The NHL is Eyeing Austin Texas instead of Houston - Oak View agrees to Build New Arena!!!

[No Fun Shogun]

no.

if Dallas claims Austin as part of its territory, then what.....

Dallas and Austin are something like 200 miles apart. I don't think they (or a hypothetical Houston ownership) would really have an official leg to stand on to block them in an expansion or relocation standpoint (though they could still have soft power in swaying votes behind the scenes).

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Dallas and Austin are something like 200 miles apart. I don't think they (or a hypothetical Houston ownership) would really have an official leg to stand on to block them in an expansion or relocation standpoint (though they could still have soft power in swaying votes behind the scenes).

uh, then why DOES Cedar Park exist then..... when you research it.... it's essentially the Austin market

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

uh, then why DOES Cedar Park exist then..... when you research it.... it's essentially the Austin market

For the final time. Just because the Dallas Stars have their AHL affiliate in the Austin market does not mean it is their market or they would be owed an indemnity. [mod]

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

For the final time. Just because the Dallas Stars have their AHL affiliate in the Austin market does not mean it is their market or they would be owed an indemnity.

no
Dallas claims the territory. it's a non-starter.....

 

[Perfect_Drug]

I love visiting Austin.

Tacos are so freakin amazing. Rainey Street is the shit.

I still think Portland would be way better.

 

[HisIceness]

I can't believe, in all these discussions about US cities, Portland Oregon does not come up more.

Really? I see Portland mentioned quite frequently.

Once again as I've said before, small-market NBA towns are not the best place for NHL franchises and vice-versa. 82 combined home games from October to April is stretching the sports dollar thin.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Really? I see Portland mentioned quite frequently.

Once again as I've said before, small-market NBA towns are not the best place for NHL franchises and vice-versa. 82 combined home games from October to April is stretching the sports dollar thin.

true, and until Vulcan determines what it wants to go in respect to Oregon, and Portland specifically. as compared to Washington interests which now do not include Seattle

 

[No Fun Shogun]

uh, then why DOES Cedar Park exist then..... when you research it.... it's essentially the Austin market

I can absolutely guarantee you that a minor league team has no standing on what any major pro league wants to do with expansion or relocation. In any sport.

 

[eddygee]

"Major pro" in colloquial conversation is basically limited to the NFL, MLB, NBA, and the NHL in North America, which are the top tier of their respective sports and are by far the highest revenue generating leagues of their sports as well, not to mention that they are four of the five highest revenue generating leagues globally (along with the premier league).

MLS has some passionate followings and and has grown considerably in the past decade, but there's still a massive gulf between them and the minnow of the Big Four that is the NHL. And even if you think MLS should be in that same breath of conversation, others not considering that shouldn't be remotely surprising.

And to go to your snide comments about Illinois and Indiana in the NCAA, sure they are small by comparison to the mega programs, but they generate a helluva lot more revenue than midmajor programs, so nobody bats an eye at their inclusion as a power conference program (not to mention that Illinois is ranked 5th nationally in college basketball at this moment, so weird timing for a talent flex).

As for other Chicago-based teams... what? There are 20+ teams in each respective league that wishes they generated as much revenues as the Bears, Cubs, Bulls, and Hawks.

That being said, it's not a minor league, either. It's more comparable to the CFL than the minors or AHL. Not directly a feeder league, and it stands on it's own, but from a talent and money standpoint there is clearly a bigger level of competition available.

Based on what?

Not revenue and certainly not talent.

This has been hashed and talked about before but ultimately despite the snide comments which I get from a NHL fan perspective, MLS is really apart of what is now becoming known as the Big 5. You've started to see it slowly gain acceptance as part of the Big 5 in sports media with some referring to it as a Big 5. MLS is in kind of a unique phase not fully entrenched in the Original Big 4 but DEFINITELY not Minor either. I can see why some make the argument which is often done snidely that it's revenue aren't close to the the original Big 4 and not close to the smallest of them NHL at around $4-5bil.

