[Rumour] NHL to expand to 34 teams? Houston and Atlanta

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by WCW Nitro

How many stadiums/arenas will they build in Atlanta? The Braves and Falcons had new places opened in the 90's and then were replaced recently and the arena for the Thrashers/Hawks was built just in the 90's too

Opened in 1999 and just had major renovations in ~2018.

From wiki:

On November 1, 2016, the Hawks and the city of Atlanta reached a financing agreement on renovating Philips Arena, with the city contributing $142.5 million and the Hawks $50 million plus cost overruns to the project. With the renovation, the Hawks signed a lease extension lasting through June 30, 2046, with an early termination penalty of $200 million plus the remaining balance of the arena's bonds.

[Gemnoble]

You can't pass up Quebec again.

Its kind of hilarious, if Bettman just let Quebec have a team, 80% of the hate on him vanishes. It's that simple. Let Canada have all the teams back and then he can go play in the desert with Coyotes all he wants.

[Oil Stain]

Atlanta and Houston make the most sense if we are talking expansion.

The way that expansion teams are competitive right off the hop now actually gives a new market a chance to solidify a fanbase right away so it could work in Atlanta despite failing there before.

[Eb0la11]

Anyone familiar with the Atlanta area may understand but a colleague of mine today who really doesn’t even pay attention to hockey down here north of Atlanta told me that they are building an 18000 seat arena in Cumming area. This isn’t too far from where the ECHL gladiators play and far away from the Atlanta culture in downtown that was unable to support the Thrashers. The Braves also moved away from downtown and it is working well. The Battery is a development around Truist Park and they are talking about a similar vibe around this cumming area which would be fantastic. I’d for sure buy at least a ten game package down here.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Gemnoble

You can't pass up Quebec again.

Its kind of hilarious, if Bettman just let Quebec have a team, 80% of the hate on him vanishes. It's that simple. Let Canada have all the teams back and then he can go play in the desert with Coyotes all he wants.

Of course you can pass on a city with half the population of Ottawa and no corporate presence at all. Especially in favour of Houston which has 6.7M and a pretty decent minor league past.

The place that makes the most sense though is SW Ont.

[The Fisher Account]

It's not 1979 again.

QC just can't compete on the North American sports stage. From corporate sponsorship, to fanbase dollars to even being a quasi-desirable place for anyone besides native Quebecers to play in. They got a nice arena, great. Enjoy the Ramparts and the PeeWee tournament and move on.

[oldschoolcalgary]

Houston I understand, but no reason to think that Atlanta can support a teams if its already failed twice.

[Eric Vail]

Atlanta failed twice. I don't get it.
Phoenix has been an embarrassing failure for decades, but the league continues to prop them up.

Quebec can't get a team.

Bettman deserves the hate he gets.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Of course you can pass on a city with half the population of Ottawa and no corporate presence at all. Especially in favour of Houston which has 6.7M and a pretty decent minor league past.

The place that makes the most sense though is SW Ont.

I think a lot of fans think because they had a team once, that they can do it again not considering or realizing just how small that market is. It may not be large enough for the CFL let alone the NHL. The league is a lot bigger today and cities like Calgary with just over a million people are small market. Quebec City simply isn't a market big enough to support an NHL team nor is it a TV market that's going to help grow revenues.

[The Fisher Account]

Originally Posted by Eric Vail

Atlanta failed twice. I don't get it.
Phoenix has been an embarrassing failure for decades, but the league continues to prop them up.

Quebec can't get a team.

Bettman deserves the hate he gets.

Who does Bettman work for?

Bettman works for the owners.

Who makes money when the NHL expands? Owners.

If QC was such a slam dunk and would make the owners a ton of money, why haven't they been banging on Bettman's door telling him to get it done?

Fans need to realize that QC is ONLY good for one thing:

A bargaining chip

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I think a lot of fans think because they had a team once, that they can do it again not considering or realizing just how small that market is. It may not be large enough for the CFL let alone the NHL. The league is a lot bigger today and cities like Calgary with just over a million people are small market. Quebec City simply isn't a market big enough to support an NHL team nor is it a TV market that's going to help grow revenues.

I agree. And I love Quebec City as a place to visit.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I agree. And I love Quebec City as a place to visit.

I've never been but I hear it's beautiful. Will have to add it to my bucket list.

[CalgaryFan1988]

I understand it's a business, but isn't the NHL watered down enough? The quality of the product is already pretty bad.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

I understand it's a business, but isn't the NHL watered down enough? The quality of the product is already pretty bad.

The NHL needs to keep expanding by two teams every couple years so Jon Gillies can retire when he's 40.

[Strange Brew]

Yeah I doubt that QC even remotely moves the needle on the Canadian TV/streaming market. Are there many Quebecers who don't follow the Habs and are waiting for a team in QC?

That said, the NHL loves them some expansion fees. What will it be this time, $800 million? Any ownership group willing to hand over a $25 million bag of cash to each NHL owner is going to get serious consideration.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

I understand it's a business, but isn't the NHL watered down enough? The quality of the product is already pretty bad.

Personally I feel the quality is getting better. It seems like junior players are more prepared and conditioned to play pro and there seems to be a lot of good young players entering the league yearly from all around the world. The Devils started their rebuild in 2019 and look at where they are today. Expansion teams are making the playoffs within a year or two simply based off taking cast-off players from around the league. I just feel that even 3rd line players today as a whole are a lot better than they used to be which is why these expansion teams are experiencing success a lot quicker.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Personally I feel the quality is getting better. It seems like junior players are more prepared and conditioned to play pro and there seems to be a lot of good young players entering the league yearly from all around the world. The Devils started their rebuild in 2019 and look at where they are today. Expansion teams are making the playoffs within a year or two simply based off taking cast-off players from around the league. I just feel that even 3rd line players today as a whole are a lot better than they used to be which is why these expansion teams are experiencing success a lot quicker.

Agreed. The young talent is better, and larger than years past due to the growth of hockey globally, and countries outside of Canada (and Russia) developing stronger talent with each generation.

The NHL can expand by 4 more teams I say, and be alright quality wise.

[Mr.Coffee]

The problem Quebec has is that the NHL already sort of took a risk with Winnipeg and they're already having commercials begging fans to come support the team and fill the stadium. It's only been like 4 years or whatever.

When the $ is at elevated levels like it is now it's tough for Canadian teams to pay US salaries and keep prices low. People still bitch about how expensive games are, and they are, but that's the price level the league is at when you have growth YOY for 30 years. It's why the salary cap is where it's at. It's not that there will be a downward adjustment, the league will just move and grow into areas where it can continue to achieve such growth and that might mean even moving out of tougher markets.

This is where Calgary needs to be a little careful. Everything from an economic perspective looks good, but then there's a declining attendance issue coupled with a city unwilling to negotiate much to build the required facilities for the contemporary NHL product.

People need to fill the stadiums in Canada. We can't afford to have the 30% filled buildings like Arizona or Florida where the market potential is vastly superior and revenues earned in USD.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by CalgaryFan1988

I understand it's a business, but isn't the NHL watered down enough? The quality of the product is already pretty bad.

the product is bad not because of diluted talent, but because of NHL own goals.

And there are lots of topics to bitch about here, but top of the list is the product is wildly inconsistent game to game and nobody knows what the rules are- most of all- the NHL.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

This is where Calgary needs to be a little careful. Everything from an economic perspective looks good, but then there's a declining attendance issue coupled with a city unwilling to negotiate much to build the required facilities for the contemporary NHL product.

I mean, we don't need to go down this path here, but this is objectively untrue.