Flames future in Calgary

[IBatch]

23 hours ago, ForsbergTheGreat said:

Canadian markets don't represent near as much NHL revenue as they once did. Calgary's 18th overall in team revenue.

The Canadian dollar has a lot to do with Calgary s just below average revenue contribution.  If the dollar was on par they would be in the upper echelon of earners.  Same story the last three decades, add a new arena into the equation things get hairy.  Still I think this is an ownership issue, not the leagues or the tax payers.  Just said it, they should have been planning for this for quite some time, when the going was good out the money aside instead of taking huge dividends.  Dumb asses could be pushing this towards a sale ( which wouldn't serve them well, they should hold on until the dollar rebounds) and Seattle is already ready.

[IBatch]

On 13/09/2017 at 8:01 PM, skolozsy2 said:

I understand your point, but seriously, what professional league doesn't have the most profitable teams helping support the less profitable teams.  Even the NFL has profit/revenue sharing to help the smaller markets.  MLS does it, the NBA, MLB, its the same in every sport now.  So why shouldn't the NHL share?

It does as you probably know, and has been in droves since the CAP era.  The league has been carrying ARI forever, it's actually kind of brutal especially given the arenas location is ludicrous for a place that's a non traditional hockey market.  They should just get it over with and relocate to either Seattle or Quebec.  Expansion is coming, the Flames ownership should be ashamed for playing this game at exposing their fans to this.  Imagine if Vancouver moved...even to Seattle would be unforgivable.

[Riviera82]

There should be more Canadian teams, not fewer. That fact that this is even just a threat at this point is disgusting.

[Rob_Zepp]

On ‎9‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 10:28 PM, Riviera82 said:

There should be more Canadian teams, not fewer. That fact that this is even just a threat at this point is disgusting.

[Fakename70]

On 2017-09-16 at 3:37 PM, IBatch said:

They should just get it over with and relocate to either Seattle or Quebec.  

You can cross Seattle off the list. If Flames ownership reportedly TURNED DOWN a proposal from the City that would've turned over ownership of and revenue from a brand new rink in Calgary, I'd hardly believe they'd relocate to a twice renovated structure in Seattle that originally opened in 1962 and is City-owned. 

[kingofsurrey]

On 9/16/2017 at 9:28 PM, Riviera82 said:

There should be more Canadian teams, not fewer. That fact that this is even just a threat at this point is disgusting.

Actually i think the future is in Europe.

 

Add a team in  Sweden, Switzerland, Finland  etc.    Make the NHL a truly international league. 

[HI5]

I'm goin to miss watching the Nucks schoolin lames. 

[GB5]

1 hour ago, kingofsurrey said:

Actually i think the future is in Europe.

 

Add a team in  Sweden, Switzerland, Finland  etc.    Make the NHL a truly international league. 

Interesting idea from a big money stand point but I hope not. I prefer watching hockey games after I come home from work, not early in the morning before I go to work. 

[Ghostsof1915]

 

My eyes, it burns.....make it stop......

[kingofsurrey]

4 hours ago, GarthButcher5 said:

Interesting idea from a big money stand point but I hope not. I prefer watching hockey games after I come home from work, not early in the morning before I go to work. 

Pro sports will chase the big money. The big money is not in Winnipeg or Quebec City.....

 

International expansion is inevitable and the NHL should be all over it.   

[GB5]

16 minutes ago, kingofsurrey said:

Pro sports will chase the big money. The big money is not in Winnipeg or Quebec City.....

 

International expansion is inevitable and the NHL should be all over it.   

I don't think the logistics of that much travel is feasible. It would be like when the CFL tried to expand down south. On Hockey Night in Canada the featured game would be the Barcelona Penguins versus the Liverpool Canadien..

[kingofsurrey]

Flights from East coast of Canada  are almost same time to fly to Europe as it is to fly to LA.

No big deal. 

[Neko]

It makes zero sense for the Flames to leave Calgary, even with a bad team the stadium gets filled unlike Vancouver.  I lived in Calgary for 12+ years and have gone to many Flames games, Albertans are different type of people when it comes to being hockey fans.  The Saddledome is aging and an eye sore sometimes, but it's still a functional facility unlike Seattle's Kingdome that had to constantly undergo maintenance.