MLS revenues still aren't minor league at $1-1.5 bil. There are no other US leagues anywhere close in revenue below it in, so you can't really group MLS as minor league. WNBA revenues are about $25mil. MLS revenues are multiple double-digits times more than the next closest US league. It's closest to the smallest of the Original Big 4 NHL which is 3.5x more revenues than any league below it. When you take into account that MLS is only 25 yrs old and is already a billion dollar plus league at 26 teams it's silly. Then when you account MLS will further increase revenues more as it grows to 32 teams along with greater broadcast rights etc its a really silly argument to try to not include it in what is now a "Big 5"

It's more just lame gate keeping at this point, and as a fan of NHL who constantly battle perception of not belonging i.e it's really the Big 3 ala the multiple Max Kellerman's of the world it's even lamer to try and gate keep. Even businesses like Nielsen Sports have already acknowledge in their Sports graph showing TV DMA rankings.

View attachment 388171

 

[eddygee]

So is this happening or we just bsing around? Think a team in Austin could be maintained. Austin was.. still might be the fastest growing city in the US would be nice rivalry with the Stars.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

How can Dallas claim Austin? It's almost 3 hours away. Stars claiming OKC too?

This has been hashed and talked about before but ultimately despite the snide comments which I get from a NHL fan perspective, MLS is really apart of what is now becoming known as the Big 5. ...
It's more just lame gate keeping at this point, and as a fan of NHL who constantly battle perception of not belonging i.e it's really the Big 3 ala the multiple Max Kellerman's of the world it's even lamer to try and gate keep. Even businesses like Nielsen Sports have already acknowledge in their Sports graph showing TV DMA rankings.

View attachment 388171

Nope, I don't think it's a major league from a soccer perspective. Has nothing to do with being a hockey fan.

It's a selling league, a stepping stone. Until the best players want to play in the US in their prime, I won't see it as a major league.

 

[HisIceness]

So is this happening or we just bsing around? Think a team in Austin could be maintained. Austin was.. still might be the fastest growing city in the US would be nice rivalry with the Stars.

Latter, although I still think it would be a great market if given the chance and w/ competent ownership.

 

[eddygee]

Latter, although I still think it would be a great market if given the chance and w/ competent ownership.

I think it could be as well.

 

[eddygee]

How can Dallas claim Austin? It's almost 3 hours away. Stars claiming OKC too?



Nope, I don't think it's a major league from a soccer perspective. Has nothing to do with being a hockey fan.

It's a selling league, a stepping stone. Until the best players want to play in the US in their prime, I won't see it as a major league.

But this isn't a global thing it's US. If you're familiar with Global soccer every league is a selling league only a handful of teams in the world are truly buyers and most like Barcelona are broke propped up by the Catalonian gov't. Literally 2 of the top 5 tier -1 leagues in the world outside of the top team in each league are selling leagues. Using your criteria falls flat, it's about the league financial status, revenue and position of said league in its country. In the US MLS is a clear leading #5. # 4 NHL is about 3.5x paces ahead of it in revenue but #6 is about 15x paces behind MLS. Its like in the business world; you have billion dollar companies, some grossing multi billions(NFL/NBA/MLB/NHL, some grossing just over a billion (MLS) and then you have the successful upstarts grossing under $50 mil. No person would try to lump the company doing over a billion in revenue with the lower upstart companies. Most would see the clear delineation and place the company doing just over a billion with the multi billionaire corporations as the new comer to the group.

The real issue here is memory and perception always cloud current reality and opinion. Many still subconsciously remember not to distant not fully informed memories of MLS in the mid 90s early 2000s as the under 50 mil mom and pop corporation. When reality is it hasn't been that in years. It's a growing 1+ billion dollar league that will become a multi 2+ billion dollar league within the decade. Good convo tho man I like discussing business of leagues in such.

On Austin I think it would make a great addition to NHL, the MLS team looks like it will be a success with the new sold out stadium and 10k waiting list I've seen mention on Twitter, but they're in different season not really competing.

That leaves UT football but something tells me the clientele for NHL 45-55 yr old guy with his wife and sometimes kids is a little different than the college crowd. I also think there is a built in white collar tech crowd of that age range that would do well there. NHL does well in that affluent category type.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I can absolutely guarantee you that a minor league team has no standing on what any major pro league wants to do with expansion or relocation. In any sport.

disagree....

show proof of where Dallas owns the territory in Austin.

