For anyone who has ever been to Bakersfield College's Memorial Stadium, the size and audacity of the place is something to behold, and it's interesting to note that it was the first thing built at the college.
That's right: they built the stadium first. Forget the library, or the classrooms or a lab. They built a 19,000-seat, two-deck stadium to host Renegade football and track and field meets. Through much of its history, that stadium has been packed for BC football games, including most recently in 2012 when the Renegades played for a state football title.
In recent years, Mexican soccer games have drawn as many as 10,000 fans to the historic stadium, but now the Bakersfield's American Hockey League franchise could draw the largest crowd yet, and for a hockey game. I'm pretty sure that the founding fathers of Bakersfield College never imagined an outdoor hockey game being played in the stadium, but here we are.
With a two-day event scheduled for this weekend (Jan. 6-7), the Condors are hoping to draw upon Bakersfield College's enthusiastic football legacy to attract a huge crowd, and I don't think it's unrealistic to think the outdoor hockey game against the Ontario Reign could attract 16,000-plus. I'm not even sure the Ontario Reign is prepared for the crowd that awaits them in Bakersfield.
The only inhibitor to the game is the weather, but the Condors are assuring fans that the game will be played Saturday.
When it comes to promotion and savvy, there is no team better than the Condors, who are smartly run and who have an unbelievably loyal fan base. If you look at the consistency of the attendance through the years, and they haven't played very good hockey for a while, and you look at what the team does with its social media, its web and mobile presence and its community work it should come as no surprise that this game could be a major success.
The cost of putting on this game is huge, perhaps as high as $1 million, but the longterm impact for the franchise could further cement its reputation as Bakersfield's most audacious event-driven businesses. It could also showcase the uniqueness of Bakersfield, which is the last place you'd expect an outdoor hockey game, and its continued enthusiasm for big events.
There's a lot of risk, but the reward could be huge. I'm rooting for their success, and I think Bakersfield will respond to enjoy a party unlike any other.
