Will Atlanta Get Another Team?

[Gnashville]

No one cares about hockey in that area.. tickets were dirt cheap and still no one shows up.. Carolina, Florida and Arizona need to be moved

I guess you fell superiority over the fans in “that area” funny you left out Nashville and Tampa as places where no one cares. Also note the distance from Sunrise Florida to Scottsdale AZ is over 2300 miles so “that area” is massively large.

 

[NSHPreds1835]

On the topic of Atlanta teams does anyone remember this?

They were here the summer of 1994 and I remember going to see a game against the Pittsburgh Phantoms

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

no.

 

[adsfan]

Gladiators could simply move up to AHL.

I wish that I could give you a thumbs down for this post.

 

[adsfan]

I think Atlanta/Gwinnett makes a lot of sense as a Predators affiliate. It grows their fanbase. Atlanta gets to be part of a quality organization. Milwaukee would be a good affiliate for St. Louis, on the doorstep of the Hawks. Maybe grow their brand a little.

I call BS! The Milwaukee Admirals drew about 16,000 fans this weekend. That is the total of 2 home games. Do you really think that Atlanta is going to match or exceed that total? Nashville has already picked up some ATL area fans if you look at the Preds threads. I don't see them getting many more. Nineteen players on Nashville's SCF team had played in Milwaukee. Why would you want to wreck that pipeline?

Flying into and out of Atlanta has become a nightmare since it became the busiest airport in the world. Milwaukee is much easier for travel. If you can't fly some place from here, you can fly out of O'Hare. It is only 90 minutes away from Downtown Milwaukee. You can hop a direct flight to Boston or Dallas or Frankfurt, Germany from there.

 

[Dolemite]

Not impossible, not a priority.

After Seattle, the next option to extend should naturally be Quebec

And personally, I’d like to see San Diego considered at some point. No basketball no football. Anaheim is far away enough to be a separate market.

1) Their arena is a dump and is way below NHL level. Let me put it to you like this...

The last time I went to a game there, the press box was a folding table in the stands.

2) There’s no place to put an arena in the San Diego metro area.

3) The Chargers showed everyone how difficult it was to not only buy land for a new arena but get public money for it (among other things).

So, 20 years ago, the Phillips Arena was in the right location, but now it is not. Hmm.. Sounds like Arizona where Glendale was fine in the early millennium, but not any more

Apples and oranges. Both had incompetent management driving the teams into the ground. The COG promised the Coyotes a world class Facility as well as a Westgate that was originally three to four times the size of what is there today with tons more amenities than you see today.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Third time's a charm??

 

[HisIceness]

No one cares about hockey in that area.. tickets were dirt cheap and still no one shows up.. Carolina, Florida and Arizona need to be moved

I agree.

1. Move the Hurricanes to Myrtle Beach
2. Move the Panthers to Miami
3. Move the Coyotes to Scottsdale, or back to Phoenix

 

[NoDak]

Atlanta can thrive within the NHL for the same reasons that Phoenix can prosper: a properly located and decent arena and ownership that cares about details. Gwinnett and Cobb counties with the Buckhead portion of Atlanta is the true part of Atlanta Metro that would support a new team. Anywhere in that region if a proper arena was built, it would have sellout crowds with the right ownership.

 

[powerstuck]

Atlanta can thrive within the NHL for the same reasons that Phoenix can prosper: a properly located and decent arena and ownership that cares about details. Gwinnett and Cobb counties with the Buckhead portion of Atlanta is the true part of Atlanta Metro that would support a new team. Anywhere in that region if a proper arena was built, it would have sellout crowds with the right ownership.

Sure if I was Bill Gates and owned a team in the middle of the Mojave desert where only 100 people showed to games and where I would charge 10 cents for beer, 5 cents for hotdogs and only 1$ for tickets....in other words if I could care less to lose (at least) $100M per year, sure hockey would work anywhere.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Sure if I was Bill Gates and owned a team in the middle of the Mojave desert where only 100 people showed to games and where I would charge 10 cents for beer, 5 cents for hotdogs and only 1$ for tickets....in other words if I could care less to lose (at least) $100M per year, sure hockey would work anywhere.

Did you quote the wrong post? You didn't remotely discuss what you quoted.

 

[powerstuck]

Did you quote the wrong post? You didn't remotely discuss what you quoted.

Not at all.

The poster I quoted says Atlanta can support NHL if the arena is located in right location and if they have the right ownership.

So, my take is right location = anywhere including desert, if right ownership = someone who have a craploadton of money to spend and doesn't care what happens to that money.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Not at all.

The poster I quoted says Atlanta can support NHL if the arena is located in right location and if they have the right ownership.

So, my take is right location = anywhere including desert, if right ownership = someone who have a craploadton of money to spend and doesn't care what happens to that money.

Ah. It was such a blanket statement. The same could be said for any city. Like Lima. Or Quebec.

 

[powerstuck]

Ah. It was such a blanket statement. The same could be said for any city. Like Lima. Or Quebec.

Exactly, thus my example using Mojave Desert.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I always find one factor in this discussion interesting...

When bringing up the troubles of Canadian franchises a couple decades ago, its always said that much of that was due to the fall of the Canadian dollar. I certainly agree that economic conditions can play a huge part in overall health of a franchise.

