Rumor Owners meeting today to approve expansion to 34 teams

[troutman]

The Longhorns have 7 home games in 365 days.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by troutman

The Longhorns have 7 home games in 365 days.

Maybe one more with the new playoff system. And I suppose there is some competition with the college basketball season too.

But yeah, I don't really think UT boosters are going to fight tooth and nail against the introduction of an NHL team in Austin. I just imagine the league would prefer Fertitta and Houston if he's willing to pay the exorbitant franchise fee.

[Reggie Dunlop]

If Gary Bettman is categorically denying it, it means it's happening.

[getbak]

I think the biggest issue with UT in Austin is likely the fact that they recently built a new arena, which holds a little over 10,000 for basketball, meaning a hockey capacity (if possible) would be even lower.

Someone would need to build an NHL-sized building first.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by getbak

I think the biggest issue with UT in Austin is likely the fact that they recently built a new arena, which holds a little over 10,000 for basketball, meaning a hockey capacity (if possible) would be even lower.

Someone would need to build an NHL-sized building first.

I believe they had over 16,000 for some SA Spurs games last year during the regular season.

But yeah, I don't see any pro sports team using an on campus arena as their full time home arena. It's just not really a UT issue, the potential owner would need their own pro sports facility.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

But yeah, I don't see any pro sports team using an on campus arena as their full time home arena. It's just not really a UT issue, the potential owner would need their own pro sports facility.

At least not anymore, now that Alex Meruelo is gone.

[Funkhouser]

Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald

I think the NHL should target 36 teams. That provides balance and good geographical representation to build rivalries. The next teams in should be Houston, Portland, Phoenix, and Kansas City. No to Atlanta and no to Quebec City.

If the NHL targeted 36 teams, I would say GTA, Austin, Portland & KC/Houston would be great fits.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

If the NHL targeted 36 teams, I would say GTA, Austin, Portland & KC/Houston would be great fits.

Then Nashville can move to the Eastern Conference for symmetry, which I would bet they would welcome.

[konradical]

I mean we can say yeah add Portland, but who in Portland is buying this team or where are they going to play? Same with Austin, Cincinatti, Omaha, KC, Indy, San Diego etc. There are no groups that have shown any interest and in many cases also need to build an arena as well.

Houston and Atlanta actually have ownership groups who seem to be able and want to buy a team for over $1B USD. (Although Ferrietta seemed to indicate he isnt willing to pay that much in an interview). They also have arenas that are/will be built it seems for the team. Other then that, Quebec City has been the only other group that has a legitimate bid and backing.

These cities need billionaires that are willing to pay. There are only 3 groups right now that can it seems. So if the NHL wants 36 relatively soon, they might have to give it to QC.

[Eric Vail]

Bettman would never allow Quebec back in the NHL.

Maybe the next commissioner, but not ol Gary.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by konradical

I mean we can say yeah add Portland, but who in Portland is buying this team or where are they going to play? Same with Austin, Cincinatti, Omaha, KC, Indy, San Diego etc. There are no groups that have shown any interest and in many cases also need to build an arena as well.

Houston and Atlanta actually have ownership groups who seem to be able and want to buy a team for over $1B USD. (Although Ferrietta seemed to indicate he isnt willing to pay that much in an interview). They also have arenas that are/will be built it seems for the team. Other then that, Quebec City has been the only other group that has a legitimate bid and backing.

These cities need billionaires that are willing to pay. There are only 3 groups right now that can it seems. So if the NHL wants 36 relatively soon, they might have to give it to QC.

It's a good point. We can look at cities and they may look good on paper, but there has to be an owner or ownership group willing to take it on.

I don't think we really know for sure who has shown interest though. The NHL seems to like to keep it under wraps for the most part. As seen with Balsillie, it really seemed to rub the league wrong when he made his interest public. Granted, he came across as overbearing and aggressive about getting a team, whether through expansion or relocation.

Sometimes rumours get out there about interest (Houston and Atlanta), but I wouldn't be shocked if there are others who have shown formal interest and it's just not out in the public.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Eric Vail

Bettman would never allow Quebec back in the NHL.

Maybe the next commissioner, but not ol Gary.

Its not a matter of Gary Bettman; its a matter of there being very little corporate support for a team in Quebec City. If the money was there the NHL would already be back.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Reaper

Its not a matter of Gary Bettman; its a matter of there being very little corporate support for a team in Quebec City. If the money was there the NHL would already be back.

