Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen LaRose
The sliding US economy is going to do more to ruin the NHL in the States than the sliding Canadian dollar will in Canada.
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Professional sports in general are going to take a hit over the next few years. Luxury items, such as season tickets or even single tickets to entertainment events including sports, will be one of the first things people will cut out of their personal budgets. In fact there it has been shown that tickets to movies increases during economic downturns. This is attributed to people changing their spending habits, e.g. from a $100 sporting ticket to a $10 movie ticket. The LPGA has decided to drop three events for the upcoming year. The prize payout for those events totals 6 million. The number of cars on the NASCAR circuit has decreased because sponsorship is down.
So basically I think it is unlikely a lot of professional sports teams will be able to afford the multi-million dollar salaries. I predict the NHL will lose 2 southern teams. Canadian teams will lose money, but have a solid enough core source of revenue that they will survive. I also predict the NBA, NFL, and MLB will also suffer.
What does this mean for a Winnipeg NHL franchise? In the short term no way in hell, but in the long term the door may be open.