mr perfect wrote:Kowch: The shopping mall is a retail outlet in a suburb. How many corporate/high end jobs does this supply? Aren't outlet malls generally only busy on weekends when people aren't working?
It's nice that some high end neighbourhoods are close by. What's their population base? Can they alone support an NHL team?
My apologies if I wasn't clear. I was trying to show that it's not a poor placement for an Arena; it's easy to get to and closer to the areas that have people actually interested in AND playing hockey. Just for a reference here's the population base of the cities fairly close with easy access to the arena:
Sunrise: 90116 (2013)
Weston: 68388 (2013)
Pembroke Pines: 162,329 (2013)
Coral Springs: 126604 (2013) (Incidentally is where the Panthers practice facility is - 3 full sheets)
Ft Lauderdale: 172389 (2013)
Tamarac: 63155 (2013)
Plantation: 90268 (2013)
Hollywood: 146526 (2013)
Davie: 96830
Pompano Beach: 104410 (2013)
Miramar: 130288 (2013)
Total in the area (easy drive to arena): 1,251,303.
And I'm not even going to include Miami (and it's neighboring cities) or Palm Beach county at all. There's a bunch of people in Boca Raton and area that go to games.
Population of NHL city of Winnipeg: 633,450
Population of NHL city of Ottawa (well, really Kanata): 883,391
So I think it's safe to say it's not a lack of populace, nor easy of access to the arena. Moving on. Oh, and by the way, that mall is packed day and night all year round.
Sounds similar to being located in Lions Bay or West Vancouver. In a large metro area how long would it take for some one from South Beach on a Tuesday night to get to a Panthers game?
Here's the thing. The hockey demographic isn't going to come from Miami Beach. Or Miami for that matter. It's going to come from the cities I mentioned and from north of that area.
But for the record, it's nearly 40 miles from Miami beach to the arena, so about an hour or so depending on traffic and the route you take.
Your argument about Abbotsford is a non starter.
Again, I think you misunderstood me. I asked about the people who lived in Abbotsford/Aldergrove and want to get to a game at Rogers Arena. Ever try that? I know I have and it sucks ass.
Abbotsford is about 100,000 people and the Canucks aren't based there, which is not the equivalent of Glendale hosting the Coyotes and people from Phoenix/Scottsdale having to travel on a week night in rush hour traffic in a population twice the size of metro Vancouver. No, the equivalent would be the Canucks in Abbotsford and fans having to come from Vancouver, North Van, West Van, Burnaby out to Abby. The Canucks where they are now don't need Abbotsford to make it.
And the Panthers don't need Miami to make it. So what's your point?
You're trying to compare the NHL with 41 home games on varying nights of the week to the NFL with 8 home games primarily played on Sunday afternoons? With the tradition of people being at the parks most of the day with tailgate parties? Get real.
I am being real. And the tradition here with the Dolphins is just getting to the game and then trying to get out.
Question for you.... Have you ever been to Florida? Ever driven here? I've been to Dolphins games, and to Marlins games when they played at Dolphins Stadium. It's in the middle of nowhere and isn't as easy to get to as the BB&T center. Until recently (with Marlins Stadium), most of the arenas and stadiums in south Florida haven't been near any city center (save American Airlines arena), and transit basically doesn't exists here.
I still follow the Canucks while waiting for the day the Jacobses, the Sniders, the Wirtzes and other tight fisted owners who propped up Alan Eagleson and control the lying little commissioner to no longer own an NHL team and we can see Bettman's ass hit the door on the way out. I don't know what your definition of a fan is nor do I care.
It was a serious question. Personally I'm down with any hockey fan, even ones that are that dismissive.
Anyway, as I'm sure you realize, you won't be going to a game anytime soon. Trust me, I have no love for Bettman nor for what's happened the last few years, but I'm a realist. The people that own the teams love him because he's done exactly what they hired him to do.
It's funny that you mention the Wirtzes because Rocky Wirtz has done more good in the last few years than 'ol Dollar Bill ever did including allowing games to be televised in their own market again.
Go ahead and read. I also have no love for Jeremy Jacobs or Snider.
In short, Bettman was hired to be the first commissioner of the NHL with his mandate being getting a hard salary cap and a national American TV deal. In order to appease broadcast companies, the NHL had to put teams in southern belt cities because that's where population growth is and TV views from there make or break ratings. Yes, the Panthers not winning is part of the reason they have poor attendance but putting a team in a non traditional market is risky at best and due diligence is needed to ensure the product takes root. It would have been nice for Bettman to have had as much scrutiny with past development owners in both Phoenix and Miami as he did with Jim Balsillie, don't you think? After all isn't that what NHL owners are paying him to do?
The Panthers not winning or even really competing is what's doing them in, not the fact they're here (Florida). The organization hasn't been run correctly, hasn't really tried to connect or build the fan base and hasn't put a quality product on the ice. It's hard to build a fan base when you suck, especially when the automatic hockey fans that are here are usually from somewhere else cheering for their home team.
I completely understand and agree that 7300 fans at a regular season game is appalling. However the part of this whole discussion that rankles me is the fact that people who a) have never been here and b) don't understand the demographics and c) don't know the history of how badly the franchise has been run down here are so quick to want to rip this franchise out of here without giving the new ownership group a chance to turn it around. I've been there (see: Vancouver Grizzlies, see: Atlanta Thrashers) and it fucking sucks.
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nhl/f ... 75155.html