[JM_]

8 minutes ago, Creepy Crawler said:

It makes zero sense for the Flames to leave Calgary, even with a bad team the stadium gets filled unlike Vancouver.  I lived in Calgary for 12+ years and have gone to many Flames games, Albertans are different type of people when it comes to being hockey fans.  The Saddledome is aging and an eye sore sometimes, but it's still a functional facility unlike Seattle's Kingdome that had to constantly undergo maintenance.

yes, they have a boatload more disposable income. 

[canuck73_3]

20 hours ago, kingofsurrey said:

Flights from East coast of Canada  are almost same time to fly to Europe as it is to fly to LA.

No big deal. 

Time zone difference just makes no sense for the league though.

[Fakename70]

On 2017-09-29 at 7:28 AM, kingofsurrey said:

Actually i think the future is in Europe.

 

Add a team in  Sweden, Switzerland, Finland  etc.    Make the NHL a truly international league. 

The NHLPA would likely have something to say about/against that, as it just can't be done, logistically. Nor should it be. 

[MikeBossy]

4 hours ago, Creepy Crawler said:

It makes zero sense for the Flames to leave Calgary, even with a bad team the stadium gets filled unlike Vancouver.  I lived in Calgary for 12+ years and have gone to many Flames games, Albertans are different type of people when it comes to being hockey fans.  The Saddledome is aging and an eye sore sometimes, but it's still a functional facility unlike Seattle's Kingdome that had to constantly undergo maintenance.

Best part of your post right there

[Fakename70]

On 2017-09-16 at 3:28 PM, IBatch said:

Seattle is already ready.

"Ready" for what, exactly? If you're talking about having an arena to house a team, you're way way way ahead of yourself there. Nothing has been finalised with regards to the 2 arena proposals on the table, and won't be until early December, I believe, when the privately-financed and more sensible of the 2's Memorandum Of Undetstanding with the City expires. I believe that a City Council vote on the other proposal (to renovate Key Arena) happens the day after the MOU expiry. Even if/when the Key Arena proposal gets the final nod, it'd still be 2-3 years away from re-opening. Whereas, if the first proposal had been approved, a brand new arena in the Stadium District could've already been under construction and finished a year before that. And, that's just the arena issue. 

We've seen a solid prospective NBA ownership group in Seattle (that's whose behind the privately-funded proposal), but we've still yet to see any comparable NHL interest also willing to put its money where its mouth is. The Sonics moved in 2008, so, you'd think that someone would have been smart enough to step up by now. But, other than Victor Coleman (former owner of the then-Canucks AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves, I believe) there hasn't been any movement at all. Not publicly anyway. Self-described "hockey fans" in Seattle keep crowing about how great Seattle would be as an NHL city (while also never missing an opportunity to say something stupid about the NBA, which, I suspect the way the Sonics were stolen is the REAL reason for the surge in Seattle "hockey fans", post-2008), but honestly, there's been no convincing evidence of that. I hope I'm wrong, but I have to call it like I see/suspect it. 

 

[kingofsurrey]

57 minutes ago, Fakename70 said:

The NHLPA would likely have something to say about/against that, as it just can't be done, logistically. Nor should it be. 

Of course it can be done.  NHLPA will agree to any deal that sees the Cap go up significantly.

The future of sports is International World Leagues.  

 

NHL needs to get on it .   I would love to see a Russian club play the Canucks here in Vancity or even to plan a Euro trip when the Canucks are doing a road trip to play 4-5 Euro clubs. 

 

Even a Euro Division in the NHL  with 4-5 teams with limited crossover games would be super cool. 

Playoffs would be amazing .  

[Fakename70]

6 minutes ago, kingofsurrey said:

Of course it can be done.  NHLPA will agree to any deal that sees the Cap go up significantly.

The future of sports is International World Leagues.  

 

NHL needs to get on it .   I would love to see a Russian club play the Canucks here in Vancity or even to plan a Euro trip when the Canucks are doing a road trip to play 4-5 Euro clubs. 

 

Even a Euro Division in the NHL  with 4-5 teams with limited crossover games would be super cool. 

Playoffs would be amazing .  

But, you're not the one who'd be doing the traveling from continent-to-continent for games, though. It'd be potentially harmful (and physically taxing, at least) to the players, and it just isn't being realistic to think that it'll ever happen. Donald Fehr would go to his grave fighting against it. Same goes for the NFL European expansion pipe dream as well. The Players Association will never go for it.