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British Ice Hockey Federation approves one team for KHL

Lord J T Shark said:
O2 is one of the busiest venues in the world and I see a problem with any team playing there
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Oh yeah, highly problematical & in fact its over-kill. Too much, too big. Cost for rental, setup etc would be insane. Then theres just getting peak dates. 02 is the #1 Ranked (Pollstar)
Arena on the Planet (Manchester & Glasgow 2nd & 3rd).... and did I mention its Managed by Ansco (aka AEG Live) Arena Limited?. So yeah, good luck with that venue Boris. :naughty:
 
From a British perspective:

Biggest US Sport in the UK is by far the NFL. This is down to TV coverage and the amount of effort the NFL puts in to the fanbase over here, with the games at Wembley stadium.

Also, Sky Sports is the promised land for sport, they know how to promote things well to make the sports they have the rights to the most important in the country. That's where the NFL is, and Sky push it like hell.

By contrast, the NHL is on Premier Sports - a niche channel that you have to pay £12.99 a month to watch. It shows a fair amount of hockey - Swedish League, EIHL, Champions Hockey League and Internationals. It's the only place you'll see hockey on TV in the UK. Aside from hockey, the channel has weird Irish sports and motor sports, with the odd football (soccer) game. It's not a channel that you'll pick up new viewers from - people are paying to see something that they're already a fan of.

Professional wrestling may even be bigger in the UK than hockey. I'm not sure about basketball. Obviously it's something that's played in schools across the country, and we have a league - but the attendances don't match those of the EIHL. The NBA is on BT Sports - which is a much better channel than Premier Sports - but I don't know numbers for how much more popular it is. The NBA did sell out the O2 recently.

As I'm sure many of you are aware, the NHL ran two games at the O2 in 2008, which sold out with almost 18,000 tickets. And, in our own league, the Manchester Storm set a record attendance of over 17,000 in 1997. It wasn't a one off, and they had a few successful seasons attendance wise - but that didn't last long, and the team folded in 2002. (Recently reborn - but that's another, complicated, story)

London is a crowded sports market, and very expensive for people in other areas of the UK to travel to/get hotels at for games. But it also has a large and culturally diverse population. And a population that's used to paying high prices. A quality hockey team playing in the KHL may encourage some ex-pats from 'hockey countries' to go to the games, who may not be interested in the EIHL due to the standard.

It's very interesting - and I hope it works out. It could be the catalyst that allows this country to grow as a hockey market. I think it rests on the arena chosen, the quality of the team on the ice and perhaps most importantly, media coverage. Getting the media in this country to care about hockey is hard. If London were getting an NHL team it would probably be huge - the KHL will not be as huge, but hopefully it stirs up some excitement.
 
Interesting but yeah a team in London and beijing makes it truly a world league. What's to stop it from coming to North America?
 
tony d said:
Interesting but yeah a team in London and beijing makes it truly a world league. What's to stop it from coming to North America?
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Lack of support. Would Quebec City actually care if there was a KHL Quebce Nordiques? Would any city with an NHL team prefer the KHL team? Would any American city that doesn't have an NHL team be able to support a KHL team?
 
Pardon the pun but it really seems like the team will be on an Island to itself.

Is Jokerit staying in the KHL long term for sure? That's the closest market to London right?
 
Flukeshot said:
Pardon the pun but it really seems like the team will be on an Island to itself.

Is Jokerit staying in the KHL long term for sure? That's the closest market to London right?
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Jokerit has lost money for years but unlike some teams in western Russia or Prague over the years, they aren't going anywhere.

BTW, some of you may have snickered at professional wrestling, but that is a legit big deal.
 
I had season tickets when we had the Knights in town between 1999-2003, that was the last time London had any half decent hockey (Racers at Ally Pally don't count, and basically eff the Racers). Probably averaged around 3,000 or so at the old London Arena, with the odd gate over 6-7,000. I don't see the KHL getting close to that, even at the spiffier O2. Not to mention the astronomical cost of renting it.
 
how would the russian teams get to canada anyways. or the uk for that matter. are russian charters allowed in canadian or uk airspace? do they even have the range to make it.
 
Surprised about this, have always been under the impression that the UK league was sort of like an echl level of competition without much of a following, unless this is some completely new team and not an existing one joining the khl?
 
JDogindy said:
Jokerit has lost money for years but unlike some teams in western Russia or Prague over the years, they aren't going anywhere.

BTW, some of you may have snickered at professional wrestling, but that is a legit big deal.
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Depends entirely if they find someone to cover their losses. They signed a 3 year deal which would expire after next season but supposedly they have signed some kind of an extension.
 
I'm not a KHL fan, but I'd love to see the KHL attempt placing a team in Quebec City just to piss off Bettman and his gang. That would be rich.
 
Huh, this is interesting. Hockey is unfortunately very niche here at the minute, however so was the NFL until they got the Wembley games and gave them massive promotion. If they can get Sky to treat this as a big deal it could help grow the game here substantially.
 
Talked to two guys who work for O2 in the business area and neither one is aware of a hockey team starting to play in the arena any time soon. They have projects and bookings planned up to 5 years from now
 
This would be kind of cool just to see if the KHL wants to expand to other Western European markets in non traditional hockey countries. Would they try to put a team in another British city like Manchester, Birmingham, or Glasgow? Will they try to put a team in Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Copenhagen, Geneva? Will they try to put a team in Sweden or Norway anytime soon? It will be fun to see where this goes.
 
JDogindy said:
Jokerit has lost money for years but unlike some teams in western Russia or Prague over the years, they aren't going anywhere.

BTW, some of you may have snickered at professional wrestling, but that is a legit big deal.
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Yeah, but it's closer to theater or a rock concert than sport. Entertainment? Sure, if you like that sort of thing. Competition? No.
 
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