Anson Carter unveils Alpharetta Sports and Entertainment looking to bring expansion team to Atlanta

[Cogburn]

How about, we relocate Arizona and another poor earning team before we talk about expansion. Utah and Atlanta could do well, but how many one at a time expansions are we going to do?

How many NHL calibre players, let alone stars, will be available league wide with this 40 team league?

 

[Viqsi]

Right because it worked oh so well before…

Didn't Atlanta already fail twice? Flames, Trashers. Yea let's try this again.

Post #3. It's really quite remarkable how predictable some of y'all are.

 

[habsterr]

Post #3. It's really quite remarkable how predictable some of y'all are.

It's quite remarkable how predictable that Atlanta would fail as a franchise again.

 

[Viqsi]

It's quite remarkable how predictable that Atlanta would fail as a franchise again.

And I'm sure you'd feel exactly the same way about other markets that have failed at the NHL multiple times, like :checks notes: Quebec City.

 

[habsterr]

And I'm sure you'd feel exactly the same way about other markets that have failed at the NHL multiple times, like :checks notes: Quebec City.

Some places don't do hockey. Atlanta already has five professional sports franchises.

 

[Viqsi]

Some places don't do hockey. Atlanta already has five professional sports franchises.

Let me know when you're ready to discuss this for real rather than recycling the usual entirely prejudice-based foolish attempts at talking points and we can resume this conversation.

 

[dj4aces]

How about, we relocate Arizona and another poor earning team before we talk about expansion. Utah and Atlanta could do well, but how many one at a time expansions are we going to do?

How many NHL calibre players, let alone stars, will be available league wide with this 40 team league?

I know, the fantasy of Gary pointing to a team, throwing a dart at a map of North America, and saying "Alright, you guys are going to ... Cedar Falls, Iowa ...wait, really? Cedar Falls? Oh... well then, I guess you boys are going to Cedar Falls next year!" is too good to resist, but it just doesn't work that way.

But... hell, now I kinda wanna see what a NHL team in Cedar Falls would look like.

 

[Cogburn]

I know, the fantasy of Gary pointing to a team, throwing a dart at a map of North America, and saying "Alright, you guys are going to ... Cedar Falls, Iowa ...wait, really? Cedar Falls? Oh... well then, I guess you boys are going to Cedar Falls next year!" is too good to resist, but it just doesn't work that way.

But... hell, now I kinda wanna see what a NHL team in Cedar Falls would look like.

If we have a group willing to invest in Arizona, or Salt Lake City, or Quebec City, or Hamilton, or Portland, or which ever city is being reported on, it's not some random selection. There is an ownership group that is willing to accomodate a new team ready to go, in Atlanta, presumably.

It's more my concern with the way all these expansion teams would be rolling out, and how another 8 teams as others have proposed, would dilute the talent pool. Reuse the improperly used assets in the league already.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

So every ticket people are selling has the exact same price? lol what world are you living in? Stubhub is just people re selling their tickets they aren’t all the same.

No...you quoted me saying they change (adjust) by game.

This conversation has already played out in the Winnipeg/attendance thread. For whatever reason, some folks love to bring up ticket pricing for Florida and Carolina from years ago and that other teams are so expensive. I'm just saying that it's irrelevant as they all fluctuate. As of now, fans can get a ticket to tomorrow night's Ducks @ Jets game for $40 (American).

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Krause appears way ahead at this point

 

[dj4aces]

Krause appears way ahead at this point

I do wish there was a press release to read, but I suppose we'll find out soon whether this is really real or not.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

How about, we relocate Arizona and another poor earning team before we talk about expansion.

Which team are we talking about?

And after we do that, and there's 2 new teams at the bottom that are poor earnings and they start struggling because we "fixed" 2 teams, how are we fixing those 2 new problem teams?

 

[MessierII]

No...you quoted me saying they change (adjust) by game.

