NHL teams and their fanbase reach

[selkie]

But how many actually like hockey in Florida other than transplanted retierees from the north lol. Out of the 18.9 million how many don't live in the Miami or Tampa Bay area and how many are actually into hockey.

I think Florida would be better off putting a team in Orlando and moving the Lightning there and move the Panthers to Canada. The Lightning are 20th in the league in percentage of attendance and the Panthers are 26th. Eliminate one team and move the other to an area that is not too far from Tampa or Miami which is Orlando. Than they can bring back the Mighty Ducks and play in the Magic Kingdom lol

:: Waves from up in the Panhandle (aka Pensacola Ice Flyers radio territory)

If the DeVos family (those fine folks who brought the world Amway) wanted to own an NHL team then Orlando would have gotten a NHL team instead of Tampa Bay. They could have shaken the franchise fee out of their couch cushions. But when the IHL consolidated with the AHL, they decided to keep the Grand Rapids Griffins and fold the Orlando Solar Bears, which kind of indicates what they thought of the future of hockey in Orlando, and no one else in town really has the clout to get a hockey team to even schedule around the DeVos-owned Magic at Amway Center.

 

[IceAce]

But how many actually like hockey in Florida other than transplanted retierees from the north lol. Out of the 18.9 million how many don't live in the Miami or Tampa Bay area and how many are actually into hockey.

I think Florida would be better off putting a team in Orlando and moving the Lightning there and move the Panthers to Canada. The Lightning are 20th in the league in percentage of attendance and the Panthers are 26th. Eliminate one team and move the other to an area that is not too far from Tampa or Miami which is Orlando. Than they can bring back the Mighty Ducks and play in the Magic Kingdom lol

California has the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks in the LA metro area. There actually seperated by Interstate 5 I believe. The San Jose Sharks are in the San Francisco Bay metro area. 3 teams in Cali

Great facts though good post

A. The Panthers don't play in Miami, they play in Sunrise, which is more a suburb of Fort Lauderdale.

B. Orlando isnt "close" to Sunrise by any stretch. It's about a 4 hour drive, i.e. the distance between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

 

[barneyg]

A. The Panthers don't play in Miami, they play in Sunrise, which is more a suburb of Fort Lauderdale.

B. Orlando isnt "close" to Sunrise by any stretch. It's about a 4 hour drive, i.e. the distance between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

I get your point but if you've driven from Philly to Pittsburgh in 4 hours, you're lucky you didn't get a ticket. Google has Orlando-Sunrise at 3 hours 35 minutes and Philly - Pittsburgh at 5 hours 25 minutes. As a former Pittsburgh resident I'd say it may be 15 minutes too high but not more.

 

[FlyerCub]

I get your point but if you've driven from Philly to Pittsburgh in 4 hours, you're lucky you didn't get a ticket. Google has Orlando-Sunrise at 3 hours 35 minutes and Philly - Pittsburgh at 5 hours 25 minutes. As a former Pittsburgh resident I'd say it may be 15 minutes too high but not more.

I just drove Philly to Pittsburgh and back this weekend and agree with your time estimate. I've also done the Sunrise to Orlando drive, which is definitely shorter. Sunrise to Tampa via Orlando is a bit closer time-wise to the Philly/Pittsburgh drive.

 

[IceAce]

I get your point but if you've driven from Philly to Pittsburgh in 4 hours, you're lucky you didn't get a ticket. Google has Orlando-Sunrise at 3 hours 35 minutes and Philly - Pittsburgh at 5 hours 25 minutes. As a former Pittsburgh resident I'd say it may be 15 minutes too high but not more.

I just drove Philly to Pittsburgh and back this weekend and agree with your time estimate. I've also done the Sunrise to Orlando drive, which is definitely shorter. Sunrise to Tampa via Orlando is a bit closer time-wise to the Philly/Pittsburgh drive.

Geez guys, 4 hours was a ballpark estimate, not meant to be exact to the minute (although I did do King Of Prussia to Pittsburgh in just over 4 hours last summer) just to show that the two cities are a good enough of a distance from one to not have fans "commute" to games in Orlando from the Fort Lauderdale area.