More like you'd want a lot of rich corporations able/willing to use the 1/2 entertainment tax deduction to purchase overpriced corporate suites in any NHL/NBA arena. At least that is the case for high end, overpriced sports leagues.
All this talk about "grassroots" is just a code word for condescension against nontraditional markets. The nontraditional = condemned to failure accusation is used against the Coyotes/Thrashers, but somehow isn't used against the similar sunbelt franchises like the Kings/Ducks/Sharks. Why were the Red Wings and Blackhawks sad sack loser franchises a generation ago, despite being large, O6 markets with frigid winters?
Hell, even the Canucks were seen as failing in the 90s because Vancouver does not get cold enough for ponds to freeze over, and because hockey arenas are in short supply, and because a plurality of the population is descended from non hockey cultures.
If Boston, Detroit or Chicago have struggled it wasn't because of a lack of hockey fans...Boston still had interest in hockey, college and NHL, but Jacobs alienated his fans. Highest attendance for an outdoor hockey game is still in Michigan. Chicago had the Wolves drawing parallel to the Hawks, in a market again alienated by a greedy owner.
Minnesota lost a team, but hockey carried on in the state of 10 000 lakes (that freeze).
I'd be curious the viewership numbers on TV, while these markets floundered, supposedly, in comparison to the early successes of Raleigh, Atlanta, Phoenix. Do you honestly believe that any of the aforementioned could reach Pittsburgh or Buffalo like fan interest in good and mediocre times?
I'm curious if you don't think college hockey, minor hockey, etc. don't matter in a market's long term success. Sure L.A. with Hollywood on their side don't need that traction, but most places do.
Atlanta was unprofitable, and couldn't attract an owner to sink cash into them. Why? Phoenix has been bankrupted so many times, there is no chance at getting people to pay big money for a fringe sport, without a winner. They were lucky to have a face like Roenick to get them off the ground. Just like Dallas with Modano. Made in the USA, as the storyline goes.
And Auston Matthews means f-all to me. One player. Winnipeg endured 16 seasons of watching Winnipegers from Mike Keane, Darren Helm (St. Andrews), Jonathan Toews win the Cup. There is no hockey without hockey players, and those still come from the rinks of Canada, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts for the most part. And Northern Europe. So we're sorry for producing hockey players, that keep the sport alive, for your entertainment, and not wanting to be a recognized part of the National Hockey League.
I'm not anti-American or anti-Sunbelt. I was really moved by the underdog mentality that Karmonos spoke of with pride in building grassroots hockey in the state of Carolina. It's happening in California, Texas, and Florida too.
But don't call me elitist because I grew up playing the game on frozen ice. If I am elitist than I would say you are entitled. And you are welcome for all the hockey players, that make the game possible, for fans to enjoy.
I think there will always be a divide between traditional hockey, and manufactured hockey, and it's good to have rivalries. Nashville is probably the most hated team among Jets fans, and I hope we become the same to them.
As for Atlanta, well I would support Florida moving there, because I can't see Miami surviving without subsidies, and at least the corporate players would make up the difference. But you also have to see that saturation and competition make it a harder sell.