Canes sold 3.6m in new business for next season

[BKIslandersFan]

The Triangle can support an MLB team even less than Charlotte can, in my opinion. Charlotte's in the Baltimore/Pittsburgh class of cities population wise, wheras the Triangle is in the Nashville/Indianapolis class. It's about a 20-30% population difference. Then add in the ~20% wealth difference between Charlotte and the Triangle. Then the massive difference in corporate presence. Then add in how spread out the population of the Triangle is, the distance that most people would be driving just to get to one baseball game out of 81.

I can't think of a reason for MLB to pick the Triangle over Charlotte, or any number of other cities which would also be in competition.

Less competition? RT only has Hurricanes.

 

[zetajerk]

Less competition? RT only has Hurricanes.

College sports, bud.

 

[NCRanger]

The Triangle can support an MLB team even less than Charlotte can, in my opinion. Charlotte's in the Baltimore/Pittsburgh class of cities population wise, wheras the Triangle is in the Nashville/Indianapolis class. It's about a 20-30% population difference. Then add in the ~20% wealth difference between Charlotte and the Triangle. Then the massive difference in corporate presence. Then add in how spread out the population of the Triangle is, the distance that most people would be driving just to get to one baseball game out of 81.

I can't think of a reason for MLB to pick the Triangle over Charlotte, or any number of other cities which would also be in competition.

Having lived in both areas...

Neither area can support an MLB team.

Triangle is too saturated with sports options among a population that's interested in them. That's one of the biggest issues with sports in the Triangle...just not widely supported, but what is supported is greatly supported by a relative small amount of people. Maybe 20-25% of the population follows sports, but among those who do, follow it VERY closely.

Charlotte may have the population numbers, but it does not have the individual wealth to support 81 games of MLB. Plus, Charlotte is extremely millennial focused. MLS would fit in the demographic with cost and number of games. MLB, no.

Both areas would require ridiculous travel to get to a stadium. Charlotte's population is not centrally located either, and the traffic problems isolate areas to where people just don't go to uptown unless they absolutely have to.

There's actually more wealth among individual people in the Triangle than Charlotte, and the "corporate presence" in Charlotte is just a facade. Salaries for comparable jobs are 10-15% higher in the Triangle and there are far less "hood" neighborhoods.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Having lived in both areas...

Neither area can support an MLB team.

Triangle is too saturated with sports options among a population that's interested in them. That's one of the biggest issues with sports in the Triangle...just not widely supported, but what is supported is greatly supported by a relative small amount of people. Maybe 20-25% of the population follows sports, but among those who do, follow it VERY closely.

Charlotte may have the population numbers, but it does not have the individual wealth to support 81 games of MLB. Plus, Charlotte is extremely millennial focused. MLS would fit in the demographic with cost and number of games. MLB, no.

Both areas would require ridiculous travel to get to a stadium. Charlotte's population is not centrally located either, and the traffic problems isolate areas to where people just don't go to uptown unless they absolutely have to.

There's actually more wealth among individual people in the Triangle than Charlotte, and the "corporate presence" in Charlotte is just a facade. Salaries for comparable jobs are 10-15% higher in the Triangle and there are far less "hood" neighborhoods.

Agreed with everything above — except, I’m pretty sure Charlotte has a higher median salary than Raleigh (measuring that across the whole Triangle gets weird).

 

[Tawnos]

Agreed with everything above — except, I’m pretty sure Charlotte has a higher median salary than Raleigh (measuring that across the whole Triangle gets weird).

Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill is definitely higher Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia. That being said, Charlotte would be in the top half of MLB markets in terms of median income, which belies the idea that the individual wealth isn't here to support it.

 

[Unsustainable]

 

[NorthCoast]

Canes really marketed themselves well this season. They embraced the local community more than ever before (Petey Pablo goal song, shooting hoops with Duke and UNC basketball, grew the 'homegrown' series more), took advantage of the 'Bunch of Jerks' mantra, honored their Hartford Whalers past, invited Panthers/Hornets and Evander Holyfield to sound the siren (and Holyfield for a storm surge). At the beginning of last season there were still question marks surrounding ownership and it showed in the stands and on the ice. This season everything changed, some of it as the season wore on but the affects rippled through the organization. They are now more popular in North Carolina than ever and kids are taking notice.

