Atlanta to Winnipeg move probably saved 200 millions of losses in 10 years, that would have ultimately cost the teams via revenue sharing. I don’t think any owner complained.
my point isn’t that it would be a market like Toronto or Montreal. Just that it could be a breakeven operation like Winnipeg , with an added benefit of helping the Canadian tv deal (the real money maker ) with more Canadian games.
The details that I would like to see (that the NHL already knows in full detail) made public is the TV ratings currently in a market like Quebec City and what their advertising revenues are from those broadcast partners.
Yes, I believe that Quebec City would have a passionate fanbase in game day attendance and I appreciate the posts about disposable income which makes it look more appealing than the other smallest market: Winnipeg where we have seen ticket sales drop due to some economic and marketing issues.
What the conversation should be about is to what degree would their be an INCREMENTAL increase to the NHL revenue picture from the broadcast rights to have a team in that direct market versus the status quo and what the market for corporate sponsorship would look like; as compared to entering a new larger US market like Atlanta, Houston, etc.
So if the current greater Quebec City market (Capitale-Nationale region) has population of 757,950 or 839,311 using the Quebec Metropolitan Community definition (2021 census; used by Radio CBS website) and their TV Ratings are 30% x 800k = 240,000 viewers per game. If an NHL team moved that to 50% = 400,000; a 160,000 gain to the NHL broadcast package.
A new market like Atlanta might only get a 1% rating today but it's a 6,000,000 market so that is 60,000 viewers. A new team there might bump that up to 5% so that would be 300,000 viewers a gain of 240,000 new viewers. Then you factor in corporate sponsorships and USD$ vs CD$ and a merchandising market of 6,000,000 vs 800,000 and it quickly shows that IF DONE RIGHT; the larger markets like Atlanta, Houston, and Phoenix will be primary.
The 4th team is where things probably get a lot more nit-picky on numbers/projections and incremental impact.
Would a 2nd team in Greater Toronto Area be more beneficial, what about a 2nd team in the Chicago-Milwaukee market? The next largest standalone markets: San Diego, Portland, Baltimore, or return to Hartford? Go to mid-sized cities in the midwest that have a larger cachement area: Kansas City or Indianapolis.
Compared to the incremental increase in Quebec City that is when it will get interesting.
