Why does Columbus have an NHL team?

[Bonk]

Definitely Louisville over Cincinnati if the NHL were talking about another team in that arena.

Cincy would probably be "more loyal to Columbus" as a secondary market... but Southern Indiana could go Louisville over Chicago.

Also, the boondoggle of funding Cincinnati's NFL stadium is still a huge thing for the taxpayers; building a legit NBA/NHL arena in Cincinnati would be a really tough sell. And when talking arenas, Cincy doesn't have the demand for an "AHL sized venue" and has let Riverfront Coliseum become a fossil because Xavier and the University of Cincinnati both have new (or renovated) 10,000 to 13,000 seat arenas for basketball.

RIP Cincinnati Gardens. Anaheim took a quarter million to move the Ducks' affiliate from Cincinnati to Portland, Maine, killing the franchise, and the building eventually went down with it. Not that it was big enough for the NHL, but I still miss it and hate the reason it's no longer there.

Yeah, I think fans would be split by state. The Kentucky and Indiana sides would probably go for Louisville and the Ohio side would likely continue supporting the CBJ, especially since they're already established.

There are (unfortunately!) a good number of University of Kentucky fans in Cincinnati but I've never met a Louisville fan that's from this side of the river.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

RIP Cincinnati Gardens. Anaheim took a quarter million to move the Ducks' affiliate from Cincinnati to Portland, Maine, killing the franchise, and the building eventually went down with it. Not that it was big enough for the NHL, but I still miss it and hate the reason it's no longer there.

Yeah, I think fans would be split by state. The Kentucky and Indiana sides would probably go for Louisville and the Ohio side would likely continue supporting the CBJ, especially since they're already established.

There are (unfortunately!) a good number of University of Kentucky fans in Cincinnati but I've never met a Louisville fan that's from this side of the river.

nope, it wasn't the transfer by Anaheim... it was the Robinson ownership that ended the 2 league experiment in Cincinnati... remember, the team was rebranded the Railraiders but due to the major piece the AHL required an NHL Affiliation.... the team never made it off the ground... it was also why the Cyclones were granted a 4 year hiatus by the ECHL..... it's a wonder how that brand reestablished itself since then

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I do unironically think that hockey would work better in Louisville than Cincinnati, admittedly. Untapped pro sports market and they would not be in competition with a collegiate team like an NBA team would (which is the most oft-mentioned target for the city), whereas Cincy's sports dollar is already seemingly stretched a bit thin.

Thst being said, I have no clue if the delightfully named KFC Yum! Center has the meaningful ability to house a hockey rink or not, the configuration I see online for Disney on Ice looks to cordon-off at least a quarter of the seats. It's a gargantuan barn seating capacity-wise, though. And low-key it's one of the more fun cities that I've visited. I'd strongly consider making Louisville my first annual Hawks road game if they ever got a team.

This is clearly farcical talk, though.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I do unironically think that hockey would work better in Louisville than Cincinnati, admittedly. Untapped pro sports market and they would not be in competition with a collegiate team like an NBA team would (which is the most oft-mentioned target for the city), whereas Cincy's sports dollar is already seemingly stretched a bit thin.

Thst being said, I have no clue if the delightfully named KFC Yum! Center has the meaningful ability to house a hockey rink or not, the configuration I see online for Disney on Ice looks to cordon-off at least a quarter of the seats. It's a gargantuan barn seating capacity-wise, though. And low-key it's one of the more fun cities that I've visited. I'd strongly consider making Louisville my first annual Hawks road game if they ever got a team.

This is clearly farcical talk, though.

add in the hockey history of Louisville.... the primary reason they got added in 1999 WAS the inherit rivalry between Lexington and Louisville (4 hrs apart) aside from Churchill every May.... agree there's a fanbase there, but is there an ownership and/or NHL ties if it's not NHL.... IF KFC Yum! ISN'T Suitable Rupp went through the same config issues when the Sharks were there

 

[Yukon Joe]

I do unironically think that hockey would work better in Louisville than Cincinnati, admittedly. Untapped pro sports market and they would not be in competition with a collegiate team like an NBA team would (which is the most oft-mentioned target for the city), whereas Cincy's sports dollar is already seemingly stretched a bit thin.

Thst being said, I have no clue if the delightfully named KFC Yum! Center has the meaningful ability to house a hockey rink or not, the configuration I see online for Disney on Ice looks to cordon-off at least a quarter of the seats. It's a gargantuan barn seating capacity-wise, though. And low-key it's one of the more fun cities that I've visited. I'd strongly consider making Louisville my first annual Hawks road game if they ever got a team.

This is clearly farcical talk, though.

It's one of those markets where you go "Hey, if Salt Lake City can get an NHL team..." so it's not crazy.

I do have an online friend of many years in Louisville - he makes it sound like everyone is a huge UK fan though, so I don't know to what extent that is competition.

But as in all things - you need an owner willing to make it happen. But if someone steps forward able to write a big check we've seen how fast the NHL can move.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Relevant image - most popular NHL team by county, if you go to the website it interacts to show you which team that is, when you hover over it. Although you can probably guess based on geography (outside a few odd ones in very sparsely populated counties) The Most Popular NHL Teams by County

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

It's one of those markets where you go "Hey, if Salt Lake City can get an NHL team..." so it's not crazy.

