[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by Reilly1017

It’s absurd that teams demand tax payer money for stadiums then every 20 years want a new one. But hey, they have ALL the leverage. Austin would love to scoop up a team.

NFL product rocks. Many cities start with one team in the Big 4, and if they do well, get more.

Plus if you have nice restaurants nearby, the affect of pro teams is stupendous.

I did not want to try a Nashville downtown restaurant after a Titans game, or the bars after Predator games.

So I get the OP's wish, but after the Whalers left, we were never getting a new team, despite Pats playing us.

The first team must thrive to get more, meaning tons of sellouts, not just vs best competition. Be a tough ticket to get your hands on.

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

NFL product rocks. Many cities start with one team in the Big 4, and if they do well, get more.

Plus if you have nice restaurants nearby, the affect of pro teams is stupendous.

I did not want to try a Nashville downtown restaurant after a Titans game, or the bars after Predator games.

So I get the OP's wish, but after the Whalers left, we were never getting a new team, despite Pats playing us.

The first team must thrive to get more, meaning tons of sellouts, not just vs best competition. Be a tough ticket to get your hands on.

Those factors are for other cities and states to deal with. CT's number one issue is location, geography. After that everything is moot. 13 Big 4s are right around the corner. Too many so that eliminates any further thought.

[MrGompers]

No one's getting a billion dollars from the CT state Govt or any combination of local Govt + State.


These rich people can finance their own stadiums.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Yale Bowl is historic, no way they'd mess with it. Also parking would be a big issue. Yale would never go for it. Why would they?

Isn't Yale Bowl the football version of Chicago's Wrigley Field (before 1988) in that it is over a century old and has no lights? Even though the Giants played there for a year while Yankee Stadium was being renovated and Giants Stadium being built, the age of the stadium combined with the lights issue means no way, even though it seats over 80,000.

My sister has lived in the Buffalo area for 3 decades and is major "Bills mafia" as they call the fans there. I visited her last week (as well as had my daughter tour the state university there she is going to in the fall) and saw this all in the news, it won't happen:

1) The owner Terry Pegula is from the region (Rochester, NY) and purposely bought both them and their NHL team (Sabres) to prevent them from being moved and has no intention of selling.


2) This is one of the biggest sports crazed metros its size in the nation. They have the largest minor league baseball stadium in the country and in the 90s often drew a million fans a year for that and outdrew some major league teams. The brief time the Toronto Blue Jays played for fans there this year were sellouts! The only reason they don't have a major league baseball team is declining population and nearness to Toronto (places like Milwaukee and Cincinnati are comparable in size and have one). They actually were expected to get an expansion team in 1969 but lost to Montreal. Would they get an expansion NFL team today over a fast growing place like Austin? Almost certainly not, but the infrastructure is long there.


3) News noted there that there are lots of efforts to resolve this and both public and private sectors are willing to spend spend spend to achieve it.



They ain't going anywhere, and certainly not to a similarly sized market that is stagnant in population growth at best and 100 miles from two MAJOR NFL markets!

[JayCT]

I agree that there is no way that Robert Kraft will ever allow another NFL team to move within a two hour drive from his team.

But let’s say he does agree for some reason, there is a much better choice for a team location than the Yale Bowl. People forget we also have Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. It has 40,000 permanent seats and temporary seating for another 2,000. Surrounding the stadium are thousands of parking spaces just waiting to be filled. I’m sure the stadium does not meet the NFL’s high standards but heck, it’s a start. Jay

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratt_...ntschler_Field

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I agree that there is no way that Robert Kraft will ever allow another NFL team to move within a two hour drive from his team.

But let’s say he does agree for some reason, there is a much better choice for a team location than the Yale Bowl. People forget we also have Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. It has 40,000 permanent seats and temporary seating for another 2,000. Surrounding the stadium are thousands of parking spaces just waiting to be filled. I’m sure the stadium does not meet the NFL’s high standards but heck, it’s a start. Jay

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratt_...ntschler_Field

I doubt anything below 60k + would be considered on even a medium move/expansion list.

We only profile even remotely well for hockey, and we no longer fit the NHL M.O., which routinely requires 12,000 season tickets fully prepaid before finalizing a franchise in an area. There is no refund for investment if you pass the preliminary NHL check, start seeking season ticket sales, and fall short of the 12k.

Had that been the rule when the Whalers were forming, we would not have gotten a team then. It was lower cost then as players salaries were modest, which helped us despite a small arena with many less than sellout crowds every year.

NHL is totally gate dependent, and cannot mess around.

We are not remotely in the considered list for the NFL, NBA, or MLB.

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I agree that there is no way that Robert Kraft will ever allow another NFL team to move within a two hour drive from his team.

But let’s say he does agree for some reason, there is a much better choice for a team location than the Yale Bowl. People forget we also have Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. It has 40,000 permanent seats and temporary seating for another 2,000. Surrounding the stadium are thousands of parking spaces just waiting to be filled. I’m sure the stadium does not meet the NFL’s high standards but heck, it’s a start. Jay

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratt_...ntschler_Field

A Rentchler or Yale Bowl reno wouldn't make the grade. They want brand new. It has to look like a big giant spaceship with arches, atriums, lazers and luxury suites.

[mdovell]

If they want brand new there's no way it would be 100% publicly funded by anyone. The reason I brought up yalebowl is due to the number of seats. The other issue is well...covid. whats the biggest attended venue domestically at the moment?

Kraft supposedly wanted a smaller stadium for the revolution team. THAT might be a better fit. The argument is that they play a stadium where the patriots might much more. As of 2016 average attendance was 20,000. Rentschler Field might work or at least get it half full which with covid might not be that bad.

[Slipperman]

also, didn't they build the convention center in the spot where the Patriots stadium was supposed to go? where would they even have room for a new stadium (in Hartford at least)?

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by Slipperman

also, didn't they build the convention center in the spot where the Patriots stadium was supposed to go? where would they even have room for a new stadium (in Hartford at least)?

They simply don't have the room. If you demoed some buildings it still wouldn't come even halfway close to what they would want. I've read about this concept for over 20 years. You don't want the public to subsidize sports stadiums.

There's nothing wrong with having events but like what was mentioned is that only half of a season is played at home so this wouldn't be busy off season. I don't see anything wrong with seasonal venues as long as there's something for every season. If something so specifically made that it is only for that one thing then I consider it more of a detriment. I like seeing things that are turnkey read with as little construction needs as possible which is why I mentioned yalebowl. The most successful olympics was back in '84. Minor touch ups and volunteer labor pretty much made it work well. Most other ones had to spend huge amounts. The tokyo olympics is at 15 billion.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tok...the%20Olympics.