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Post by Sinclair Promotions on Mar 28, 2015 1:00:31 GMT -5
The annual board of governors meetings are coming up soon in Vegas. Word going around is that if they are happy with the ticket drive then the ownership group will be able to formally apply for expansion.
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Post by Vegas on Mar 30, 2015 21:51:39 GMT -5
In another positive sign, as the new arena continues to get built, the 10,000 season ticket deposit goal has been achieved!
Las Vegas ticket drive moves forwards and upwards: Report
Congratulations Las Vegas and prospective NHL owner Bill Foley. You have exceeded the magic 10,000 ticket deposit threshold according to ESPN.com, which is a major step towards getting an NHL franchise. Woohoo!
So now what?
Well, keep getting deposits of course ... this is Vegas, and what would be more Vegas than continuing to try to take people's money in games of minimal chance of winning? Just kidding, well not really.
From ESPN:
The group will continue to take down payments on season tickets from individuals even as they move into discussions with these larger entities, many of whom have already reached out to Foley and his group, he said. It's possible that along with the sale of suites, which are at about 750 seats, the ownership group that includes Foley and the Maloof family, former owners of the Palms casino and resort in Las Vegas and the NBA's Sacramento Kings, could top the 13,000 mark for season ticket deposits.
So, they’ll keep doing just that. According to the piece, Foley’s investors have already talked about a lease with a new $350 million arena on the strip that seats 17,300.
But there is still that pesky issue of conference imbalance that one team will not fix. The Eastern Conference has 16 teams and the Western Conference has 14 teams. So … hello Seattle as well? Regardless, Foley seems to believe it’s going to happen. There seems to be a lot of leaks around the Las Vegas situation – probably from multiple entities with a business stake, possibly the NHL as well?
And the league has also been pretty straightforward in answering questions about Las Vegas. If it wasn’t going to happen, we would have known by now.
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Post by TTX on Mar 31, 2015 5:49:40 GMT -5
While I think the NHL is silly doing this (but that's never stopped a league from expanding past its means), good luck with getting a team in Vegas.
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Post by Tournament Master on Apr 24, 2015 10:22:32 GMT -5
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Post by Sinclair Promotions on Apr 24, 2015 21:31:50 GMT -5
Great article TM. Sadly I can see Vegas getting a franchise before Ontario, Quebec and Seattle based solely on Gary Betmans hard on for Vegas
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Post by Sinclair Promotions on Apr 24, 2015 23:10:05 GMT -5
While I think the NHL is silly doing this (but that's never stopped a league from expanding past its means), good luck with getting a team in Vegas. Sadly Troy the NHL is already well past its means. The League should have topped off at about 22-26 teams. The NHL will never get scoring like the 80s and the more the league expands (hopefully NOT past 32 teams). The more valuable a top tier goalie will become. Sadly in the NHL right now there are probably only 4 or 5 such goalies. |
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Post by Vegas on Apr 26, 2015 4:36:10 GMT -5
Great article TM. Sadly I can see Vegas getting a franchise before Ontario, Quebec and Seattle based solely on Gary Betmans hard on for Vegas Unlike Las Vegas who is currently building a state of the art $375 million arena, Seattle has no arena and the approved plans to build one are contingent on the city first getting an NBA franchise for a new Sonics team. With the NBA not looking to expand anytime soon, no arena for an NHL team as a co-attendant is getting built in the near future which eliminates Seattle. But I could definitely see the NHL adding a team in Quebec to go along with an expansion team in Las Vegas. |
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Post by Sinclair Promotions on Apr 26, 2015 5:52:09 GMT -5
Here is the thing about the season ticket drive.
Both Winnipeg and Hamilton blew the Vegas numbers out of the water and only one of those Cities has a team. Mind you looking back it was a good thing the NHL kept Jim Basillie out of the NHL as Blackberry is struggling huge.
The city of Markham is currently building a brand new arena that should have more seating than the Air Canada Centre for Hockey and is just outside of Toronto. Quebec's new arena is scheduled to start or has already started construction and it is rumored to have an attendance cap around 19,000. Ontario, especially Southern Ontario is THE greatest under served Hockey Market in North America.
