With their recent article discussing the feasibility of having two NHL hockey teams in Toronto, the Globe and Mail opened a whole wave of responses that made this move seem imminent. While the overwhelming response from the media and fans alike is premature, there are too many arguments for the addition of a second NHL team to the Greater Toronto Area to ignore.
It is an understatement to say that there is a lot of interest in hockey in Toronto and considering the size of the city, it would be easy to find 18,900 fans to sell out the new team's games every night (let's, for convenience sake, call them the Predators). The infrastructure is already in place: there is a strong precedent for teams in the same league sharing facilities, such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers in the L.A. Coliseum, and the Giants and Jets as roommates in Giants Stadium. There is a prospective owner with deep pockets who has been very vocal about his interest in owning an NHL team in Southern Ontario - Research In Motion's Jim Balsillie. He already tried to overpay for the Nashville Predators (and ultimately ended up offering $20 million more than the offer that was accepted, which is suspicious).
The time is right for the game to "grow" into a market that is a proven hotbed. Hockey is the biggest sport in Canada and in spite of the league's recent failures to make inroads in the Southern United States, they need their next franchise to be a runaway success. Of the most frequently named cities that have expressed interest in landing a NHL team (Winnipeg, Hamilton, Quebec City, Kansas City, Houston and Las Vegas), Ontario seems to provide the most financially viable home. There are questions about Winnipeg's fans willingness to pay top-dollar for a ticket and Quebec City needs more companies who have become the top ticket-buyers in today's professional sport landscape (ie, luxury boxes). And following the struggles of the NHL in Nashville, Atlanta and Phoenix, who in their right mind would decide to put a team in Houston or Las Vegas? (On the other hand, who has accused Gary Bettman of being in his right mind?)
One NHL executive who requested anonymity has said, "If you take out the Canadian teams, which have done so well since the lockout largely because of the Canadian dollar, the league's revenues are actually only growing at a 2 per cent clip per year... It's not enough. We're not really growing as a sport, and we're still invisible in the U.S." 1 This says that the league, if not Gary Bettman - who is still committed to growing the game in areas where ice does not naturally occur - has finally realized that they have been under-serving the Canadian fans that they have long taken for granted.
In Southern Ontario there are 15 OHL hockey teams that, by all standards, are considered professional. 4 of those teams make their home in the Greater Toronto Area, which also compete with the AHL's Toronto Marlies. This shows that there is a hockey market that has needs beyond what the Toronto Maple Leafs serve. If New York City has 3 NHL teams and Los Angeles has two, why can't Toronto?
I would argue that the NHL can't afford to NOT add another Toronto team, and at least 1 more elsewhere in Canada. Toronto, the 5th largest market in North America and the biggest hockey city in the world, has 5.5 million fans who are dying to give their money away. The fact that there are Ottawa Senators fans who are Torontonians by birth speaks to the fact that the Maple Leafs aren't meeting everybody's needs.
The NHL also can't afford to expand to a 32 team league. Since they don't want to contract, look for some teams to be migrating back North with the geese over the next 3-5 seasons. When you consider the financial aspect of adding a team to Toronto, consider this: the Maple Leafs earned $1.9 million in ticket revenue every. single. game. last season. ($77.9 million total) To put this in perspective, Phoenix earned $450,000 in ticket revenue... last season. Since 50% of a team's total revenue comes from ticket sales, Phoenix is losing about $35 million dollars every year.
You could read this and say "Phoenix's owners must hate making money!" Or you could read this and remember that the NHL has a revenue-sharing system where the richest teams basically pay the operating costs of the poorest teams. And since 31% of the NHL's revenue over the last two seasons came from its 6 Canadian franchises, realize this: Canucks fans are essentially paying for the Coyotes to rot in the desert. After all, they paid $10 million dollars to support their deadbeat peers last season. The Leafs paid $12 million, Canadiens paid $11.5 million, Flames paid $6 million, Senators paid $1 million and the Oilers paid $800 K. The problem isn't just Phoenix. 11 of the 24 American based teams were either revenue flat or lost money on ticket sales. To put it bluntly, the Coyotes (and 10 other American teams) are on NHL welfare.
This just goes to show that the NHL's current course is ludicrous. How can a league that just underwent a crisis 4 years ago, enough to cancel an entire season, justify not putting a team in a market that will essentially be a license to print money?
It makes too much sense. Toronto needs another NHL team. Kitchener-Waterloo needs an NHL team. Winnipeg needs an NHL team.
After 20 years of trying, the NHL should realize that it needs to end the "Southern Experiment" and give back to the fans who have been keeping the league afloat.
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2 comments:
Makes sense to me. Although for some reason I thought that Nashville had been pulling a decent draw with the Predators. Like you said, it certainly makes sense to put the product where the market is, but too many people think that the NHL is thiiiiis close to breaking through. The problem is before the lockout they may be right, but they just lost too much ground. Coyotes seem like a more sensible team to move since they already have an NFL team they hardly pay attention to and the Suns which are a huge draw at the same time. Where as Nashville just has the Titans leaving every day but Sunday open for moving in.
Good points Eddie. Maybe Nashville needs more time to fester before they get yanked back North. The main point is that regardless of which team gets moved, (at least) 1 or 2 teams need to come back to a money making market in order for the league to be a long-term financial success.
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