Will be the Rangers always the Top Dog in New York?

alko

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Oct 20, 2004
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The Islanders build a very successful dynasty in 80s. But the owners could transform this to a economic success.

Devils had also their run but i think, they were still in shadows of Rangers.

Is there any way, that this two underdogs will dethrone Rangers in New York?
 

Fenway

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The Islanders build a very successful dynasty in 80s. But the owners could transform this to a economic success.

Devils had also their run but i think, they were still in shadows of Rangers.

Is there any way, that these two underdogs will dethrone Rangers in New York?

Absolutely not

The Rangers control Midtown Manhattan and their fanbase in affluent Westchester and Connecticut is generational.
 

No Fun Shogun

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May 1, 2011
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Never say never, but it would take a combo of incredible long term ineptitude by the Rangers (with outright alienating their fanbase) combined with an absolutely stellar Isles run for any realistic chance of their top dog status being lost, and even that's a stretch. The fanbase lines are very entrenched at this point so I'm not buying anything short of a seismic shift changing that.

I mean... the Knicks are still top dogs in NYC in the realm of hoops despite being... words that I can't say here from a competitive standpoint, and that'll be the case if the new look Nets roll off a few titles, so I imagine the same is the case for the Rags.
 

TheWhiskeyThief

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Dec 24, 2017
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Business wise? That barely deserves an answer. Rangers revenue is probably more than what the Isles & Devils generate combined.

On ice product is ever changing.
 

TGWL

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Probably. Between revenue, fans, and fans outside NY, I'd say it's highly likely, but that doesn't mean Islanders won't have a team that stomps on the competition for years, again.
 

TGWL

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Outside of maybe parts of Queens, the entirety of the rest of NYC has more Rangers fans than Devils and Islanders fans combined, so I'm not really sure what you're basing this on.
Wasn't that the posters point? Absolutely not to the question "Is there any way, that this two underdogs will dethrone Rangers in New York?"
 

Zenos

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Oct 4, 2009
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The thing is, neither the Isles nor the Devils really even compete with the Rangers. Aside from the incursion into Brooklyn (which was borne more out of necessity than a real will), each team already has a reasonably well-defined home market, without much overlap.
 

tailgunner

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Jan 8, 2008
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that day that happens is when the milky way galaxy collides with the andromeda galaxy in the year 64,559
 

007

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Feb 11, 2004
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The thing is, neither the Isles nor the Devils really even compete with the Rangers. Aside from the incursion into Brooklyn (which was borne more out of necessity than a real will), each team already has a reasonably well-defined home market, without much overlap.
The Devils' and the Islanders' fanbases don't overlap with each other, but the Rangers fanbases really overlap with both the Devils and Islanders. I spent my HS years in northern NJ, and there were a lot of Rangers fans as well as Devils fans. There were lots of Devils fans, I was one of several hardcore Rangers fans (in addition to lots of casual fans), and there was one diehard Isles fan.

I think what you mean, though, is that there is not much encroachment of Devils or Isles fandom into NYC itself or the suburbs north of the city. I can't really speak to those suburbs, but you're pretty much right about most of the city.
 

Thordic

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Jul 12, 2006
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Yeah that's an odd take - North Jersey is full of Rangers fans. It's almost 50/50.
 

TheWhiskeyThief

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Back in the day, in New Jersey you either got MSG or Sportschannel as your basic sports channel depending on your town’s cable system.

The correlation of Devils season ticket holders to their being in a Cablevision town was .95
 
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tony d

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Jun 23, 2007
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They will for hockey. They've had lots of success in the past and with their prospect group seemed primed for more success.
 

TheWhiskeyThief

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Dec 24, 2017
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Letting Devils And Islanders split the scraps left by Rangers was a bad idea.

Two entirely different markets.

When the Devils moved in, they had TV systems well within Philly’s TV footprint (Union County & South) and had to pay territorial infringement fees to the Flyers along with the Rangers & Isles.
 

My3Sons

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In gross numbers the NYR fans almost certainly exceed the NJ and NYI fanbases. I don’t think that is what makes the NYR more successful as a draw however. What the NYR have that the other two do not is the corporate base of Manhattan.

There was a year I went to almost every NYR home game with free tickets from either my law firm or one of a number of other law firms where I had friends. The reality was there were very few real hockey fans at these companies if my anecdotal experience is not an outlier but the firms gave the tickets away to staff or clients.

Most of the time I had a choice of seats since some firms almost never gave away the seats since no one apparently really cared. The NYR were not great the time but not terrible either. I’m guessing this was the tip of the iceberg and bigger companies in Manhattan probably had suites or large blocks of tickets.

Neither the NJ or NYI area have this much of a corporate base. Sure they have a fair amount compared to some areas but I doubt any city beyond maybe London or Tokyo could match the number of businesses that can buy tickets with the loose change left by people in the reception area. Those bigger Wall Street IB firms could likely each buy every seat in the garden and it probably wouldn’t make a dent in their bottom line. If actual humans had to buy the NYR tickets with their own money (I realize some do) it would be interesting to see what the crowds would look like.
 
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Mightygoose

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Nov 5, 2012
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Something also to keep in mind when the Rockies moved to New Jersey, the league was still suffering the aftermath of the WHA merger and the over expansion both leagues created beforehand. The NHL had allot of franchises in peril with not many landing spots.

With the Rockies not being viable, I don't think there were any other landing spots with a suitable arena available than NJ. Considering, the league was faced with a decision weather to have the Blues move to Saskatoon a year later. I don't think there was any other place for the Rockies to go. I doubt the league would have ever expanded to create a 3rd team in the NY area where every other league has 2.

To answer the OP question, The Isles and Devils will get their day in the sun but the Rangers will always be #1 in that market. Much like the Mets, White Sox, Clippers etc....will always be #2 on average.
 

BKIslandersFan

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Sep 29, 2017
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Two entirely different markets.

When the Devils moved in, they had TV systems well within Philly’s TV footprint (Union County & South) and had to pay territorial infringement fees to the Flyers along with the Rangers & Isles.
As far as I know Devils can't air games in South Jersey.

They are only in New York metropolitan area part of New Jersey. Might be a different market when it comes to selling tickets but they are part of same media market. Not sure it was wise for NHL to split that threeways with Rangers taking the lions share.

There is a reason why no other leagues have more than two teams in this area.
 

TheWhiskeyThief

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Dec 24, 2017
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As far as I know Devils can't air games in South Jersey.

They are only in New York metropolitan area part of New Jersey.
.

You’re being pedantic. They can get MSG Princeton)but Union, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean & Somerset counties get NYC broadcasts & Philly broadcasts and sports,
 

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