When I look at the Vegas situation I picture it being VERY similar to Florida & Tampa Bay. Where the "Snowbirds" will come out in huge numbers to see the Canadian teams play. Buffalo which is right across the border use to only sell out when the Canadian Teams, especially the Leafs were in town. Both Florida & Tampa Bay tend to do decent numbers when the Canadian Teams are in town and the rest of the time they have really poor numbers unless they are winning for a few seasons. A prime example of the attendance in Florida and Tampa is when my ex was in Florida with her Mom a few years ago. They got Ice Level tickets for the Penguins versus Lightning for less than $50 a seat. You can barely get into the Air Canada Center for that price in the upper level.
Phoenix is the other end of the spectrum in which a Vegas franchise can go. A Vegas team could easily get lost in the massive entertainment that Vegas provides and could easily be a team that greatly benefits from the leagues revenue sharing program which sees the Leafs, Canadians and the other tops teams kicking in money to support the bottom 5-10 teams.
Another thing you will have take into consideration with Vegas getting an Expansion team. Will the Season Ticket holders be willing to sit through the five to seven years it generally takes an expansion team to make the playoffs? An Expansion team will be formed from a "Dispersal Draft" where each team will make 2 or 3 players available for them to pick up. Mind you the last Dispersal Draft was before the Salary Cap Era so that could help them out as the teams could try to unload players they are feeling they are paying too much for. Phil Kessel and Dion Phanuef of the Leafs immediately come to mind in this scenario.
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Post by Vegas on Apr 26, 2015 6:24:07 GMT -5
Here is the thing about the season ticket drive. Both Winnipeg and Hamilton blew the Vegas numbers out of the water and only one of those Cities has a team. When I look at the Vegas situation I picture it being VERY similar to Florida & Tampa Bay. Where the "Snowbirds" will come out in huge numbers to see the Canadian teams play. Another thing you will have take into consideration with Vegas getting an Expansion team. Will the Season Ticket holders be willing to sit through the five to seven years it generally takes an expansion team to make the playoffs? 1) Winnipeg's ticket drive happened after it was already awarded a new team, the Las Vegas ticket drive has been successful even without a team being guaranteed of even coming. Over 11,000 season ticket deposits and counting is over 11,000 season ticket deposits and counting. 2) Las Vegas is not Florida. Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world and (unlike Florida) without other major league sports franchises as competition for the NHL. 3) Why not? Shouldn't that same question be asked for all other cities where NHL expansion is a possibility? |
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Post by Sinclair Promotions on Apr 26, 2015 7:37:49 GMT -5
1) Winnipeg's ticket drive happened after it was already awarded a new team, the Las Vegas ticket drive has been successful even without a team being guaranteed of even coming. Over 11,000 season ticket deposits and counting is over 11,000 season ticket deposits and counting. 2) Las Vegas is not Florida. Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world and (unlike Florida) without other major league sports franchises as competition for the NHL. 3) Why not? Shouldn't that same question be asked for all other cities where NHL expansion is a possibility? Even with the Winnipeg Drive, the fans were told if season tickets didn't sell out the team moving there wouldn't work out. True Vegas isn't Florida, which could be both good and bad. Las Vegas is already flooded with entertainment options. How will an NHL game stack up against a UFC event for example? Don't get me wrong I would love for Vegas to get a pro sports team. I just honestly feel they would be better suited for a relocation team instead of expansion. Take the Florida Panthers and move them to Vegas. The way that team is built they should be a competitor in a couple of years and hopefully the franchise won't lose money hand over fist by being in Las Vegas. And yes I ask the same questions about every expansion team that comes into the League. Seattle would probably support an expansion team longer than Las Vegas based on the cities location to the Canadian border. I am sure fans in BC and Alberta would travel there frequently to see there teams play a Seattle Franchise. Places like Quebec and Toronto would more than likely be able to support an expansion team long term than a place like Vegas. The majority of American teams in the NHL only have good attendance numbers when they are consistently successful. The Avalanche and Stars are two prime examples. The Avalanche sold out each game for years and as the team has dropped off in the standings so has the attendance. Same thing in Dallas. St. Louis played in front of crap crowds for years and are now on the rise with a competitive team. I want a Las Vegas franchise to be successful both in the short and long term. I fell that in order for them to do that they need a team that is able to jump right into the playoff picture, even if they just miss out on the playoffs for a year or two. The vast majority of expansion teams struggle for a number of years as they are primarily built on players other teams didn't really want in the first place or they have been stuck with them for the long term. I also don't remember very many expansions teams if any just being handed the first overall pick in the draft, which really hurts them to build a farm system. That could be different now, but I doubt it with the way the NHL Lottery draft is set up. |
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