NHL Making Contingency Plans for Arena-less Coyotes? (All Relo Speculation Here)

[Melrose Munch]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrodome


There is an arena, and the Houston texans owner was ready to host a Dallas Stars exibition game 3 years ago.

http://www.defendingbigd.com/2011/6...pre-season-game-at-reliant-stadium-in-houston


Go to Houston now! Top 10 media market, huge corporate support.

 

[seanlinden]

To me, these are the most likely to happen, in order.

Downtown Phoenix -- the league doesn't want to give up on the Phoenix market, they play nice with the suns, and realize that financing a new downtown arena is a lot easier with 2 anchor tenants.

Portland -- The league doesn't want to give up the large expansion fee they know they can get in Quebec, and likely Vegas. They also want a presence in the Northwest to a much stronger degree than they want one in QC. Presumably, they can play in the Blazers existing arena? If not, then maybe Houston? I don't believe QC or Vegas will be ready for next year, will they?

 

[Brodie]

the NHL has a scientific formula for those, Winnipeg only paid $60 million to relocate.

because I know it will get lost in the shuffle

 

[Habidelidoo]

Expansion fee will always be more than a relocation fee.

Quebec will get a team it just won't be coyotes unless last final resort. It won't be expansion unless last final resort. Its going to be an eastern conference team that has to relocate.

We heard you. No need to repeat it 10 times in the same thread.

 

[George Binks]

Shoulda never left downtown phoenix, I hope they get another chance there. Surprised No one made a patrick star meme of saying why don't we just take the coyotes arena and push it into phoenix

 

[These Are The Days]

As fairly as I can I'm drawing up how on earth we can group these teams together in the event of Quebec City getting a team (I imagine they're the front runners) and the only solution is to completely abandon the East/West conference format unless an Eastern time zone team is willing to move West and even then it would keep things 16/14.

If the NHL is unwilling to do that then we're looking at an NFL/MLB style of alignment.

 

[wellsZe]

Arizona Coyotes to Hartford:

AHL affiliate of Arizona Coyotes is now located in Springfield, MA. 45 min drive from Hartford.
Why didn't they move WEST like they rest of the western teams? Closest AHL location to Hartford.

Hartford could ONLY be relocation.
This way the NHL still gets potential LV/SEA/QC expansion $. Hartford is a solution to NHL's possible 1.5 BILLION $ problem. hartford has an arena right now they could use. This is KEY

Move Florida or Carolina to the Western Conference to balance the conferences.

Didn't 51% owner of the Coyotes Andrew Barroway try to buy the islanders and move them to Hartford only to have wang step in and buy them instead? Is he trying to do it with the coyotes? He's a no show in this whole debacle.

Arizona State UNiversity is playing its 1st ever D1 hockey game against UCONN for UCONN's home opener at Arizona Coyotes potential new home? Coincidence?

Hartford has an old arena, but the NHL let the islanders play in a = of a crappy non-update-to-date arena. We have a plan: Download the PDF for NHL approved arena plans, market study, etc.
http://www.courant.com/real-estate/hc-pdf-hartford-stadium-study-20150219-htmlstory.html

"Hartford has it" (our new city marketing campaign slogan. a good article about hartford:
http://www.citylab.com/work/2014/12/go-to-hartford-young-man/383445/

NHL approved market study that says hartford market is NHL ready. Please just read the pdf above…
Rumor: Hartford may bond the 250 million in the special session. Has to be done by July st. Get the 250, start building.

Arizona moves here and we start construction while they play. 250 option, the arena won't go dark.

I"m sure we could give the coyotes a pretty good arena deal. CT pretty much owns the current arena. Global Spectrum manages the arena. Under the umbrella of Global Specator, owned by NBC. UNder the umbrella of Philly based company that owns the flyers, wells fargo arena, and Global Specator(now Spectra). Barroway is from Philly. right? it's a stretch, but could they be talking?

NBC is in stamford, CT. We got ESPN, Competition for TV right from RSN like NESN+, SNY, CSNE, etc.

Whalers WORLD TV ratings would be HUGE. Hartford = THe United States Winnipeg.
We had to have 11,000 FULL season tickets or the whalers would leave to Carolina and we did that and then some. Market has changed. I don't want to hear it. If you're not from here…

http://www.courant.com/sports/hockey/hartford-whalers/hc-whalers-archive-april-3-1996-story.html

We could do it again. Require 12,000 or this won't work…

Now with alignment, if they have to play in west for a little while. An experiment…

Each Western teams in our division will just play NYR, BOS, MTL, TOR, BUF, OTW, NJD, NYI, WSH, PIT, PHI etc. teams while playing Hartford (Coyotes). Schedule little road trips and play as many as you can.

Hartford would play those teams above, but also go on similar long trips and play our teams in our actual division. Kinda like baseball.
Go up and down the west coast for 2 weeks and then play back thru midwestern teams etc.