I do have an online friend of many years in Louisville - he makes it sound like everyone is a huge UK fan though, so I don't know to what extent that is competition.

But as in all things - you need an owner willing to make it happen. But if someone steps forward able to write a big check we've seen how fast the NHL can move.

it's any league at this point tbth, but based off L'Ville's history is it financially feasible same w/ Lexington

 

[Yukon Joe]

Relevant image - most popular NHL team by county, if you go to the website it interacts to show you which team that is, when you hover over it. Although you can probably guess based on geography (outside a few odd ones in very sparsely populated counties) The Most Popular NHL Teams by County

View attachment 864107

The sparsely populated counties are sometimes hilarious - like the North Slope of Alaska being coded as San Jose Sharks, or Liberty, Montana being Nashville.

Obviously just driven by extremely low sample sizes.

 

[KevFu]

Relevant image - most popular NHL team by county, if you go to the website it interacts to show you which team that is, when you hover over it. Although you can probably guess based on geography (outside a few odd ones in very sparsely populated counties) The Most Popular NHL Teams by County

View attachment 864107

I love this stuff, but it's always wise to remember that "Land doesn't vote."

So while it's cool to see which team people of a region are front, you have to remember that the counties around Metro LA have more people in it than the entire Mountain Time Zone.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I have a hard time imagining that just east of the Peoria (Illinois) area is still a plurality Blues turf. There's still a lot of folks around there salty at them for doing the then-AHL Rivermen dirty and leaving them stuck in the SPHL.

 

[KevFu]

I'd be curious to overlay that map with the TV territory map.

 

[Bonk]

nope, it wasn't the transfer by Anaheim... it was the Robinson ownership that ended the 2 league experiment in Cincinnati... remember, the team was rebranded the Railraiders but due to the major piece the AHL required an NHL Affiliation.... the team never made it off the ground... it was also why the Cyclones were granted a 4 year hiatus by the ECHL..... it's a wonder how that brand reestablished itself since then

You have that backwards. Anaheim pulled the affiliation of Cincinnati (which was literally named the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks), which started the ball rolling, including a failed season-ticket drive. The Robinsons would've been perfectly content keeping the AHL team at the Gardens to this day had that not happened.

Trust me on this one: I was the team beat writer at the time, still maintain contact with Pete Robinson (Gerry passed away last year), and one of the Anaheim brass I talked to years later admitted the move was a mistake.

The Cyclones played in the IHL until it shut down in 2001 and were playing at whatever the Coliseum was called that week. They came back as an ECHL team the following year and went dormant for three years starting in 2003 and the Ducks went dormant in 2005. The Cyclones came back in 2006 when there was no competition.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

You have that backwards. Anaheim pulled the affiliation of Cincinnati (which was literally named the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks), which started the ball rolling, including a failed season-ticket drive. The Robinsons would've been perfectly content keeping the AHL team at the Gardens to this day had that not happened.

Trust me on this one: I was the team beat writer at the time, still maintain contact with Pete Robinson (Gerry passed away last year), and one of the Anaheim brass I talked to years later admitted the move was a mistake.

The Cyclones played in the IHL until it shut down in 2001 and were playing at whatever the Coliseum was called that week. They came back as an ECHL team the following year and went dormant for three years starting in 2003 and the Ducks went dormant in 2005. The Cyclones came back in 2006 when there was no competition.

right, granted.... but the point remains though, who was replacing Anaheim there when the AHL Requires an affiliation going forward.... just like CAR/CHI.... there wasn't..... hence why the franchise was sold after the failed rebrand to the Railraiders which is now the AHL Rockford Icehogs. Washington had moved on after 2005.... so that's why Anaheim came to Portland.... this is why if not one example of why Baltimore doesn't work when its not the Capitals affiliate, same reason the late Tom Ebright vacated Baltimore for Portland ending until the Robinsons started the Bandits....

 

[Bonk]

right, granted.... but the point remains though, who was replacing Anaheim there when the AHL Requires an affiliation going forward.... just like CAR/CHI.... there wasn't..... hence why the franchise was sold after the failed rebrand to the Railraiders which is now the AHL Rockford Icehogs. Washington had moved on after 2005.... so that's why Anaheim came to Portland.... this is why if not one example of why Baltimore doesn't work when its not the Capitals affiliate, same reason the late Tom Ebright vacated Baltimore for Portland ending until the Robinsons started the Bandits....

Anaheim made the decision to leave Cincinnati in favor of Portland, and we knew it was coming midway through the 2004-05 season. The CMD/RailRaiders briefly considering going independent (which is/was allowed and was considered in this case), but insurance and absorbing player salaries and other costs were too great.

Cincinnati had multiple offers to reaffiliate for 2005-06, since the Gardens were paid for and hockey would be the primary tenant, but with ever-increasing costs, the Robinsons set a season-ticket drive goal, which fell well short, which is why the plug was pulled.

[/threadjack]