UPDATE 3/31- NEWSDAY - Coliseum gets $6M for renovation to host Isles

[wellsZe]

Oh you'll see that a lot. I can't tell you the number of times people have tried to lecture me about how things are in places that I've lived.

Guy, Greenwich is very different than the rest of CT. Greenwich doesn't represent ALL of CT.

I'm assuming you went to private school and moved away.

I live in central CT. It's a mix of displaced whalers fans that are still living in the past or have found a new team to follow.

i went to 4-5 of the playoff games @ Barclays and NVMC the last yr and there were a quite of few CT plates and plenty on the metro north train from New Haven.

CT (not FC) is probably of "current" teams...

40% bruins
20% Rangers
15% Penguins
10% Islanders
10% Flyers
5% Others

 

[Elephant Igloo]

Oh you'll see that a lot. I can't tell you the number of times people have tried to lecture me about how things are in places that I've lived.

UH, did where you live HAVE A MINOR LEAGUE TEAM?

 

[Brodie]

If Belmont happens, I hope the Nassau Queens line gets drawn like below around the Belmont Park

it's amusing how badly people want them to be in Queens but 100 yards from the Queens border is a supposedly awful location

 

[edog37]

Pitt Basketball was more popular than the Penguins from 1998-2005. That's college.

That's because the Pens weren't very good & Pitt was competitive. There's really no demand in Pittsburgh for basketball....and if you put an NBA team there now, sure it will draw some fans away but I doubt it's going to overtake the Pens anytime soon.

The Pens have been quite successful the past 25 years winning 5 Cups & establishing Pittsburgh as a solid hockey market. There's even some talk about the Pens overtaking the Steelers (unlikely) in terms of popularity, but the Pens have lapped the Pirates a long time ago...

 

[edog37]

I've got news for you, if Pitt had an NBA team, yes they would. The NHL is a distant 4th in every city with all 4 major sports leagues. Do you think the Kings winning 2 cups in 3 seasons magically catapulted them ahead of the Dodgers & Lakers in terms of popularity or TV ratings?

as a native of Pittsburgh, I can assure you the NBA wouldn't survive in Pittsburgh, let alone take over the Pens...

The Pens are already well established, PPG was built for hockey & more & more kids are coming up through the ranks from Western PA. There is no demand signal for the NBA what so ever...

 

[Melrose Munch]

That's because the Pens weren't very good & Pitt was competitive. There's really no demand in Pittsburgh for basketball....and if you put an NBA team there now, sure it will draw some fans away but I doubt it's going to overtake the Pens anytime soon.

The Pens have been quite successful the past 25 years winning 5 Cups & establishing Pittsburgh as a solid hockey market. There's even some talk about the Pens overtaking the Steelers (unlikely) in terms of popularity, but the Pens have lapped the Pirates a long time ago...

The Pirates have been bad since Bonds left.

as a native of Pittsburgh, I can assure you the NBA wouldn't survive in Pittsburgh, let alone take over the Pens...

The Pens are already well established, PPG was built for hockey & more & more kids are coming up through the ranks from Western PA. There is no demand signal for the NBA what so ever...

If pitt got the NBA first that would be a different story. Large drop off from baseball and football in that area anyway.

 

[patnyrnyg]

That's because the Pens weren't very good & Pitt was competitive. There's really no demand in Pittsburgh for basketball....and if you put an NBA team there now, sure it will draw some fans away but I doubt it's going to overtake the Pens anytime soon.

The Pens have been quite successful the past 25 years winning 5 Cups & establishing Pittsburgh as a solid hockey market. There's even some talk about the Pens overtaking the Steelers (unlikely) in terms of popularity, but the Pens have lapped the Pirates a long time ago...

If the Pirates were as successful as the Pens, where do you think they would stand? yes, serious question. Doesn't even have to be 5 world Series in the past 30 years. Seemed like the Pirates were gaining during this stretch from 2012-14 was it when they made the play-offs?

Going to Atlantic City as often as I used to go, I always thought the Flyers were leaps and bounds more popular than the Phils in Philadelphia and south jersey. Then, 2007 happened and I could not believe all the Phillies stuff I started seeing. My best friend who is originally from South Jersey had always said that if the Phils were good they overtake the Flyers. Said if the Sixers could ever get their act together, they are more popular than the Flyers, too. But, nobody could ever touch the Eagles.

 

[aqib]

Guy, Greenwich is very different than the rest of CT. Greenwich doesn't represent ALL of CT.

I'm assuming you went to private school and moved away.

I live in central CT. It's a mix of displaced whalers fans that are still living in the past or have found a new team to follow.

i went to 4-5 of the playoff games @ Barclays and NVMC the last yr and there were a quite of few CT plates and plenty on the metro north train from New Haven.

CT (not FC) is probably of "current" teams...

