[News] Update: NHL green lights season-ticket drive for Las Vegas

[Parallex]

I think it can work... 2M metro population + tons of tourists + large corporate presense and as far as the big four team profesional athletics go it'll be on it's own with no competition. I have to imagine that the arena won't have any issue with event booking in the offseason.

Realistically the best place to expand would be to put a second team in the GTO but good luck getting the Leafs/Sabres to agree to that and good luck finding someone to pay whatever the price the NHL would set on that. Seattle would be nice as well but the city only seems amiable to it if it coinsides with the return of the Sonics.

[East Coast Flame]

I love the idea of putting a team in Vegas, but I would much rather do it through relocation. The talent pool in the NHL is incredibly diluted as is, this would make things much worse. And to think, if they expanded by 4 teams? That is going to be some baaaaaad hockey.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

I hope Calgary leaves Wideman and Jones unprotected in the expansion draft.

Why the hate on Wideman?

[playmaker]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

Expand to Vegas and Seattle.

Relocate Florida to Quebec City.

Wait and see with teams like Arizona and Toronto x 2.

This

I hope there will be 32 teams one day and that the league sticks to this number long term. Together with anticipated relocation of Pathers and Coyotes the dream scenario for me would be:

WESTERN
Pacific: VAN, CGY, EDM, ANA, LAK, SJS, SEA, LVG
Central: CHI, COL, DAL, MIN, NSH, STL, CBJ, WPG
EASTERN
Metrop.: NYR, NYI, NJD, WSH, DET, PHI, CAR, TBL
Atlant.: OTT, MTL, TOR, BUF, BOS, PIT, TO2, QUE

(new teams in bold, hopefully all teams are in)

Bolts in the metropolitan might be a bit out of place but that'd be IMHO the reasonable compromise.

32 teams
16 in playoffs
8 in each division
Perfect.

[automaton 3]

Big population base in LV but many are low paid, and many work nights. Lots of entertainment alternatives in LV. As for corporate support, the other casinos are unlikely to support this, they will promote their own entertainment options and try to keep people on their properties.Who is going to be the ownership group?

Personally I don't mind having this option to see a game though. Cheap flights out of Great Falls and likely dirt cheap ticket prices with cheap beer.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I don't see the NHL being diluted in any way right now. Adding 4 teams? Probably gets pretty diluted, but even with adding 2 teams I think it will be fine.

The NHL is seeing much better players from around the world developing in vastly superior feeder leagues than what we saw 20 years ago. Without looking at the statistics, I would bet there are many more Americans, Swedes and Finns entering the NHL. We are likely to see more Americans being drafted in our lifetime than Canadians (I really hate that eventuality, by the way) due to the game growing in the States, and their grass-roots programs expanding. You are already seeing guys graduate into the NHL from places like California!

You are also starting to see a growing contingent of players coming from non-traditional hockey markets (Germany, Swiss, etc). Though their numbers aren't very high, they certainly are adding to the talent levels of the league, and they look like they will be expanding this, not shrinking.

Czech Republic is apparently getting their development program back on track from what I have been reading - they were once a pretty decent producer of talented, though few, players for the NHL.

You are seeing more veterans being signed later on in the season, and having to look for work elsewhere. Sure, these guys aren't superstars - but I would think many of them are legitimate NHL players who have careers shortened somewhat by competition these days.

Also, having more jobs will also help establishing more players in my opinion. More rookies will start making teams, there will be more developmental opportunities for more draft selections. I think it will be a positive in the long run.

There are definitely pros and cons to expansion, and it really needs to be assessed properly on a market-by-market basis, but dilution (at least 2 new teams anyways) would probably not be a factor now, and especially moving forward.

[IgiTang]

The reason NHL WILL work in Vegas... Advertising dollars!

Casinos will pay a premium to have their Casino advertised on National TV in the US, Canada and Europe. Even if hotels give away the tickets for free and give incentives for those comps to actually attend the game, the advertising revenue internationally is massive.

One thing the NHL has over the other major sports is its international fan base (aside from Soccer).

With a $400Mm buy in and a serious corporate injection of advertising dollars and executive boxes..

Vegas would be very successful.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

The reason NHL WILL work in Vegas... Advertising dollars!

Casinos will pay a premium to have their Casino advertised on National TV in the US, Canada and Europe. Even if hotels give away the tickets for free and give incentives for those comps to actually attend the game, the advertising revenue internationally is massive.

One thing the NHL has over the other major sports is its international fan base (aside from Soccer).

With a $400Mm buy in and a serious corporate injection of advertising dollars and executive boxes..

Vegas would be very successful.

National ad deals go to the NHL itself, so adding Las Vegas is mostly irrelevant to that. Local advertising dollars go to the teams, and are dictated based on ratings, so unless the Las Vegas team is a ratings dynamo (highly unlikely), the revenue they can make off advertising will be average or below average (certainly below the 7 Canadian teams, the New York area teams, Boston, Detroit, Minnesota etc...you know, places that love hockey?). Likewise casino's have no interest in targeting Las Vegas residents, who would be the ones watching the games. So it wouldn't really work.

