Toyota Center renovations to include installation of ice-making equipment

[GindyDraws]

I don’t have a dog in the fight when it comes to arena operations, but I would have to assume it saves on energy costs and the water bill, maybe?

Ice plants aren't cheap to maintain (particularly if they're an older system), especially if you don't have a tenant. Disney on Ice only does 3 or 4 days out of the year, so they aren't fiscally sound to have. Having all that ammonia around also isn't fun when the equipment starts to age.

 

[GindyDraws]

Maybe this is just a coincidence, but funding for a new 7,500 seat arena was approved just last week in the southeastern Houston suburb of Pasadena. Minor league arena for a future Houston NHL team? From what I understand the new arena has a lot of moving parts right now. Ice plant? Maybe, or maybe not. Pasadena Arena & Convention Center Expansion & Renovation

I assume all this is to lure an ECHL team for expansion purposes as South Texas is huge enough to support it and a potential NHL team. The Allen Americans have lasted for nearly two decades in the Metroplex.

 

[oknazevad]

Footprint Center?

Unless it was removed later in a renovation (which is possible), it should still have one from when the Coyotes played there.

 

[tarheelhockey]

He would need to have changed his mind on the valuation of a team in Houston. He wasn't thrilled about the $500 mill price tag a few years ago. More than doubled now by the time there is expansion since TB sold part of their team based off a $1.4 billion valuation. Wouldn't be surprised if it is true by Dreger that the NHL would seek $2 billion in expansion fee if the 2 main targets are the 2 biggest remaining US markets in Houston and Atlanta.

The fact that the price of a franchise has more than doubled in a few years would be good reason to change his mind on the valuation.

 

[StreetHawk]

Unless it was removed later in a renovation (which is possible), it should still have one from when the Coyotes played there.

Footprint underwent a $260 mill renovation that started just around Covid time. And the Coyotes have been away from the Footprint arena since they moved out to Glendale. The Roadrunners while in the ECHL, played there from 2005 to 2009. Gone a good decade without hockey prior to that major reno.

Nassau County Memorial Colesium would be another former NHL arena (which also underwent a big renovation) that wouldn't need the ice machine either if anything less than say 10 uses a year would be costing them money to keep around.

 

[TheLegend]

Footprint underwent a $260 mill renovation that started just around Covid time. And the Coyotes have been away from the Footprint arena since they moved out to Glendale. The Roadrunners while in the ECHL, played there from 2005 to 2009. Gone a good decade without hockey prior to that major reno.

Nassau County Memorial Colesium would be another former NHL arena (which also underwent a big renovation) that wouldn't need the ice machine either if anything less than say 10 uses a year would be costing them money to keep around.

I don’t think it’s there anymore.

Even if it was, it would be so outdated it would be worse that what Glendale’s arena was.

 

[bobbop]

This feels like "well, now we can bring in Disney on Ice and stuff like that, and if we do pivot to looking at the NHL, it's one less expense to clear."

The arena has had an ice plant. It is being updated and upgraded

Point of order: the Miami-Dade Arena (or whatever it's being called this week) does have an ice plant. And a hockey configuration. It's just never been used for playing hockey. The only NBA arenas at this time with no ice plant at all are the Chase Center in San Francisco and the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. (The Clippers' new Intuit Dome will join that list when it opens.) All others have ice plants, even if they're not used regularly and in many cases off-center like Phoenix and Brooklyn.

The (Whatever) Field House in Indianapolis doesn’t have an ice plant.

 

[oknazevad]

The arena has had an ice plant. It is being updated and upgraded


The (Whatever) Field House in Indianapolis doesn’t have an ice plant.

It does. Or at least it used to. The Indiana Ice junior team used to play there. Here's a pic of one of their games in the building.

With that said, the one NBA arena I know had an ice plant but I think may have removed it is New Orleans. The city's old ECHL team the Brass were actually the first tenant of the building, but when the Hornets (now Pelicans) arrived, their lease put all conversion costs for non-basketball events on the other event. That's is they'd have to pay for both going to hockey configuration from basketball configuration before the game and restoring back to basketball mode after, almost doubling their facilities costs. They couldn't afford that, so they left. I think the ice plant was removed after Katrina, as it was no longer needed (notably, when Disney on Ice plays New Orleans, they use the University of NO's Lakefront Arena.)

 

[aqib]

The fact that the price of a franchise has more than doubled in a few years would be good reason to change his mind on the valuation.

Its funny he bid on the Rockets when Alexander bought them. He bid $80 million, Alexander bid $85 million. He wound up buying them from Alexander for $2.2 billion. So he balked at a $500-600 million asking price now its going to cost him over $1 billion