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NHL met with a group interested in expanding to New Orleans

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I don’t think Las Vegas and New Orleans are remotely similar markets outside of the loose concept that they are both “destinations”.

Destination or not, metro Las Vegas has 2.4 million people and 3 million in the Las Vegas Valley and is still growing. Vegas would’ve been a legit growth market even without the allure of the atmosphere, although there’s no doubt that was a big bonus.

Greater New Orleans is 1.27 million and the CSA is 1.5 million. The only CSA/metro American market that New Orleans would rank higher than is Buffalo - and it has none of the deep hockey tradition or natural inclination towards the sport. We are talking about an urban area literally half as populated as Las Vegas.

It would be a very small market and at this point, even if it is a great city for travel and events, there’s definitely not a burning need for the NHL to expand there simply as a “destination” with Vegas already in the fold.

This seems like an absolutely pie-in-the-sky meeting simply to keep the narrative moving open for the league that the NHL is growing and interested in expanding still. To put New Orleans anywhere near the top half-dozen candidates simply because they had a meeting would be foolish.
 
CHRDANHUTCH said:
Houston is the one that's been mentioned more often than SA or Austin/Cedar Park....
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Yes, I know. Largest Population/ TV market.( I don't know if the demographics are supportive for the NHL) Lots of established major sports leagues to compete with.
 
Grinner said:
Yes, I know. Largest Population/ TV market.( I don't know if the demographics are supportive for the NHL) Lots of established major sports leagues to compete with.
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which eliminates Austin because it already is established..... the Spurs are in that market also.... which goes back to why San Antonio is not realistic after Vegas bought the Rampage
 
Counter proposal: nahh, let's just shut it down for a couple years. We've had a lot of hockey already. We don't really need more of it in new places tbh.

When the league came back after the lockout in 03-04 it was great. The quality of play had notably improved. Can you imagine how good it would be after say four years off?

Might be a completely different sport.
 
CHRDANHUTCH said:
same reasoning you don't see Hamilton..... or Omaha.....
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Neither are on my radar for expansion.
Nebraska?
What pro teams are in Omaha? Corporate support? Population density?
Hamilton does what to grow the league?
Would the Leafs even allow it?
San Diego and Portland would make more sense.
And of course Phoenix
 
Mattb124 said:
Has similar vibes as Las Vegas (destination location for away team fans), and we’ve seen how poorly that turned out.
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Las Vegas isn’t successful because of visiting team fans. It’s successful because there are 3 million people within an easy drive of going to games regularly. It’s comical that people think nobody lives in Las Vegas and they pack that arena 41 games a year because of “visiting fans”.

Again, you are talking about an urban population half the size of Vegas with New Orleans, one of the smallest pro sports markets in America that already has the NFL and NBA, which is going to occupy the exact same time in the annual sports schedule as an NHL team.
 
I’m just going to throw it out there
That a team

Who had two homes

Could

Be a fun idea

What if you put a team in Quebec City and New Orleans. The same team.
 
BKarchitect said:
Las Vegas isn’t successful because of visiting team fans. It’s successful because there are 3 million people within an easy drive of going to games regularly. It’s comical that people think nobody lives in Las Vegas and they pack that arena 41 games a year because of “visiting fans”.

Again, you are talking about an urban population half the size of Vegas with New Orleans, one of the smallest pro sports markets in America that already has the NFL and NBA, which is going to occupy the exact same time in the annual sports schedule as an NHL team.
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Having been to a few games in Vegas, it is comical that some people think the arena is regularly packed with locals. But then again, my actual, in-person, having attended games in Vegas versus reading about it on the internet, experience is purely anecdotal.

Living in San Jose, I am frequently surprised at the amount of Canadians who road trip when their teams play in California. Canadian weather during most of hockey season is bad (same for the Northeastern US) and it is often times cheaper for them to travel to CA to see games than to watch them at home. New Orleans is far and away a better travel destination than San Jose.
 
Mattb124 said:
Having been to a few games in Vegas, it is comical that some people think the arena is regularly packed with locals. But then again, my actual, in-person, having attended games in Vegas versus reading about it on the internet, experience is purely anecdotal.

