rmackman Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Anyone read the article on page 37 of the new issue of "The Hockey News?" Adam Proteau argues that Florida should be relocated before Nashville or Phoenix. Hmmmm.... "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC97 Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Care to share any of his arguments or your arguments or anything other than your "hmmm...."? --- Chris Creamer Founder/Editor, SportsLogos.Net "The Mothership" • News • Facebook • X/Twitter • Instagram Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCBoy Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 I'd like to know what you think of the fan-base in Florida, or the interest of hockey in Florida in general, because all I hear and see is that it's a weak market for hockey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmackman Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 Care to share any of his arguments or your arguments or anything other than your "hmmm...."?Actually I wanted to post the entire article, but I can't seem to do that. I don't like the idea of posting my argument without the hard copy to reference it against. THN.com doesn't list it, so gimme a minute to see if I can scan it or something. "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmackman Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 Okay I fixed that problem....I just hope this is readable:It's true that Florida pretty much never makes the playoffs, but we do get a consistent fan base of about 10-12,000 fans for every game, and we've averaged over 15,000 since 2000-01. We've never played in front of 400 fans or whatever the Marlins did. It's proven that if we win, the fans will come. In Nashville, even a successful team didn't get fans to come. Nashville has done less over their history than Florida has. It also helps that many Canadians and New Yorkers come down here in the winter. As a result, the NHL often schedules games against New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Montreal in the December/January/early February time frame rather than while it's still fall or spring. We get a lot of road fans, and that contributes to the Panthers revenue. What hurts us is that our arena is WAY too big for hockey. We have 19,250 seats available for a hockey game. A hockey arena in the United States should not have much more than 17,000. So we're stuck with 2,250 seats too many. That looks really bad on TV because you see all of those empty seats. Also in South Florida NOBODY wants to sit in the upper deck. I have people ask me all the time "Can I get tickets for next week?" I'll say sure, but all I have right now is upper deck seats, and they'll say "Oh, forget it then. I only want lower deck seats." In Toronto I think if I offered upper deck seats, people would be like, "Heck yeah at least I get to go see it live!"People also have to realize that the Panthers have changed their regime a few times in the last few years. That instability hurts your on-ice product. Firing Jacuqes Martin is not the answer because it takes FOUR to FIVE YEARS to build a team that can consistently win. I don't care what anybody says about "Oh Coach so-and-so won two years after he got here." He's doing it with the previous regime's players and you're seeing the previous regime's dream come alive with a new coach. That's all! Trust me, the Panthers are slowly headed in the right direction. There's no reason to rush them, especially if management doesn't want to rush it. They know what they're doing, and their end goal is to appease the fans in a timely manner. However...this team was so ravaged by the lats regime that timely is no longer an option. People have to realize this. It's a SLOOOOW PROCESS. Once the team starts to win consistently, more fans will show up.South Florida is a transient market with very few "natives." It's also an EVENT market. That means it's not a sports town, but a market where fans show up based on "Celebrty Status" or Big Ticket Productions. The Heat were a big ticket production when they won the title. Now nobody goes. Nobody came before Shaq got there either. The Marlins get fans for the playoffs...but that's it. Even the Miami Hurricanes with 5 national titles had a ton of empty seats because of a poor season. The Miami Dolphins? They used to be the talk of the town with Marino...but this year...scalpers couldn't give away sets. Face it, this is a town where if you win you're loved. If you lose, well, you just don't exist. It has always been that way. If you argue to move the Panthers, then you should be able to back that up with an argument to move the Marlins, Heat, and Dolphins. It should be an argument that South Florida doesn't deserve ANY sports teams at all. I don't think you can make that argument, and if buisness leaders here are willing to deal with the EVENT MARKET mentality, then leave it alone and let the Panthers grow. "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadmanLA Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 I do remember when the team played in the Miami Arena, they would sell out pretty regularly. However, a team not making the playoffs in such a long time and having an arena in such a remote location, it would make the fanbase feel indifferent. Especially in such a fickle sports community as South Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmackman Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 I do remember when the team played in the Miami Arena, they would sell out pretty regularly. However, a team not making the playoffs in such a long time and having an arena in such a remote location, it would make the fanbase feel indifferent. Especially in such a fickle sports community as South Florida.The Miami Arena held 14,696 fans for hockey. That's easy to sell out. The BankAtlantic Center has 19,250. Big difference. "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEW.ERA Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Figure it out Bettman most people in the south don't care about hockey put a team back in Winnipeg where they adore hockey,so what if they have a 15.000 Cap arena it wouldn't matter if they sold the place out every night, it's better then having a team in Miami where they have a 20,000 cap arena and are lucky if can sell half the seats. JETS|PACK|JAYS|NUFC|BAMA|BOMBERS|RAPS|ORANJE| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmackman Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 Figure it out Bettman most people in the south don't care about hockey put a team back in Winnipeg where they adore hockey,so what if they have a 15.000 Cap arena it wouldn't matter if they sold the place out every night, it's better then having a team in Miami where they have a 20,000 cap arena and are lucky if can sell half the seats.That was my point though. When Florida had the 15,000 seat Miami Arena they did sell out. This new arena is just too big. Just to put it in perspective, that's 5th largest in the entire NHL!!!!!! "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFoA Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Figure it out Bettman most people in the south don't care about hockey put a team back in Winnipeg where they adore hockey,Oh Lawd, here we go.Winnipeg is in no shape or form economically ready to hold a NHL team. Yes, there's no doubt that they have fan support...but they don't have the economic support for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee. Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Figure it out Bettman most people in the south don't care about hockey put a team back in Winnipeg where they adore hockey,Oh Lawd, here we go.Winnipeg is in no shape or form economically ready to hold a NHL team. Yes, there's no doubt that they have fan support...but they don't have the economic support for it.BUT IT'S IN CANADA!!!<<The sole (albeit former) Winnipegger who can't see the NHL returning to Winnipeg, not now, not ever. Welcome to DrunjFlix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEW.ERA Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 We can dream at leastIt would be a huge boost JETS|PACK|JAYS|NUFC|BAMA|BOMBERS|RAPS|ORANJE| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rams80 Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 We can dream at leastIt would be a huge boostHow would it be a huge boost? What would it boost? On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said: You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now. On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said: Today, we are all otaku. "The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010 The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEW.ERA Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 A team in Winnipeg would liven up the scene and economy in Manitobai don't know just my opinion. JETS|PACK|JAYS|NUFC|BAMA|BOMBERS|RAPS|ORANJE| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon_Matrix Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 A team in Winnipeg would liven up the scene and economy in Manitobai don't know just my opinion.It would create jobs... but they would also have to build a new, bigger arena... Because Korbyn Is Colour Blind, My Signature Is Now Idiot Proof - Thanks Again Braden!!Go Leafs Go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmackman Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 A team in Winnipeg would liven up the scene and economy in Manitobai don't know just my opinion.How would it liven up the economy? One sports team does not provide THAT many jobs. For them to build an entirely new complex with shops and stuff...well you have to have money to do that in the first place. Like I said before, the Panthers don't really draw much less than other teams, it's just they have the fifth largest building in the NHL. I mean let's compare it to another team...the Pittsburgh Penguins. They only seat 16,958 in that barn. When you see that the Panthers are at 81% capacity as on most nights, that's about 15,600 fans. If our building was the size of Mellon Arena, it wouldn't look so empty. Pittsburgh is getting a new building...with a capcity of 18,500. That's still significantly less than what we have in South Florida. "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running." - Unknown | Check out my articles on jerseys at Bacon Sports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coast2CoastAM2006 Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 it doesn't help things when the panthers have made the playoffs 3 times and only had 1 serious playoff run. other than that they don't make the playoffs and are deemed irrelevant. I can't blame a people for not caring about a team that never has a winning season. THe problem isn't just hockey in north carolina or florida. This is a problem across the board in the united states. people simply don't care about the sport except for the die hards. Just where i am at, which is supposed to be die hard hockey country. There is virtually no passion for the new york islanders anywhere here. It's pretty much jets, giants, yankees. Thats it. In fact if you was to relocate the Islanders to Winnipeg i really doubt there would be much outcry except from the die hards. Its very evident the devils are irrelevant in New Jersey. So this isn't a north/south problem. This is nationwide. Spoilers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkrdevil Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 The Panthers haven't won a playoff game in over a decade (96-97, they were swept in 2000 their last playoff appearance). I can't imagine why they aren't packing it in especially in an a snowbird and a bandwagon type area. Similar thing with Phoenix who haven't won a playoff series in 20 years (when they were in Winnipeg). Let's let these teams have some sort of chance on the ice first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rams80 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 A team in Winnipeg would liven up the scene and economy in Manitobai don't know just my opinion.Aren't Moose games fairly well attended?Professional sports franchises do not bolster the local economy of their markets as much as their owners would like us to think they do. On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said: You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now. On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said: Today, we are all otaku. "The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010 The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEW.ERA Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 A team in Winnipeg would liven up the scene and economy in Manitobai don't know just my opinion.Aren't Moose games fairly well attended?Professional sports franchises do not bolster the local economy of their markets as much as their owners would like us to think they do.Yeah the moose are doing really greatBut i don't know before i die i just want to see NHL back in Winnipeg and that won't happen as long as Gary Bettman runs the show JETS|PACK|JAYS|NUFC|BAMA|BOMBERS|RAPS|ORANJE| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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