Vegas purchases AHL San Antonio

[Barclay Donaldson]

So, what becomes of the Palm Springs team?

This has absolutely no effect on the Palm Springs team. They are set to join in 2 years and their OVG owners in Seattle will be down later this month for groundbreaking to begin the construction on the arena.

 

[bleedblue1223]

That was before there team affiliations were as set as they were now. Teams were sharing affiliations regularly, they changed affiliates regularly every few years. Nofolk realistically could have been left out in the cold.

Affiliations now are almost entirely set in stone. Half the league is directly owned by their parent club, and all but three or four of the rest have such a close relationship that they essentially have the same relationship as the other half of the league. With the way the system is now, no one in their right mind would share their AHL affiliate. The new system is about prospect development, and maximizing the time the kids are playing on the farm is why the AHL underwent that shift. St. Louis wouldn't find a partner to the dance nowadays. No one is going to let them budge in and take away valuable time from their own prospects and their own marketing. St. Louis is going to be left in the cold unless they can find a taker, which as Vegas shown is incredibly unlikely.

Since no one would ideally want to be with Chicago though, they would be the only realistic option?

 

[Centrum Hockey]

That was before there team affiliations were as set as they were now. Teams were sharing affiliations regularly, they changed affiliates regularly every few years. Nofolk realistically could have been left out in the cold.

Affiliations now are almost entirely set in stone. Half the league is directly owned by their parent club, and all but three or four of the rest have such a close relationship that they essentially have the same relationship as the other half of the league. With the way the system is now, no one in their right mind would share their AHL affiliate. The new system is about prospect development, and maximizing the time the kids are playing on the farm is why the AHL underwent that shift. St. Louis wouldn't find a partner to the dance nowadays. No one is going to let them budge in and take away valuable time from their own prospects and their own marketing. St. Louis is going to be left in the cold unless they can find a taker, which as Vegas shown is incredibly unlikely.

Could the AHL send an exec to mend fences with STL and The Wolves. The Hawks clearly don’t want to leave Rockford anytime soon.

 

[gstommylee]

This has absolutely no effect on the Palm Springs team. They are set to join in 2 years and their OVG owners in Seattle will be down later this month for groundbreaking to begin the construction on the arena.

A year and half from now so not this upcoming season but the 21-22 season.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Since no one would ideally want to be with Chicago though, they would be the only realistic option?

They would be. There's 31 couples dancing and those two by themselves. Unless St. Louis finds a way to prize away another girl to dance with, which this whole Vegas process has shown is incredibly unlikely and likely not possible, they'll have to put their tail back between their legs and scamper back to Chicago.

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

Have to admit, I didn't see this coming.

Then again, as many have pointed out, there were few options.

The thought that the Spurs are letting 38 home dates in their building get away is puzzling.

 

[gstommylee]

The only real option is hoping Chicago's AHL owner decides to sell the team at some point. I'll bet the NHL isn't happy with that franchise.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Could the AHL send an exec to mend fences with STL and The Wolves. The Hawks clearly don’t want to leave Rockford anytime soon.

They wouldn't be the first NHL team to be unhappily set up with their AHL affiliate. There's no really no other option.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Have to admit, I didn't see this coming.

Then again, as many have pointed out, there were few options.

The thought that the Spurs are letting 38 home dates in their building get away is puzzling.

Peter holt is no longer in charge of the spurs group. Its his kids now they could be looking to simplify their holdings.

 

[nickp91]

While we lose a member, we gain a new city Vegas is a GREAT addition to the league I’m looking forward to their fanbase welcoming the AHL Passionate fans & overall a fun city

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Have to admit, I didn't see this coming.

Then again, as many have pointed out, there were few options.

The thought that the Spurs are letting 38 home dates in their building get away is puzzling.

Especially since they own the arena. Since they outright owned the team and had most of their staff coming from their NHL affiliate, the team was essentially free revenue with almost no costs. Vegas must have given them one hell of a deal, or like Centrum said, the kids were looking to simplify the holdings under Spurs Sports & Entertainment.

 

[PCSPounder]

One of my thoughts from the other thread: NHL Vegas wants to buy AHL team and move it to LV

This scares me.

So New Jersey is destined to burn Eastern markets with their parent-owned AHL team. Calgary is destined to burn Western markets with their parent-owned AHL team. And now it's clear that the market that affiliates with St. Louis ends up getting sold out of town. As they say, "them's the rules."

I nearly wrote a big long painful comparison between the AHL's everyone affiliates stance and the more lawless expanses of USL Championship. It's a beg to ask why the AHL really won't expand more, even though the USL Championship circumstances indicate an uneasy existence between MLS-owned teams and independents who are doing quite well striking out on their own. There was plenty of chatter about old IHL, et cetera on the other thread, not wanting to re-enact that here, but an explanation of why the AHL clings tight to the affiliation-only stance wouldn't hurt.

 

[Adam Michaels]

With Vegas trademarking the name Silver Knights, good chance their AHL affiliate will go by that name, which I actually like the idea of the Golden Knights/Silver Knights.

 

[BruinsFan37]

That makes 20 of 32 teams (counting Palm Springs) now owned by directly by the parent NHL team correct?

Leaves:

Charlotte, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, Providence, Springfield, Cleveland, Syracuse, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee and Colorado owned by individuals/corporations and Rockford owned by the municipality.

