ECHL Expansion

[Captain Crash]

Yet many others have. To wit: Feb. 2018, $30.75 per seat for top of lower bowl near center ice at Amway Center-Orlando; Dec. 2018, $32 per seat for top of lower bowl near blueline at Indiana Farmers Coliseum-Indianapolis. ECHL ain't always cheap hockey.

Of course. But it makes a lot more sense to compare Casper to say Wheeling than a major market like Orlando.

 

[JMCx4]

Of course. But it makes a lot more sense to compare Casper to say Wheeling than a major market like Orlando.

I admit that the Orlando ticket prices were no surprise to me, but Indy has no business charging $32 each for those seats in their no-frills arena. I sure hope their STHs get a significant discount. Bottom Line to the prevailing topic: ECHL ownerships have been known to gouge. ... ETA: And prospective hockey team owners have been known to bite off more than they could eventually chew.

 

[Adam Michaels]

There is a new arena being built in Trois-Rivières, QC. They don't have a tenant for it yet. Some rumors have it that the Canadiens are paying close attention to this with the intention of having their ECHL affiliate there.

The other rumor is that some potential buyers are looking to get into the QMJHL, but Trois-Rivières may infringe on other teams' territory and they would probably block them getting to that league.

The city hired former Hab Marc-André Bergeron to help find a tenant.

The arena should be ready for the 2020-21 season.

 

[General Joseph]

I would like to see Peoria and Pensacola both get back into the ECHL ! We still support the Pensacola team since they went to the SPHL years ago and have had good success etc , But i liked the ECHL talent level much better and got to see many good young players come through Pensacola on their way up the minor league chain to the big show .

 

[JMCx4]

I would like to see Peoria and Pensacola both get back into the ECHL ! ...

A sentiment shared by a certain tenured Peoria sports beat writer. Just don't get your hopes up because both teams' owners are clearly better off with the SPHL cost model, while both have seen slips in average attendance over the last handful of seasons.

 

[SemireliableSource]

As JMC said, both ownership groups are content with the level of the investment at this level.

Also, Pensacola fits with markets like Knoxville, Huntsville, Roanoke, Fayetteville, and Macon more than markets like Jacksonville, suburban Dallas, Indianapolis, and Orlando. This market can't support the current-day ECHL.

 

[PCSPounder]

Of course. But it makes a lot more sense to compare Casper to say Wheeling than a major market like Orlando.

Wheeling- the metropolitan area- is twice the size of Casper. Mind you, it's shrunk by at least 20% since 1980. OTOH, this doesn't include the sizeable-enough communities of Steubenville OH, Martinsville WV, Dover and New Philadelphia (in Ohio)... Casper has nothing like this within 30-40 miles.

Not that this matters. The ECHL got out of Elmira pretty fast, took on Rapid City as a CHL legacy, and otherwise have had a habit of either taking over markets from other leagues or expanding into much larger markets than Wheeling (never mind Casper).

If someone manages to create an SPHL-level league that somehow gets (1) some breakoffs from US WHL teams and (2) gets an Alaska Airlines sponsorship, we can probably talk about a league that Casper tries, Billings maybe thrives, and Idaho Falls makes more sense among 5 other cities. Not that I endorse any breath-holding exercises on this account.

 

[PCSPounder]

Time to close a loop here.

A decade in the making: Mountain America Center breaks ground

This article from Idaho Falls mentions that, 10 YEARS after voters chose to build an arena/auditorium complex, ground has broken... and that the hockey target is NA3HL. Very junior, and very geography-appropriate, if maybe too much arena for the team.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Time to close a loop here.

A decade in the making: Mountain America Center breaks ground

This article from Idaho Falls mentions that, 10 YEARS after voters chose to build an arena/auditorium complex, ground has broken... and that the hockey target is NA3HL. Very junior, and very geography-appropriate, if maybe too much arena for the team.

I can't imagine they would be content with just a NA3HL team for long if they draw well in a facility and location like that.

 

[PCSPounder]

The old junior AFHL/AWHL played in the Metra in Billings, the Butte Civic Center, and Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls. There were long-ago rumors of Billings trying to get back into either WHL or pro. Both Great Falls and Butte dismantled the ice plants in their arenas, and Butte is best left that way, but Great Falls has been kicking around an arena proposal that seems to rival the Metra, including 7,500 or so for hockey.

I don’t think the ECHL wants any part of an arrangement with multiple Montana teams. Too many not-big-enough markets, and the flights connect to the west, not the Midwest. But it sounds like Billings, Great Falls, and Idaho Falls could be the spine of an SPHL-like pro league. If the E bails from the western outposts, there’s 1 or 2 more. If one of the WHL teams around Seattle fails, not only do you add that to the mix, but that opens up a certain airline sponsor if you also include Anchorage (and said airline services almost all these cities). We can go wild with this speculation...

...but the arenas actually have to get improved or built, and other things have to shake out. I’m not putting money down on that bet for now.

 

[Atlantian]

People on Facebook mention Casper, WY as a possible landing spot whenever ECHL expansion talks take place. Why wouldn’t it work? Geographically it seems to be a great connector for Utah and Idaho. Is it just population size? They do have an aging arena too but it has hosted hockey in the past.

 

[PCSPounder]

People on Facebook mention Casper, WY as a possible landing spot whenever ECHL expansion talks take place. Why wouldn’t it work? Geographically it seems to be a great connector for Utah and Idaho. Is it just population size? They do have an aging arena too but it has hosted hockey in the past.

In theory, Rapid City is too small for ECHL. Market size about 150,000, though some northern Black Hills burgs help boost that a bit.

Casper doesn’t have more than 82,000, and the surroundings would help if cattle bought tickets. Casper is quite isolated. Also, Idaho Falls gets some air service because of Yellowstone, Rapid City because of the Black Hills, Rushmore, et cetera, but Casper, not really.

 

[JMCx4]

People on Facebook mention Casper, WY as a possible landing spot whenever ECHL expansion talks take place. ...

People on Facebook will need ice water when they're all in hell, too.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

People on Facebook mention Casper, WY as a possible landing spot whenever ECHL expansion talks take place. Why wouldn’t it work? Geographically it seems to be a great connector for Utah and Idaho. Is it just population size? They do have an aging arena too but it has hosted hockey in the past.

Casper rebuilt/retrofitted the Casper Events Center with the expressed purpose of attracting a CHL franchise, back when that league was still around. But they never got the local ownership to buy a team because the market was too small and too isolated.

As for the ECHL, PCSPounder is right. If Rapid City is pushing the boundaries of too small (not enough population to draw from) and too isolated (heavily increased travel costs), then Casper doesn't even have a chance.