Pens x
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- Oct 8, 2016
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Why doesn’t it work in Miami?
- Thread starter DustyMartellaughs
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Anisimovs AK
Registered User
That has to do with the MLB and the rights fees it gets compared to the NHL. MLB and NFL teams are profitable before they even sell a ticket due to the massive media rights deals they have
Anisimovs AK
Registered User
You dont think its a little bit of a problem? I mean it is literally located in one of the least populated areas of the South Florida regionFor 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.
Ratsreign
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- Mar 12, 2018
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StrangeVision
Wear a mask.
- Apr 1, 2007
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Millions of people are within an hour of the arena, many thousands are within minutes. Take that yellow star, go east and up to West Palm Beach and you've got three million people alone. Look how the population is distributed, it's not concentrated only around Fort Lauderdale or Miami or WPB, it's sprawled, each one of those red dots on the map is 20,000 people.
And because I seem to be on a chart-posting kick today, here's another chart!
Look at the population of the areas outside of Miami-Dade County. The reason the arena is in Sunrise is because it's a good central location, right off a highway and easy to get to. Coral Springs and Sunrise alone account for over 200,000 people, both cities are 10-15 minutes away by car. When I lived in Boca I was within 30 minutes by car.
Give the area a winning team and you will see a full arena in Sunrise.
There's very little hockey culture here in the Miami/Lauderdale area. It's far down the list of favourite sports and there aren't large numbers of northern fans importing their interest. At best, a sports bar will have a random hockey game on one screen, sometimes it's not even the local Florida hockey game (last night, a bar in Lauderdale had a corner TV showing the Philly/Detroit game while the Panthers were playing Montreal a few miles away in Sunrise). Chances of seeing kids playing street hockey are slim to none. The BB&T arena is nice, but it's a lousy drive and a lousy location to plan an evening around (unless you like big malls). There's little excitement or awareness of the Panthers outside of the arena.
Ratsreign
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In no other market do any fans drive 1/2 hour or so to a game? Everyone lives within 10-15 minutes of the arena?
The hockey fans in South Florida aren't all in Miami, they are spread out from Miami, through Broward County and up into Palm Beach County, and even up onto the Treasure Coast. No matter where the arena is a certain percentage of the fans will have an inconvenient commute. This has been said here by many, and said repeatedly, but is ignored by most who have the "answer" without really understanding anything about the area.
The real problem is the Panthers organIzation has been Melnyk-ing around for twenty years. The resulting apathy has been well earned.
The hockey fans in South Florida aren't all in Miami, they are spread out from Miami, through Broward County and up into Palm Beach County, and even up onto the Treasure Coast. No matter where the arena is a certain percentage of the fans will have an inconvenient commute. This has been said here by many, and said repeatedly, but is ignored by most who have the "answer" without really understanding anything about the area.
The real problem is the Panthers organIzation has been Melnyk-ing around for twenty years. The resulting apathy has been well earned.
Legionnaire11
Registered User
People drive from Sarasota, New Port Ritchie, Lakeland, Etc. to see the Lightning and that's no short drive.
Here in Nashville we get regular fans from Chattanooga, Huntsville, Bowling Green and points in between.
Win and people show up, how is this still a discussion?
Here in Nashville we get regular fans from Chattanooga, Huntsville, Bowling Green and points in between.
Win and people show up, how is this still a discussion?
The Preds even get the occasional fan from Milwaukee!
I have been to a Panthers game. I was coming from Deerfield Beach (at the other end of Broward County) but the Sawgrass takes you there.
It was the week between Christmas and New Year's against the TML. A third of the crowd was cheering for the Leafs. There were about 14K fans that night in a 20.7K seat arena. I saw Ontario plates everywhere that week. I know that some Canadians go south during that time and some have vacation homes/condos down there. I was shocked at the lack of enthusiasm by the locals.
The arena is on the east side of the expressway. The Everglades are on the west side, 1500 feet or so from the actual building and across a river or a canal. They could have played Downtown with the same record or worse. That arena was smaller (14.7K) , which means less money coming in. The Panthers moved out 5 years before the then ten year old Miami Arena was torn down.
BKIslandersFan
F*** off
I have my doubts that Panthers would be as well supported by fans as Lightning even if they were ran better. Or if they are not better off playing in downtown Miami rather than suburbs.
But yea, most of their issue is bad management for long periods of time.
But yea, most of their issue is bad management for long periods of time.
Dread Clawz
LAWSonic Boom
Well there's a pretty good reason, the Panthers don't play in Miami.
SHANNYPLAN
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- Nov 24, 2016
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HandshakeLineRespect
Respect in the Handshake Line
Watching my team with that camera angle > not seeing my team play hockey at all.
No. It's not the location. They haven't done anything with the on ice product for 25 years. People are not going to show up for that.
