Quote:
Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame
Wouldn't regional fan bases (and who they cheer for) just naturally align as has proven in the past? I mean extra teams were added to the Eastern Conference after the original six (in various ways) and it seems most of them were successful.
Rangers -> Philadelphia, Long Island, Buffalo, New Jersey
Boston -> Hartford
Chicago -> Minnesota, St. Louis, Columbus
Montreal -> Quebec City
Detroit -> Maybe Pittsburgh? Toronto? Chicago?
Toronto -> Buffalo?
Even beyond the OG six (just to name a few):
California Golden Seals -> Los Angeles
Rangers, Philadelphia -> Washington, New Jersey
Kansas City -> St. Louis, Colorado, Chicago
Toronto, Montreal -> Ottawa
Los Angeles -> San Jose, Anaheim
Tampa Bay -> Florida
Vancouver -> Seattle
Phoenix -> Las Vegas
Even with possible expansion:
Dallas -> Houston
Florida -> Atlanta
Toronto -> Hamilton, Mississauga, Markham
I think my point is that fans will gravitate to the team they want to cheer for, as long as the product is good, the owners are competent, and the game experience is worth coming back for.
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Yes and no. It’s not really as simple as you make it out to be.
Take New York (for example, as it’s been mentioned previously). Lots of teams in a small area, but those teams all operate in areas with a completely distinct culture where the people actually value those differences. It’s why the Rangers and the Devils work, or why Philly and Pittsburgh works, or why Calgary and Edmonton works. There are clear divisions where the drive might be all of 30 minutes between arenas but to the people there it’s a world apart.
You can correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think that exists in the GTA. Talking to friends in places like Hamilton, there’s no sense of “rivalry” with Toronto. They’re all Leafs fans and stoked to be Leafs fans even if they live an hour away. It’s like putting another Alberta team in Lethbridge… nobody really cares. They’re all Edmonton (or less so: Calgary) fans anyway and sure, they’d cheer for the most local team, but there’s no real advantage to going there.
You’ve also randomly listed a bunch of teams that are super far away from each other, so I might be missing your point. But Toronto/Hamilton is a poor comparison to almost every other two teams you mentioned there.