40% bruins
20% Rangers
15% Penguins
10% Islanders
10% Flyers
5% Others

Sorry didn't mean to imply all of CT just the portion of CT that is part of the NY media market.

I actually went to public school. I stayed in the tri-state area for 10 years after high school (went to college and grad school in the city) before moving away.

 

[aqib]

UH, did where you live HAVE A MINOR LEAGUE TEAM?

I've moved around a lot in my life so one of the places I've lived did have a minor league team.

 

[gordie]

The Pirates have been bad since Bonds left.


If pitt got the NBA first that would be a different story. Large drop off from baseball and football in that area anyway.

It did get Pro Basketball in its infancy and it died. Look up Pittsburgh Ironmen and then continue to spew crap. Pittsburgh is not a baseball market by the way.

 

[gordie]

as a native of Pittsburgh, I can assure you the NBA wouldn't survive in Pittsburgh, let alone take over the Pens...

The Pens are already well established, PPG was built for hockey & more & more kids are coming up through the ranks from Western PA. There is no demand signal for the NBA what so ever...

Hard to explain to outsiders that stuff like the NBA or MLS just aren't Pittsburgh type of things or that in the 1990's while the Pens were winning cups and Pirates division titles the Pirates were crying for support.

Pittsburgh is NFL Steelers and then NHL Penguins in that order. Younger people would get excited for a Pirates World Series Run but that would quickly fade the baseball interest once it happened and was done with.

 

[Steve55]

it's amusing how badly people want them to be in Queens but 100 yards from the Queens border is a supposedly awful location

It's probably because Queens is part of NYC, but just outside of it is out of NYC. Anyhow if Belmont happens, I hope Nassau County and NYC make an amendment to make north of Belmont property of Nassau, but half of lot B (the large lot) Queens.

 

[Boris Zubov]

It did get Pro Basketball in its infancy and it died. Look up Pittsburgh Ironmen and then continue to spew crap. Pittsburgh is not a baseball market by the way.

That was 70 years ago. The entire NBA almost went broke 40 years ago. Times change. Both issues are completely irrelevant when comparing today's sports landscape.

Hypothetically, if the NBA placed a team in Pitt, & it somehow managed to land the successor to Lebron, how long do you think it would take the franchise to surpass the Pens in terms of popularity? If the over/under was 5 years, I'd take the under.

 

[Melrose Munch]

It did get Pro Basketball in its infancy and it died. Look up Pittsburgh Ironmen and then continue to spew crap. Pittsburgh is not a baseball market by the way.

That was 70 years ago. The entire NBA almost went broke 40 years ago. Times change. Both issues are completely irrelevant when comparing today's sports landscape.

Hypothetically, if the NBA placed a team in Pitt, & it somehow managed to land the successor to Lebron, how long do you think it would take the franchise to surpass the Pens in terms of popularity? If the over/under was 5 years, I'd take the under.

It's not so much about the NBA working in Pittsburgh, but this notion Pittsburgh is a super hockey market which isn't the case at all. They're more like the NYI then you think.

 

[gordie]

That was 70 years ago. The entire NBA almost went broke 40 years ago. Times change. Both issues are completely irrelevant when comparing today's sports landscape.

Hypothetically, if the NBA placed a team in Pitt, & it somehow managed to land the successor to Lebron, how long do you think it would take the franchise to surpass the Pens in terms of popularity? If the over/under was 5 years, I'd take the under.

Never would they pass the Pens. Our local sports media is very hostile to the NBA.How many NBA players even come from the Pittsburgh area? Pittsburgh isn't urban New York where NHL hockey is clearly treated as an stepchild and not taken seriously.

 

[gordie]

It's not so much about the NBA working in Pittsburgh, but this notion Pittsburgh is a super hockey market which isn't the case at all. They're more like the NYI then you think.

New York doesn't draw ratings for non-New York team hockey related events. Pittsburgh does. The ratings on this very board proves that. New York is the largest city but hockey interest there is minimal. To compare Pittsburgh to the vagabond Islanders franchise shows how ignorant about the US NHL markets you are.

 

[Melrose Munch]

Never would they pass the Pens. Our local sports media is very hostile to the NBA.How many NBA players even come from the Pittsburgh area? Pittsburgh isn't urban New York where NHL hockey is clearly treated as an stepchild and not taken seriously.

Just what do you mean by urban?

New York doesn't draw ratings for non-New York team hockey related events. Pittsburgh does. The ratings on this very board proves that. New York is the largest city but hockey interest there is minimal. To compare Pittsburgh to the vagabond Islanders franchise shows how ignorant about the US NHL markets you are.

5 million people watching hockey in the Tri State are is twice Pittsburgh. You know zilch about ratings, which were bad in the early 2000s. Let's stop pretending Pittsburgh is like Toronto or Montreal, they were about to move.

