Quote:
Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef
You can write whatever narrative you want, it's what you always do. The fact of the matter is of that list it was all derailed when point #2 was put in a piss poor location.
And how can anyone with half a brain even suggest that because Ottawa can do it, that the Coyotes can? The Senators have struggled with attendance for a Canadian market, if it has that impact up here it's going to be amplified by a significant margin in a less traditional market.
|
Yeah. A piss-poor location AKA Arizona.
If the solution is to just choose a market by size, then all USA/Canadian sports leagues would have teams in Vancouver and Montreal (given both are better than 30th in metro population). But they don't. The main reason is that hockey is, and for the foreseeable future, will be THE hot ticket in any Canadian city. Aside from a successful NFL team in Toronto to the point of decade-long dynasty, I can't see any way that the NHL gets outspent by a Canadian market. It's the same reason that the MLS isn't a massive league with teams that could potentially win the club world cup. It's because generating interest in a sport that's in a non-traditional market takes a long, fricking time! I also happen to think that the solution is not to plunk hockey into the desert, and hope they show up. Maybe throw a team into Seattle, later Portland, Wisconsin (easy self-marketing rivalry with the Wild) etc. Then, expand on a geographical basis, as local rivalries market themselves far better than any level of marketing can usually do. If hockey ever manages to become just a huge sport to the point of NFL-dom, THEN you go where you want. Not now though. It was idiotic to put the team there, and it's idiotic to keep it there.