[Rumour] NHL and Seattle talking about expansion fees (~$225M)

[Bonded]

Kansas City is not a hockey town. It will not support a team. The NFL, MLB, and MLS are already here. That is a lot of sports teams for a 2 million metro.

[hwy19man]

Seattle and Las Vegas appear to be the frontrunners.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...ticle17560340/

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by hwy19man

Seattle and Las Vegas appear to be the frontrunners.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...ticle17560340/

I initially thought that Vegas would be a good idea but I don't think the local population would support a team and much of the attendance would consist of transient fans (visitors to Vegas.) The team would have too much competition from other Vegas attractions.

Seattle is a great choice and I've been calling for a team in that city for many years. Another western city that I think would be successful would be Salt Lake. They are a winter sport city and they do not have an NFL or MLB team to compete for fans with.

[Fire]

Seattle and Las Vegas would be my two choices. If I was the NHL I wouldn't touch Quebec City. If the separatists get their way it could get messy.

[Nehkara]

Originally Posted by Fire

Seattle and Las Vegas would be my two choices. If I was the NHL I wouldn't touch Quebec City. If the separatists get their way it could get messy.

They won't get their way and Quebec is an obvious choice considering they are already building an arena.

[flamesfan1297]

I would rather move struggling franchises like phoenxi and Florida. I think that this would make more sense than creating new teams. It gets those teams into a new market and hopefully eliminates struggling franchises. This makes much more sense to me.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by flamesfan1297

I would rather move struggling franchises like phoenxi and Florida. I think that this would make more sense than creating new teams. It gets those teams into a new market and hopefully eliminates struggling franchises. This makes much more sense to me.

The most likely scenario is expansion AND relocation. That way they get relocation fees, expansion fees and two more teams to add to league revenue.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by flameswin

The most likely scenario is expansion AND relocation. That way they get relocation fees, expansion fees and two more teams to add to league revenue.

Yep. $225-275 million for expansion teams, $50-100 million for relocating a team. The league could potentially be looking at an influx of $650 million

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Fire

Seattle and Las Vegas would be my two choices. If I was the NHL I wouldn't touch Quebec City. If the separatists get their way it could get messy.

Ok, separatists aside, here are some stats that you posted that strongly disagree with your assessment:

Average ticket prices:

1. Toronto Maple Leafs - Avg Price: $368.60
2. Chicago Blackhawks - Avg Price: $313.18
3. Winnipeg Jets - Avg Price: $276.69
4. Edmonton Oilers - Avg Price: $272.75
5. Vancouver Canucks - Avg Price: $265.48
6. Calgary Flames - Avg Price: $262.10
7. Montreal Canadiens - Avg Price: $257.06

The top 7 teams are 6 Canadian teams and the Stanley Cup Champs.

By the way, I just noticed the actual prices listed here - those numbers are no where near accurate. In Calgary for example, $262 is about the price for the 1st row of the 2nd deck, which is among the most expensive seats in the building. I think the average is more like $100

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Fire

Seattle and Las Vegas would be my two choices. If I was the NHL I wouldn't touch Quebec City. If the separatists get their way it could get messy.

I think those separatists would need Darth Sidious running the city before they get another team.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Fire

Seattle and Las Vegas would be my two choices. If I was the NHL I wouldn't touch Quebec City. If the separatists get their way it could get messy.

Care to explain how that has anything to do with it?

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Nehkara

They won't get their way and Quebec is an obvious choice considering they are already building an arena.

Hamilton was an obvious choice in 1990 considering that they had just built an arena. Didn't get a sniff and Ottawa go the team instead.

Originally Posted by Daradon

Care to explain how that has anything to do with it?

Easy, if Quebec were to ever actually separate, they would lose the massive amounts of money the rest of Canada gives them to fund their social/pet projects. I wouldn't put a lot of faith in Quebec's economy at that point.

[Resolute 14]

City won't revise deal with Hansen to allow for NHL team before NBA

So unless one of those other groups wants to build an arena themselves, Seattle may have taken a fairly large step back.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Ok, separatists aside, here are some stats that you posted that strongly disagree with your assessment:

Average ticket prices:

1. Toronto Maple Leafs - Avg Price: $368.60
2. Chicago Blackhawks - Avg Price: $313.18
3. Winnipeg Jets - Avg Price: $276.69
4. Edmonton Oilers - Avg Price: $272.75
5. Vancouver Canucks - Avg Price: $265.48
6. Calgary Flames - Avg Price: $262.10
7. Montreal Canadiens - Avg Price: $257.06

The top 7 teams are 6 Canadian teams and the Stanley Cup Champs.

By the way, I just noticed the actual prices listed here - those numbers are no where near accurate. In Calgary for example, $262 is about the price for the 1st row of the 2nd deck, which is among the most expensive seats in the building. I think the average is more like $100

My best guess is this is one of the lists that is looking at secondary ticket market, not face value, and probably for a specific lower bowl section. Alberta no longer has scalping laws whereas Quebec does prohibit the sale of tickets at more than face value. So if they get their information from sites that are following provincial and state laws it would make it a bit more believable that Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver have ticket costs higher than Montreal.

[troutman]

Quebec City will happen, probably sooner than later. There are 8 million people in a hockey mad province with only one NHL franchise. Mulroney is involved now.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

City won't revise deal with Hansen to allow for NHL team before NBA

So unless one of those other groups wants to build an arena themselves, Seattle may have taken a fairly large step back.

Interesting they think it's much of a risk. The NBA has indicated that Seattle will get a team back at some point in the future, so building the arena now if a tenant is ready to use it when it's completed would seem like a good move so some money could be made in the meanwhile. Plus don't have to worry about inflation costs building it later. Plus, it's not like the NHL in Seattle is too high of a risk. I would assume the first several years they would have good draws.

[Vulcan]

My three choices for getting a team are Quebec, Seattle and S. Ont. These areas are probably the most deserving but the NHL will go where the money is, so Las Vegas could be there.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by troutman

Quebec City will happen, probably sooner than later. There are 8 million people in a hockey mad province with only one NHL franchise. Mulroney is involved now.

8 million in the Province, but how many of those are close enough to Quebec City to be regular ticket buyers?

The metro population of Quebec City is less than 800,000. For a lot of Quebecers, the Nordiques wouldn't even be their second-closest NHL team.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by getbak

8 million in the Province, but how many of those are close enough to Quebec City to be regular ticket buyers?

The metro population of Quebec City is less than 800,000. For a lot of Quebecers, the Nordiques wouldn't even be their second-closest NHL team.

I mention the 8 million more as a TV market. Ticket-wise QC is a bit larger than Winnipeg, and has more population in the surrounding area.

http://distancecalculator.globefeed....r.asp?state=10

[ForeverFlameFan]

Someone saying Salt Lake City is a good idea. All they have is the Utah Jazz and Real Salt Lake.

Probably the two most ideal locations though is Seattle and Quebec..

The problem is Quebec would be an Eastern team, would it not? Would one of the east teams have to move back to the Western Conference?