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Originally Posted by isaidso
1 team for all of southern Ontario with nose bleed seats starting at $100? Instead of growing professional hockey and cultivating new fans in this region, Bettman and the NHL have ignored this market completely. He went to places like Atlanta and Phoenix instead.
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Southern Ontario already has a team (Toronto) with two more nearby (Detroit/Buffalo). There is more growth potential in Atlanta and Phoenix than in Hamilton/London or splitting the Leafs market.
Quote:
Originally Posted by isaidso
When demand far outstrips supply people will eventually move on to other sports and other leagues. In southern Ontario you have huge swaths of the population who've moved on. Some were hockey fans who've gotten frustrated with being shut out and switched to something else but most are people that could have been lured to the NHL but were never given a product to get behind. They picked up basketball or soccer instead.
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Have anything to back this up? The Leafs are still one of the most popular and valuable franchises in the league and for my money still the most popular sports team in Canada.
Quote:
Originally Posted by isaidso
Fortress Hockey' was so dominant that even after 3 decades of neglect there's still a huge fan base. On the surface everything looks fine but the NHL has nothing close to the dominance it once had. If they keep this up I can see hockey slipping to 2nd or even 3rd in southern Ontario within a generation. Of course lots of hockey people won't even notice because all they'll see is a full arena and conclude that everything is fine.
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The NHL is not the sole proprietor of hockey in Canada. Im fairly certain there are other organizations (Hockey Canada, Ontario Hockey League, Canadian Hockey League) whose goals are to promote the sport in Canada. The NHL's first and foremost goal is to make money for its owners - not to ensure the longevity of a sport in a specific area.
How does adding another team in Toronto promote the Leafs and the NHL more than the status quo? How does it maximize their revenues more than today?
Quote:
Originally Posted by isaidso
Quebec City is another obvious example. People will only wait so long before they give up. Laval football has filled in the vacuum.
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So there are no more hockey fans in Quebec City now? Nobody watches the NHL or supports an NHL team? And they all support Laval football exclusively? Good to know.
The NHL gains less by expanding/relocating to QC than doing so in other markets. The growth potential (for revenues) is higher for the NHL (note: NHL, not the sport at large) in the US than in Canada. People who like hockey already like hockey. The potential upside in a market like Seattle or Las Vegas is so much higher than QC.