I agree which is why I boycott any merchandise. There is a huge population of people in the Toronto area that can't afford games and becasue he wants to grow the game in the USA, the people that love the game here are suffering. I will occasionally drive to Buffalo for cheap tickets, but the fact that many Leaf fans can't afford to take their kid to a game while families of four in the states have no problem sitting among empty seats is enough for me to not spend a dime on anything else. Call it petty, but we love the game here and we are the ones left in the dark...
NHL wants to expand to 36 teams
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Who exactly in Canada has offered the NHL a check for an expansion team? Name names.
What you are really complaining about is that no Canadian investment group is willing to risk their dollars on a Canadian expansion team. Whose fault is that?
ManofSteel55
Registered User
It would be a safe choice though. So if of the four teams, they decide to go with 2 or 3 markets that are risky - including 2 that have failed as NHL cities in the past - the fourth being in a less risky location could make sense. At the end of the day though, I suspect you are right - Phoenix, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Houston are all likely to end up with teams out of this.
There is absolutely not 10 million people within an hour of Halifax
ManofSteel55
Registered User
Golden_Jet
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Didn’t realize you know, who has and hasn’t offered cheques.
All we know is Houston balked at 0.75 billion and now it will be 1.5
ManofSteel55
Registered User
The entire province only has an estimated population of just over a million. There's no way 10m people live within an hour of Halifax.
Golden_Jet
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My bad I thought we were talking about Hamilton not Halifax, ya Halifax won’t get a team.
Fertitta balked at $750m, but this is a different multi-billionaire (Friedkin) who has the dough and is apparently willing to pay.
Of course they are. The Ponzi scheme of their franchise values falls apart if they stop adding teams. If they get to 36, they'll soon consider 40.
Golden_Jet
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I’d say having less teams, which means harder to get one, would increase value more over time.
Jim Balsillie tried. Bettman could easily put a team in town and you know the Leafs hold the power to stop it....hockey fans suffer in Toronto. meanwhile empty seats are still a thing in the south.
LaPlante94
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Yeah I was more so interested in the kind of environment they could bring to the league because if any province can get a crazy environment for a CFL team then I can only imagine how crazy they could be for a NHL team. I doubt Canada gets another team though because I doubt Gary allows that.
The only option in Canada that makes sense from a financial perspective would be Toronto 2.0; but the Leafs would block that. I know it's nice to blame Bettman for not having a second team in Southwest Ontario, but the blame in my view lies entirely with the Leafs.
If less teams = more money, they wouldn’t be expanding
Next part of the post isn’t necessarily directed at you.
The folks saying it will make the game worse are just repeating the same arguments that were made before every other expansion, and the league is doing just fine. Talent is not an issue. I do agree that 32 is a good spot though.
The NHL doesn't "put" teams anywhere, but only reviews applications, and wasn't Balsillie the guy who was selling tickets before he even had a deal and was rejected as the owner of two US teams too?
FerrisRox
"Wanna go, Prettyboy?"
Gary has absolutely no say in the matter.
People often seem to misunderstand what the Commissioner of the NHL does - and what power he has - and as a result, Gary Bettman gets blamed for all kinds of things.
The Commissioner is the highest ranking executive in the NHL, but he works for the Board of Governors, and it is them, and them alone, that have votes on matters like adding a shootout, changing the playoff format or granting expansion franchises.
Bettman gathers information and data for them about viable cities, markets, sponsorship opportunities, TV markets, growth of the game, average income, etc. He can make recommendations. He can make strong suggestions. But he has no vote. Only the Board of Governors do. So the notion that Bettman could veto a possible expansion location is simply not possible.
All of that being said, as someone who has been to a few Rider games, and seen firsthand the way that province supports and loves the team, I too would be fascinated to see how they would embrace an NHL club. We were so close, back in '82, to getting an NHL club in Saskatoon. Would have been pretty wild.
Golden_Jet
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League is expanding because owners can’t say no to $50 million each, for every new team now.
really shitty environment for expansion talk right now. Sure the billionaires will all have a lot of extra pocket change but the average hockey enjoyer might see hockey tickets and jerseys as less important than feeding their kids. idk.
T REX
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- Feb 28, 2013
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its possible that the owners know this and think it will be great for the leagur
Is Toronto a hockey town or Leaf town. I don’t think a second team succeeding is a slam dunk.
My guess is 4 American teams with Houston entering the league. Unfortunately I think they try Atlanta again too. They really want that expansion money.
My guess is 4 American teams with Houston entering the league. Unfortunately I think they try Atlanta again too. They really want that expansion money.
Voight
#winning
I hope not. One of the worst ideas that the NBA has come up with.
Mr Positive
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