next city to get NHL franchise (Dallas Stars, Bills, Mariners, basketball)

[JJG]

Originally Posted by QweffL

Snow doesn't seem to be helping much Denver, Columbus, and Uniondale. Not enough snow maybe?

Cheeky...

Of course, you're a bit late on the convo. I already went back and forward with a couple on here weeks ago.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by QweffL

P.S. How big is the NHL following in Seattle and Portland? I'm curious because while living in that area I haven't met a single person who would have any interest in hockey or any professional sports for that matter.

Judging from people I know and the crowds at the big sports bars during the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year, there's a small, but dedicated NHL following, mostly from transplants from Canada, Northeast, and Upper Midwest and some locals who grew up following hockey. Both Portland and Seattle have had WHL franchises, and while that's junior hockey, there's a dedicated fanbase for the Portland Winterhawks that understands hockey, enough so that they sold out the bottom half of the Rose Garden during their playoff run to the finals this year.

It's hard to have a real large NHL fanbase in places like Portland--for one because unless you have the Versus network or a satellite, you're not watching many games outside of those broadcast occasionally on weekend afternoons or during the playoffs.. Some people in Washington might actually get Vancouver channels or the CBC and actually have a chance to watch the occasional Canucks game or Hockey Night in Canada. But there isn't real connection to the Canucks in the Pacific Northwest outside of BC.

As far as no one in Portland and Seattle having interest in professional sports, that's not true at all. The Portland Trailblazers have been able to consistently sell out for years, while not even being able to win a playoff series in the last decade. The Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers have been able to sell out Major League Soccer games all summer since moving up to majors in the last year. The Oregon Ducks overshadow much of what's going on during the fall, but you've still got Portlanders who are following the Seahawks pretty passionately. There's an audience for sports in the Northwest; it isn't as if everyone who lives here is a stereotype from the show Portlandia.

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by JJG

Yeah, that's why I said TOSS UP. You just don't hear or see much history of hockey in Tennessee in general. If it is that big in Nashville, then I take back what I said.....

There isn't a plethora of hockey history in Tennessee...but hockey in Nashville goes back about 50 years, beginning with the Dixie Flyers. After that, there were a couple more franchises (South Stars and Knights) before we got the Predators. It wasn't much, but there were definitely hockey fans and youth hockey groups before the Preds arrival. Add in the fact that the Nashville area has seen a lot of northern transplants in the past couple of decades (especially Michigan residents with the construction of the GM plant south of town)...so it's not like the NHL decided to land a team where there was zero hockey base whatsoever.

Since the arrival of the Preds, the franchise has had its ups and downs (especially with the sale debacle a few years ago and threats of relocation). The previous owner (Leopold) did not market the team especially well, and failed to attract enough of the "casual fans" to fill the necessary seats to make the team successful. However, there has been a solid group of die hard Pred fans since day 1.

With the new local ownership group, the team has solidified its base, corporate partnerships, and financial status. Attendance has risen by over 1,200 per game over last season, while paid attendance is up more than 1,400 per game (freebies went down). With the consistent success that the Preds are having, coupled with the ups and downs of the Titans (and now potential lockout), you are starting to see more and more of those casual fans spend money on the team. Specialty license plates, bumper stickers, flags, tshirts, hats, and jerseys are now much more common around the city. Because of the on ice success of the team, better marketing, and commitment by the local ownership, more of the casual fans are being attracted to the game and becoming hooked. Local media, which was initially pretty dismissive or passive about the team, has finally started to turn the corner, too.

Another thing that is helping Nashville is the tremendous explosion of youth hockey in the area. Before the Preds, hockey was an exotic sport for a few kids to play...now a number of local high schools ice teams. That would've been unheard of 15 years ago. There is even a local success story going for the Preds: Blake Geoffrion (grandson of Boom Boom Geoffrion and great grandson of Howie Morenz, both HoFers), who grew up in Nashville, and played youth hockey here...and went on to be drafted by the team...the first Tennessee-raised NHL player.

The thing is, a lot of people are quick to point out the so-called "failure" of the Sun Belt hockey "experiment" because of the struggles of a few teams. I can tell you that a lot of that was due to poor local ownership/management. People in the South LOVE sports. But they also love to win. If the owners of a franchise are unwilling to put in the legwork to make it successful on the ice, they will ultimately be a failure in the stands. That's the exact reason why Atlanta failed. Horrid ownership.