Which is why I find it somewhat odd that the worst cycle since the great depression is never mentioned when talking about this. From 2008-2010 (the years leading up to the 2011 move), Atlanta lost over 184,000 jobs including the worst overall year in decades, 2009 when over 136,000 jobs were lost alone. The real estate market was the worst in the country as over 5 million square feet of office space delivered during that same timeframe. And with that, the residential housing market crashed as well.

Since then, Atlanta has gained back over 400,000 jobs and has landed the HQ's (or major hubs) for Porsche, Mercedes, State Farm, GE, Honeywell, and just announced a $42 billion data center/office commitment from Facebook and Anthem is building their hub (rumors of this being their new HQ) now. Atlanta is now the #3 city in numbers of HQ's.

Just a thought. In no way does this mean Atlanta gets another shot (Houston is still a bigger market for example), but this certainly helps.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Never say never, but if we're having a legitimate conversation about whether or not Quebec City has been priced out of the NHL, I don't see how that wouldn't also be the case for Atlanta for the foreseeable future. Comparatively speaking, the Thrashers became the Jets for a relative pittance just a handful of years before major expansion costs, and the old ownership made that sale gleefully and nobody local came close to matching that. Not imaging that somebody with $650 million+ is a step or two away in Georgia right now.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

Never say never, but if we're having a legitimate conversation about whether or not Quebec City has been priced out of the NHL, I don't see how that wouldn't also be the case for Atlanta for the foreseeable future. Comparatively speaking, the Thrashers became the Jets for a relative pittance just a handful of years before major expansion costs, and the old ownership made that sale gleefully and nobody local came close to matching that. Not imaging that somebody with $650 million+ is a step or two away in Georgia right now.

IIRC though, NFS, part of that was because ASG essentially made the purchase of the Trashers a poison pill for any locals looking to buy them and keep them in market. Philips is/was the only NHL quality arena and ASG was still going to keep control of Philips and so they could rents out the nose or insist on lease that'd be financially disadvantageous for the Thrashers. They wanted that team out and gone so they wouldn't have any fall/winter sport competition for the Hawks.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

That could be the case, but the margin of difference dollar-wise between what the team sold for then and the asking price for expansion teams now is gargantuan. I have nothing against the idea of Atlanta getting a team back, but I'm just not holding my breath at this point. Heck, I wouldn't be shocked if Winnipeg would be priced out right now if they had to start from scratch.

 

[nhlfan79]

The fact that ASG was completely unwilling to work on a viable lease for any local purchaser of the Thrashers is only part of the story.

There were several interested buyers who wanted to buy all three assets (Hawks, arena, and Thrashers) and keep the Thrashers local, but ASG entered into a sham exclusivity agreement with the former owner of the San Diego Padres for the purchase of only the Hawks and arena, effectively preventing them from being part of a package deal, and, thus, isolating the Thrashers as the only asset available for purchase. That exclusivity agreement (not) coincidentally ended the very day True North closed its purchase of the hockey team. Shocking (not).

 

[DowntownBooster]

That could be the case, but the margin of difference dollar-wise between what the team sold for then and the asking price for expansion teams now is gargantuan. I have nothing against the idea of Atlanta getting a team back, but I'm just not holding my breath at this point. Heck, I wouldn't be shocked if Winnipeg would be priced out right now if they had to start from scratch.

That's a valid point NFS. As I said in another thread, we were fortunate to get the Thrashers when we did and for the price of $170 million U.S when the Canadian dollar was at par. I do not believe TNSE would pay $650 million for an expansion team (or even $500 million like Vegas did) as the interest on that kind of debt load would prevent them from being able to generate a profit. The timing was just right for Winnipeg in 2011.

 

[cbcwpg]

That could be the case, but the margin of difference dollar-wise between what the team sold for then and the asking price for expansion teams now is gargantuan. I have nothing against the idea of Atlanta getting a team back, but I'm just not holding my breath at this point. Heck, I wouldn't be shocked if Winnipeg would be priced out right now if they had to start from scratch.

Most of the current NHL owners would be priced out if they had to come up with $650MM for their teams.

 

[GuelphStormer]

Most of the current NHL owners would be priced out if they had to come up with $650MM for their teams.

no doubt eh. it really is crazy how much so many pro sports franchises have gone up in value recently. well done to all these owners and league wizards for somehow accomplishing it.

 

[Melrose Munch]

I agree.

1. Move the Hurricanes to Myrtle Beach
2. Move the Panthers to Miami
3. Move the Coyotes to Scottsdale, or back to Phoenix

I think the last two should happen period despite your sarcasm. Suburban arenas = money pits.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

the entire post, MM, IS NOT BASED IN REALITY, sarcasm or not

 

[voyageur]

no doubt eh. it really is crazy how much so many pro sports franchises have gone up in value recently. well done to all these owners and league wizards for somehow accomplishing it.

It's just like housing, stocks, mostly speculation. Once Ballmer paid a $1 billion for the Clippers, I think the NHL naturally figured since they were half the league, they could get $500 million for a city with the attraction like Vegas. Seattle is an even more prominent market, especially in terms of corporate sponsorship potential. Hence the increased value of the market. But that's the NHL's watermark unless they put a 2nd team in Toronto. Carolina sold for less. Arizona with its debt load would be reduced. Nobody in their right mind would pay $650 million for a team in greater Miami. Unless they were moving them, with the transfer fee included. I think the value of Winnipeg is no more than $350 million, which is still a drastic increase for the purchase price. If anything the NHL has increased the overall value of its brand. And with 32 franchises soon to be in place, it can work to increase the value of existing franchises.