The Colts had gotten league approval to move to a market of their choosing earlier that month. After the state senate voted for eminent domain the team moved the same day before the state house could do the same thing.
How Close Were The Habs To Relocating Before Gillette bought them in 2001?
- Thread starter Hockeyholic
- Start date
The Colts had gotten league approval to move to a market of their choosing earlier that month. After the state senate voted for eminent domain the team moved the same day before the state house could do the same thing.
Steinbrenner at one time was in serious talks to move them to New Jersey, but they would have still been in the same market. I do not think the Yankees would ever move, I think MLB would go out of business first. However, I would never say a team would never move. However, I do think it would be an excruciatingly long process. For either team it would have to be a case where the attendance/ratings were down for a good 10 years at least, building was falling apart, etc. So yeah, neither ever moves.
I don't agree. If the economic situation was so bad, I suggest it's feasible. Some organizations/franchises have tons of money thrown at them, arena subsidies and they still fail, financially. The Canadiens are a historic franchise but they still operate in Canada, even with the 'hockey culture' of Canada and Quebec, the hockey franchise is still operating with all the consequences/obstacles of the Canadian economic climate.
The Sens, for e.g, are barely hanging on in Ottawa and this is in Canada. If they are in danger of re-locating, then that's applicable to any hockey team in the USA. The only difference is the American teams have (arguable) better potential for economic operations (favorable taxes, TV deals, marketing, exchange rate etc.) but that's at the present.
powerstuck
Nordiques Hopes Lies
I would agree if the prices for tickets and everything else was SET BY THE LEAGUE and was exactly the same in all 31 markets.
So that statement would hold true if we were to assume that Habs cannot put premium + extra + gold plating + platinum tags on their tickets. Even this season when the team is shit, the Centre Bell is sold out. I know you look at the TV and you see plenty of empty seats, sure people are pissed off. But 99.9% of those people will renew their tickets, most likely with a friendly 4-5% price increase next year. If you ask why ? Well because there is about 12000 people waiting in line to just take their spot.
And then you venture into Canadian TV contract. Habs and the other 7 franchises benefit from the Canadian TV contract. Of course they benefit more than the other 24 franchises and for what it's worth,the current Canadian TV contract is about 3 or 4 times the current US TV contract.
My personal opinion is that the current Canadian TV contract is way to expensive, so I expect the US TV contract to not be as lucrative as the Canadian...even if the NHL and Gary Bettman dream and believe they can get in the NBA ballpark.
Good points, all valid. I suppose the demand for Cdn hockey/tix in the major Cdn markets (pro) (notwithstanding Ottawa) are such that they can get past poor seasons and minor financial problems. I suspect major economic developments, meaning downturns, would be the only caveat or circumstance that would alter this pattern. The empty seats seem to be observed in other locales including Detroit and Newark (there is a thread about this in the Red Wings/General NHL section? It is argued that the actual attendance is satisfactory and that people have paid for tix but are just not showing up or they are hanging out in other places in the arena).
If there is a significant waiting list for tix (to replace anyone thinking of dumping/abandoning their season tix), the economy is in a position that there is enough people still doing well that they can grab thousands of dollars worth of (entertainment/sports) tickets. Right?
MXD
Original #4
- Oct 27, 2005
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They came much closer to relocating in the Thirties.
Hell, Calgary and Ottawa are probably signficantly closer to a relocation right now than Montreal was in the late 90ies/early 00ies, and that's before we even get to the fact that it's the Canadiens that we're talking about.
Hell, Calgary and Ottawa are probably signficantly closer to a relocation right now than Montreal was in the late 90ies/early 00ies, and that's before we even get to the fact that it's the Canadiens that we're talking about.
DudeWhereIsMakar
Bergevin sent me an offer sheet
might as well fold the nhl if the habs had to relocate...utter nonsense..it would of never happened
Leafblooded
Registered User
Price is Wright
Registered User
People forget how bad things were in Chicago in the early-mid 2000s until 2008. Much worse than the Canadiens. They were at times at the bottom of league average attendance, with around 13,000 per game. You could get a free ticket pretty easily. Now you pay through the nose to stand at a game.
BKIslandersFan
F*** off
powerstuck
Nordiques Hopes Lies
Not sure if illegal or not...jokes aside, but what would happen if the league for whatever reason decided to alternate/replace the good old Lord Stanley as a trophy ? My guess, the same would happen for any of O6 relocating/disappearing.