 

[CanadianCoyote]

It really doesn't matter if the Stars do or don't own the Austin market, because the NHL is laser-focused on Houston as the second Texas team and has been for years. They won't suddenly abandon all of that interest for a market which doesn't even have an indoor arena up to NHL standards.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

no.

if Dallas claims Austin as part of its territory, then what.....

uh, then why DOES Cedar Park exist then..... when you research it.... it's essentially the Austin market

no
Dallas claims the territory. it's a non-starter.....

disagree....

show proof of where Dallas owns the territory in Austin.

As always...what the hell are you talking about?

You: 'Dallas claims Austin'
Also you: 'Show me where Dallas claims Austin'

 

[No Fun Shogun]

disagree....

show proof of where Dallas owns the territory in Austin.

You're asking for proof of your own claim? What?

And if that's a typo and you mean to ask for proof they don't own the territory, you're the one making the claim that they have Austin in their territory and as such that is what requires proof. Proving a negative is never the standard, and no... having a minor league team is not a prohibitive claim against a major league team moving into a market.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

You're asking for proof of your own claim? What?

you claim that no other league has entered another league's territory.

it has:

Cincinnati backed by Anaheim vs the Cincinnati Cyclones, the existing/active franchise

 

[eddygee]

I think Austin would do great as a NHL city. Its one of those markets we'll look at in 5 yrs and wonder if they can get in there. The population is exploding and at it's current growth rate it'll be a top 25 market before long.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

you claim that no other league has entered another league's territory.

it has:

Cincinnati backed by Anaheim vs the Cincinnati Cyclones, the existing/active franchise

Your proof that a major pro team has veto power over another major pro team moving into a market that they have an affiliate in is when Anaheim prevented a minor league team from moving into their affiliate's market when it was (not so) temporarily on hiatus?

That's not even remotely comparable nor is it a point of contention regarding Austin and possibly being an NHL destination.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Your proof that a major pro team has veto power over another major pro team moving into a market that they have an affiliate in is when Anaheim prevented a minor league team from moving into their affiliate's market when it was (not so) temporarily on hiatus?

That's not even remotely comparable nor is it a point of contention regarding Austin and possibly being an NHL destination.

then show me proof then where the NHL is in Austin at the H-E-B Center, not Dallas

 

[No Fun Shogun]

then show me proof then where the NHL is in Austin at the H-E-B Center, not Dallas

Dude, what are you talking about? You're being nonsensical. No one is saying that an affiliate of Dallas doesn't currently play there. The only point is that that fact has no bearing on NHL consideration for the market, because it flat out doesn't. If some Austinite billionaire starts building an NHL-caliber arena and submits an expansion bid or attempts to buy a team to relocate, Dallas having a farm team there wouldn't sway a single BoG vote on to allow it or not. The only things that would matter would be if a) the NHL is interested in Austin or not, and b) if Dallas tried to use soft power behind the scenes to keep their de facto monopoly on Texas.

The only blockage that could come into play is them probably having a lease that'd preclude the use of their arena by other teams, but I don't think anyone was seriously suggesting even the temporary use of an arena that only holds 6000ish spectators in Austin.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Dude, what are you talking about? You're being nonsensical. No one is saying that an affiliate of Dallas doesn't currently play there. The only point is that that fact has no bearing on NHL consideration for the market, because it flat out doesn't. If some Austinite billionaire starts building an NHL-caliber arena and submits an expansion bid or attempts to buy a team to relocate, Dallas having a farm team there wouldn't sway a single BoG vote on to allow it or not. The only things that would matter would be if a) the NHL is interested in Austin or not, and b) if Dallas tried to use soft power behind the scenes to keep their de facto monopoly on Texas.

the arena as the OP suggests isn't happening nor is there any proposal to upgrade the Market anytime soon .

I'm done

 

[Bucky_Hoyt]

There's always a price. If someone is willing to pay it, hard to argue it won't ever happen.

I think ATX could be a great market for the many reasons already suggested about demographics, market growth, etc.

Does that mean it will happen next year? No. But worth keeping an eye on.

Relocation is inevitable in any of the Big 5 (there, I've said it). That is the design of those leagues. Gonna happen eventually and Austin is likely to be in that conversation if it keeps trending the way it is.