Speculation: NHL gearing up for another round of expansion!

[Drumman44]

Not sure how to mesh the feeling of a “watered down” product as compared to how well the game appears to be doing with youth? In Illinois the Blackhawks have had a huge impact on kids playing hockey. Wouldn’t more participation lead to more and better players?

Colloquially it seems NHL forwards are in the best shape they’ve ever been with even third line guys having really great offensive skills.

Or is it true that playing hockey as a kid in Canada is simply out of reach for middle class families?

Also I kind of want to see Toronto get a second team with a more “working class” feel akin to the White Sox of old around here.

 

[Bubba88]

Bedard is going to have 200 point seasons in 5 years at this rate. I hate the expansion. Building through the draft is going to be rough. How many players from each draft class play even 100 games in the NHL? A dozen?

40 more players get the chance to get to 100 or more games played
It will only increase the odds to get more players to play the games. They won't be good, but they get to play

 

[dj Mahoney]

All the more reason to move up in the draft a couple more times to possibly have less players but better players .

 

[x Tame Impala]

I'm happy we'll have two more drafts and already have Bedard before this expansion kicks in.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Anybody surprised is a fool. Capitalism baby!

 

[u2wojo]

prime Seth Jones will be the jewel of the expansion draft.

 

[x Tame Impala]

prime Seth Jones will be the jewel of the expansion draft.

Not with that NMC he won't be. Although maybe he'd waive for Houston

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

This league is watered down as it is. Why does Atlanta deserve a 3rd shot?

2 words - expansion fee. You're looking at roughly $2B to split between the 32 owners. They're each going to get a check for roughly $60M. That's the long and short of it.

EDIT- heard the fee is actually $1.2B, so that is about 75+m per owner.

 

[HeisenBaez]

This league is watered down as it is. Why does Atlanta deserve a 3rd shot?

Absolutely. I'm all for expansion but ATL can eff the right off. I rather see NY get a fourth team instead of ATL getting another chance.

 

[TLEH]

Atlanta and Houston can easily support a franchise. I just think the league doesn’t have the talent to support 34 teams.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Houston and Atlanta (Utah as well) are getting teams because they have the corporate sponsorship to buy up tickets 41 games a year. They're not going to put a team in Quebec where they have to rely on 15,000 "die hard" hockey fans to be at 90+% capacity every game. Tickets are expensive and apparently Canadians are feeling the economic squeeze even worse than we are here in the states. It's hard to justify spending hundreds of dollars on a hockey game when money is tight.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Houston and Atlanta (Utah as well) are getting teams because they have the corporate sponsorship to buy up tickets 41 games a year. They're not going to put a team in Quebec where they have to rely on 15,000 "die hard" hockey fans to be at 90+% capacity every game. Tickets are expensive and apparently Canadians are feeling the economic squeeze even worse than we are here in the states. It's hard to justify spending hundreds of dollars on a hockey game when money is tight.

Quebec doesn't need a team, but a 2nd team in the GTA could easily be supported. I just don't think the Leafs want another team in the area, but it would bring in far more money than a team in AtL or Houston.

 

[GIADF]

Quebec doesn't need a team, but a 2nd team in the GTA could easily be supported. I just don't think the Leafs want another team in the area, but it would bring in far more money than a team in AtL or Houston.

How would a second team in the Toronto area bring in more money than Atlanta or Houston?

Their metro populations are all pretty similar. If done right, Atlanta or Houston would bring in far more new fans to the league and revenue with them. Toronto is more just reshuffling the chairs on the deck.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Another gta team would be profitable there's just not much upside for the other owners. Like nobody from Hamilton is gonna decide that now I guess I'll look into this NHL thing.

 

[HeisenBaez]

I just don't think expansion is needed right now.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

How would a second team in the Toronto area bring in more money than Atlanta or Houston?

Their metro populations are all pretty similar. If done right, Atlanta or Houston would bring in far more new fans to the league and revenue with them. Toronto is more just reshuffling the chairs on the deck.

IMO the average ticket price in GTA would be >>> that of either ATL or Houston.

This has nothing to do what is best for the long term health of the league. This is the equivalent of pimping out your wife for massive expansion fees.

 

[GIADF]

IMO the average ticket price in GTA would be >>> that of either ATL or Houston.

This has nothing to do what is best for the long term health of the league. This is the equivalent of pimping out your wife for massive expansion fees.

It’s not about the ticket price though. It’s about getting into massive markets they have zero footprint in right now.

 

[Crow]

Curious how much revenue comes from ticket sales vs viewership

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

It’s not about the ticket price though. It’s about getting into massive markets they have zero footprint in right now.

The last I heard 70% of revenue comes from ticket sales. I really doubt that the US TV deal will be impacted significantly when it is up in 2030 because Houston and ATL are now markets.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Gate is a huge factor. I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to say that a second Toronto team would bring in more money at the gate versus a new team in Atlanta or Houston plus their TV deals. It’s basically the reason why NYC has two teams in everything, it’s a huge market that has room to support multiple extremely profitable teams, and is likewise why I think either an AFC NFL team or a Western Conference NBA team in Chicago would be the most valuable expansion options for those leagues if territorial indemnities could be worked around with the Bears and Bulls.

But I’m not expecting that or a GTA team. League seems more interested in market footprint growth than maximizing income, which might be smart longterm or could just be the path of least resistance among the board of governors, as you know that Toronto would do everything in their power to block anything like that, and if not block make it as financially impossible as possible.

 

[Hawkaholic]

How would a second team in the Toronto area bring in more money than Atlanta or Houston?

Their metro populations are all pretty similar. If done right, Atlanta or Houston would bring in far more new fans to the league and revenue with them. Toronto is more just reshuffling the chairs on the deck.

Lol how would it not? There are far more hockey fans in the GTA than in ATL and HOU combined I would bet.

If they want to grow hockey, it's best to be in ATL or HOU, but for profit, GTA would be far better.

 

[GIADF]

The last I heard 70% of revenue comes from ticket sales. I really doubt that the US TV deal will be impacted significantly when it is up in 2030 because Houston and ATL are now markets.

Where did you see that?

 

[GIADF]

Lol how would it not? There are far more hockey fans in the GTA than in ATL and HOU combined I would bet.

If they want to grow hockey, it's best to be in ATL or HOU, but for profit, GTA would be far better.

That’s kind of the point…. Expanding in Toronto doesn’t bring in any new viewers or fans. That’s what they want to do and want Arizona lasted as long as it did.

 

[Hawkaholic]

That’s kind of the point…. Expanding in Toronto doesn’t bring in any new viewers or fans. That’s what they want to do and want Arizona lasted as long as it did.

Arizona didnt do anything to bring in revenue for the league, neither did the previous stint in Atlanta. It brought in a few more fans, but it hasn't brought in near as much revenue as a GTA franchise would. Not even close.