Potential Atlanta NHL Expansion Team Thread

[MMC]

 

[hockeyguy0022]

Saskatoon preliminary specs just dropped as well...

Phase 1
15,900 (bigger then Sasktel centre currently, and MTS/WPG)
Lower bowl - 9,084 (seats/suites)
mid 1,116 (suites/box)
upper = 5,700

Expandable to 18K with 2100 upper bowl seating expansion

Premium seating

Lower bowl
4 bunker suites
6 luxury suites
24 theatre box

Mid bowl
40 luxury suites
64 loge boxes
200 club seats

Same design/project crew as Edmonton, and the numbers are very similar overall in terms of section/bowl size. I assume the top levels would be standing/or something similar before the addition of 2100 to get to 18K

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I wonder if the potential owner emerges once the arena is greenlit. This person/entity would need to own the building as well.

 

[GreenHornet]

I wonder if the potential owner emerges once the arena is greenlit. This person/entity would need to own the building as well.

Or at least a piece of the building.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Or at least a piece of the building.

And, as Liberty Media has demonstrated, it doesn't hurt to invest in the surrounding development either.

 

[dj4aces]

I wonder if the potential owner emerges once the arena is greenlit. This person/entity would need to own the building as well.

Only question is, would it be speaking out-of-turn in the league's eyes if the potential Atlanta owner(s) step out of the shadows? I have a bit of trepidation when it comes to them speaking up now, as opposed to after the application process has commenced.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Only question is, would it be speaking out-of-turn in the league's eyes if the potential Atlanta owner(s) step out of the shadows? I have a bit of trepidation when it comes to them speaking up now, as opposed to after the application process has commenced.

Agreed, but the hope is that he/she/they have already been in many conversations with Bettman and Daly behind the scenes. We've known about teh SLC guy for some time and that doesn't seem to hurt their chances as far as I can tell.

 

[dj4aces]

Agreed, but the hope is that he/she/they have already been in many conversations with Bettman and Daly behind the scenes. We've known about teh SLC guy for some time and that doesn't seem to hurt their chances as far as I can tell.

Aye, it hasn't seemed to hurt them, which is great for the effort to bring the league to Utah. With Atlanta having lost two teams though, regardless of the reason, I'm sitting here, saying to myself, "whoever you are, don't screw this up!"

 

[GreenHornet]

Only question is, would it be speaking out-of-turn in the league's eyes if the potential Atlanta owner(s) step out of the shadows? I have a bit of trepidation when it comes to them speaking up now, as opposed to after the application process has commenced.

Maybe, but I've a feeling we won't have to wait too long before the application process begins. I'm still convinced that once the Arizona situation has some answers one way or another, we'll start hearing more from the league about expansion. And my guess is that those things will happen by the end of the regular season at the latest, especially if the Coyotes do make some actual progress towards a new rink in town.

 

[GreenHornet]

Aye, it hasn't seemed to hurt them, which is great for the effort to bring the league to Utah. With Atlanta having lost two teams though, regardless of the reason, I'm sitting here, saying to myself, "whoever you are, don't screw this up!"

I definitely get where you're coming from here. Longtime Atlanta fan in ANY sport, much less hockey, have plenty of reasons to believe that Murphy's Law should be renamed Atlanta's Law.

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

My read on this announcement is that the potential Atlanta owner is in contact with Bettman/NHL BoG and has gotten a tentative thumbs up. (Edit - maybe a better way to put it would be "we wouldn't be opposed to returning to ATL" was the message from the NHL)

The jokes will come fast and furious at the market's expense no matter what though.

 

[tucker3434]

Breaking: Commissioners approve memorandum to require NHL team for The Gathering at South Forsyth to get a contribution from the County

During a special-called meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 31, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the development team behind The Gathering at South Forsyth that ensures any County contribution to the proposed arena project will be contingent upon an...

www.forsythnews.com

Seems like the "breaking news" is a ways behind twitter. But it's all moving in the right direction.

 

[GKJ]

The main board is predictably freaking out, but am I understanding it correctly that they will greenlight it if/when they get an NHL commitment, or that they are greenlighted now?

 

[tucker3434]

GDPR Support

Better one with actual details, but also paywalled.

 

[tucker3434]

The main board is predictably freaking out, but am I understanding it correctly that they will greenlight it if/when they get an NHL commitment, or that they are greenlighted now?

Sounds like they'll green light public funds only if there's an NHL commitment. Maybe Weekes thinks they already have it behind closed doors. Or maybe he misread it. Still a ways to go on this.

 

[dj4aces]

My read on this announcement is that the potential Atlanta owner is in contact with Bettman/NHL BoG and has gotten a tentative thumbs up.

The jokes will come fast and furious at the market's expense no matter what though.