 

[Cacciaguida]

New York doesn't draw ratings for non-New York team hockey related events. Pittsburgh does. The ratings on this very board proves that. New York is the largest city but hockey interest there is minimal. To compare Pittsburgh to the vagabond Islanders franchise shows how ignorant about the US NHL markets you are.

Surely the Penguins drawing well has absolutely nothing to do with their recent success.

-

If Pittsburgh is getting a basketball team it's going to have to be d-league, same with Baltimore. (I'm not calling it by that stupid corporate name)

It would be a Pipers 2.0 if the NBA would return. I mean I'd like to see it happen for ****s and giggles, but that doesn't mean it would be good financial move.

 

[aqib]

Just what do you mean by urban?



5 million people watching hockey in the Tri State are is twice Pittsburgh. You know zilch about ratings, which were bad in the early 2000s. Let's stop pretending Pittsburgh is like Toronto or Montreal, they were about to move.

Most of the teams in the league were about to move at some point or another.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Surely the Penguins drawing well has absolutely nothing to do with their recent success.

-

If Pittsburgh is getting a basketball team it's going to have to be d-league, same with Baltimore. (I'm not calling it by that stupid corporate name)

It would be a Pipers 2.0 if the NBA would return. I mean I'd like to see it happen for ****s and giggles, but that doesn't mean it would be good financial move.

actually, it won't be Baltimore... the Wizards already have a G-League team, Cacciaguida, @ the new SE Washington Practice facility---it just has yet to be named, owned by Monumental..

 

[Baby Punisher]

Well, first off, the building sucked since the day it opened.

And they didn't "draw flies" or "struggle" in the 80s. They "only" drew about 15,700 in the 1980s... which was their capacity.

Keep in mind that 15,000 to 16,000 was EXCELLENT for the time period. The Montreal Dynasty and the Islanders Dynasty had about the same attendance numbers.

But sports as entertainment evolved. Times changed. In the 1990s, almost everyone had built newer, bigger arenas with massive revenue streams (Allowing the attendance in BOS, MON, TOR, VAN, PHI to go to 18000 to 23000.

And the Islanders were locked into a terrible lease, that didn't give them any of the new revenue streams (they signed it when ads weren't allowed on the boards or ice, and a couple scoreboards told time and score).

Now they "don't draw" in Brooklyn because all 10000 good seats are full and the remaining 4000 seats in that building are garbage.

If some crazy rich guy could buy the Mets & Islanders and build an NHL arena like Edmonton's new place in the CitiField parking lot, the Islanders would be a top 10 revenue team. Period.

But when you don't control your arena, you're screwed.

They are barely drawing 10,000 a game. Brooklyn Hipsters could care less about Hockey and Basketball. Brooklyn was the Islanders last hope and it was a hail-mary in that ill-conceived arena that wasn't designed for hockey. It's all but over for the Islanders in NYC.

 

[Baby Punisher]

it's amusing how badly people want them to be in Queens but 100 yards from the Queens border is a supposedly awful location

That area is a congested dump. JFK is a stone throw away. The area is very cargo heavy so there are trucks everywhere. The Belt pkwy is always jammed up. The service roads can't handle the current traffic. The service roads are three and four lanes in some sections but they aren't wide lanes. They do not meet federal guidelines. The DOT tried to make traffic flow better so they jammed as many lanes in as they could. No direct rail line. It's a nightmare.

 

[patnyrnyg]

They are barely drawing 10,000 a game. Brooklyn Hipsters could care less about Hockey and Basketball. Brooklyn was the Islanders last hope and it was a hail-mary in that ill-conceived arena that wasn't designed for hockey. It's all but over for the Islanders in NYC.

You do realize they are not just drawing the local "brooklyn hipsters" right? People can travel more than 2 miles to the game. I know someone who lives across from the FIT dorms (next to the Buy Buy Baby on 7th ave) who could not possibly care less about the Rangers or Knicks. Should the Rangers and Knicks move?

 

[patnyrnyg]

That area is a congested dump. JFK is a stone throw away. The area is very cargo heavy so there are trucks everywhere. The Belt pkwy is always jammed up. The service roads can't handle the current traffic. The service roads are three and four lanes in some sections but they aren't wide lanes. They do not meet federal guidelines. The DOT tried to make traffic flow better so they jammed as many lanes in as they could. No direct rail line. It's a nightmare.

This is true. Traffic will be an absolute nightmare getting there on weeknights and not much better on weekends. Islanders fans haven't shown they are interested in taking the train to Barclay's and not sure that will change in Belmont.

 

[tailgunner]

all this Pittsburgh talk is so laughable...before bettman fixed the 2005 draft and handed the pens Sidney Crosby, the pens were about to fold or move out of the area...the arena was 2/3 empty every night and no one cared about hockey in Pittsburgh....when sid retires and the pens go back to being in last place the arena will be empty again....until of course the next generational player becomes available and the tanking begins in order to land that player.