We have an arena, world wide multi generation fan base, opposing fans could go on road trips for cheap tix. fans are fans, $ is $ whatever the colors you're wearing

Come on, NHL. Give Hartford a 2nd chance.

 

[David_99]

If the NHL doesn't want to have quebec in the western conference and doesn't want it to be 15-17, there is nothing anyone can do about it.

It's 15/17 because Detroit and Columbus are both in the ETZ and both equally gain from being in the East. They couldn't just pick one and not the other. If Quebec gets a team, Det and CLB can both easily slide back into the West for a few years. Then it'll be equal 16/16. Isn't that better then another year of 15/17 with a Vegas/Seattle/Portland team if "balance" is really all they care about? Those two teams were able to move East because of the Atlanta/Winnipeg situation. This is a different story. The NHL has been caught off guard and may have their backs against the wall. They'll explore the West for sure. But if none of them can be ready by October, QC certainly can. Once SEA and Vegas get expansion teams, they can realign as best they can.

 

[JWEKD]

Why is there this notion that the Red Wings seemingly run this league?

Who says Detroit and/or Columbus can't move to the Western Conference? Sure, they wouldn't like it, but I don't get why people seem to think it's impossible. In the end realignment isn't up to the Detroit Red Wings.

Seriously, I don't understand this either. The Wings were playing out west for like 30 years. Putting a struggling franchise or an expansion franchise in a location just because it evens out existing conferences is absurd. Draw a line down the continent, splitting the teams evenly and those are your new conferences. Tough cookies for Detroit or whomever.

 

[Fenway]

To me, these are the most likely to happen, in order.

Downtown Phoenix -- the league doesn't want to give up on the Phoenix market, they play nice with the suns, and realize that financing a new downtown arena is a lot easier with 2 anchor tenants.

Portland -- The league doesn't want to give up the large expansion fee they know they can get in Quebec, and likely Vegas. They also want a presence in the Northwest to a much stronger degree than they want one in QC. Presumably, they can play in the Blazers existing arena? If not, then maybe Houston? I don't believe QC or Vegas will be ready for next year, will they?

Quebec is ready to go

 

[Brodie]

I think the Central "conference" idea was workable, but we'd need to see how the scheduling matrix was supposed to work with that before I'd fully endorse it

 

[lou4gehrig]

The mou for public finding ( which I assume he needs) is still nba first, is it not?

Not set in stone. Mayor recently (last few months) has said he'd be willing to change it to NHL first. Up to Hansen and/or others to make that part happen.

Aside from Paul Allen, I can't imagine Portland would ever be chosen ahead of Seattle. Seattle's household income is something like 50% higher ($60k vs $95k), they sell a crazy amount of tickets to the soccer games (you figure would be similar fans as hockey), etc.

Even though I live in Seattle and would love a team here, I have to admit a Quebec team would be simply amazing. Both would be ideal.

Hartford is a joke really. I grew up in Connecticut and the economy there is declining as is the population. It's no place for a pro sports team to move and the state nor the city has money to entice a franchise.

 

[MXD]

It's 15/17 because Detroit and Columbus are both in the ETZ and both equally gain from being in the East. They couldn't just pick one and not the other. If Quebec gets a team, Det and CLB can both easily slide back into the West for a few years. Then it'll be equal 16/16. Isn't that better then another year of 15/17 with a Vegas/Seattle/Portland team if "balance" is really all they care about? Those two teams were able to move East because of the Atlanta/Winnipeg situation. This is a different story. The NHL has been caught off guard and may have their backs against the wall. They'll explore the West for sure. But if none of them can be ready by October, QC certainly can. Once SEA and Vegas get expansion teams, they can realign as best they can.

They'll probably be having their middle finger up in the air for a very long time if such a proposition is made.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

They'll probably be having their middle finger up in the air for a very long time if such a proposition is made.

That's two votes out of 30 though. Boston, Montréal, Toronto, Ottawa would all welcome Quebec to the division. St-Louis, Chicago, Minnesota and Nashville would LOVE to get Detroit back. Honestly, outside of Detroit and Columbus, who would oppose? Maybe Pittsburgh?

 

[Habidelidoo]

the NHL has a scientific formula for those, Winnipeg only paid $60 million to relocate.

They can charge 300M if they want. In other words, if a franchise is worth 500M, every city should pay the market value, wheter it's through expansion or relocation.

 

[Melrose Munch]

No Detroit in the west. Detroit is in the eastern time zone. If that is such a problem move the Coyotes to Hamilton and leave them in the west.

I think that bridge might been burned already.

I don't agree.

