Why doesn’t it work in Miami?

[LoveHateLeafs]

Sure they are. Like many ex New Yorkers, my transplant brother goes to a bunch of games rooting for Panthers against NY rivals. They've become his second favorite team. And his kids have grown up as Panthers fans. That's how you build a base.

And my son, an Islanders fan now living in STL does the same at Blues games. And the Blues have grown on him, eespecially the run to the semis a couple years ago. He went to some of those playoff games just for the experience (having never had that with NYI). Again, winning builds a base. Meanwhile he can't wait to boo Tavares next week. Has his TRAITOR jersey ready to go.

I say this with all earnestness(and as a Leafs fan no less). You are an excellent parent.

 

[McShogun99]

Even if Florida was winning you still wouldn’t fill the seats consistently. Miami’s population is more of a soccer crowd then a hockey one. Now put an arena in the middle of nowhere that take aofrevwr to get to and you have a recipe for empty seats.

 

[SotasicA]

Tampa is 62% White (46.3% non-hispanic) as per 2019 Census
Miami is 11% White (non-hispanic) as per 2019 Census

They should get a Mexican/Cuban star player to attract the masses.

 

[SotasicA]

They just need success:



Chicago and Pittsburgh struggled with attendance when their teams sucked. You can't expect any better from South Florida.

 

[cowboy82nd]

Ottawa's arena is in Kanata. Theres a reason why the Sens have been trying to get a new arena in Ottawa.

But Kanata is in Canada right?

 

[Spirit of McMullen]

Awful attempt on your part here. Ever heard of a metropolitan area? or did you really think that Miami only has 450k population?

Miami Metro has 31% non-hispanic White: 1.9M
Tampa metro has 72% non-hispanic White: 3.1M

A difference of about 1M, which isn't huge. Even if no other ethnicity ever went to a hockey game, 2M is more than enough to support a hockey team especially when most of them come from traditional hockey areas. Nashville and Pittsburgh have similar populations (total pop compared to Miami's white pop) and have fantastic support... the necessary ingredient is WINNING

Thanks. A lot of misinformation here, including someone early referred to the Tampa Bay region as being in "Northern Florida", in addition to having to be a resident of a certain municipality to attend an NHL game:

Only residents within the city limits of Miami go to see the Panthers and people in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Plantation, Fort Lauderdale area or anywhere south of Miami, etc. do not go.

Only residents within the city limits of Tampa go to see the Lightning and people in St. Pete, Clearwater, Pasco County, Brandon, Lakeland etc. do not go.

That's now how it works. It's now how it works in all 31 NHL markets

 

[Gnashville]

No one knows if it works in Miami the team moved from Miami a long time ago.

 

[Volica]

Well for starters, the rink is 40 minutes outside Miami with no traffic...and Miami traffic is ungodly awful.

This.
When I went to the 2015 draft, I was blown away with how f***ing far that Arena is to downtown Miami. It's 40 minutes of highway driving, with tolls. That's so far to catch a game of hockey in a small market team.

I have to think, if they had an arena in decent spot in Miami, that'd be a fantastic ticket. Go cool off in a hockey arena for 3 hours, maybe get a few bevies, once the game lets out, hit the town. From an interview I listened to the other day, that Miami Arena could hold 14,000 people, and was regularly a hot ticket in Miami; until they moved and that thing turned into parking. The marketing for the Panthers is also horrendous. Like. I go to a game in Sunrise. I can't really drink or have too good of a time, because my Uber is going to murder me to get home; and the closest fun spot I can get to, is an outlet mall across the street. Woop woop.

The demographics are fine. Everyone would watch hockey, if it was something you could do without having to spend 2 hours of your life to just get there and get back to the game. If you were in a populous area that has more of an entertainment district.

Just look at what Rogers place did for that shit hole part of Edmonton.

For most of our Canadian fans:
Would you be as pumped to go to an Oilers game if it was in Stony Plain?
Would you be as pumped to go to a Canucks game if it was in Chilliwack?
Would you be as pumped to go catch the Flames if you had to go to Nanton?
Winnipeg if you had to drive to Portage?

 

[RainingRats]

Even if Florida was winning you still wouldn’t fill the seats consistently. Miami’s population is more of a soccer crowd then a hockey one. Now put an arena in the middle of nowhere that take aofrevwr to get to and you have a recipe for empty seats.

100% wrong

 

[cowboy82nd]

I've only known South Florida as a bandwagon area when it comes to sports.

Miami isn't a Trash City, It's Just a Trash Sports City
Miami isn't a sports town? Well, duh...
Opinion: Sorry Miami, but you're a Bandwagon city
Guess What, Miami Sports? You're Trash!

Thanks for your input. Just a question, do you live in Miami or around the area?

 

[Pens x]

The Marlins franchise is still worth more than any NHL team.

I’m not knocking the Marlins or baseball, but Miami jusr doesn’t seem like a good city for professional teams. Maybe because a lot of people are transplants.

 

[StrangeVision]

For those who would like to know more about South Florida population distribution, here's a map (yellow star is the BB&T Center):

And here's a chart with the numbers:

Not being in Miami is not the problem. The problem is the team has had no success, none whatsoever. The arena being in a downtown isn't going to get people to go to watch a loser year after year.

 

[General Disarray]

Miami is way too cool for hockey.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Demographics play a huge role ....