Living in San Jose, I am frequently surprised at the amount of Canadians who road trip when their teams play in California. Canadian weather during most of hockey season is bad (same for the Northeastern US) and it is often times cheaper for them to travel to CA to see games than to watch them at home. New Orleans is far and away a better travel destination than San Jose.
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Cool. I just was at a game in October, with family (brother-in-law and his wife) that lives in Vegas and has a partial season ticket package. There are certainly people who attend games who are visiting and just want to catch some hockey...I was one of them. Higher than Columbus, Ohio as a percentage? For sure.

But the model of Vegas doesn't work solely based on visiting fans - and an area like New Orleans, with again, HALF the population - would be stretched very thin relying on visiting fans to support the franchise. The Pels are bottom 5 in NBA attendance and have been basically their entire existence, not just when things have been dire on the court. Where's this influx of visiting fans making their NBA franchise a model of success? And this with a sport that has a much more natural fanbase in the region. And now both leagues competing for attention and dollars of residents and visitors alike during the exact same part of the calendar.
 
Suntouchable13 said:
NHL is crazy. 32 teams is more than enough. Even 30 was more than enough. Just crazy.
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25 American franchises is by far the fewest of the Big 4 NA pro leagues.

Whether or not Nola is the 26th, the owners aren’t gonna sit on their hands because they’re worried the talent will become too diluted
 
Needs 36 teams to properly have a 32 team playoff.
about 1.5m people in the area and very touristy. other sports have done well there.
Just a very dangerous city.
Here's hoping Phoenix gets that mess straightened out.
 
iamjs said:
I knew they weren't in New Orleans but always thought they were right outside of the city and a short hop down I-10.

I really need to check map scales next time, because it looked a hell of a lot closer than 150 mi on the map. :cool::facepalm:
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In the spirit of the point you were making, Lafayette had no more reason than New Orleans to be a successful hockey market. It was a matter of finding a latent fanbase who needed something to cheer for, and hitting them with a spectacle that made them authentically proud of the home team. It’s possible to achieve that in the NHL — look at Vegas, very similar dynamics on a larger scale.

Way too many people look at lines of latitude and daily high temperature, and think they know what a hockey market is. Sports fandom in SEC country is FIERCE and people do in fact know about hockey there (it’s 2025 not 1925). Show people down there a good time, and they’ll take it to a level nobody expected.

My concern with NO is just that it’s so darn small, and has seen better days economically. That franchise would be heavily dependent on tourist money and I’m not sure that works as a substitute for corporate wealth.
 
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qc14 said:
How many of them would be able to go to games on a nightly basis? More importantly, how many would pay for premium tickets? How many of their companies could rent out suites? Pay top dollar to advertise at the arena and on TV? Of those, how many of them don't already watch or spend that money on the Habs or the Leafs or the Sens?

I get that it sucks that economics drives all of these decisions, but it's the reality. There's more money (and crucially new money) for the NHL in even a very sub-optimal American market like New Orleans than there is in Canada.
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The issue with Quebec City is they almost all watch the Habs now. Introducing a team in Quebec City doesn't create NEW hockey fans to get the NHL more revenue, it just cannibalizes the fans they already have.

The NHL gets absolutely no additional revenue by having a team in Quebec.
 
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Perfect_Drug said:
The issue with Quebec City is they almost all watch the Habs now. Introducing a team in Quebec City doesn't create NEW hockey fans to get the NHL more revenue, it just cannibalizes the fans they already have.
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there was an affiliated Canadiens franchise in QC after the transfer to Colorado add to that the existing junior team that's the tenant there.... the other issue was replacing the aging Colisee w/ the current arena....
 
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mr figgles said:
NHL execs got a free meal at a gourmet restaurant out of them, and a couple of free trips to New Orleans, and all they have to do is listen to a sales pitch. I doubt this goes anywhere.
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Exactly! The conversation is essentially can you build a new rink and give 10 ish millions to a cali team for an exhibition game?
 
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