Nashville Predators moving to Canada? NOPE! Sorry, Canucks (and KC!)...

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

Tiger,

Didn't reallise you had a influx of Northerners down your way. Interesting.

Too bad about the Preds I remember reading that the music industry got right behind the team early on. I would have figured that would have ramped up a lot of interest.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

True, and I do. (Note my comments about the Hawks attendance.) But it is also true you do have hockey fans in some Southern cities, particularly those among the many that have moved from the north, and winning and good ownership can help build a steady, strong attendance base. Tampa was a joke before Bill Davidson, sports' greatest owner, took over. Say what you will about Peter Karmanos screwing over Hartford, but he's now got a good team that is the only game in town in one of the fastest-growing areas of the country, with one of its most diversified and growing corporate bases.

So just as bad owners can kill the NHL in good hockey towns, good owners can built it up in "bad" hockey towns. For the record, I do believe the future Blackberrys would be better in K-W than Nashville.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

Bob,

As far as Tampa & the Canes go, you'd have to agree that winning a Stanley Cup doesn't hurt season ticket sales and attendance.

How's Atlanta doing?

Nothing puts bums in the seats faster than a winning team. Look at Buffalo. Went from about 8,000 season tickets the year before to a cap of about 14,000 this year.

The only exception to this is Toronto. We're suckers. And we've been suckered.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...


Only thing I'll add is I'm stunned this topic got 6 pages long.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

Atlanta is doing better than Nashville. Though Atlanta is a tough sell for any team, it seems. Until Michael Vick, the Falcons were in the attendance pooper. The Braves and Hawks have always been tough draws. Then again, I wouldn't be shocked if some of the reason is Atlanta's notorious traffic. You certainly aren't going home from work before the game, then coming back in. That's even possible here in Chicago.

To maintain its current level of teams, the NHL needs some southern success. K-W is a viable market, and if it weren't for the 50-mile rule, you could argue Toronto and Montreal each could (in theory) support a second team. But that's it for Canada. Quebec and Winnipeg would have the same problems it had before -- limited population, limited corporate base. Within a 75-mile radius, I think Fort Wayne, Ind., would have a larger population and corporate base than Quebec and Winnipeg.

Granted, Quebec and Winnipeg would be far more likely to enthusiastically support an NHL team than would Fort Wayne -- same as they would be more likely to do so than similarly sized U.S. metros such as Baton Rouge, Grand Rapids, McAllen and Akron. It's hard to expect a 700,000-population metro under any circumstances to pay NHL prices to fill a 17,000-seat rink 40-plus nights a year. At least with a city such as, say, Houston, the metro area is large enough that even if hockey interest is small, a base of 5 million means the potential for filling that arena is much greater.

The advantage K-W has over Quebec and Winnipeg as well is that it has a population outside its immediate area to draw from. That dismisses just about any other Canadian city that doesn't have an NHL team from getting one -- drive 20 miles out of town, and you might be nowhere.

Emotionally, it would be great to see the NHL return to those cities, but unfortunately demographics argues otherwise.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

Nashville nearly got the New Jersey Devils franchise a few years back. Thank god that didn't happen as the new arena in Newark will open this fall.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

And once the luster of the new arena is over, how long do you think it will be before the Devils will be looking to move?

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

I've been to a few games in the Nashville Arena. It would literally be about half full with Red Wings fans. A few years into the Preds' existence, the Wings games there would be some of the few ones that would sell out.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

Depends on what they do in the next couple of years -- when Brodeur retires or Lou goes, it'll be interesting to see what that franchise does altogether.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

Devs have some young talent--Zajac, Parise--and Gionta is signed to a long term contract. The Devils will be fine.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

It's still a valid question, though, concerning the franchise since it rarely, if ever, sells out a game. The new arena could help them significantly, but it'll be interesting to see this team long term and the fan support. They still ive in the shadow of the Rangers and Buffalo has the strong fan base too.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

Difference is that the Newark Arena will be accessable by mass transit. The Meadowlands was accessable by car and bus, and the bus only to certain hours. Why would New Yorkers who don't drive or who wanted to drink go to a Devils game at the Meadolands? On the off chance that they could get stranded? The PATH train will run right into the Newark Arena, offering New Yorkers to opportunity to go to the game without having to drive.