Tampa is 62% White (46.3% non-hispanic) as per 2019 Census
Miami is 11% White (non-hispanic) as per 2019 Census

Bottom line, Hockey is a sport where the majority of participants and viewers are of caucasian decent. It is becoming more diverse, which is a great thing, the reality is the African American population is more likely to follow the Miami Heat and/or Dolphins, could be wrong here but I'd guess the Latin communities preferred pro sport of choice would be Baseball, they've got the Marlins.

Tampa, despite having a somewhat smaller population, has a much bigger target audience then Miami. Factor in team success in recent history (or total history) and it's clear why the Bolts draw more than the Cats.

It's not about that. Even if Montreal and Toronto had like 2 playoff appearances since 1996, their attendance would suffer as well. It's about winning. If TB had the same track record as the Panthers, they would draw flies too.

 

[Yeti of the Flow]

I legitimately don't know how Panthers fans can consistently watch their home games. Easily the worst camera placement in the league. Makes games in their building actually annoying to watch.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

stevey y

who can forget Stevie Y heroically leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to a Stanley Cup championship in 2004. He got robbed of the Smythe.

 

[JianYang]

Even if Florida was winning you still wouldn’t fill the seats consistently. Miami’s population is more of a soccer crowd then a hockey one. Now put an arena in the middle of nowhere that take aofrevwr to get to and you have a recipe for empty seats.

It's hard to say. I don't recall much in the way of attendance issues back when they played in miami, granted it was a smaller barn, and their playoff run translated as being electric in 1997. I don't recall empty seats back then either.

Maybe some panther fan can help me refresh my memory.

As for the demographic, I say if it can work in San Jose, then it can work pretty much anywhere.

 

[JianYang]

It's not about that. Even if Montreal and Toronto had like 2 playoff appearances since 1996, their attendance would suffer as well. It's about winning. If TB had the same track record as the Panthers, they would draw flies too.

I think Toronto would still sell out, as long as there is corporate demand. They had no issues with one visit in 10 years.

As for the habs, the longest drought is what, 3 years? During that time, there were games when they were only getting about 18,000 fans, rather than the usual 21k plus.

 

[slapshot1959]

I legitimately don't know how Panthers fans can consistently watch their home games. Easily the worst camera placement in the league. Makes games in their building actually annoying to watch.

And the worst color commentator as well. (Denis Potvin)

 

[Claypool]

Imagine being a fan of a team that hasn't won a playoff round in over 20 years.

 

[slapshot1959]

Blackhawks fan here who moved to SFL a couple months ago (Naples) and although I realize we're across the Everglades there is absolutely no mention of hockey here nor any NHL merchandise in stores.
No mention of Panthers (or Lightning) in the local news, although the ECHL Florida Everblades to get some mentions from time to time.
My opinion is the demographics and location are the major reasons there. Miami is mostly Hispanic, and hockey is a hard sell to them. Ft.Lauderdale where the rink is (actually Sunrise) I just don't think they have the population to support them.
Location sucks as well, though actually for me it's only about 75 mins away if I wanted to go, which I may next season when the Hawks visit again.

Might as well move them here to Naples. Lots of actual panthers here, lol. Lots of $$$ here and a crapload of Canadians,Midwesterners and Northeast "snowbirds".

 

[George Clooney]

Yeah, imma blame will smith for this. That song tho.

 

[ShelbyZ]

It's because 25 years later they've still yet to leave that "expansion team trying to find an identity" phase and have not had any sustained success outside of making two consecutive playoff appearances 22 years ago...

I mean there's a long list of failures that basically make them the Detroit Lions of the NHL:

-Bryan Murray dismantled their Finals team with some brutal trades/decisions in order to get some more marketable names like Chris Wells(!), Viktor Kozlov, Dave Gagner, Pavel Bure, Dino Ciccarelli and Kirk Muller. Most of which backfired miserably before the team became a one man show featuring Bure... I mean they tossed away a 1st rounder that became Lecavalier in the Kozlov deal, Filip Kuba for Rocky Thompson..., bought out a 24YO Martin Straka, etc.
-Never had a captain for longer than 4 seasons
-For their first 15 or so years, they were pretty awful at drafting
-That stupid trading away #1OA for #3OA and giving draft picks to the team holding #2OA to promise not to take the guy you want debacle
-They threw away a potential longterm franchise goaltender to get 1yr rentals of Alex Auld and a declining Todd Bertuzzi. Then the next summer they paid a steep price to bring in Vokoun
-Closest they've ever had to a franchise player is Stephen Weiss....
-Pavel Bure is still in the top 3 for goals scored despite not even playing 3 full seasons there
-Fired the best coach they'd had in a long time... so an inept GM could take over...
-Basically gifted Vegas two forwards that would contribute 18% of the GF in their inaugural season

 

[Johnnybegood13]

The Marlins franchise is still worth more than any NHL team.

According to forbes the Rangers, Leafs, Canadians are worth way more and the Blackhawks slightly more

 

[Anisimovs AK]

Mismanagement leads to apathy.

I think the "the arena isn't in downtown so it's not convenient" excuse is an easy excuse for them to lean on. If the team was worth caring about people would find their way to Sunrise. Plenty of other teams have arenas that are not in the most convenient part of town, but they make it work because the team has a tradition of success or has drummed up interest. Florida's management has done neither.

How many have one 30 minutes away?

Seriously, its not in an inconvenient part of town, its in a different city altogether