Why did Quebec not get a team?

[Viqsi]

Are you going to mention that the North Stars played in one of the smallest NHL arenas? Max crowd for a North Stars game was 14,400. Except for a couple economically down seasons I don’t see the pattern here you are trying to suggest.

The pattern is that Minnesota catches a break when this happens, and that is reasonable. But when it happens to teams further south*, this sort of thing is cited as evidence of the city in question being "not a hockey market" and therefore in need of prompt relocation and/or contraction.

Nobody's trying to claim Minnesota was bad or deserved to lose the North Stars. Minnesota is merely being used to illustrate that there's an indefensible double standard in place.

*: Or even teams that are within 150 miles of the Canadian border and which have never gotten anywhere near that bad, such as, oh, say, Columbus.

 

[Zalos]

A lot of false claims were made in this thread about the Nordiques.

But yea, if the league ever increases to 36 teams, Quebec will have a team again.

 

[EpochLink]

Quebec will be back in the league once it expands to 36.
NHL wants to get into the heavy media markets of Atlanta and Houston.

 

[sfvega]

Because the league needs to again chase fool's gold of hockey in Atlanta...

 

[Kegs]

There is only half a million people in Quebec City.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

The pattern is that Minnesota catches a break when this happens, and that is reasonable. But when it happens to teams further south*, this sort of thing is cited as evidence of the city in question being "not a hockey market" and therefore in need of prompt relocation and/or contraction.

Nobody's trying to claim Minnesota was bad or deserved to lose the North Stars. Minnesota is merely being used to illustrate that there's an indefensible double standard in place.

*: Or even teams that are within 150 miles of the Canadian border and which have never gotten anywhere near that bad, such as, oh, say, Columbus.

Or, even the NHL had to acknowledge that Norm Green got into financial trouble, a sexual harassment scandal and skipped town leaving a top 20 market without a team.

 

[Schennanigans]

Not a big fish.

 

[2014nyr]

it's not rocket science...money. the nhl ain't operating a charity.

if you want to argue their revenue projection model is wrong and quebec would be the smarter investment versus alternatives being considered, that's not unreasonable. there's considerations beyond just market size and growth potential that eliminate quebec by default from any serious consideration at the moment, primarily related to currency and tax structure. the nhl is a business, and business decisions are driven by their projected profit incentive.

 

[nucks88]

Edit

 

[Hennessy]

Because Alberta hasn't gone full Texas yet. They're holding the entire country back.

 

[Chet Manley]

The expansion fee has outgrown the market. Proof being when the $500USD fee scared the potential bidders off like 7 years ago.

 

[Sorry]

Maybe if Canada was desirable for businesses, QC could get a team. The big market Canadian teams aren't attractive to the players to sign in, let alone the owners looking at QC versus a major American market.

 

[JianYang]

Quebec will be back in the league once it expands to 36.
NHL wants to get into the heavy media markets of Atlanta

I'm sure they want to get back in Phoenix-Scottsdale as well.

The nhl would also prefer many mid American markets currently without a team than Quebec.

 

[byrath]

There is only half a million people in Quebec City.

The metro area is about 850k just like Winnipeg

 

[ItWasJustified]

A Canadian dollar worth 74 cents US (which it wasn't when Winnipeg reacquired its team).

This would only be an issue if the owner(s) would earn all his/their money in Canadian dollars. I bet you that the Winnipeg Jets co-owner David Thomson, who is one of the richest persons in the entire world, does not earn the majority of his money in Canada but on the American stock market speculating with US dollars.