the amount of ignorance and stupidity being thrown around in this thread is pretty astounding - so i really don't know where to start.
I'm not sure how to answer that first line. It's almost akin to saying that if pigs could fly, they could fly very far. But they can't, so they won't. Well, hockey is not succeeding in those two places. Not by a long shot. Now it's just a matter of how long the owners want to keep throwing money at it.
i really can't speak for atlanta. unlike some here, i won't speak out of ignorance. but to say hockey isn't succeeding in "miami" is flat out wrong.
is florida a hockey hotbed? no, of course not. but no other franchise's fans have had to put up with the amount of incompetent management that florida has - and despite that, they're still middle-of-the pack in regards to ticket sales. haven't had a playoff appearance since 1999-2000 and havent won a playoff game since 1996-1997. think about that for a second and then ask yourself: would any other market really be considered strong with such a piss-poor product on the ice?
i'm sorry to burst your bubble up there in winnipeg, but the panthers aren't moving anytime soon. and there's several reasons as to why they won't. lets start with this: according to forbes, florida only lost $1.6 million in 05-06. and according to george richards (miami-herald beat writer) - florida "just about broke even" in 06-07. he also reported the panthers believe they may no longer be receiving revenue sharing in a year or two - which has been the reason for their cautious approach in the free agency market.
so while they may be losing money - it isn't significant amounts like other franchises out there that are bleeding. the local sponsorships are through the roof - so much so that people are calling the bank-atlantic center the "corporate sponsorship arena".
pre-lockout they were in pretty bad shape. but with the somewhat improved product on the ice (ie, semi-competitive instead of a doormat) - things improved. so what happens when florida actually puts a winner out there? a legitimate contender? people will come.
is that not enough? ok, well keep reading:
alan cohen has full control of the bank atlantic center. broward country (who built the arena) gets zero revenues from it aside from the 30-year guarantee the panthers will stay in sunrise.
now, i know leases can be broken. but this one won't be. cohen is raking in tons and tons of money through other events such as concerts, shows, etc. if florida moves - cohen loses the least and control of the arena. needless to say, he's not going to let that happen.
still not enough? it should be, but ok. keep reading
lets say for some reason cohen wanted out. wanted to sell the club. it won't happen, but i'll humor you.
the nhl isn't going to want this team to move, especially not to a canadian market like winnipeg. i know many will take it as one, but i'm not trying to insult winnipeg. the biggest problem with the nhl is the national broadcast deals in the united states. the "florida" market, which is all of miami-dade, broward, and palm-beach counties, is around 6.5 million people. making it the third biggest market in the US. needless to say, there aren't 6.5 million people watching florida play game in and game out, but when you're talking about national broadcast rights, if the nhl loses miami/ft.lauderdale, they lose a huge asset. losing nashville (which they obviously dont want to do) is one thing - losing florida is another. 800,000 eyeballs don't quite compare to 6,500,000.
not. going. to. happen.
As to the Winnipeg person, I think they were being very realistic. I'm not sure how you can say that teams at or near the bottom in attendance and revenue deserve chance after chance, but when someone comes and says that Winnipeg could jump up to the middle of the pack they are derided. Ask the owners of some of those teams if they'd take middle of the road versus what they have now year after year. My guess is that they'd be on it in a heartbeat. So what if Winnipeg will never be number one. I have news for all of you, neither will Florida or Atlanta - despite the capacity of their arenas.
winnipeg could fill their arena to capacity and it wouldn't matter. the nhl is trying to grow it's product in the united states - and like it or not as a canadian, losing a US market to a canadian one does nothing but hurt the cause. losing a huge US market like south florida is a catastrophic blow to the cause.
So in this case putting the game in a place where it will be appreciated is far better, even if it does mean that it will never be a Detroit or Toronto. I'd rather watch 15,000 screaming fans in Winnipeg than 13,000 (2,000 of whom came dressed as empty seats) docile customers in Miami.
florida drew 15,370 this year, 16,048 last year. nice try twisting the numbers. even if those were the attendance figures, florida still wouldn't move for the reasons mentioned above.
- are they really saying that here?", you're probably pushing it.
