Miami would have been gone 8 years ago if the league had done this. EXCELLENT IDEA!
Agreed.
So many teams in the South are bleeding money and simply not drawing fans that it boggles the mind when you think about why those teams still occupy those cities when there are many other cities that would be profitable.
Phoenix
Atlanta
Florida
Nashville
Carolina
Tampa Bay (one of the top teams in the league, only drawgin 83.7% capacity)
Tampa, admittedly, achieved solid attendance for 2-3 years when they won the Stanley Cup, but since then attendance figures have dropped by over 20%. To me, that suggests that fans will only turn out when the team is amongst the best in the league (although that in itself isn't the case for this season).
My suggestion has always been to relocate these teams to healthier markets.
Winnipeg
Quebec
Hamilton
Saskatoon/Regina
Seattle
Portland
The team in Saskatoon/Regina may struggle in terms of corporate support, but I believe that the fan support would definitely be there. Package that with television rights and I don't think the team would struggle too badly. At the very least it should make a small profit which is huge for a franchise that has bled money for decades.