NHL & Vegas Part Deuces Wild: Betting it all on Black (Knights)

[NHL Hartford]

These Founders can put the deposit down on all the 60 seats themselves or find individual depositors. Imo all this does is cloud the drive.

I don't want to discredit this effort but it's just very vague where/who these deposits are actually coming from.

As I initially understood this I thought the point of this drive was to see how many avg. fans they could get to establish a baseline of support within the local community. Can't really do that when the majority of sales could be attributed solely to the 85 'Founders'.

My concern is that 50-60 Founders paid for their 60 deposits with their own cash. Since that's certainly plausible that leads me to believe the results are skewed in some fashion.

 

[NHL Hartford]

I have no doubt that will all the celebs, well-heeled individuals and casinos that a team can be sustained but the question has always been does LV have enough avg. fans. I don't think this drive is being genuine in that respect, that's all.

 

[Fenway]

Just got this email

On behalf of Hockey Vision Las Vegas, thank you for your support in helping bring an NHL team to Las Vegas! We know you have expressed an interest in our season ticket deposit campaign and wanted to let you know we are now over 7,000 season ticket deposits in less than two weeks from the beginning of our campaign!

As an added incentive to join our season ticket holder family, for a limited time, fans who secure their place in line with a minimum of two season ticket deposits will receive a complimentary replica team jersey in advance of our 2016 season if we are awarded a team. *Other restrictions apply.

We are moving closer to our goal of 10,000 season ticket deposits and you can help make our collective dream a reality by placing your season ticket deposit today at www.VegasWantsHockey.com. As a reminder, a deposit locks your place in line to select your seats and starts at just $150/seat. Deposits represent approximately 10% of the anticipated cost of a season ticket and are fully refundable if we are not awarded a team - and now include a team jersey!

To place your deposit today, or if you have any questions, please contact our Ticket Sales & Service Department at 702-NHL-HCKY (645-4259). Please continue to spread the word to friends, family and colleagues as we push towards our goal of 10,000 deposits!

Have a great day!

Best,
Todd

Todd Pollock
Director, Ticket Sales
Hockey Vision Las Vegas
702-NHL-HCKY (645-4259)

 

[BattleBorn]

These Founders can put the deposit down on all the 60 seats themselves or find individual depositors. Imo all this does is cloud the drive.

I don't want to discredit this effort but it's just very vague where/who these deposits are actually coming from.

As I initially understood this I thought the point of this drive was to see how many avg. fans they could get to establish a baseline of support within the local community. Can't really do that when the majority of sales could be attributed solely to the 85 'Founders'.

My concern is that 50-60 Founders paid for their 60 deposits with their own cash. Since that's certainly plausible that leads me to believe the results are skewed in some fashion.

I think we all get a little clouded by the numbers as well as our own personal biases. I think Vegas can do no wrong, other people are convinced it's some sort of scam.

The fact of the matter is that I doubt the only thing Bettman and the owners want to know is the pure number of sales that were achieved during the drives. Foley's not going to walk into the office and say "We got 10,000, give me a team." They're going to want to know it's real, that it's sustainable, and that it's going to have a great chance of being a successful venture.

Having a select number of local heavy hitters buying a large number of tickets just to hit a number serves no purpose to the league or to Bill Foley, and that option really can't even be a consideration for anyone involved. It gives us something to talk about here, but once it goes beyond these message boards it holds no merit once you think about it for longer than it takes to type out.

 

[Killion]

I have no doubt that will all the celebs, well-heeled individuals and casinos that a team can be sustained but the question has always been does LV have enough avg. fans. I don't think this drive is being genuine in that respect, that's all.

Yes, and thats a valid concern. When the new building in Vancouver opened in the 90's, the economy & CDN$ not great combined with the arrival of the Grizzlies & Canucks attendance slipping, their Ticket Sales Office did put the strong-arm on the so called "elites" in the community to step up & buy Opening Night Seats & Seasons Tickets to both the Nucks & Grizzlies. When asked to do so by whomever back then from Orca Bay you kinda felt obligated & complied, even if you werent a hockey or basketball fan, that it was just good business for the community really. The average fan however, that was a much tougher sell so they had to create "mini-packs". 8-12-16 game Ice or Jam Packs. People simply were not signing on for the full meal deal, couldnt afford it. Things turned around with the Canucks of course but the Grizzlies, horrid management, pinning all their hopes on Big Country Reeves etc, attendance not dreadful but that team flatlining with discounted Jam Pack sales & singles in far too many seats. Arena debt etc. Guess we'll see how this all comes out in the wash but ya, numbers can be deceptive and the devils in the detail. Will require some study, parsing, though truth be told I dont believe the NHL in fact will go to that nth entirely, Vegas hitting 10K, done deal. Course set. Simply cannot imagine the NHL retreating and they can play those numbers 10 ways from Sunday to justify awarding a team to the city of Las Vegas no problem.

