Could be, but again, I don't know if that is accounting for traffic at all. In any case it appears to be too far for most Miami folks to make the trek.
40 mins is accurate from the core. You lose all the people in the south of Miami-Dade county by having them play at the BB&T center, but to be honest, the demographics in Broward County are probably better suited for a hockey team, and there are still like 2 million people who live there. If the team could build a track record of being competitive and exciting, I don’t see why Broward’s base couldn’t develop the way Tampa’s has, as there are a lot of northeast, Canadian, and European transplants in Broward. People in Miami-Dade county are much more likely to be from South America and put soccer, football, baseball, basketball first. Plus watching those other teams is harder for the people in Broward and Palm Beach counties because they would have to drive all the way south.
I don’t think the location is the biggest barrier; I think it’s the team ranging between being awful and mediocre for most of its 20 year history.