Quote:
Originally Posted by driveway
Why wouldn't people who live in Vegas embrace a sports team? I mean, I get that the NHL would probably have the biggest uphill slog of any of the major teams just because hockey. But, the population of Vegas is 600,000; 1.3 million metro. It's becoming a retirement destination, a family city.
People who live there - it's said - avoid the strip, but other than golf what is there to do? Isn't it at least probable that a major league team would be embraced by the people there as something they could hold up as representative of the town outside of the gambling?
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Because how easy is it to simply plonk a new team in a city and expect to develop a proper fan base, not just your everyday tourists/neutral hockey fans? Look at Arizona as the perfect example. Las Vegas has a 1.3m metro, Pheonix has a 4.4m metro and they can only get 13,000 fans in. Thats a franchise that has had 18 years to develop a fan base and still can't.
Ok, they are competing with other major sports teams, something Vegas won't have, but what evidence is there to suggest that your average Vegas resident would embrace Ice Hockey? I think there is a clear reason why none of the other major sports have expanded or moved into this market. Because they think it would fail.
If this Vegas team caught on and did well very quickly, I think it would have a fighting chance, but if it doesn't, then you will end up with another failing franchise on your hands, losing money hand over fist.
What annoys me is that they will keep failing franchises like Arizona and Florida in place and won't move them. What also annoys me is that other areas like Seattle and Quebec would be much better choices to expand into before Vegas. I think once the novelty factor of any new franchise wears off in Vegas, you could easily see them with less crowds than the Panthers or Coyotes, even factoring heavily discounted tickets or the tourist crowd.