The SPHL is starting to rival the FHL in franchise stability.
from what I'M hearing/reading Southhaven hasn't been marketing either the Riverkings or the Hustle (and that's since the Hustle came to Southhaven)I lost track of the comings and goings of a lot of AA minor pro teams during the decade Indy was in the USHL, but the RiverKings were a model franchise in the old CHL around 2000 ... then the Mid-South Coliseum closed and they had to move to Southaven and it never seems to have been the same.
I lost track of the comings and goings of a lot of AA minor pro teams during the decade Indy was in the USHL, but the RiverKings were a model franchise in the old CHL around 2000 ... then the Mid-South Coliseum closed and they had to move to Southaven and it never seems to have been the same.
The SPHL is starting to rival the FHL in franchise stability.
Yeah, no.
Attendance had been in the toilet before the name change.
The last season (2006-07) they played as the Memphis RiverKings, they were 11th in a 15 team league drawing 3,545/game. Not a bad figure, not great, but not terrible. The season before, they drew 2,997/game. Any team drawing under 4,000/game in any league is at risk of suspending operations, some just last longer than others.
Attendance did steadily drop, but so did the marketing budget and the quality of the product.
In a metro area with a major league team, no one is going to pay to see unaffiliated minor league hockey unless you market the **** out of it. The RiverKings haven't done that since the 90s.
That haste was no doubt encouraged by the League, who knew Mississippi was about to suspend ops (with their announcement conveniently delayed to the day after the new unnamed team was introduced). Under those circumstances, the inclusion of QDC for the coming season could be considered an "even trade" from a higher level perspective: (1) it keeps the League @ 10 teams, making scheduling slightly simpler while they continue to pursue other markets for expansion (or at least stability); (2) it sustains the notion - for the time being, anyway- that the Midwest is fertile ground for Single A expansion (see (1)).... Quad City was desperate to keep pro hockey, which is why they're joining this league in such a hasty manner. I don't think the subtraction of Mississippi and the addition of QC can be considered an even trade for the SPHL. It's a step backwards, IMO.
4,000 fans per night at $20 per ticket for 40 dates is $3.2 million in ticket revenue.
Too bad the figure generally given to operate an AHL team is $4.5 million a season.
In the ECHL, that number is roughly half that, but then, how many teams are drawing less than 4,000 per game?
The fewer fans you draw, the lower your sponsorship revenue is going to be, because no one is going to pay big bucks to advertise in front of empty seats.
Use your brain and take off the fanboy glasses. Hockey is a tough business.
(1) it keeps the League @ 10 teams, making scheduling slightly simpler while they continue to pursue other markets for expansion (or at least stability); (2) it sustains the notion - for the time being, anyway- that the Midwest is fertile ground for Single A expansion (see (1)).
Evansville's Ford Center, and Landers Center in Southaven (R.I.P.) but now replaced by TaxSlayer Center in Moline. Phew, just under the wire. But I concur with your observation that minor pro hockey revenues are difficult for fans to judge.Sponsorship is a bigger piece of revenue, yes, but if we're talking about the SPHL, please name for us two arenas with ribbon boards. ...
The new Quad City hockey team will be called the Storm:
New Quad-City hockey team will be called the Quad-City Storm
Obviously, we'll have to wait for Chrdanhutch to verify this news with his top-secret sources, but it appears the new SPHL team will be the Quad City Storm. Hate to say it, but this has "one and done" written all over it.
Hockey as an entertainment product is all about distraction these days, so I'd say the Storm logo fits right in. Besides, if you find ugly with too much going on to be distracting, you'll never get back on track (so to speak) after you see the logo of the Storm's opponents in Roanoke, VA ...As I said on Twitter, that's an ugly logo. Too much going on in it, which makes things distracting.
uh, JM, you DO know the history of Roanoke hockey, correct...... Roanoke was one of the few markets who were adamant to say the least about reentering pro hockey at any level, junior or pro, just as Norfolk and Richmond had/have their history, Roanoke was a part of that with the Express (think the Railers HC logo was a bit derived from that one when you looked at it).... Roanoke was the first market anyone knew of that shunned any attempt to place a team in the arena, much less the Civic Center there..... there are still hopes to get Richmond back in to hockey now that the Coliseum aka "The Freezer" is set to be replaced, even though the heyday of the Renegades in both the ECHL/SPHL has already been tried....Hockey as an entertainment product is all about distraction these days, so I'd say the Storm logo fits right in. Besides, if you find ugly with too much going on to be distracting, you'll never get back on track (so to speak) after you see the logo of the Storm's opponents in Roanoke, VA ...