NHL Expansion to Southern Cities As population continually increases in the Southern states, the NHL is moving teams into large Southern cities. In an effort to increase profits and popularity, the NHL has increased the number of teams in the league and moved into Southern cities that have never had hockey teams before. The problem is that hockey is not as popular in the South as it is in the North. This expansion in the South has lead to huge monetary losses to Southern teams and very low attendance numbers. The NHL should not have expanded the league into Southern cities and should keep NHL teams farther North. There are a few reasons why the NHL began expanding into Southern Markets. But the one of the biggest events that opened the door for Southern expansion was the trade of Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings. In 1988, the NHL’s best player ever brought attention to hockey in the South. Gretzky’s name and popularity brought people to the arena and made it possible for other NHL teams to expand to the South. After the Kings picked up Gretzky the first new team to expand to the South was the San Jose Sharks in 1991. The Sharks were followed by the Tampa Bay Lightning who joined the league in 1992. In 1993, Florida was awarded their second team in two years, the Florida Panthers. California was also awarded their third team, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. In 1998, Nashville received an NHL team that was named the Predators. Next, in 1999, the Atlanta Thrashers were born. All of these teams were expansion teams, which means they were simply started and not moved from anywhere else. These teams were put in these Southern markets because the NHL was trying to take advantage of growing cities. In 1970, two years a... ... middle of paper ... ...alaries and lower ticket prices, the NHL should concentrate on where they are wanted and loved, the northern U.S. and Canada. Hockey means a lot to Canadians and children. It does not make any sense that the NHL is concentrating on the South and not helping out teams in Canada or bringing more teams to Canada. When the NHL realizes where hockey matters and where people want hockey, they will be able to be profitable and increase fan support. There is no point trying to force hockey on the southern U.S. because it is not wanted there. Time and money should be spent on helping loyal fans go to games in the North, rather than trying to lure in new fans in the South. The Southern hockey experiment should end now before loyal fans become fed up with pro hockey. If the NHL does not do something soon, it may be too late and NHL fans will be lost forever.
... milestone game in 1980, hockey in the United States has grown significantly at the professional and amateur levels. (USA Hockey, N.d.)
Ultimately, there are three exceptionally important criteria for deciding on good candidate for an expansion team. The first criterion is that the stadium must be controlled or owned by the baseball team. The stadium is a crucial aspect because most of the team’s revenue is generated in relation to the stadium. This stadium revenue comprises of ticket sales, parking, merchandise and concessions. Thus, without a stadium, the team will not be able to generate a stable source of revenue. The second criterion is that local ownership must have strong roots within the community. Without ties to the community, fan attendance could decrease. This is because fans could eventually perceive that the owner(s)’s only goal for the MLB franchise was to be profitable. The third criterion is the city must have long-term political support in the community. It is vital to have political support in order to gain financial support throughout the team’s years of existence, especially in tax payer monies. Particularly, this is significant when the team experiences issues or fights that involve the stadium and the land around the stadium. If there is a lack of political support, the expansion teams will not be able to obtain enough for money for stadium renovations, repairs, or to build new stadiums for the same team within the same city. This circumstance was apparent when the New York Yankees used tax revenue generated by New York City to fund the building of their brand new stadium for the 2009 season. Therefore, expansion committees believe it is necessary to confirm that the prospective cities will have enough political support because this political factor will help stabilize and financially support the prosp...
B. The owners claim that it would not be profitable to keep playing baseball in Montreal and Minnesota.
Fortunately for the NHL, they had/ have the Chicago Blackhawks, the Franchise to bring hockey back. The Chicago Blackhawks started the 2012-2013 series with a 24 point streak, meaning that they went 24 games with at least 1 point gained in each game. As many people don’t pay attention until the season has hit 20 or so games, the Hawks, had come to break the lockout of that particular attention span causing more attention towards not only the NHL , but for the Blackhawks themselves. As fans joined the progressing bandwagon, the NHL was gratefully coming out of the “drought” with numourus sponsorships with companies, and gaining profit from their
The economies of the two regions are still very different. The North tends to be more pro-union and workers rights. Whereas the South, tend to have more right-to-work states, which embraces more of corporate rights stance.