And now with the Checkers team in the Calder Cup Finals this sets the stage for future success, if they can play their cards right this is the only the beginning of the revival of Hockey in Raleigh.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

As much as it gives me a massive case of owner-jealousy...it is so great to see markets like Tampa and Carolina get new progressive, creative owners that are willing to invest in the teams and try to get as much out of the market as possible as opposed to doing nothing, cutting costs and trying to survive at the cap floor (Panthers, Ottawa).

Clearly shows that if you have a decent population, and a great product, the fans will come out. Glad to see it's working and hopefully it teaches some other owners that positive promotion works better than threatening relocation.

 

[Tawnos]

Ding. Ding. Ding.

As much as it gives me a massive case of owner-jealousy...it is so great to see markets like Tampa and Carolina get new progressive, creative owners that are willing to invest in the teams and try to get as much out of the market as possible as opposed to doing nothing, cutting costs and trying to survive at the cap floor (Panthers, Ottawa).

Clearly shows that if you have a decent population, and a great product, the fans will come out. Glad to see it's working and hopefully it teaches some other owners that positive promotion works better than threatening relocation.

It's funny, because exactly the same thing happened in Nashville. You'd think other owners would take notice.

 

[drktmplr12]

As much as it gives me a massive case of owner-jealousy...it is so great to see markets like Tampa and Carolina get new progressive, creative owners that are willing to invest in the teams and try to get as much out of the market as possible as opposed to doing nothing, cutting costs and trying to survive at the cap floor (Panthers, Ottawa).

agree. i hope the panther's ownership is headed that way...they aren't cutting costs or trying to survive at the cap floor for the time being. they've spent a good deal of coin on marketing locally and it shows. i see lots of ad space on buses, highway signs, etc. one problem is they get no attention via any local media (local news, AM radio, etc). literally, when we hired Q Sunday, following Monday 5:30 PM news is covering marlins training camp with no mention of hockey

790 the ticket had terrible coverage of the TDL. hosts were literally mocking players because their English isn't great. they did do an interview with tallon but basically insulted the team during it.

560 WQAM is the panther's AM radio partner, but coverage of TDL was a handful of brief interviews with a series of easy questions. no talk of projected lines, issues that have troubled the team recently, how the changes are supposed to address those problems, how the contracts impact future prospects, what else the team needs to fill the roster, what moves are next. nothing. just "wow that's a big contract for bob, i guess, but lets talk about NHL contracts in the context of NBA contracts for the next 8 minutes.. onto the next segment"

not sure how to fix that, except win

 

[tarheelhockey]

Update: Dundon has successfully lead the charge for public money to renovate PNC Arena:

Raleigh leaders to vote on PNC Arena renovations, new soccer complex :: WRAL.com

"The renovations will add more meetings spaces and, with several new restaurants, would make PNC a "foodie" destination. Leaders say the renovations will bring more people in, but ticket prices for events should not increase.

"We want to bring the culinary experience that sort of Raleigh and Durham and, really, North Carolina is known for now into our building," PNC's Jeff Merritt said.
The money would come from hotel and food tax between Wake County and the City of Raleigh. Under the revised agreement, funding for facilities would increase from $42 to $46 million per year.

Right now, PNC Arena receives $8 million a year. Under the revisions, it would get $9 million.

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangl...&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true

PNC Arena, which is looking to nail down a new lease with Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon, emerged as the big winner in the process. The city and county essentially decided to invest significantly in the arena, which opened in 1999, in order to improve the fan experience.

The upgrades will include improved concourses, swankier VIP areas and a terrace bar that will overlook Carter-Finley Stadium.

The new scoreboard, which was Dundon's top priority upon buying the team, is almost finished:



And a new practice facility, which the Canes are not building but will be leasing into, is under construction:

Wake Competition Center

 

[canuckfan75]

Good for them. I love to see newer markets grow. Hockey can be big anywhere

 

[HisIceness]

With PNC turning 20 years old this is a good time to upgrade. I'm sure the discussion of a Downtown Raleigh arena will still come up every now and then but for the time being PNC will get what they need to "compete" with the other arenas. A new practice facility is also a huge plus and Morrisville is a good location for it.

One thing I'd really like to see at PNC, an open bar viewing area in one of the end zones in the 300 sections, similar to what Spectrum Center in Charlotte has (I believe the arena in Tampa has this as well). It's not a necessity but I do think it would enhance the experience for first-time fans.

For those that don't know what I'm referring to.