 

[Brodie]

That's two votes out of 30 though. Boston, Montréal, Toronto, Ottawa would all welcome Quebec to the division. St-Louis, Chicago, Minnesota and Nashville would LOVE to get Detroit back. Honestly, outside of Detroit and Columbus, who would oppose? Maybe Pittsburgh?

this is not how it works. it's about relationships... if the NHL screws Detroit and/or Columbus, you get people like Boston (say) wondering "if they'll **** Detroit over, how can we trust them to look out for us" or Carolina saying "if the screw Columbus, it's clear that the big market teams control the league". It's divisive. You have to come up with a workable solution for all parties, you can't do that on short notice.

Plus, the players will want a say.

 

[sandysan]

Not set in stone. Mayor recently (last few months) has said he'd be willing to change it to NHL first. Up to Hansen and/or others to make that part happen.

Aside from Paul Allen, I can't imagine Portland would ever be chosen ahead of Seattle. Seattle's household income is something like 50% higher ($60k vs $95k), they sell a crazy amount of tickets to the soccer games (you figure would be similar fans as hockey), etc.

Even though I live in Seattle and would love a team here, I have to admit a Quebec team would be simply amazing. Both would be ideal.

Hartford is a joke really. I grew up in Connecticut and the economy there is declining as is the population. It's no place for a pro sports team to move and the state nor the city has money to entice a franchise.

The mayor can't do it by fiat, can he? I thought he needed the city council who were at best undecided. And with silver saying that there won't be nba teams forthcoming, the sodo plan looked doa.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

this is not how it works. it's about relationships... if the NHL screws Detroit and/or Columbus, you get people like Boston (say) wondering "if they'll **** Detroit over, how can we trust them to look out for us" or Carolina saying "if the screw Columbus, it's clear that the big market teams control the league". It's divisive. You have to come up with a workable solution for all parties, you can't do that on short notice.

Plus, the players will want a say.

And what if Detroit agreed? Would that be possible?

 

[MatthewBarnabysTears]

Didn't 51% owner of the Coyotes Andrew Barroway try to buy the islanders and move them to Hartford only to have wang step in and buy them instead? Is he trying to do it with the coyotes? He's a no show in this whole debacle.

no? wang owned the isles since 2000. barroway tried to buy the team in 2014 after the Barclays lease was already signed, and lost out to an ownership group with deeper pockets with more NY connections.

 

[lou4gehrig]

The mayor can't do it by fiat, can he? I thought he needed the city council who were at best undecided. And with silver saying that there won't be nba teams forthcoming, the sodo plan looked doa.

True. But I don't think it would be a major hurdle if you had a team and owner ready to commit to moving there either NHL or NBA. IMHO.

Excerpt from May 7, 2015 regarding NHL first option in Sodo.

"With the FEIS basically giving the greenlight for the arena, more of the focus can be put on finding that primary NBA or NHL tenant as that is what will make the building possible. As Murray said, no major findings in the FEIS stand in the way of this arena being built. He also shared this note:

Mayor Murray: "We're one step closer to bringing NHL hockey & NBA basketball to Seattle." Interesting order he listed there. #SeattleArena

— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels5) May 7, 2015
That comment came in a prepared statement and knowing how those sorts of things go, the order of NHL and NBA is fairly significant. In order to green light an NHL-first plan, however, the mayor would first have to convince the city council to adjust the Memorandum of Understanding that specifies construction can only begin if an NBA team is acquired first."

I guess the main issue is that the land where the Sodo arena is to be built is now all owned by Hansen who wants an NBA team above all other things. If he can join up with a potential NHL owner who would allow his arena to be built, that would be a strong combination.

 

[Brodie]

And what if Detroit agreed? Would that be possible?

No. We (rather publicly) *****ed about being in the West for 20 years after Toronto was realigned out of the Norris.

 

[MXD]

And what if Detroit agreed? Would that be possible?

Well, considering they were wanting to go East for quite a while.... I don't think so.

 

[sandysan]

Not set in stone. Mayor recently (last few months) has said he'd be willing to change it to NHL first. Up to Hansen and/or others to make that part happen.

Aside from Paul Allen, I can't imagine Portland would ever be chosen ahead of Seattle. Seattle's household income is something like 50% higher ($60k vs $95k), they sell a crazy amount of tickets to the soccer games (you figure would be similar fans as hockey), etc.

Even though I live in Seattle and would love a team here, I have to admit a Quebec team would be simply amazing. Both would be ideal.

Hartford is a joke really. I grew up in Connecticut and the economy there is declining as is the population. It's no place for a pro sports team to move and the state nor the city has money to entice a franchise.

The mayor can't do it by fiat, can he? I thought he needed the city council who were at best undecided. And with silver saying that there won't be nba teams forthcoming, the sodo plan looked doa.

 

[robertocarlos]

Coyotes do not have to leave Glendale. The Coyotes should agree to pay rent at GRA and the NHL should pay any club losses. Stick it out in Glendale for at least 2 more years. Bettman can recover that money with expansion. But quit conning the public through stupid politicians.