Expansion
June 8th, 2008 by Jason ChenOn OTR yesterday, the bumbling idiot that is Paul Godfrey suggested that the NHL should expand globally to Europe. He is at least smart enough to realize that hockey really isn’t growing in the States, but believes that franchises like Florida and Carolina should stay where they are because the market is there. You’re right Paul, the market’s there - but it’s not a hockey market. Gary Bettman and Godfrey seem to have the misconception that the larger the population, the better hockey market it is. That’s the biggest problem with the league and owners’ mindsets, and only recently have they begun to realize that trying to make some money with a hockey team in the south just isn’t working. Instead of potential owners seeking them, they’ve become more proactive and looking for potential owners willing to buy the team from them. Jim Balsillie, of course, leads the list of potential buyers, but he’s probably never going to own anything with Bettman in charge.
I can accept the fact that Bettman and Godfrey are unwilling to move teams from poor hockey markets. There is nothing fans or owners can do to prevent him from saying no a re-location to Canada. But you must be some sort of crazy to want to expand the NHL into Europe. Scott Walker thinks it’s something that should be looked into, but I totally disagree. It’s easy for him to say because he now plays in the East where travel is light, and a flight from New York to London, England isn’t a huge hassle. But for teams like Vancouver, who travel the most out of any other NHL team, it’s a potential 10 hour flight. Could you imagine the travel costs? Not to mention a game played in Europe will be very hard to be schedule onto prime time TV on the east coast. This is a terrible idea and Godfrey must have deep, deep pockets to think this is a viable solution to the NHL’s sagging popularity. Expansion is never the answer to anything.
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4 Responses to “Expansion”
By Troy on Jun 8, 2008
All the NHL can do is get move or get rid of some teams that are in fledgling markets (like Miami, or Phoenix, or Atlanta) and move them to hockey markets (with a cap, everyone should now be on an even playing field. Move the Panthers to Quebec, the Coyotes to Winnipeg (and re-name them the Jets… you know exactly my train of thought) and the Thrashers to Hartford. Why not Carolina? Because I believe the Hurricanes have developed a hockey market out there that is amongst the best in the U.S. (not saying much). Just for the record, if that were to ever happen, all those teams should abandon their current histories and absorb the old histories of those markets that I listed.
As for Europe? Screw that, Bettman. Europe already has it’s independent leagues. You’ll only alienate the NHL in Europe if you try to take over the Swedish and Finnish and Czech leagues (just to name a few). Screw the NHL in Europe concept. (Hey, if it’s Bettman we’re talking of, there’s no reason to believe he’ll ever do something logical, right?)
By The Floridian on Jun 8, 2008
I was having a conversation with a friend of mine from the Miami area. He’s a die-hard Panthers fan who admits there are probably more panthers of the four legged variety than fans of the Panthers we all know and… well, tolerate. (For the record, the all-wise wikipedia states there are under 100 panthers left.)
I wouldn’t count out all southern markets as stagnant. Much like Carolina, Tampa is alive and kicking. The Lightning have a better fanbase than the Rays- who ironically play in the Lightning’s old stadium. At the tail end of last season, the Lightning were still averaging over 17,000 fans per game, while the (Devil) Rays are among the best in the sport and still struggle to fill the arena with fans. Baseball is even an “American” sport. Hockey has a place here in Tampa (or Carolina) that it doesn’t seem to have found in Miami or Atlanta.
Although I would feel bad for the city having lost two teams, go ahead and move the Thrashers north. I’m all for more Canadian teams. I’m all for a Canadian team willing the Cup.
As far as Europe goes I think the NHL could learn a lesson from the NFL. Stay away. Granted hockey, unlike (American) football, already exists in Europe, the NHL would have an easier time in Hawaii. However, if Mr. Bettman really wants to expand the NHL- and do a favo(u)r for the Canadian people at the same time- he should look to the Turks and Caicos. I’m sure a hockey team would help their annexation bid.
By Jason C on Jun 8, 2008
Interesting to note that Carolina and Tampa are both fairly recent Cup winners. Like any other sport, when a team does well, it puts fans in the stands. The Rays will eventually put fans in the stands, once they can prove to everyone that this season so far is no fluke.
Canada can realistically only support one or two more teams - other than the Hamilton area, Winnipeg, Quebec, and Halifax, there are virtually no other cities that can support an NHL franchise, and even then Quebec and Halifax are a bit of a stretch. So if any team has to relocate, it’d be Atlanta, Florida, or Phoenix.
In the recently leaked NHL ticket revenue report, Tampa and Carolina generate about $800k of revenue per game, that’s still in the top half of all American teams, but neither team has experienced any growth. That’s the most worrisome stat.