 

[GeauxIceGators]

As for the venue for the Vegas AHL team, I've heard the Orleans Arena. Anyone heard something different?

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

SPURS SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES SALE OF SAN ANTONIO RAMPAGE AHL MEMBERSHIP TO VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS | San Antonio Rampage

 

[sabresfan65]

As for the venue for the Vegas AHL team, I've heard the Orleans Arena. Anyone heard something different?

Orleans for 2 years with practice rink being new 2 sheet complex in Henderson. After 2 years they will move to a proposed arena in western Henderson near the M Resort.

 

[WolfKeeper]

Well, that's interesting.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

That makes 20 of 32 teams (counting Palm Springs) now owned by directly by the parent NHL team correct?

Leaves:

Charlotte, Hershey, Lehigh Valley, Providence, Springfield, Cleveland, Syracuse, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee and Colorado owned by individuals/corporations and Rockford owned by the municipality.

Charlotte owner Michael Kahn is a minority owner of the Hurricanes, so that one needs an asterisk considering it sort of is/isn't directly owned by the parent NHL team but the rest are all good.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

This shocked me...

Guess it means the Blues shift back to the Chicago Wolves or buy the Stockton Heat. Rampage and Blues didn't make sense to me anyway. This will make Vegas an even hotter (literally) place for free agents, minor and big league. Wonder if Engelland plays for them when he's too old for the NHL.

I thought for sure it'd be Vegas buying the Flames affiliate. But I think the Flames should re-locate their affiliate to Salt Lake City, Utah, or Vegas should put their ECHL team there unless Reno decides to build a rink.

 

[cjerina]

Charlotte owner Michael Kahn is a minority owner of the Hurricanes, so that one needs an asterisk considering it sort of is/isn't directly owned by the parent NHL team but the rest are all good.

But is he? Google his name and Carolina Hurricanes. The first result is the Checkers bio page and the preview alludes to that, but the actual page says nothing about that.

Similarly, he was listed as a non-silent partner of the Canes with Karmanos in 2011, but of the 7 not-silent partners with Dundon, he isn't listed currently.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

But is he? Google his name and Carolina Hurricanes. The first result is the Checkers bio page and the preview alludes to that, but the actual page says nothing about that.

Similarly, he was listed as a non-silent partner of the Canes with Karmanos in 2011, but of the 7 not-silent partners with Dundon, he isn't listed currently.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlot...rlotte-checkers-owner-eyeing-canes-visit.html

I believe he is still is. It's behind a paywall, but as of 2018 he is. This link showing him as co-owner as of 2019 would seem to suppor that. Michael A. Kahn High School Community Service Scholastic Scholarship | Charlotte Touchdown Club

The non-silent partner thing may be because Dundon is considering using a 3-year contractual option to slowly buy out different minority owners, including Karmanos.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

This shocked me...

Guess it means the Blues shift back to the Chicago Wolves or buy the Stockton Heat. Rampage and Blues didn't make sense to me anyway. This will make Vegas an even hotter (literally) place for free agents, minor and big league. Wonder if Engelland plays for them when he's too old for the NHL.

I thought for sure it'd be Vegas buying the Flames affiliate. But I think the Flames should re-locate their affiliate to Salt Lake City, Utah, or Vegas should put their ECHL team there unless Reno decides to build a rink.

If the blues buy an AHL team and move it near STL would be because an arena operator agrees to pay them a subsidy.

 

[Mike Jones]

With Vegas trademarking the name Silver Knights, good chance their AHL affiliate will go by that name, which I actually like the idea of the Golden Knights/Silver Knights.

Silver Knights? Isn't that what they call those athletes in sweats charging all the casino buffets?

 

[GindyDraws]

Have to admit, I didn't see this coming.

Then again, as many have pointed out, there were few options.

The thought that the Spurs are letting 38 home dates in their building get away is puzzling.

The thing is, the Spurs also let 16-17 home dates get away with the Silver Stars... who also moved to Las Vegas. I know WNBA is always treated a joke, even amongst the players, but arenas can become boondoggles if you don't fill them with events and you don't make any money by offering people tours of the locker rooms and utility closets.

Come to think of it, San Antonio teams moving to Vegas is a lot like Atlanta NHL teams moving to Canada.

From what I see, Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E) clearly run San Antonio, with the Missions being the exception to the rule. Anything else that comes in meets a grisly fate if they aren't part of SS&E, and once SS&E doesn't see profit, they want out as soon as possible. In the late 1990s, there was a nasty turf war between the Dragons & Iguanas where the Dragons lost, despite being in the IHL; however the Iguanas didn't live much longer once the Spurs bought the franchise rights of the Adirondack Red Wings and moved them down to Texas. And on the soccer end, once they bought Toyota Field to create their United Soccer League (now USL Championship) club, that was it for the NASL's San Antonio Scorpions. You could easily attribute the San Antonio Commanders failure to the AAF folding as the city clearly loved football and wanted to support that franchise, however.

Given how the 2+ decade run of Spurs dominance is effectively over and the team is going into the unknown period of mediocrity, which undoubtedly will hurt ticket sales, they want to eliminate any revenue losers as possible. This also does not look good for San Antonio FC, the local soccer club that, as I stated, was created when the team bought Toyota Field.