This conversation has already played out in the Winnipeg/attendance thread. For whatever reason, some folks love to bring up ticket pricing for Florida and Carolina from years ago and that other teams are so expensive. I'm just saying that it's irrelevant as they all fluctuate. As of now, fans can get a ticket to tomorrow night's Ducks @ Jets game for $40 (American).

I looked at Fridays game it’s 75 bucks Canadian for the cheapest ticket but there’s only a few of those and they go up from there. There aren’t thousands of cheap tickets going unsold is my point.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I looked at Fridays game it’s 75 bucks Canadian for the cheapest ticket but there’s only a few of those and they go up from there. There aren’t thousands of cheap tickets going unsold is my point.

Last night's attendance says otherwise.

And not sure what this has to do with Atlanta potentially getting an expansion team.

 

[senseimike]

Question for you guys- when Bill Daly was quoted as saying something like how the market in Atlanta has become more favorable recently, what specifically is he alluding to?

I'm assuming it's that new entertainment district thing being built around the Braves new stadium (close to where all the $$ is in the Atlanta area) but can someone clarify?

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Question for you guys- when Bill Daly was quoted as saying something like how the market in Atlanta has become more favorable recently, what specifically is he alluding to?

I'm assuming it's that new entertainment district thing being built around the Braves new stadium (close to where all the $$ is in the Atlanta area) but can someone clarify?

I'll name a few:

-Since the Thrashers left in 2011, the population of the metro has increased by 1.5 million
-Atlanta is the 3rd largest home to Fortune 500 companies and, since 2011, has added the HQ's or major hubs for Mercedes, Microsoft, Google, StateFarm, MailChimp, Norfolk Southern, and more.
-The Braves have provided a perfect case study for moving to their ticket base and providing an entertainment district. Their attendance has increased about 6-8K annually since the move and they are now in the top-5 in MLB
-Another good case study is the MLS team (showing a "fringe sport") which started since 2011. They have been #1 in attendance every year and has broken soccer attendance records.

 

[nhlfan79]

Question for you guys- when Bill Daly was quoted as saying something like how the market in Atlanta has become more favorable recently, what specifically is he alluding to?

I'm assuming it's that new entertainment district thing being built around the Braves new stadium (close to where all the $$ is in the Atlanta area) but can someone clarify?

At face value, he's talking about the runaway financial success of both The Battery development and the Braves move to the northern suburbs, and probably also how Atlanta United has exceeded all expectations and become the gold standard franchise in American soccer.

Personally, I also like to read between the lines and infer that he's also referencing that Atlanta Spirit Group--the eight-headed ownership that deliberately killed the Thrashers--is no longer a part of the sports landscape in this city, so there's no chance that any new NHL team would be connected to an ownership group that was openly hostile to the sport and its (sizeable) fanbase here.

 

[BLNY]

If Atlanta finally gets its first-ever owner who is actually committed to the NHL hockey team AND they put the arena at North Point Mall, right in the dead center heart of where all of its ticket base is, it will be a license to print money. Atlanta will crush all expectations. It will easily be a top ten market. Sticky this post.

I'm not seeing how moving out of the downtown core, accessible by all sides, is worse than moving 23 miles north to a town with a population of less than 70000. If people wouldn't go to the games at State Farm Arena, why would they trek all the way up there? I get having a committed owner, but this notion seems counter productive.

 

[Ratsreign]

Post #3. It's really quite remarkable how predictable some of y'all are.

Talking is more fun than listening

Idk, you’d think before typing people might read through a little bit to see if their question and/or “witty comment” hasn’t already been repeated 10 times or more....lol.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I'm not seeing how moving out of the downtown core, accessible by all sides, is worse than moving 23 miles north to a town with a population of less than 70000. If people wouldn't go to the games at State Farm Arena, why would they trek all the way up there? I get having a committed owner, but this notion seems counter productive.

