The arena is really in the middle of nowhere, similar issue to Glendale.
Cali lives there so he can answer best, but I have a friend in Miami who goes occasionally.
They are up in Fort Lauderdale, which is a better hockey geographic than Miami proper. However, south florida is Nascar and college football land. Miami is when the Heat are awesome great, otherwise we love soccer.
It is just a poor sports area period. Marlins barely draw, Heat are as fairweather as you get, Dolphins have a set fan set but aren’t a massive draw.
Hockey in this situation is about as after thought as you can get. If you play hockey you probably would like to go, but casual fan? Nope.
They should go to Quebec but I think their arena situation is not as dire as Arizona.
Some of the crowds lately have been really really bad pictures in middle of the first and lower bowl looks maybe 15% full
What is the disconnect? Its a good young team
Bad marketing?
Quote:
Originally Posted by OldDutch
Cali lives there so he can answer best, but I have a friend in Miami who goes occasionally.
They are up in Fort Lauderdale, which is a better hockey geographic than Miami proper. However, south florida is Nascar and college football land. Miami is when the Heat are awesome great, otherwise we love soccer.
It is just a poor sports area period. Marlins barely draw, Heat are as fairweather as you get, Dolphins have a set fan set but aren’t a massive draw.
Hockey in this situation is about as after thought as you can get. If you play hockey you probably would like to go, but casual fan? Nope.
They should go to Quebec but I think their arena situation is not as dire as Arizona.
OD is mostly on point. It's a fair-weather market through and through. People just don't get into pro sports that much . I will say that the Heat still draw pretty well even though they aren't a great team. Ticket prices are still very high for that team.
The Panthers have never had any consistency in their success from season to season. They have one season where they're great, and then the next year they fall off into oblivion again. Fans grow tired of that act, and until they have sustained success like Tampa Bay, they'll never have a loyal fan base. I can't blame the fans either. Would you to continue to support the Flames if they had 3 good years in the last 20? (nevermind, don't answer that one )
The arena is in an ok spot, but it is inland pretty much next to the everglades. It's right in the Fort Lauderdale area, which is about as central as you can get in the population, and there are enough people within 30 minutes of the arena to fill it, but like I said, you still have to ice a winning product consistently.
The good thing is that the arena books lots of entertainment acts that supplement the income of the team. That plus the lease/rent deal with the county is very favorable to the Panthers, so they don't have to fill the building every night to cover the costs.
All in all, it's not a great situation, but it's probably only the 4th or 5th most concerning situation in the league. Coyotes, Hurricanes, and Islanders are more dire situations, and then probably the Panthers. Some other concerning teams are the Senators (ownership), Devils, and possibly even the Ducks who fail to draw well despite winning a lot every year. If the Ducks had the Panthers' success rate, I bet we start talking about what's wrong in Anaheim.
People like to talk about moving the team to Quebec, or somewhere else, and I get the logic if you're using just the optics around the Panthers, but there's plenty of people and money in south Florida, and not necessarily enough of that in Quebec City. More hardcore hockey fans up there? Not a doubt in my mind, but I worry that they wouldn't be any more profitable than a team down here when you take all of the finances into consideration.
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Also related... the Suns owner is threatening to move the team after city council delayed a vote on $230 M arena renovation.
A little background, the Suns were trying to push approval of the arena upgrades through city council before the new mayor who is against the plan takes office.
jeffmetcalfe @jeffmetcalfe
City sources: Phoenix City Council will delay $230M Suns arena renovation vote azcentral.com/story/news/loc… via @azcentral
Laurie Roberts @LaurieRoberts
UPDATE: City official tells me Suns owner Robert Sarver is threatening to take Suns to Seattle or Las Vegas. azcentral.com/story/opinion/… via
Also related... the Suns owner is threatening to move the team after city council delayed a vote on $230 M arena renovation.
