Why did Quebec not get a team?

[Michel Beauchamp]

and 50% of the Canadian population is in Metro areas that already have a team versus 32% of the American population being in Metro areas that already have a team

And that is supposed to be a retort?

GIGO...

 

[ricky0034]

And that is supposed to be a retort?

GIGO...

depends if you'd rather make up your own math or not I guess

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

depends if you'd rather make up your own math or not I guess

Math is math... notwithstanding what a politician might say.

There is no "alternate math"...

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

If not QC, what Eastern team is gonna make team #36 should we get that far? It doesn't sound like there's any other options left

Baltimore? Orlando? Jacksonville? Cincinnati? Cleveland? Charlotte? Virginia Beach? Richmond? Jacksonville? Providence? They all have metro areas with at least 1.5 million people. And that's leaving out both Memphis and Birmingham, which are both over 1 million.

 

[Ciao]

Money. As in, not enough of it.

If QC overwhelmed the NHL with cash, the NHL would welcome Quebec with open arms.

And maybe even in both official languages.

 

[Monsieur Miz]

The NHL ignores Quebec on damn near a disrespectful level and you expect folks there to attend? Sounds abit dumb, but they are showing integrity by not going. They should outright protest the game since a protest would get them on page one on all the social media sites.

People not showing up has nothing to do with the NHL. People aren't going because they hate the CAQ government. They announced these two random games when they were negotiating salaries in the public sector and they said there was no money left.

Still, if you want a team that bad... 10 000 empty seats is a bad look. It just gives Bettman more munition to never bring a team back.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'm not even going to touch on the Quebec market size here, maybe if people want a NHL team to go back to Quebec, maybe there should be enough investors or an ownership group that wants them there enough to flash money to get them there

There really seems to be this idea where Quebec is somehow owed a team despite it not seeming like there is any sort of ownership or funding for a team to be there. The NHL isn't passing on Quebec for some sort of bias, it's because no one is making a legitimate financial case for why they should own a team. If there was an ownership group with a lot of money and a lot of local financial backing for a team, I completely believe that they'd go back to Quebec.

 

[ORRFForever]

Still, if you want a team that bad... 10 000 empty seats is a bad look. It just gives Bettman more munition to never bring a team back.

If Bettman can look past Atlanta folding twice, he can look past 10,000 empty seats.

As we both know, Bettman has NO interest in adding a team in Canada and the seating in QC is irrelevant. QC could sell out both games and have a 20,000 season ticket waiting list and Bettman would yawn.

Like I said before, for all the money Sportsnet/TSN pays to televise NHL hockey, they should pressure the NHL to add a Canadian team. If Sportsnet/TSN said, "We want another Canadian teams to make the NHL Canadian package profitable and we're not buying in until we get a guarantee of an 8th team", Bettman would start the process of adding another Canadian team tomorrow.

 

[cowboy82nd]

Jets have a smaller rink and tickets are more expensive.

The Jets never lost money despite spending to the cap.

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7171250

The Trashers lost 130M USD in their last 6 years of operation and if I remember correctly, they weren’t spending to the cap.

How many times does it have to be said??? The Atlanta Spirit group NEVER wanted the team. It was a package deal to get the Hawks and Phillips Arena. So, of course they weren't spending to the cap. Hell, they didn't want to spend ANY money on the Thrashers.

 

[cowboy82nd]

Because Bettman is a f***ing asshole

Sure, blame Gary.

 

[cptjeff]

Baltimore? Orlando? Jacksonville? Cincinnati? Cleveland? Charlotte? Virginia Beach? Richmond? Jacksonville? Providence? They all have metro areas with at least 1.5 million people. And that's leaving out both Memphis and Birmingham, which are both over 1 million.

Or just go with Arizona and San Diego and move Nashville to the Eastern Conference. Cuts out a bunch of 8 and 9 pm games from their schedule and adds more 6 and 6:30 pm ones, which isn't entirely ideal, but it reduces their travel quite a bit. And great regional rivalries with Atlanta and Carolina. As a Canes fan, that covid central division was a lot of fun, Nashville and the Canes have always been a great pair with a lot of fan affinity, and it's always sucked not playing them often.

 

[cowboy82nd]

The ONLY way Quebec City / Canada gets another team is if TSN / Rogers demands it. If the network who wins the bid for the Canadian National TV package demands another team for Canada, we'll get one - but not until then.

Is TSN/Rogers going to pay for it??

 

[Sniper99]

Just curious, what is the cutoff? Can't mention a team from 100 years ago, but 40 years is fine?

Lol there isnt a cutoff but incase you have realized, things are completely different than they were 100 years ago. The league is different than it was 100 years ago even 40 years ago.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Is TSN/Rogers going to pay for it??

Well "TSN" is a network and obviously they're not going to pay for anything.

But their owners, Bell, who just got out of the Leafs' ownership consortium, could certainly table some serious dollars to bring another team to Canada.

I think Hamilton gets a team before Quebec City. Either would be cool though.

 

[cowboy82nd]

Lol there isnt a cutoff but incase you have realized, things are completely different than they were 100 years ago. The league is different than it was 100 years ago even 40 years ago.

