Quote:
Originally Posted by getbak
The Chicago Wolves and Toronto Marlies were both top 10 in AHL attendance last season. The Wolves have consistently been a top draw since joining the AHL. The Philadelphia Phantoms had strong attendance throughout their 13 years of existence.
The only difference between those teams and what the Sharks are doing is that those teams don't/didn't play in the same building as the NHL team in their city (the Wolves aren't affiliated with the Blackhawks, but the Marlies and Phantoms are/were the AHL affiliate of their city's NHL team).
The Phantoms played in the Spectrum, which shared a parking lot with the new building of many names. The Marlies' arena is only a few kilometres from the ACC.
San Jose doesn't have a second tenant for the SAP Center like an NBA or WHL team, so the arena will be available for scheduling AHL dates (that would be the biggest challenge with putting an AHL team in the Saddledome).
The AHL team will have a lower price point and likely target their marketing towards people who can't get Sharks tickets on a regular basis. There's really no reason to think it won't work.
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A dead right on everything else story from Rochester AHL's newspaper is saying SJ is a temp home. They are probably waiting for the NBA Golden State(oakland) or Sacramento to complete new arenas in the next few years.