's loss to Montreal. With the first place team in the PWHL coming to town, featuring the best player on the planet, only 728 fans showed up in Bridgeport. It was by far the lowest attended game in the PWHL, which has been smashing attendance record after attendance record this season.

It's a number that other teams in the league would never see. Ottawa has been selling out consistently with more than 8300 fans per night packing TD Place Arena despite being in a similar situation near the bottom of the standings as New York. Toronto sold out every game this season before puck drop, and when they had the chance to play in an NHL venue, they sold it out as well seeing 19,285 come to Scotiabank Arena. 

Montreal is regularly sold out, and drew more than 10,000 at their last home game in Laval.

Minnesota is drawing well. They broke the American pro women's hockey attendance record at 13,316 fans. It took New York until their fifth home game this season to total 13,333 fans. A good chunk of that total came at UBS Arena on Long Island this past weekend when they drew 4459 fans.

Following their sixth game, this one back in Bridgeport, New York's average attendance fell to 2343. Even in Lowell, Massachusetts, the home of PWHL Boston, which is a similar scenario to Bridgeport, the team is averaging more than 1000 fans higher per game. By all accounts, New York's average is one that before the season may not have shocked people. But looking at the potential the PWHL is unveiling, it's also a number that can't be the norm. PWHL Toronto can only draw a handful more than this average based on the size of their facility, but it's a problem the league can quickly rectify in Toronto because the fan base is there. It's not a problem the league can rectify in Bridgeport, because the fan base does not exist.

There is no night in professional sport where 728 people constitutes a fan base, particularly at only the third game in the market where interest should remain high. It's a clear indication the 4459 who attended at UBS Arena on Sunday, are not willing to make the trek to Bridgeport. While pulling out of Bridgeport this quickly may be seen as a knee jerk reaction, it would also be a sign the league is taking their markets seriously, and that their product deserves the stage it is currently getting elsewhere.

Bridgeport was a serviceable stop gap. It gave PWHL New York a place to play on short notice, but it cannot be a solution moving forward, and if the league has any capacity to move the remaining games currently scheduled for the city to an alternative venue, they should.

If you went on three bad dates, you wouldn't agree to a fourth. The third date just ended, and it's time to get back on the market, and out of the Bridgeport, Connecticut market.