When the Braves moved, they showed a map of all their ticket buyers in the city and about 90% are located in the northern burbs. It's where most the money is located. And why are you only looking at the population of the town (direct area) of the development? That's like a 5-mile radius. The northern burbs are the densest areas of the Atlanta metro.

 

[nhlfan79]

I'm not seeing how moving out of the downtown core, accessible by all sides, is worse than moving 23 miles north to a town with a population of less than 70000. If people wouldn't go to the games at State Farm Arena, why would they trek all the way up there? I get having a committed owner, but this notion seems counter productive.

This has been asked and answered a thousand times, but I'll say it again. Downtown Atlanta is literally the least convenient place to go in the metro area, mainly due to horrendous traffic. Also, downtown is quickly dying, as it's mostly vacant office towers by now. There's no vibrant scene or neighborhood near the arena and stadium, just a sea of empty parking lots. Google Atlanta's "Gulch," and you'll see what I mean.

As for "trekking," you misunderstand. It was a trek to get downtown. The people mostly likely to go to NHL games would much prefer to have the arena right around the corner from where they actually live. I'm a perfect case in point. For me, if I didn't already work downtown, it's at least 90 minutes to get to SFA from my house during afternoon rush hour traffic. The proposed site for Anson Carter's group is literally 10 minutes from my house, door to door. If I had to go up to The Gathering in Forsyth, it'd be about 20-25 minutes, with traffic. That's a huge difference from having to go downtown.

 

[BKarchitect]

Krause appears way ahead at this point

Hopefully ASM follows through more than AEG did when they partnered with the city of Kansas City with the promise of a franchise tenant if citizens voted for the then new Sprint Center.

At the end of the day, it was all talk and empty promises. The arena made money sans franchise tenant and here we are 15 years later. But it sure got people to vote for it…my skepticism in community leaders and global management companies and big PR headlines is deeply rooted…lol.

At least you guys have a stronger local ownership consortium which will no doubt help although you’d hope at some point if there are indeed two independent groups, that they can just come together on one plan. I assume AC would just join or at least be a proponent of the Krause proposal if it is clear that one is much further along…

 

[BLNY]

This has been asked and answered a thousand times, but I'll say it again. Downtown Atlanta is literally the least convenient place to go in the metro area, mainly due to horrendous traffic. Also, downtown is quickly dying, as it's mostly vacant office towers by now. There's no vibrant scene or neighborhood near the arena and stadium, just a sea of empty parking lots. Google Atlanta's "Gulch," and you'll see what I mean.

As for "trekking," you misunderstand. It was a trek to get downtown. The people mostly likely to go to NHL games would much prefer to have the arena right around the corner from where they actually live. I'm a perfect case in point. For me, if I didn't already work downtown, it's at least 90 minutes to get to SFA from my house during afternoon rush hour traffic. The proposed site for Anson Carter's group is literally 10 minutes from my house, door to door. If I had to go up to The Gathering in Forsyth, it'd be about 20-25 minutes, with traffic. That's a huge difference from having to go downtown.

tks!

When the Braves moved, they showed a map of all their ticket buyers in the city and about 90% are located in the northern burbs. It's where most the money is located. And why are you only looking at the population of the town (direct area) of the development? That's like a 5-mile radius. The northern burbs are the densest areas of the Atlanta metro.

I am aware that it would be drawing from multiple, similarly sized communities and not be limited to 70000 people. I just didn't know that the city centre was what it is. It's pretty much the opposite of every other urban environment. I appreciate @nhlfan79 for elaborating.

 

[Sol]

Hockey in Atlanta is so stupid. But hey they brought hockey to Arizona of all places so anything is possible despite there not being a market. If Winnipeg doesn’t work then I don’t understand how Atlanta works.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

This thread may set the HF record for the number of incredibly stupid takes, quite predictably all by the Luddites who think that nothing should ever change, unless of course it is to change back to the way things were whenever.