If you had the money to spend, where would you put an expansion team? It can be in any league, but of course we're particularly interested in the UHL. Take into consideration the city's history with minor league sports, facilities, proximity, etc. Because you are the ones putting up the money, we'll assume that you all have an extra $3 million to lose. LOL.
Any ideas?
And I still haven't heard a compelling reason why the league offices should have to move. Give me some sound financial reasons.
Comments
Thanks Blake for starting this.
I have a very short list. These cities have populations roughly the size of Kalamazoo.
Fargo ND (has a JR team and very popular college teams in area)
Billings MT (had a junior team but lost it due to conflict with arena)
Ogden UT
Cheyenne Wy
For UHL purposes, a team in Fargo would probably be the only one on my list that could work in the UHL.
Indy is an obvious one, but I've always wondered about Green Bay. Maybe Syracuse now.
Blake, do you remember a long, long time ago after Milwaukee's Bradley Center was built....there was some talk about placing a NHL expansion team in the new building and moving the Admirals (then IHL) to Green Bay. If I remember, the reason it never happened was the group balked at the non-refundable $75 Million fee. Does Green Bay have a decent arena and do you think it would be supported? I would be interested in seeing more teams closer to the midwest. (No more than a 6-8 hour drive)
Indy...enough said...have been begging for it since they entered that horrible league and then left it (CHL). Bring them into this league and that would fire up the old rivalry again. It has to happen.
i just wished that we could get toledo, dayton and cinci back and then we could call it the I again. someone said that they would like to see us in the AHL on here awhile ago and everyone jumped on there back as to why it wouldnt work here. i checked the hershey bears site and there tickets, gameday tickets are 15 to 21 dollars a game there season tickets start at 5oo with free parking, two free ticket vouchers to see a washington capitols game and many other perks. the grand rapids griffins single gameday tickets range from 5 to 25 dollars a game. everyone on here seems to be brainwashed as to why the AHL wouldnt work in he fort wayne. i totally believe that it would work here!!!
i just wished that we could get toledo, dayton and cinci back and then we could call it the I again. someone said that they would like to see us in the AHL on here awhile ago and everyone jumped on there back as to why it wouldnt work here. i checked the hershey bears site and there tickets, gameday tickets are 15 to 21 dollars a game there season tickets start at 5oo with free parking, two free ticket vouchers to see a washington capitols game and many other perks. the grand rapids griffins single gameday tickets range from 5 to 25 dollars a game. everyone on here seems to be brainwashed as to why the AHL wouldnt work in the fort wayne. i totally believe that it would work here!!! im with ya on this one eddie!
Mike,
Economics aside let me paint a picture for you.
The AHL Komets, affiliated with NHL X have a wonderful regular season, finishing in the top two or 3. You spend your hard earned money and time going to 40 games and can almost taste a cup win since the team had won 16 out of 20 going into the playoffs and the team has really meshed. Then, to the horror of everyone in Fort Wayne, NHL X needing a boost plucks your top 2 scorers and your starting goalie leaving you with two major holes in your lines and your backup goalie who played 15 games all year starting going into the playoffs. Your spirit gets crushed as the Komets get bounced out in the first round of the playoffs. Everyone looking for someone to blame screams to fire the coach and the family of owners who have done wonders for the team and the city (oh wait, that last part has already happened) That is the life in the AHL. Do you remember when the Komets had an agreement with Florida. Remember how everyone was worried because they knew a day would come when Weekes would get called up? Imagine having that go on all year every year with a bunch of players. Be careful what you wish for.
AHL would not work here. Komets don't get any of the parking or the concessions. The owners of the buildings in Grand Rapids and Hershey also own the teams so they get everything. That's a HUGE chunk of money.
Tony E. while I agree with you that the AHL would not be a good fit for this town (under current conditions) I would have to point out that the opposite scenario could happen in yours...The K's could be struggling and barely make the playoffs and then the parent club gets ousted early or doesnt make the playoffs and all of the sudden the K's find themselves with 3 to 5 really good players they can add to the line-up and the K's make a big finish and the fans end up with more than they could ever hope for.... They then praise the owners for moving to the AHL, the coach and players are heroes and tickets orders go thru the roof for the following season... Either or neither could happen and that is the beauty of minor league sports.
It is interesting to think about. Personally I am fine with the UHL. That being said, there is no way anyone can say for certain that it "wouldn't" work here. We will never know unless it is tried out.