Exactly, the league is different than it was 100 years and even 40 years ago. So, why do people get mad when others say Quebec has had two NHL teams already. I mean if we are going to mention Atlanta twice (one over 44 years ago), shouldn't we include 100 years ago also??

 

[ORRFForever]

Is TSN/Rogers going to pay for it??

If given a chance for a team of their own, I am sure Bell (TSN) would say yes - maybe not in QC, but in Southern Ontario, YES!

 

[cptjeff]

Lol there isnt a cutoff but incase you have realized, things are completely different than they were 100 years ago. The league is different than it was 100 years ago even 40 years ago.

In 1980, the absolute highest paid players in the NHL were earning $300,000, roughly equivalent to $1.2 million in today's dollars. Tickets cost 5 bucks. The economics of sports have fundamentally changed since the 1980s and it is just as ridiculous to use the example of a team from 1980 as it is to use the example of a team from 1900. Neither are remotely relevant to the modern economics of sports.

 

[cowboy82nd]

If given a chance for a team of their own, I am sure Bell (TSN) would say yes - maybe not in QC, but in Southern Ontario, YES!

What do you mean "given a chance"? They can go through the expansion process like everybody else. Get an ownership group together, show their finances, show their plan of operation (which includes where they plan to play), and don't forget their deposit.

 

[RogerRogerr]

Québec City has a small population. It's not a city with lots of large businesses that can easily fill out business suites. It's not bringing a lot of new fans. It's not a large media/tv market.

It doesn't have a very rich owner that can withstand a Canadian economic downturn (off synch with a US downturn). And that's probably what is hurting Québec the most, that's why it failed last time around so the League will be sensitive to that. Plus, with Winnipeg, not doing absolutely fantastic last year, it only strengthens that fear.

 

[cowboy82nd]

In 1980, the absolute highest paid players in the NHL were earning $300,000, roughly equivalent to $1.2 million in today's dollars. Tickets cost 5 bucks. The economics of sports have fundamentally changed since the 1980s and it is just as ridiculous to use the example of a team from 1980 as it is to use the example of a team from 1900. Neither are remotely relevant to the modern economics of sports.

So, that means that Atlanta has only had ONE opportunity for a hockey team.

 

[ORRFForever]

What do you mean "given a chance"? They can go through the expansion process like everybody else. Get an ownership group together, show their finances, show their plan of operation (which includes where they plan to play), and don't forget their deposit.

Um... Okay.

Bell is not (really) in the Sports business - TSN is a tiny(!) part of their business. They have bigger fish to fry. Also, Bettman does NOT want to put a team in Canada.

My point was : Rogers and Bell, for the good of Canada, should pressure the NHL to put another team in Canada. If they decided to go down this altruistic / noble route, Bell could then buy the team - since Rogers owns the Leafs.

Having said that, as I said above, Bell has bigger fish to fry.

 

[ORRFForever]

What do you mean "given a chance"? They can go through the expansion process like everybody else. Get an ownership group together, show their finances, show their plan of operation (which includes where they plan to play), and don't forget their deposit.

P.S.

BCE is a HUGE company. You seem to be imply an NHL team is too big a cost for BCE. If that's what you think, you're way off base.

 

[cptjeff]

So, that means that Atlanta has only had ONE opportunity for a hockey team.

Yes, and the Atlanta Spirit Group deliberately killed that team because they saw it as competition to the basketball team they actually wanted despite the market being viable.

It gets really tiresome when people actively lie about what happened in Atlanta in order to cheer on Quebec for pretty much entirely jingoistic reasons.

 

[ORRFForever]

At the end of the day, Bettman has us / Canada by the <fill in the blank>...

Canadians love hockey. Canadians love the NHL - we pay insane prices few would pay. Canadians are NOT willing to turn their back on the NHL - even when Bettman continually treats us like the Ugly Step Sister.

In summary : Canada has no one to blame but ourselves. Our loyalty to a league that shows NO loyalty back is foolish - to put it mildly.

I am off for a swim.

 

[LuckyDay]

I don't think Gary was ever afraid of tapping into the non traditional markets.

The mission presented to him when he was brought on board was to get a legitimate national TV deal in the US. In order for that to happen, he needed to get more teams particularly in the south, which is exactly what he did.

The southern movement started almost immediately under his watch with moving teams to Texas, Arizona, and north Carolina and then expanding to Tennessee, and Georgia.

Infact, the nhl had already started the process of expanding their southern exposure prior to bettman with new teams in Florida, and California.

Most of these franchises appear relatively healthy and are still standing, so I don't think there would have been much apprehension by the time they got to 2017 and Vegas came in.

Don't forget he got the second team in Florida as it turns out John Ziegler didn't vet Tampa's Japanese investors well enough and they tried to flip the team as soon as they won the franchise rights. (TB and Ottawa were the only two perspective owners that were willing to pony up the $50m, no questions asked and no attempt to negotiate. Hamilton and another team (in Florida?) were supposed to be shoe-ins but suddenly the league was stuck with two teams who's finances were questionable).