A little background, the Suns were trying to push approval of the arena upgrades through city council before the new mayor who is against the plan takes office.
jeffmetcalfe @jeffmetcalfe
City sources: Phoenix City Council will delay $230M Suns arena renovation vote azcentral.com/story/news/loc… via @azcentral
Laurie Roberts @LaurieRoberts
UPDATE: City official tells me Suns owner Robert Sarver is threatening to take Suns to Seattle or Las Vegas. azcentral.com/story/opinion/… via
Wouldn't necessarily have to change the team name if they go to Vegas. Suns would still work there. But Seattle... Seattle Clouds?
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OD is mostly on point. It's a fair-weather market through and through. People just don't get into pro sports that much . I will say that the Heat still draw pretty well even though they aren't a great team. Ticket prices are still very high for that team.
The Panthers have never had any consistency in their success from season to season. They have one season where they're great, and then the next year they fall off into oblivion again. Fans grow tired of that act, and until they have sustained success like Tampa Bay, they'll never have a loyal fan base. I can't blame the fans either. Would you to continue to support the Flames if they had 3 good years in the last 20? (nevermind, don't answer that one )
The arena is in an ok spot, but it is inland pretty much next to the everglades. It's right in the Fort Lauderdale area, which is about as central as you can get in the population, and there are enough people within 30 minutes of the arena to fill it, but like I said, you still have to ice a winning product consistently.
The good thing is that the arena books lots of entertainment acts that supplement the income of the team. That plus the lease/rent deal with the county is very favorable to the Panthers, so they don't have to fill the building every night to cover the costs.
All in all, it's not a great situation, but it's probably only the 4th or 5th most concerning situation in the league. Coyotes, Hurricanes, and Islanders are more dire situations, and then probably the Panthers. Some other concerning teams are the Senators (ownership), Devils, and possibly even the Ducks who fail to draw well despite winning a lot every year. If the Ducks had the Panthers' success rate, I bet we start talking about what's wrong in Anaheim.
People like to talk about moving the team to Quebec, or somewhere else, and I get the logic if you're using just the optics around the Panthers, but there's plenty of people and money in south Florida, and not necessarily enough of that in Quebec City. More hardcore hockey fans up there? Not a doubt in my mind, but I worry that they wouldn't be any more profitable than a team down here when you take all of the finances into consideration.
Don't the Panthers have a really shady owner? If I remember right, they have a crazy good arena lease that basically pays them to play there, and a pretty good tv deal that pays them even though no one watches. I figure the team only exists as a money laundering vehicle. Which means they are probably safe to stay around.
Don't the Panthers have a really shady owner? If I remember right, they have a crazy good arena lease that basically pays them to play there, and a pretty good tv deal that pays them even though no one watches. I figure the team only exists as a money laundering vehicle. Which means they are probably safe to stay around.
Nothing shady about the owner at all. Unfortunately, Donald Trump named him secretary of the Army because of his extensive military background and philanthropy dedicated towards veterans. He quickly withdrew his name from consideration when he realized how awful being associated with Trump would be for his reputation (also too hard to divest his interests).
The league has been adamant over the last couple of decades now that teams stay put as long as someone is willing to operate a team in their current market. It's why hopes of relocating the Penguins to Kansas City, the Predators to Hamilton, the Coyotes to Hamilton/K-W have all failed. As long as there was a local owner - or in Pittsburgh's case, arena negotiations - the teams stay. And it's why Atlanta relocated. Nobody wanted that team in that city.
What's interesting here is that it seems like the ownership well has finally gone dry in Phoenix. Add in the difficulty in getting a new arena deal off the ground, and it's not hard to imagine that the Coyotes could have no more than one or two more seasons left in the desert.
Actually the NHL can stop the sale and relocation of a franchise but they cannot stop an owner from relocating the team himself. If Murray Edwards or Eugene Melnyk wanted to up and relocate their franchise there is nothing Bettman or the NHL can legally do to stop them.
Actually the NHL can stop the sale and relocation of a franchise but they cannot stop an owner from relocating the team himself. If Murray Edwards or Eugene Melnyk wanted to up and relocate their franchise there is nothing Bettman or the NHL can legally do to stop them.
I could be wrong but I'm almost positive the BOG has to approve a relocation.
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I could be wrong but I'm almost positive the BOG has to approve a relocation.
No, they don't. There is nothing written in that says they need to approve a relocation. There is a good discussion about this on the HF website business section.
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