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Originally Posted by JJ1532
Many interesting points to ponder here. Obviously we look to be the first to move our AHL franchise back West and if the article in the OP is to be believed, the other Western teams will follow suit in the near future. But I wonder what the Sharks think of us popping our AHL team on their doorstep?
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The Sharks are rumored to be running their own AHL affiliate out of the SAP arena in San Jose with the NHL team. Don't think they will mind as the Ducks, Flames, Oilers, Kings and Sharks have been colluding together to get this AHL division in the works for a few years by the sounds of it.
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Also be interesting to see what sort of fan base our team could expect? On the one hand there doesn't seem to be a strong sports market in the city, with only the Thunder and a minor league baseball team as professional sports teams. But then the city is still recovering from bankruptcy, so that might take a hit on numbers.
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Stockton Thunder's average attendance numbers
2014-2015 4,131
2013-2014 4,786
2012-2013 5,485
2011-2012 5,916
So yeah attendance is dropping, but it should be a pretty decent fan base size.