Winfree * , Jason A., McCluskey, J. J., Mittelhammer, R. C., & Fort, R. (2004). Location and attendance in major league baseball. Applied Economics, 36(19), 2117-2124. doi:10.1080/0003684042000287664
+The Kitchener Rangers club had an advantage in that it was extremely well known in the local community, and as a result, it did not use mass marketing to promote games or gain awareness
The Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966. The Braves didn’t have the best teams from 1966-1990, no World Series titles, just not up to where they had been in earlier years. In 1990 the braves had the worst record in baseball, and then in 1991, they went from worst to first, and went to the World Series. They went again in 1992, but unfortunately, they lost both times. However, in 1995 the Braves went to the Championship of baseball once again, they represented the National League, and the Cleveland Indians represented the American League. The Series went six games, and in game six the Braves won, beating the Indians, one to nothing, and winning the World Series.
Some of the most prolific franchises in sports, like the Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Colts of the National Football League, have moved to other cities breaking off their loyalty to the hometown fans. More important than the actual moves are the more frequent threatened moves. When teams “play the field” and explore the option of playing in other cities they are able to lure interested cities into giving them just about any royalty they want. New stadiums are only the beginning. The willingness to threaten departure has secured for teams a variety of land deals, lower taxes, more revenues from parking and concessions, control of stadium operations, guaranteed ticket sales, renovation of stadiums with luxury seating, control over neighborhoods and transportation systems, and that’s only the beginning of the list.
season as a part of a two phase leuge expansion. Teams that also were part of this expansion
When I look back to 1992-1993 I remember A few things, Teemu Selanne Scoring 76 goals in the NHL as a rookie, tying Alexander Mogilny. I cant forget 30 players having over 100 points, 15 with over 50 goals in a season. As I watch the fastest game on earth now, I see the most talented players in the world, struggling to score 30, maybe even 40. The same players who scored 70+ goals are having 30 goal season's. Have the players gotten worse or has hockey gone downhill? I am going to discuss the causes of how the NHL is rapidly decreasing in goal production, team and Individual. The first reason Goal totals for individual players has fallen, is because of the rough play the NHL is now known for. Next is because the goalies are getting bigger and better. Last is because of the new commissioner Gary Bettman.
The debate on whether college athletes should be paid to play is a sensitive controversy, with strong support on both sides. College athletics have been around for a long time and always been worth a good amount of money. This billion dollar industry continues to grow in popularity and net worth, while they continue to see more and more money come in. The student-athletes who they are making the money off of see absolutely none of this income. It is time that the student-athletes start to see some of this income he or she may by helping bring the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are many people who do not think this is in the best interest of the student-athletes or Universities, but that being said there are also many people who are in favor of the change.
When I think of what it means to be Canadian, one of the first things that come to mind is hockey. This is true for many Canadian’s as hockey was and is an integral piece of the formation of the national identity. However, when people think of playing hockey their attention usually turns to the men in the National Hockey League or other top men’s leagues and tournaments. Even so, Canada has come a long way from its beginnings, when women were not even considered persons under the law until 1929. While it has taken many decades for women to receive more recognition in the world of sport, today shows great improvements from the past. A key reason that women are not treated the same way as men in regards to hockey is due to how the game began;
This research will jump forward in time to the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Starting from youth hockey where the interest in the sport is developed, was a great way to see why there has been an increase in the popularity of the sport across the nation, especially in regions not normally known as hockey areas. According to USA Hockey and the NHL, youth hockey has been on the rise for the last decade in almost every state. This research is aimed at finding out where and why this increase is happening.
The number one recommendation for American teams is that they should focus on building teams to which players and fans would be loyal to, and then they will build success and gain revenue in the process. This can definitely be a changing factor for sports in America.