I'm not buying that at all. If that were the case there would already be another team in SW Ontario. Unless he is absolutely forced into a move like the Jets, Bettman has no interest in growing the game any more in Canada.

[Zary's-Mustache]

Originally Posted by Reaper

Its not a matter of Gary Bettman; its a matter of there being very little corporate support for a team in Quebec City. If the money was there the NHL would already be back.

Agreed and I think Winnipeg is a good lesson. They are already having trouble getting corporate support and selling tickets now that the shine has worn off from getting their team back.

For the long term success of the league, Quebec makes no sense.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by Eric Vail

Bettman would never allow Quebec back in the NHL.

Maybe the next commissioner, but not ol Gary.

It's more likely a majority of owners don't want to do regular business with a PQ nationalist in a market that adds a giant language barrier combined with the highest marginal tax rate in North America to all of the other barriers to success that smaller Canadian markets like Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton face. Or even if the majority of the owners do (unlikely, but possible), the Bell and Molson boys probably don't want infringement on their turf -- in addition to not wanting to do business with PKP.

It might be different if the Saputos or any of the Couche-Tard/Circle K guys were behind the bid. It might not.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I'm not buying that at all. If that were the case there would already be another team in SW Ontario. Unless he is absolutely forced into a move like the Jets, Bettman has no interest in growing the game any more in Canada.

I don't disagree because I think a team in Quebec is more likely via re-location, the same way Utah and Winnipeg got teams, but I'm not sure it's about growing the game, it's about financial viability.

IIRC one of the things they were worried about with both Winnipeg and Quebec around that 2011-2015 time frame when each of those teams were pushing hard to come back was the volatility of the Canadian dollar and the potential impact it has overall due to the lack of corporate support in those communities.

In 2011 when the Jets came back the dollar was at par or even favourable to the US dollar, and that continued to about the middle of 2014.

Since then it's cratered and sits today at 74 cents to the dollar, and based on some stuff out of Winnipeg attendance pressure, economic factors, and the dollar has actually hurt them a lot. And they don't have a big corporate base to draw from.

Quebec likely would have been similarly impacted - and TBH even Quebecor has not been nearly as loud about it in the more recent years as they were in that 2011-2015 timeframe. I think even they probably know it's not necessarily the right time for them.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I'm not buying that at all. If that were the case there would already be another team in SW Ontario. Unless he is absolutely forced into a move like the Jets, Bettman has no interest in growing the game any more in Canada.

The logic doesn't work.

Quebec City is simply a bad market for major-league sports. At present, the only professional sports team in town is the Capitales, a baseball club in the independent Frontier League. This league also has teams in such great metropolitan centres as Pearl, Missisissippi, and Florence, Kentucky.

Southwestern Ontario has an entirely different set of problems, by far the biggest of which is the total control of Ontario sports media by MLSE and its corporate backers. It's all very well to say the league could override the Leafs' territorial rights (with compensation, probably, in the hundreds of millions). But if neither Bell nor Rogers will carry the games, the franchise would have a very tough time getting off the ground.

This kind of behaviour has a long history in the NHL. The Nordiques almost never got on HNIC in the days when the broadcast was sponsored by Molson, simply because the team was owned by Carling-O'Keefe. Harold Ballard delayed the NHL–WHA merger by years because he didn't want to split the CBC income stream six ways instead of three. People in the hockey business have a history of insane stubbornness when protecting their turf.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

I think you could somewhat make an argument for Quebec when the expansion fee was $500 million but now that it's probably going to be $2 billion US, I just can't see how you can make it work at all. The debt load of the team would be so high out of the gate.

[musth]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

Couche-Tard

Heh heh

[troutman]

Originally Posted by konradical

I mean we can say yeah add Portland, but who in Portland is buying this team or where are they going to play?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moda_Center

Moda Center, formerly known as the Rose Garden, is the primary indoor sports arena in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is used for basketball, ice hockey, rodeos, circuses, conventions, ice shows, concerts, and dramatic productions. The arena has a capacity of 19,393 spectators when configured for basketball.[2] It is equipped with state-of-the-art acoustics and other amenities.[8] When configured for hockey or lacrosse, capacity decreases to 17,544.

Phil Knight (Nike) worth $25 Billion.

https://golocalpdx.com/news/portland...st-influential

Jody Allen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jody_Allen