Why did Quebec not get a team?

[Rowlet]

Long story short

-brand new untapped revenue stream that will have full support of both the immediate and surrounding areas and a B.I.G big, ****ing ginormous TV deal

Or

-far smaller but traditional hockey market that will make a lot of money but will not have the full support of the province due to Les Canadiens eating a big piece of the pie and not make as much money on TV deals

The idea is to grow the game and make money and Seattle is a much better opportunity to do both. I'm not dissing QC either it's just that these are the kind of things that are looked at when deciding expansion.

I hope to see the Nords come back. By rights they're next

not a big deal but it's The Canadiens in English, in French it's Les Habitants

 

[maacoshark]

Quebec City has a population of ~800,000 while Seattle has a greater metro area population of ~4 000,000. Pretty clear choice if you're the NHL BoG. Plus Quebec City already had a team, they might be a candidate for relocation but I doubt expansion is in the cards for them.

Population isnt a good argument A Canadian market of 300,000 would support an NHL franchise.

 

[These Are The Days]

not a big deal but it's The Canadiens in English, in French it's Les Habitants

..........


Crap I knew I'd get it wrong



Man if you ever needed know I wasn't from there right? I thought English speakers still referenced them the French way by rule of them being a French Canadian team

Thanks I'm gonna fix it

 

[Rowlet]

..........


Crap I knew I'd get it wrong



Man if you ever needed know I wasn't from there right? I thought English speakers still referenced them the French way by rule of them being a French Canadian team

Thanks I'm gonna fix it

in English they call them the Habs for convenience, but Les Canadiens is always a no-go

 

[WJCJ]

This is an honest question. And I'm not a super angry Canadian who thinks the NHL hates us. I'm just honestly confused because I thought they had an NHL ready arena and some super rich dude that was willing to pony up. Was it simply the East vs West thing needing to be worked out? Or were there other reasons. The NHL has shown it's willingness to go back to former Canadian markets so I have to believe that isn't it. As a Habs fan I kinda hoped it would happen because that was a damn good rivalry back in the day.

I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong, but they had a team and if I remember correctly it was not sold out every night or even most nights. They would also be cutting into the Montreal territory and that probably doesn't sit that well with them. They could also cut into Ottawa's and Toronto's fanbase even just a little bit.

It is almost certain that their attendance would be better than some other places but there are other factors as well. The biggest one I see is that the western conference needed another team to have the same number as the east. I don't see who would willingly join the western conference from the east to let Quebec into the east. I think Chicago and St Louis would probably want to join the east if they could.

 

[Galactico]

What do you mean "lose at least 20% of its market"?? People around Mtl would still go to the Bell centre.

Yes but about 20% of the province would become Nordiques fan. A lot of Young kids will grow up Nordiques fan and ultimately when they become adults, they will not spend on the Canadiens. Also, it would give Bell’s competitor Videotron a massive boost with TVA Sports and everything. I am lazy to post all the negatives impact it would have for the Canadiens’ business as a whole since I am on my phone, but trust me, Molson has more to loose with the Nordiques coming back than the opposite.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Population isnt a good argument A Canadian market of 300,000 would support an NHL franchise.

No they would not

 

[HisIceness]

Population isnt a good argument A Canadian market of 300,000 would support an NHL franchise.

I highly doubt that.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

NHL is waiting for Melnyk to completely crap out and move the Sens to Quebec City.

There are at least a couple different groups with deep pockets that would buy the Senators to keep them in Ottawa before the relocated.

So yeah, wouldn't hold out hope for that.

 

[BallardEra]

Man do I miss the Battle of Quebec. I'm not even French but was that ever a great rivalry

Would love to see it happen again one day.

 

[Jigger77]

Molson will do anything he can to prevent Quebec of having a NHL club. I don’t believe a word of what he says when he is saying that he would welcome them back.

And I am not buying the “the rivalry with MTL would be great for business therefore Molson would be for a club in QC”. No business wants to loose at least 20% of its market. Ever.

What he'd lose in those few fans that would cross over to QC he would gain in the draw it would create within the province and throughout Canada. Rivalries create $$

I'm not sure Gary fully understands this though. He's not a hockey guy.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Population isnt a good argument A Canadian market of 300,000 would support an NHL franchise.

No it wouldn't. Again, it's not about could or would, it's about what is the best option. A higher population produces higher revenue yields, so yes it is a good argument especially when that population is 5x higher than that of it's competitor. Not to mention that many of QC's residents are already NHL/Habs fans and are much older.

 

[Voight]

Cost has to be a factor at this point.

Vegas paid 500M USD for their team

Seattle will surely pay more (550-650M?)

By the time you do currency conversion you’d be looking at nearly a billion Canadian dollars before the arena even gets built.

Quebec City has a brand new arena. It was built 2-3 years ago.

Two things spring to mind for me:
(1) Quebec is east. Conferences are already imbalanced in that direction.
(2) Putting a team in Quebec isn't making any new hockey/NHL fans. Lacks upside from both a monetary and a "growing the sport" perspective.
And a possible third:
(3) Quebec may have an arena, but does it have an ownership group?

Quebecor would be a major player, then you have other rich Quebecers like Jean Coutu, Guy Laliberte, Saputo family etc and theres people outside the province/country who could be interested in owning a share of the team.

 

[Voight]

Small over saturated market. Already had a team and lost them. Offer little financial growth as opposed to moving into new untouched areas with far more money and a larger populace in a country with a stronger currency.

I mean, it's fairly easy to see why they avoided Quebec.

Winnipeg seems to be doing ok.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

The big one I think is the Canadian/American Dollar. But there's more factors to it than that.

 

[HABitual Fan]

First it will take an individual to step forward as a potential owner. Bettman does not want a relatively small local corporation like Quebecor owning the team and divulging the financial workings of the NHL to its shareholders. The Habs may have money from Molsons involved, but it is a private consortium headed by Geoff Molson who own the team, hence no accountability in public to shareholders only to the partners. There is a big difference between Bell and Rogers, or Comcast in the US owning a team and a small regional provider like Videotron or its parent company. If PKP stepped up and wanted to own a team without involving his corporation in it, the route would be much smoother. It would be the difference between someone like Guy Laliberte owning a team or his company Cirque de Soleil.

 

[BruinsFan37]

Seattle sold 10K season tickets in the first 12 minutes.

If they had had their act together in the previous expansion they would have easily been chosen over Vegas.

This time they had their act together while Quebec City still had the same problems as before.

Easy decision really.

 

[KlausJopling]

The did. Then they moved.

 

[5 Minute Major]

Houston.

Houston will be next.

 

[Saintb]

maybe they don't want to deal with the French.
and the taxes.

Quebec City is in France?

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Don't most in Quebec City follow the Montreal Canadiens anyways ?

 

[NJ DevLolz]

because the NHL is trying to look like a major sports league.

I know they are a top market, but when you have a city like Winnepeg (again, no offense), it's tough to take the league seriously.

 

[Cellee]

I know they are a top market, but when you have a city like Winnepeg (again, no offense), it's tough to take the league seriously.

Huh?

There must be a reason the Devils are the only team to even acknowledge they play in NJ.

 

[KJoe88]

It’s simple.

Seattle doesn’t have much sports competition atm. Good seemingly hockey market with tons of new potential fans that will over weigh the ones in Quebec (no offense obviously)

Plus Quebec can be used as a back up since it already has an amazing established fan base.

 

[NJ DevLolz]

Huh?

When your average person thinks of major league markets, Winnipeg doesn't really come to mind.