Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Quebec is putting forward that same half-billion dollar expansion fee. So why does the league prefer a market with 20K hockey fans to one with 500K hockey fans?
|
People lose the plot a bit on the comparison between a Quebec City and a market like Vegas or any other US market they might consider (actually the Vegas thing is much more of an unusual business model but point remains).
Quebec City is a lock to not be a disaster, but it's also never going to be a big winner. It's a safe investment that won't tank, but it's also never going to generate a huge return. Betman said as much when the NHL went back to Winnipeg, talked about given the size of the market, economy in Winnipeg, that basically everything needs to go right for Winnipeg to be just a little bit successful. It upset people but it's true, the market is just so small, and that same applies to Quebec City.
All the other markets the NHL is interested in have a much much larger chance of failure than Quebec, but they also gave a much much larger ceiling if things go right. In expansion, if you have an investor willing to pay the price, and take the risk, why wouldn't the league go after the big payoff potential, there's no real risk with tones of upside.