Provost Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Naturally as a Vancouver fan I would love to see a Seattle team... we could be playing an Amtrak series with a lot of fans either taking the train, bus or car down as visitors to see their team in an opposing rink. Likely you could travel, spend a night in a hotel and see a game down there for the same price as tickets here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boudrias Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Carolina was 21st in attendance, and even lower (26th)if you rank by percentage of seats sold, so cool story but false http://en.wikipedia....endance_figures My point about Canadian cities is that you need more than just the "passion for the game" the other poster talked about to have success, you need corporate sponsorship, strong ownership and a large enough market to sell to, 200k is not big enough, and even adding in people who occasionally would make a trip in from a different city is quite limited in terms of how consistent and how much they would contribute to the revenue stream. I'm not saying canadian cities can't be successful, but they would need to be cities like QC not Sask Saskatoon's viability as a market is heavily dependent on how Winnipeg does in the long run(7+ years) to see how big of a drop off occurs in attendance and revenue when the new car smell is gone on the franchise Also 1 millionaire wanting to put a team somewhere is nothing new, lots of rich people want toys close to home, for example Chris Hansen who is the guy behind the Seattle arena deal that when completed will be made to be top of the line by both NBA and NHL standards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avelanch Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Maybe on a friday or saturday, how many can do 5 hours roundtrip plus the game on a week night? Plus if we are adding everyone within 2 and a half hours of driving, then every markets "draw population" increases as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avelanch Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Carolina was 21st in attendance, and even lower (26th)if you rank by percentage of seats sold, so cool story but false http://en.wikipedia....endance_figures My point about Canadian cities is that you need more than just the "passion for the game" the other poster talked about to have success, you need corporate sponsorship, strong ownership and a large enough market to sell to, 200k is not big enough, and even adding in people who occasionally would make a trip in from a different city is quite limited in terms of how consistent and how much they would contribute to the revenue stream. I'm not saying canadian cities can't be successful, but they would need to be cities like QC not Sask Saskatoon's viability as a market is heavily dependent on how Winnipeg does in the long run(7+ years) to see how big of a drop off occurs in attendance and revenue when the new car smell is gone on the franchise Also 1 millionaire wanting to put a team somewhere is nothing new, lots of rich people want toys close to home, for example Chris Hansen who is the guy behind the Seattle arena deal that when completed will be made to be top of the line by both NBA and NHL standards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAMBUTANS Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 LOL. Saskatoon. AHL probably, NHL, no way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lx Birdie xl Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Stoon rider fans drive to Regina for games and then back that night. If I wasnt a 7 hour drive away I would hit up as many games as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bd71 Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Naturally as a Vancouver fan I would love to see a Seattle team... we could be playing an Amtrak series with a lot of fans either taking the train, bus or car down as visitors to see their team in an opposing rink. Likely you could travel, spend a night in a hotel and see a game down there for the same price as tickets here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boudrias Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 That's incentive for an owner to put a team in a new city. Cheap tickets so fans from a team 3 hours away can come three times a year?? I'm not sold at all on Seattle. Markham (northeast of Toronto) is trying to build a 20,000 seat arena and that is way more viable than Seattle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombieksa Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Seattle/Portland have two major advantages that I don't think cities like KC or LV have: 1. Proximity to Canada. Even the NHL recognizes the Canucks fans that travel to California and Arizona for games. Portland and Seattle would almost be guaranteed sell out games when Vancouver or Calgary came to town, let alone die-hard fans coming up from one of the Cali teams. 2. The MLS league is a great showing of what a 3 way rivalry in the Pacific NW can do for a league. Attendance numbers are fantastic for Van/Port/Sea Combine these two advantages with already good minor league numbers and a past history of hockey support (not to mention one arena ready, one on the way) and I would put these two cities as #2 and #3 as most viable options behind QC. I do think that southern ontario should have another team, not necessarily in toronto but even Hamilton, Kitchener, London. I just think that the league would be smart to expand the west in viable cities so to balance the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boudrias Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Seattle/Portland have two major advantages that I don't think cities like KC or LV have: 1. Proximity to Canada. Even the NHL recognizes the Canucks fans that travel to California and Arizona for games. Portland and Seattle would almost be guaranteed sell out games when Vancouver or Calgary came to town, let alone die-hard fans coming up from one of the Cali teams. 2. The MLS league is a great showing of what a 3 way rivalry in the Pacific NW can do for a league. Attendance numbers are fantastic for Van/Port/Sea Combine these two advantages with already good minor league numbers and a past history of hockey support (not to mention one arena ready, one on the way) and I would put these two cities as #2 and #3 as most viable options behind QC. I do think that southern ontario should have another team, not necessarily in toronto but even Hamilton, Kitchener, London. I just think that the league would be smart to expand the west in viable cities so to balance the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sting Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Without a doubt the NHL will expand to 32 teams in the next 3-10 yrs. 1. Seattle is an absolute no brainer on many levels.....Has a hockey history. A state of the art building coming soon. Huge population with a massive media marketing appeal. Instant rival with Vancouver and it is a city that already has had success with their junior teams. 2. Portland would be excellent as well. Not sure the media market appeal and lack of ownership interest hurdles would be enough to put it ahead of Quebec City and Hamilton/Markham though. My re-alignment (4 conferences, 8 divisions) Pacific-(north) Van,Sea,Edm,Cgy. (South) LA,SJ,Ana,Phx Central-(west) Wpg,Min,Col,Dall. (East) Chi,Det,St.L,Nash Notheast-(Canadian) Tor,Mtl,Ott,Que. (American) Buf,Bos,Pitt,Clb Atlantic-(north) NYI,NYR,NJ,Phil (South) Fla,TB,Car,Wash. Regular season is 3x6, 12x4, 16x1 home vs away yr to yr Playoffs would be (1st rd) division winners seeding 1 and 2 and facing 3,4 pts wise in each conference. 2nd rd= crossover between pacific2 and central2 and northeast2 and atlantic2 to ensure top west and east finals. Rest is the same except finals is 2-3-2 format. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.