 

[NHL Hartford]

I think we all get a little clouded by the numbers as well as our own personal biases. I think Vegas can do no wrong, other people are convinced it's some sort of scam.

The fact of the matter is that I doubt the only thing Bettman and the owners want to know is the pure number of sales that were achieved during the drives. Foley's not going to walk into the office and say "We got 10,000, give me a team." They're going to want to know it's real, that it's sustainable, and that it's going to have a great chance of being a successful venture.

Having a select number of local heavy hitters buying a large number of tickets just to hit a number serves no purpose to the league or to Bill Foley, and that option really can't even be a consideration for anyone involved. It gives us something to talk about here, but once it goes beyond these message boards it holds no merit once you think about it for longer than it takes to type out.

There sure is a reason to do that, in fact a pretty big one. It will work towards justifying the league putting a team there which Bettman and Foley both want.

If you can assure me that what I outlined isn't going on then I'll be more then happy to take back my comments but you can't. The fact that they're allowed to purchase the 60 deposits themselves brings this whole thing into question.

If it served no purpose then why allow them the option to do so in the first place and if this was about real figures again why allow this to take place in the first place?

 

[BattleBorn]

If it served no purpose then why allow them the option to do so in the first place and if this was about real figures again why allow this to take place in the first place?

I may have missed the part where someone said that was happening or allowed to happen. My fault if I did.

Was there a story somewhere?

 

[Killion]

Just got this email

....in advance of our 2016 season if we are awarded a team. *Other restrictions apply.

.... I find this rather revelatory, 2016 season. I was thinking 2017/18 as ETA.

 

[NHL Hartford]

I may have missed the part where someone said that was happening or allowed to happen. My fault if I did.

Was there a story somewhere?

"The potential owners started with the idea of a Founding 50 – 50 people who would commit to buying or finding buyers for 60 season tickets each. They now have a Founding 75 that is actually a Founding 83. If those founders come through, that’s almost 5,000 season tickets right there."

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/three-...ckey-background--nhl-notes-174340120-nhl.html

 

[BattleBorn]

"The potential owners started with the idea of a Founding 50 – 50 people who would commit to buying or finding buyers for 60 season tickets each. They now have a Founding 75 that is actually a Founding 83. If those founders come through, that’s almost 5,000 season tickets right there."

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/three-...ckey-background--nhl-notes-174340120-nhl.html

I missed that. Thanks. Even without my gold Elvis styled glasses on, I think it's pretty bad business to have some dude commit to 50 tickets by putting as little as $7500 down. I would hope that's not the foundation upon which they're building this whole thing. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me if it is, just from a business standpoint. Especially when the dudes running this whole thing are investing hundreds of millions in the team. Again could be my bias there, but I have to believe business is business and that that's not their intent with the founding 50.

.... I find this rather revelatory, 2016 season. I was thinking 2017/18 as ETA.

The commitments on the season tickets have always been refunded if there wasn't a team for 16/17. From the site: "Deposits are 100% refundable only if Las Vegas is not awarded a team for the 2016 – 2017 season." I mentioned a few pages ago that seemed like the biggest bright spot in this whole drive to me. It's a now or never type of thing.

 

[Killion]

..I mentioned a few pages ago that seemed like the biggest bright spot in this whole drive to me. It's a now or never type of thing.

Cool. I mustve missed that Memo.

 

[BattleBorn]

Cool. I mustve missed that Memo.

I also think it's cool that my section isn't selling super well. Hoping for some good seat selections. I like to watch my live hockey like I'm watching on TV. Hoping to get right behind the TV camera nest.

 

[GuelphStormer]

Just got this email

...

As an added incentive to join our season ticket holder family, for a limited time, fans who secure their place in line with a minimum of two season ticket deposits will receive a complimentary replica team jersey in advance of our 2016 season if we are awarded a team. *Other restrictions apply.

...

interesting that they are promoting multi-year commitments. that suggest two things to me: 1) they are indeed quite serious about it all and not mounting the drive for optics, as some have suggested, and 2) they may be feeling pressure to have more multi-year commitments because most deposits up till now have been single year.

totally speculative, just reading between the lines.

 

[BattleBorn]

interesting that they are promoting multi-year commitments. that suggest two things to me: 1) they are indeed quite serious about it all and not mounting the drive for optics, as some have suggested, and 2) they may be feeling pressure to have more multi-year commitments because most deposits up till now have been single year.

totally speculative, just reading between the lines.

Yeah, I think it's not super clear wording. I'm reading it as two actual seats, not two years. Meaning two seats with a one year commitment will work. Commitments are in 1, 3, 5, and 10 year intervals.

