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FPHL Expansion Thread

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JMCx4

JMCx4

#91 and counting ...
Sep 3, 2017
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St. Louis, MO
This topic has been sprinkled around this forum annually, and now we have another stack of confirmed & possible market targets for 2025-26 (and beyond). So presuming we can manage some cooperation among the HFB members who follow The Fed, I'll start with an overview of the current expansion landscape offered by the enthusiastic new MinorProHero.com blogger. Consider this a 2025 Silly Season Appetizer ... though with The Fed, the Silly is like a year-round buffet & a dessert cart ... 😋
Expansion Watch 2025 1.0
Published by Christian Gardecki on February 19, 2025

2024-2025 FPHL League Map.png

One of my favorite things about covering this league is the yearly craziness when it comes to expansion.

Now, I should preface, all of these cities/markets mentioned have been put out in the public by people from or around the league, or news articles. Not all of them will happen, but just some food for thought. Our friend Gary Ryan from The Fed League Flash has also done a podcast similar to this but, we’re going to talk about a lot here.

There’s also possibilites for teams to fold or relocate. As we mentioned last week, the Sea Wolves’ lease could be terminated after this season in Mississippi. ...

Read & See more at: Expansion Watch 2025 1.0
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Click to read more...
 
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GindyDraws said:
Isn't there a team in North Dakota trying to get in? Topeka would help the travel a tiny bit.
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The original post in this thread has a link to a MinorProHero.com blog article. It includes an "Interested: Williston, ND (2026-27)" entry on behalf of the Dakota Ghost Drillers. Seems like a dry well to me, but the Soskin-Kirnan-Sarge Hockey Machine appears to run on adrenaline & tiny market news buzz. Barry honed his business skills in minor baseball & junior hockey ownership, and he escaped to move on to slightly bigger sports hijinks.
 
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With the off-ice success of Monroe so far and the rise of Topeka, I could see the Fed continuing to push more into former WPHL/CHL markets. As we know, Soskin will put a team in any city with a rink. Junior hockey has taken over a lot of those markets, but I would not be surprised to see the Fed/Soskin assert their Manifest Destiny to cross Texas and push into Arkansas and Oklahoma in the coming seasons as well.
 
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It may be addition by subtraction. We will probably eliminate Danville, Hudson Valley, and Mississippi from the group. Danville seems ready to just pack it up and end it already, given they're supposed to have additional home games yet announced this weekend is the home finale. Mississippi is likely going to get evicted due to poor performance and dysfunctional management. And Hudson Valley needs a legitimate arena to play in.
 
GindyDraws said:
... Mississippi is likely going to get evicted due to poor performance and dysfunctional management. ...
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This WLOX-TV news report from Feb. 2022 cites lease agreement conditions between the rebooted Sea Wolves & the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, specifically ...
... According to the Coliseum’s Executive Director Matt McDonnell, it’s a two-year hard deal with three one-year options.

“There are thresholds of attendance that have to be met for those renewals to happen but I am confident after the fanbase showed us overwhelmingly that they wanted hockey back that this is going to work for awhile,” said McDonnell as he addressed the supervisors. ...
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So it seems a credible scenario that the S'Wolves could be denied a lease extension after this season. But it won't be attributed to "poor performance and dysfunctional management." 🎟️
 
Atlantian said:
With the off-ice success of Monroe so far and the rise of Topeka, I could see the Fed continuing to push more into former WPHL/CHL markets. As we know, Soskin will put a team in any city with a rink. Junior hockey has taken over a lot of those markets, but I would not be surprised to see the Fed/Soskin assert their Manifest Destiny to cross Texas and push into Arkansas and Oklahoma in the coming seasons as well.
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Yes, there are several former WPHL/CHL arenas sitting empty across Texas. I'm more than just a little surprised that the FPHL/SPHL hasn't already moved into these Texas arenas already, given the fact that the old WPHL was a huge success in Texas in the 1990's. Also interested to find out what happened with Beaumont, since it was reported that they would join the FPHL for 2025-26 season. Who knows, maybe they'll be joining the Texas Professional Hockey League in 2025-26 instead.
 
Aero 75 said:
... Also interested to find out what happened with Beaumont, since it was reported that they would join the FPHL for 2025-26 season. Who knows, maybe they'll be joining the Texas Professional Hockey League in 2025-26 instead.
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Or maybe the Beaumont powers-that-be decided to pursue instead an AHL franchise for affiliation with the surefire Houston NHL expansion. :sarcasm:
 
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