Habsaku
Registered User
Quebec can be a viable business. The province has the lower income taxes for corporations in all of Canada, most dont even pay. If they also decide to lobby the government, they can get a lot of advantages the Canadiens dont have, such as low property taxes and funding of a new arena. After that, it also becomes a good touristic venue,wether its for enterainment like the Bell centre or to attract people.(I heard of a story yesterday on 110%; a New York reporter asked his boss to let him see the Habs-Nords game because one of them was playing the rags the next day, but actually, he wanted to go to Quebec because it had great food and was one of the nicest place in NA). Nevermind the fact that Canada is already a very stable place for hockey now with the yearly profits by canadian teams(other then Ottawa last year) and the quick growth of the Canadian dollar. The Nordiques would very much sell at least 16000 seats a game, at the very least wether they are horrible or not. Right there, you have a good chance of viability with the new system. Marcel Aubut is also a smart business man and if he can get Laliberté to join like he is saying, then all that will be needed is a new Arena. Having teams in Winnipeg and Quebec can in no way hurt the NHL. The sad thing is it will happen with relocation, but having lived it, its not that bad when the city doesnt support the team. Las Vegas and Houston can also be good markets(as proven by the Stars), but I'd rather see Canada get back the teams it deserves.Troy McClure said:That you seem to think you have such an easy and obvious answer to a vey complex problem should tell you that either your assumptions are wrong or your understanding of the problem is wrong. I can tell you though that you are wrong on both counts.
You have the very wrong and very simple assumption that fan interest is the only thing that matters in success of a hockey team, and that is wrong. You also base your understanding of fan interest in Houston on how their AHL team does, and that is wrong.
But go ahead and keep telling us how Quebec City, a town which has all the population and business power of a suburb to a major city in Texas, is a better investment. I know I'll take a city like Houston any day if I'm an owner. More potential for future growth, more business interest, better tax situation, cheaper arena lease, more people to buy merchandising, more of everything. Or, I could go to Quebec City where what I have on day one is the best it'll ever get.
It's cheaper to do business here in the US. They don't have to sell out to survive.
Help? Sure, but not help from the NHL. Help in the form of paying much less in taxes every year. Help in the form of cheaply built arenas with cheap leases. Help in the form of a better exchange rate. Help in the form of more corporate money. The league doesn't need to help.