As to the international fanbase, that's utterly irrelavant because a 7:30PM PST start in Vegas is 2-6AM in most of Europe (where hockey is popular. The rest of the world? Not so much) so not exactly going to be a ratings draw (ratings = ad money). Likewise the NBA crushes the NHL internationally and baseball is pretty big too, so really the NHL has the NFL covered in terms of international appeal, but that's it. So no, the international revenue it can generate is microscopic and has little to no consideration in terms of putting a team there.

Putting a team there is about being the first pro team in Vegas and trying to get the fan loyalty as there likely isn't going to be intense fan support for multiple pro teams. Problem is once the NBA gets a team there (60% chance it happens down the road), the NHL is in big trouble as Vegas residents will easily choose to support a NBA team over a NHL team.

[troutman]

Fun for visiting fans. Terrible experience for home-town fans. Half-empty building filled with fans of the visiting team. No home-ice advantage there.

[Tinordi]

That's alot of players to subject to the expansion draft.

Could be an interesting way for teams to get rid of cap headaches.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by #-3

I think that is like saying the entire population of Calgary works in an Oil companies head office. Or everyone in Edmonton works 2 weeks on 2 weeks off at the rigs.

Its only like 20% of the population that works in Hotels, and Casinos now.
And I'm sure that's pretty evenly split between Days and Nights. So your talking about 200,000 out of 2 million people.

We all knew this was coming, I'm not going to pre-judge that its a bad move. I don't even think Phoenix was originally that bad of a move. Moving the rink Glendale was a big mistake that amplified problems that might have been survivable.

46% of the population works in the hospitality industry according the vegas.com

[Tyler]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

the NHL is in big trouble as Vegas residents will easily choose to support a NBA team over a NHL team.

As counter-intuitive as it sounds, I really don't think the local fanbase is as important in Vegas as it would be in any other city

[Locke]

Originally Posted by saillias

Meh, everyone in Vegas is a hustler. Someone will make tourists buy these tickets

The single most crucial part of any sports franchise is corporate support. I think they'd get that in Vegas. Hell, the general public might be lucky if there were any tickets left to buy.

[terminator]

Lol at the folks doing back of the envelope calculations "proving" this franchise cannot be profitable. Do you actually think that the NHL and the City of LV did not have their own financial modellers predict revenues? ticket sales? They have many more variables than average income, tourists, permenent residents... to build their models.

Its more then obvious that the models are favoring this; yet it does not gaurantee success for if models were fail proof we'd all be stock traders.

Another big draw for the league in LV is the opportunity to create new fans all over the world. Millions will visit LV, few non-hocky fans will get tickets comped, fewer will buy tickets but some of these new viewers may turn into fans. Vegas is actualy the perfect spot, Hockey catered to tourists this is what it is and its a great business move. There is a good chance that the league is not seeing this one franchise as being profitable on its own however they may be seeing the bigger picture.

[Locke]

I also dislike the notion that Quebec City somehow 'deserves' a team. Why? Because they like hockey?

If anything, Quebec City deserves an NHL hockey team the least because they've already had their chance.

We sit here talking about how expansion isnt what the league needs, it would be better served with contraction but then we want teams in places like Markham and Quebec City? Its madness.

We're already seeing the cracks in the veneer of the Winnipeg Jets.

[squiggs96]

I'm guessing Bronzel is okay with expansion, but jhunt is not a fan of expansion.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Locke

The single most crucial part of any sports franchise is corporate support. I think they'd get that in Vegas. Hell, the general public might be lucky if there were any tickets left to buy.

What big corporations are in Vegas outside of gambling companies and an online clothing store?

[Senator Clay Davis]

...

Strombone‏@strombone117 hrs
Gonna be unreal when Las Vegas goes undefeated at home every year........ #nhl #expansion

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

What big corporations are in Vegas outside of gambling companies and an online clothing store?

Every Casino in town would have huge swathes of tickets just like they do to almost every Vegas show.

Ever been to Vegas? There'd probably be slot machines bolted to each seat and mounted to the wall in front of every urinal with card tables in the promenade.

If the goal is to make money thats all Vegas does. A team would make money.

Would it suck to play for? Absolutely. Very few fans of the actual team and very small likelihood of acquiring any due to the transient nature of the city.

But it would make money.

[djsFlames]

I'd argue that top end talent is rising and it could definitely be spread out a little more. Look how stacked teams like San Jose, Colorado, Chicago are up front. They basically have two 1st lines and a 2nd line. Wasn't Pavelski then Couture playing as the 3rd C for a while? Ridiculous. I mean good on those teams for putting together a good crop but at the same time the talent seems to be bunching up in some places, and good teams can still sustain their systems with the level of talent coming in despite drafting low, so they're immune to going to rebuilds. Meanwhile teams on the outside continue to be held down in the standings. If the talent were more spread out (with more teams) there would be more of a life cycle for teams above and below the playoff line and more of a presence of energy/role players on teams as well. But at the same time it's great for a fan enjoying the game to see the increase in talent coming in.