You have to have thick skin just to live in this area at times. I still maintain my fandom of Detroit's teams, but know just from observation that you have to have even thicker skin to be a fan of the local teams.

The main board is predictably freaking out, but am I understanding it correctly that they will greenlight it if/when they get an NHL commitment, or that they are greenlighted now?

That's how I was reading it, so I don't think you're wrong to have this feeling on it.

Until I see a story (AJC, The Athletic, THN -- just examples), I'm viewing this through the lens of it being a potential step towards accomplishing the goal of the NHL returning to Atlanta. But I'm not looking much farther beyond that.

Edit: I see the second link @tucker3434 posted actually does go to an AJC article, so that gives this whole thing a little more weight. Alas, also not a subscriber.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Not knowing the area well, it sounds like this isn't planned for the heart of Atlanta, right?

This ain't gonna be another Coyotes/Glendale situation, is it? Arena so far out of the actual city that nobody shows up?

 

[GKJ]

Not knowing the area well, it sounds like this isn't planned for the heart of Atlanta, right?

This ain't gonna be another Coyotes/Glendale situation, is it? Arena so far out of the actual city that nobody shows up?

The arena before was in the city and supposedly wasn’t drawing enough. But the argument was always that it wasn’t where the fans were.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Not knowing the area well, it sounds like this isn't planned for the heart of Atlanta, right?

This ain't gonna be another Coyotes/Glendale situation, is it? Arena so far out of the actual city that nobody shows up?

Honestly, it really isn't that far out. Like 30 minutes.

If you're looking for a case study, Braves moved about 20 minutes out and has become the 4th or 5th best attendance in baseball.

 

[Yukon Joe]

Not knowing the area well, it sounds like this isn't planned for the heart of Atlanta, right?

This ain't gonna be another Coyotes/Glendale situation, is it? Arena so far out of the actual city that nobody shows up?

We're being told no - that this is the part of town with the most likely hockey fans.

 

[BMN]

Not knowing the area well, it sounds like this isn't planned for the heart of Atlanta, right? This ain't gonna be another Coyotes/Glendale situation, is it? Arena so far out of the actual city that nobody shows up?

It's hard to say but I think most people who live in or have lived in Atlanta (FWIW, I left in 2022 though I return semi-frequently) agree: maybe this location is right, maybe it's not. But downtown is an ABSOLUTE no-go. For multiple reasons...

1--- Fairly or unfairly, it carries the stench of the past two franchise relocations,
2--- There's no way they'll be able to get State Farm Arena and...
3--- You don't need *another* venue downtown adding to the glut and...
4--- The Cobb County/Braves project is what's attractive to the people you need to make this go (AKA the people that want to bring a team to Atlanta.....those people want a real estate/district project just like the Braves did. And yes, that may draw unflattering comparisons to Glendale but no one who would have the money to invest in a NHL franchise in Atlanta would want to put it downtown). Plus...
5--- The general consensus is that the hockey fans that reside in metro Atlanta and that actually want their favourite team to be "the Atlanta _________" resides more north than south. Particularly close to Alpharetta. And...
6--- Those are the fans with more expendable income. There are a lot of college students and recent college graduates downtown. It's a young, hip place. But as a friend of mine used to say in the late oughts (but it still applies now), there's a lot of "$30,000 millionaires" 'round those parts as opposed to honest-to-goodness-have-the-salary-to-put-"pro sports team season tickets"-on-their-annual-shopping-list residents like you would find further north.

And trust me, I was ITP-or-die the near two decades I lived in Atlanta. If it kills anyone to say "put it anywhere but downtown," I'm that anyone. But it's 100% true.

 

[dj4aces]

Not knowing the area well, it sounds like this isn't planned for the heart of Atlanta, right?

This ain't gonna be another Coyotes/Glendale situation, is it? Arena so far out of the actual city that nobody shows up?

The northside of Atlanta is where the vast majority of the Thrashers season ticket base live(d). It's also the area of the Atlanta MSA that's growing the fastest. That's money and potential new fans -- especially if those folks moving here have kids.

As was mentioned previously, the Braves have had great success with their move closer to their season ticket base. The NHL could too, with a team close to former season ticket holders as well.

 

[nhlfan79]

I read that long AJC article linked above. There are still a lot of regulatory hurdles to clear and the task of selling the public on the financing aspect of it. Then there's the so-called expert quoted in the article saying that it's a terrible idea to bring hockey into Forsyth County and a financial boondoggle as well.

I guess we'll just have to wait to see. I reiterate my overall viewpoint again. There's no way this concept has gotten this public and this far along unless it already had major legs to it, namely, the league all but formally giving assurances to the potential owners that this is happening.

 

[dj4aces]

If it hasn't been posted anywhere yet, here's a link to more details about today's news, including a name of the prospective ownership group: Krause Sports & Entertainment. So, yes, it's the car guy.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]