bump. Brought this back up because for whoever is the new owner of the Rockets might also be interested in getting an expansion team (32nd franchise). http://www.khou.com/sports/is-houston-next-on-the-list-for-a-professional-hockey-team/458731227 http://www.khou.com/sports/sports-extra/could-houston-support-an-nhl-team-/459018295
The way the Toyota Center lease is set up... whoever is the owner of the Rockets pretty much has to be the owner of the NHL team to make it work financially. Now, Tillman may be more open to re-negotiating terms to make it worth while for another owner... something Les was apparently not willing to do.
I have trouble believing that the likes of Charlotte, Columbus and Nashville are better markets for anything than Houston is. I could dig Hockey if we had a team. But with no team I don't care, football was the same way for me back in the late 90's.
As far as markets go, Houston would still have to have a really good team to support it. One-trick cities like Columbus, OKC (with only one arena sport in each) actually do draw well consistently, regardless of the quality of the team. Houston would support the hell out of a great hockey team... but if it was average to below average, there would be crickets chirping at those games. I still remember the Rockets drawing 9,000 fans for a home game... during what would be their first championship season... for a team/core that was just coming off a tremendous playoff run the year before. Its just who Houston is.
To be fair, that was nearly 25 years ago. Houston has added about 2 million people since then. The NHL is a corporate game with very expensive tickets gobbled up by corporations. This city would do just fine supporting a hockey team; particularly given all the people living here who grew up in hockey markets.
That added population of transplants and suburbites is neglible. The Rockets fail to sellout games when they're in the thick of it. The Astros still are suffering in attendance despite being the most affordable and successful current franchise (that may still be due to the sucky years...next year should be better). I don't disagree they can ultimately be supported... but there will be scores of empty seats with a bad or below average team.
The Rockets very rarely "sell tickets" poorly, they just fail to actually have asses in seats. Almost all of those lower bowl seats are sold, so Les made his money, it just makes for a very s**tty atmosphere.
Listed attendances of 14 and 16K for a 19K arena would put them below average in the league. They averaged less than 17K last year, in what was a very entertaining/successful season... putting them at 21st in the league. Yes, that problem has been beaten to death... but a lot of that still stems from the fact that they've had mainly only 1 deep playoff run in more than 20+ years... and that was a little flukeish thanks to the Clippers meltdown, and they followed that up with a dud of a season. I don't expect the NHL team to do much better than that once the novelty wears off... unless they have some serious success. The only sport that is seemingly recession-proof is the NFL, but even in the 90's Oilers days, they struggled to lift blackouts at the deadline (Randalls routinely had to buy chunks of tickets so the games would be televised).
I think if Houston were to make a large bid for a team, they'd get one easily. There's not a market anywhere near the size of Houston in the running and when it comes down to it, does a team in Las Vegas help the NHL more than a team in Houston? Of course not. Seattle might be a strong contender but I think they'd be the major competition.
And the value of the franchise is off the charts, regardless. It just sold for over $2 billion. The market means more to the owner and the leagues than just how many people buy tickets.
That's a little bit more applicable to NBA franchises than NHL franchises... because the TV money is exorbitant there right now (and not so much in the NHL). Also, the Rockets brand is still entrenched in the market, and established beyond what any niche sport or expansion franchise could accomplish, not just locally but worldwide,... and yet attendance can still be a struggle sometimes. I agree that if the NHL doesn't care much about consistent packed houses, and a middling TV market (Houston local sports ratings for Astros and Rockets games are slightly below league average)... then they can expand here I suppose for the corporate base alone. I just feel that sports franchises need slightly more than corporate base to survive/thrive (but those are more than just bare minimum factors).
Agreed... but Tampa, Dallas, San Jose, Nashville do draw well (most comparable southern markets to Houston). Dallas stars games drew more fans/game than Rockets games last year.
Those markets draw well on the heels of winning. Just 5 years back Dallas was 3rd to last in attendance. Then they improved and people came back. Historically, the southern markets need a winner or novelty of a new team to create attendance. Even Denver has shown to be that way of late. I don't think Houston would be any different.
Agreed that every southern city is fair-weather of sorts... I just think the Houston market is even more of that extreme. Losing the Oilers did make them so crazy for NFL football that they'll never come close to not selling out Texans games... and from 2000-2011, the Astros attendance was more than respectable (even after the newness of MMP wore out)... so there's always hope.
Sources: NHL and Rockets owner meet to talk NHL's viability in Houston https://theathletic.com/156862/2017...ckets-owner-meet-talk-nhls-viability-houston/
Should worry about getting fans out to Toyota Center/Rockets games first. Hockey?! That'll stay empty too.