Quote:
Originally Posted by Derek Sutton
The study says "could support". Not "will get", "not they are on the radar", not "3 Canadian cities getting franchises", the study is just basically fishing. Could 3 more teams in Canada work? Yes it may but NHL has no interest in this and never will. One, maybe, two not likely, three, never. There are markets that could support three more, but the league would rather pour money into Phenoix then move them to a real hockey market.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce
Its not about ratings, it's about revenue.
The seven Canadian franchises rank in the top 16 according to Forbes valuation, and in the top 14 in operating income.
It makes strong business sense to expand/relocate into Canada.
http://www.forbes.com/nhl-valuations/list/ |
The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for NHL owners is big TV revenue from a major U.S. network. That is the driving force behind their long-term strategy. That's why Phoenix is so important (13th largest market in the U.S.). And it's why the NHL board of governors is lukewarm about more Canadian teams - it does nothing to increase the number of households for NBC to sell advertising to.
This list is the master plan of the NHL.