People have to understand, Miami is not South Florida. It's a part of South Florida. The location in Miami would be worse for most of South Florida. They would have to drive twice as far and deal with the Miami traffic on top of that. That's not going to motivate people to forget about the trash product on ice for the last 25 years, I think.... that would be just more motivation not to go.
The people who a Miami location would be better for, is the smaller group of people in Miami.
I see no reason for a difference. If the ownership situations were flipped you'd probably be saying the same thing about the Lightning that you're saying about the Panthers here.
Im glad to see that these comments are actually well thought out and have yet to turn into a bashing. They made a huge mistake in pushing the games up to 7:00 p.m, especially during the week. You figure many work until around 5 p.m. Then they have to rush home, meet up with family, then get back into traffic to fight their way west, which is no picnic because any routes west is a parking lot at rush hour. Same with 95, Turnpike etc from the north. And then for what? A mediocre product that may either eek out a win or get blown out? I live about 80-90 minutes North in the Treasure Coast and there is no way I can get down there and back and be up for work the next morning in a cheerful manner unless it was the playoffs. I don't speak for everyone, but none of the above is worth it for a random Tuesday against Dallas with a team that's 10+ points out of a playoff spot.
BeezKnees
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Beezeral
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- Mar 1, 2010
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Want to know why there isn’t a hockey culture? Because kids aren’t getting hooked on the game seeing a great team on the ice. I wasn’t hooked by the 96 team. Made my dad go by me a goalie stick that summer. Thousands of kids like me did the same. That one run ignited youth hockey in south Florida. You couldn’t drive through a neighborhood without going past a street hockey game. The local youth roller hockey leagues had multiple divisions for each age group. We even put together a few teams that could compete against anyone in the country in both ice and roller hockey. Tournaments in the Tampa area were always a joke because the few teams they had were trash because the most athletic kids weren’t playing hockey.
Our younger siblings also picked up the game and were better then we were as the coaching got better down here and we saw some guys get drafted who started out in SFL.
Then the Panthers went 20 years without icing a competent product and youth hockey died. As my generation grew up, the next generation of kids born in the late 90s didn’t have a great Panthers team to watch. So they gravitated towards the NBA because Dwayne Wade was dunking over everyone and captivating the hearts of every kid in south Florida. A good friend of mine has a 9 year old son who loves basketball. He idolized Wade. I got them tix to a Panthers game to expose him to hockey and by the end of the 1st period he was asking for the iPad to watch the heat game. It was too late, he’s a basketball kid.
Those tournaments in Tampa that were always easy? Those roles have reversed. It’s a slaughter almost every time a team from the SFL area goes over there. A decade plus of sustained success has youth hockey thriving in Tampa while the youth leagues in SFL are strugging and roller hockey has almost completely died out.
To build a culture there needs to be something worth watching to build that excitement, and the Panthers haven’t been worth watching since 2000.
Our younger siblings also picked up the game and were better then we were as the coaching got better down here and we saw some guys get drafted who started out in SFL.
Then the Panthers went 20 years without icing a competent product and youth hockey died. As my generation grew up, the next generation of kids born in the late 90s didn’t have a great Panthers team to watch. So they gravitated towards the NBA because Dwayne Wade was dunking over everyone and captivating the hearts of every kid in south Florida. A good friend of mine has a 9 year old son who loves basketball. He idolized Wade. I got them tix to a Panthers game to expose him to hockey and by the end of the 1st period he was asking for the iPad to watch the heat game. It was too late, he’s a basketball kid.
Those tournaments in Tampa that were always easy? Those roles have reversed. It’s a slaughter almost every time a team from the SFL area goes over there. A decade plus of sustained success has youth hockey thriving in Tampa while the youth leagues in SFL are strugging and roller hockey has almost completely died out.
To build a culture there needs to be something worth watching to build that excitement, and the Panthers haven’t been worth watching since 2000.
WSS11
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- Oct 7, 2009
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I agree with some others that theyll support a winner in Sunrise. However, whomever is in charge of their marketing and in game entertainment should be fired, I’ll say that. I grew up about an hour from the arena, it used to be a good experience back when it was National Car Rental and Bank Atlantic center. Theyve tried to turn it into some sort of South Beach club vibe over the past few years though. it’s just an annoying atmosphere/experience and doesn’t feel like you’re at a hockey game at all. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by going to games in Tampa, Nashville, SJ, and other teams that do it well but the Panthers should reassess that too.
Beezeral
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- Mar 1, 2010
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I will agree 100% that the in arena stuff needs a ton of work, but in no way does it feel like a south beach vibe. maybe they play a little bit more hip hop then other arena's but every arena caters to the demographics.
Dread Clawz
LAWSonic Boom
I totally agree with that, however I think they are trying to play to the hispanic fans, of which there are quite a few.
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