Canes owner Tom Dundon cautions the NHL over holding games without fans
Tom Dundon, owner of the Carolina Hurricanes, is not a fan of holding NHL games without butts in the seats. Dundon told 99.9 The Fan in Raleigh that the league without fans in attendance is essentially the YMCA.
"I think the start of next season, everybody has to be careful with (it) because I think you need fans," Dundon said. "And so if it means pushing back the start of the season for any sport, then they should consider that, because what's the point of having sports if you don't have fans, right? They wouldn't exist."
"They'd be called the YMCA."
Dundon later reiterated his stance on pushing back the beginning of the 2020-21 season if arenas have to be empty.
"I would think it's a pretty good idea to push it back as long as you need to, to make sure you can have your buildings occupied," Dundon added. "Whether that's 100% or 50%, I have no idea. (If) it's zero, I don't know why anyone would want to start a new league season with no fans, but my vote doesn't count for much."
It seems all but certain if the league returns to resume and finish the current season, it will be without anyone in attendance. As for whether there needs to be any concern regarding current isolation and separation rules come October when next season is slated to begin, that's anyone's guess at this point. There's plenty of speculation, but it amounts to little more than that.
It's not surprising that an owner would want attendance to be ensured before a new season begins considering the amount that can be and is made on ticket sales. An article in The Athletic stated the average take on a game with just over 17,000 fans in attendance, with seats sold at the average price of $75.76 USD, would bring in around $1.3 million in revenue per game. That's $53.3 million in revenue per season.
Source: ESPN.com
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YESTERDAY
MAY 18, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Bolduc | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Phillip Danault | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Greenway | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alex Newhook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kaiden Guhle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Beck Malenstyn | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Owen Power | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zach Benson | - | - | - | |
| Bowen Byram | - | - | - | |
| Cole Caufield | - | - | - | |
| Kirby Dach | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | - | - | |
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