 

[Major4Boarding]

Incentives

 

[Glacial]

2016? Interesting. That basically rules out the Coyotes relocation hypothesis some have had. Of course, ever since the NHL gave indications they were considering Vegas, it seemed mostly evident it was going to be an expansion team, not a relocation team.

 

[gstommylee]

2016? Interesting. That basically rules out the Coyotes relocation hypothesis some have had. Of course, ever since the NHL gave indications they were considering Vegas, it seemed mostly evident it was going to be an expansion team, not a relocation team.

Legally coyotes can't relocate until 2018 at the earliest.

 

[GuelphStormer]

Yeah, I think it's not super clear wording. I'm reading it as two actual seats, not two years. Meaning two seats with a one year commitment will work. Commitments are in 1, 3, 5, and 10 year intervals.

oops, i think you are right.

 

[KnishOfTheCrease]

I put a deposit down for upper deck seats last week.

 

[KevFu]

For all the judgment passed of Las Vegas' progress, you have to appreciate the sheer lunacy of the act:

You’re writing a check/handing over cash for someone to hold, and getting NOTHING BACK for YEARS.

You’re losing money vs having that dough in your own bank account!

How many fans would be interested in being regular attendees to multiple games a year, but aren’t going to plop down cash on a non-existent team because if they get one, they can’t commit to a multi-year, 41-game expense?


One thing I can also see is the CHEAP SEAT deposits being sold out. If I’m interested in season tickets, I’m going to place a deposit on the cheapest seats, and if they get a team, THEN upgrade. But why hand over more cash for better seats NOW?


It would have been interesting if they did this in August and worked with the NHL so that these fans could be buying NHL Centre Ice or Game Centre Live THROUGH THE TEAM. That way they’re showing they care and want a team, AND getting something.

 

[Confucius]

I would think that after building the arena at a cost of what, 400 million. The only way they make even some of their cash back is by getting a team. 7,000 seats is better than no team and an empty arena. Afterall the league will give them rev sharing on top of the cash the team takes in. It appears this drive will be called a success.

 

[JMT21]

Can't decide if I should be impressed with 7K over 2 weeks. If the league tried this in Quebec City (where hockey really matters)... my guess is that 15,000 ST would be sold within 72 hours. But I'm sure the NHL knows what they're doing.

 

[BattleBorn]

Can't decide if I should be impressed with 7K over 2 weeks. If the league tried this in Quebec City (where hockey really matters)... my guess is that 15,000 ST would be sold within 72 hours. But I'm sure the NHL knows what they're doing.

72 hours? More like 72 seconds, amiright?

 

[syc]

Just got this email

On behalf of Hockey Vision Las Vegas, thank you for your support in helping bring an NHL team to Las Vegas! We know you have expressed an interest in our season ticket deposit campaign and wanted to let you know we are now over 7,000 season ticket deposits in less than two weeks from the beginning of our campaign!

As an added incentive to join our season ticket holder family, for a limited time, fans who secure their place in line with a minimum of two season ticket deposits will receive a complimentary replica team jersey in advance of our 2016 season if we are awarded a team. *Other restrictions apply.

We are moving closer to our goal of 10,000 season ticket deposits and you can help make our collective dream a reality by placing your season ticket deposit today at www.VegasWantsHockey.com. As a reminder, a deposit locks your place in line to select your seats and starts at just $150/seat. Deposits represent approximately 10% of the anticipated cost of a season ticket and are fully refundable if we are not awarded a team - and now include a team jersey!

To place your deposit today, or if you have any questions, please contact our Ticket Sales & Service Department at 702-NHL-HCKY (645-4259). Please continue to spread the word to friends, family and colleagues as we push towards our goal of 10,000 deposits!

Have a great day!

Best,
Todd

Todd Pollock
Director, Ticket Sales
Hockey Vision Las Vegas
702-NHL-HCKY (645-4259)

Incentives already? Not a good sign for the drive.

Based on how fast the ticket drive has cooled off I'm going to go out on a limb and say they don't have enough demand. Even when they hit the goal in a few weeks/months I really think the NHL is going to axe the Vegas idea.

It just looks like a few hardcore fans got rich friends to buy in early and that well has dried up.

I could be wrong but I doubt it.

 

[Hoodaha]

Incentives already? Not a good sign for the drive.

Based on how fast the ticket drive has cooled off I'm going to go out on a limb and say they don't have enough demand. Even when they hit the goal in a few weeks/months I really think the NHL is going to axe the Vegas idea.

It just looks like a few hardcore fans got rich friends to buy in early and that well has dried up.

I could be wrong but I doubt it.

The league won't axe the Vegas idea.