Without doing a study on the areas I honestly dont know where I would put a new franchise.... I would want to put one close to the majority of the uhl's teams without being the sacrificial lamb that got put in a division with the east teams... I guess if the east teams were not a factor I would put a team in Indy or Cincy. Too bad you cant trade franchises cause then we could trade Elmira, Adirondak, and Danbury to the echl for Toledo, Dayton, and a city to be named later...lol
I'm with JR on this one. Are we takling about stealing a franchise from another league or starting a brand new franchise?
Greg, I was talking about starting a team from scratch, maybe in a city that has never had hockey (or at least not for awhile)
JR I agree with your point but it is still a case of "big brother" controlling your teams destiny. You either end up hoping for help or hoping that you don't lose what you have.
The problem with a city that has never had hockey is that your just not sure how it's going to do. I think major research would have to go in before you'd look to put a expansion tema in a city that has never had hockey. As far as cities that have had hockey and don't, there's a reason why it doesn't have hockey. Find out why and see if you can get around the issue.
I hate to say this, but I think hockey expansion is the thing of the past. Where you have hockey is where it's going to stay. Not saying a city that has never had hockey before can't support a team, but you'll be damned luckly to find that city.
If one wishes to put a team in a city that has not had a team for awhile (if ever) is first examine the facility that your proposed team is going to play in. If the place is a dump, your chances of success are slim to none and slim is leaving the building. Think of it this way, is the place somewhere that you want to travel to? Make sure that you have a building that you can take pride in. Make sure that you are an active and knowledgeable owner, are accessable to the fans and sponsors. In other words, DO NOT have a team in a city and you live in another city 10 hours away! (like the Dixons) And have a decent marketing staff...surround yourself with people who share your passion for the team and be prepared to put in a lot of long hours.
That's a good point, but if you don't have the interest in the team in the first place, then all you have is a fancy building and nothing to go in it.
If life were simple:
Kalamazoo
Muskegon
Flint
Port Huron
Motor City (or Traverse City per rumors)
Rockford
Quad City
Bloomington
Chicago
Peoria
Cleveland or Cincinnati
Dayton
Toledo
Fort Wayne
Indianapolis
...but life is far from simple.
OOOPS! My bad....I realize if you don't have an interested fan base, that it will not work. I was trying to highlight the fact that some of the existing teams struggle because of bad owners, bad marketing and facilities that have not been maintained and updated. But, it seems to me that some of these teams and buildings could make themselves better with doing some of the little things that add up over time.
And I would agree to some extent in the theory that your putting a team into a city that has had hockey before. However; the fan base has to be first and formeost. If the city doesn't care at all about hockey, I doubt a new building will be a big incentive to come. You see one game, see the building once, if you don't like it you don't come back.
I think another thing you have to look at is what else in the city is going to attract the consumers eye during hockey season. Minor league hockey cannot be in an area where there are many other things to do besides hockey and survive for an extended amount of time.. And after the first year you really have to pour some money into marketing to keep whatever fan base you have created and start to entice that ever eleusive(spelling??) casual fan to come to the games...
Great Point JR.
You need to know who your competiton is around the area.
You also need at least one year before you play to go in and organize things. That may seem like a lot, but that year will go very quickly because there's a ton of stuff to do if done right.
That's when the advertizing and getting the word out is key. There's where you should know if you have any interest in the community or not.
Blake, Greg, JR, I am glad that you brought that up. In some cases a year is NOT enough time to put together an organization. Regarding my remarks about the quality of your building....I am not saying that you must have a new arena, but take care of the one that you have. Look at the buildings that KZOO, MC and PH have. While KZOO is the best of the three, but even putting nicer, more comfortable seats and a fresh coat of paint would be a step in the right direction. BTW, if new was the answer, I would not be driving cars with 128,500 and 131,500 miles on them! And I always get compliments on how new the one with 128,500 miles looks and it's 7 years old.
Bob, you go! I swear a nice, clean car gets better gas mileage because there's less friction.
Blake, I wish it was just keeping it clean! My maintenance bills could have bought about 3-4 jerseys at the party!
It is called a new car lease...only way to go now days.
In no particular order:
Green Bay
Traverse City
Madison, WI
Louisville
Lansing
Rochester, MN
I know there have been some failures in the past, I am just thinking of getting a fair sized town/region while staying in the midwest.
If were picking cities throw in South Bend, IN and Findlay,OH