You can't build a fan base for a "new" sport overnight. It takes an incredible amount of dedication to the cause. You can't just make up "hockey history"...you have to grow it, develop it. Rather than immediately pointing out the faults of the Atlanta's, the Florida's, and the Phoenix's...look at the success stories, too. The Dallas's, the Carolina's, the Tampa Bay's, and yes, even the Nashville's of the Sun Belt, you can see that with the proper guide and direction, hockey CAN succeed here...and hopefully one day, thrive.

To get a glimpse of the fans and what the players think of them, check this out:

2011 Playoffs: Crowd/Fan Highlights Video - NHL VideoCenter - Nashville Predators

[mrconfusion87]

Originally Posted by Head coach

Well, I give that new team 5 years in Winnipeg and then it's bust...time to move on again! Why? There are around 700,000 people there...ok, 1.2 with the urban included. Not enought people to make it work. The guy who's buying the team will realize this in his 3 year.

Then it's off to Seattle, where it should have gone in the first place! As for Houston, back in the late 70's they tried to switch over from a WHA team to an NHL team. But, they couldn't even muster up 5000 season tickets. Now, 35 years later, they can probably pull it off with 4.5 million people.

However, I think a Seattle location would be better and it would make things a whole lot easier on the Vancouver Canucks. Then they might win a game! Why do you think all of those Canadian teams are down here? That's right...they pay 50% in taxes!

Sorry I beg to differ about Winnipeg! The guy (Mark Chipman) had been working on getting this off the ground for more than a decade and its obvious from how he's been running this project that he's done his homework and I'm sure he's learned from the mistakes of Jets 1.0! And I don't think Canada's richest man (David Thomson) won't sign on with this if he knew it would be a failure in the first place! Anyway, if Chipman plays his cards rights as well as he did during the decade-plus he spent working on getting a team to the Peg, I will not be shocked if the Jets become the Green Bay Packers of the NHL! Believe me they have what it takes!

Besides I do not see the Canadian Dollar plunging to its 90s-early 00s lows anytime soon - in fact I'd say its more likely that the US Dollar will plunge to such lows against the Loonie at the rate its going with all the out-of-control-spending, political infighting and many other issues that won't get fixed as long as the Dems and Repugs won't cooperate and there's little indication they would anytime soon!

[Derpzz]

*cough*Portland*cough*
-Our WHL team fills half of the rose garden per regular season game. Just think about NHL....
-We have the arena
-The support (Portland supported the timbers so much this year)
-Seattle doesnt have an arena so forget about it.
-We need more teams in the west.
....SO why the hell arent the yotes here yet....

[JetsNHL]

Quebec city?

[Checkered24]

Originally Posted by Superduy

Quebec city?

Yes.

They are building a new hockey arena up there, and it is looking to me like the Islanders are looking for a new home.

I could see Portland as a possibility too, when the NHL is done with the Pheonix experiment.

Kansas City also has an arena and is interested in giving it a go.

Maybe even Hamilton, with Tony Basille interested in a team. Although that is tougher since Hamilton is in both the Maple Leaf's and Sabres territories, and I doubt neither team wants to share their market area with another franchise.

[JetsNHL]

Originally Posted by Checkered24

Yes.

They are building a new hockey arena up there, and it is looking to me like the Islanders are looking for a new home.

I could see Portland as a possibility too, when the NHL is done with the Pheonix experiment.

Kansas City also has an arena and is interested in giving it a go.

Maybe even Hamilton, with Tony Basille interested in a team. Although that is tougher since Hamilton is in both the Maple Leaf's and Sabres territories, and I doubt neither team wants to share their market area with another franchise.

Trono is sold out every game, maybe would be a problem for Buffalo is Hamilton got a team.

[Howest2008]

It would be between Kansas City and Houston Texas and about a half dozen Canadian Cities.

[Bondurant]

Originally Posted by Checkered24

Yes.

They are building a new hockey arena up there, and it is looking to me like the Islanders are looking for a new home.

I could see Portland as a possibility too, when the NHL is done with the Pheonix experiment.

Kansas City also has an arena and is interested in giving it a go.

Maybe even Hamilton, with Tony Basille interested in a team. Although that is tougher since Hamilton is in both the Maple Leaf's and Sabres territories, and I doubt neither team wants to share their market area with another franchise.

There's no reason for Hamilton not to have a team if they can support one. It's very ignorant of Toronto or Buffalo to assume it's their territory. I'd like to know what the folks of Hamilton think of either franchise.