Quote:
Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald
The Suns arena (Footprint Center) is not setup for hockey and after the $230 reno completed a couple years ago it is a non-starter. Footprint is a dedicated basketball/concert facility now and the renovation did not do anything to any ice making facilities in the building. I spoke with one of their executives at a retreat and he stated that if an event that needed ice was booked they would have to bring in temporary ice making systems. For example, Cirque du Solei is a regular performer at Footprint and they are bypassing Phoenix and going to Tucson with Crystal (ice show) largely because of availability of an ice surface. Without discussing the atrocious sightlines for hockey there are too many hurdles to jump there to be viable.
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Interesting. They ripped out the ice making equipment in Houston but have plans to put in new equipment this summer. The setup is fine for hockey though, no mods required.
There has to be diminishing returns with multiple arenas in a metro area. Houston and Dallas are bigger cities and very spread out. Yet they each have only one major arena. although some other venues that are smaller for smaller concerts etc.