Bingo. That why like here in MN, the season ticket waiting list for the Wild is years long. I actually was not able to purchase a ticket this year from TicketMaster, not even one, and I tried often. The only three games I saw live were vendor perks.

I don't know how live viewership is doing in other states really, but if in MN the NHL is in no way on life-support for live viewership. Of course, that may just be good news for the XCEL center, not the NHL. Come to think of it I wonder what the NHL's revenue difference is from ticket sales vs. TV networks running the feed...