I was thinking about the Rockets new arena and all the teams that would be playing in it (Rockets, Aeros, Comets). Jeff do you know anything about Houston's quest?
5-10 years down the road. I think as long as the Aeros play well, which they have it will not be for awhile.
I hope the NHL moves in on the Aeros & AHL's territory like the AHL is doing in San Antonio with the CHL.
No way a NHL team will generate any support here. 80% of Houstonians proably think icing is what you put on a cake.
They have NHL franchises in Tampa Bay, Miami (ft lauderdale), Atlanta, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Dallas and Nashville. Are you saying we can't support an NHL team? These are sun belt cities.
If it can survive in Dallas and Atlanta, it can survive here. I think we will get the NHL but not until after the new collective bargaining agreement in a couple of years.
Can a city support two minor league hockey teams? The AHL team is owned by the Spurs and will play in the SBC Center so it doesn't look good for the CHL team. Of course I know nothing else about either team.
I don't know, the population and money is there, but is the interest there? I mean the Stros aren't drawing as well and we know about the Rockets attendance woes.
Smokey, It will be interesting to see how things work out. Some of the other CHL owners have recently purchased parts of the San Antonio Iguanas in order to help fight the AHL team the spurs are planning to put in. The Spurs are really trying to screw the Iggies out of town. They control the Freeman Colisseum, where the Iguanas have always played and they wont renew the lease, so it looks like the Iguanas are going to play in the...Alamodome. Minor league hockey in the Alamo dome! The CHL Iguanas have held off other invasions before, as the IHL (the league the Houston Aeros were in before the IHL failed and they moved to the AHL) and both teams had horrible attendence for two years, the Iguanas went 'dark' for a year and didnt play, the IHL teams attendence didnt go up, they folded, and the CHL Iguanas came back... It will be interesting to see what happens. San Antonio is a much more important market for the CHL than the AHL, so I think the Spurs will be in for a fight, even if they do have much deeper pockets.
Not saying the team wouldn't be supported because of the fact that we are a southern city, the fact is Houston has a hard time supporting the teams we have. The Rockets won a title not ten years ago, and the support for them has bottomed out. The 'stros are pretty good, we aren't exactly setting the world on fire with the attendance there. I hate Bud Adams too, but you think it was him and him alone that caused the atendance troubles there? Now imagine what would happen to a bad hockey team, and it will be bad for quite some time, in a city already notorious for attendance problems when the town has absolutely no feel for the sport to begin with. Recipe for disaster if you ask me......yeah yeah I know, no one asked.
Dont count on it the current NHL market is flooded. the league expanded too fast, and much like MLB and MLS is concidering contraction. s collective bargaining agreement may help the league, but the league is in some trouble. moving a team I could see. how does the Houston Senators sound?? maybe the Houston Cannucks.
the 'stros aren't drawing well?? since when??? in 2000 they drew 3 million fans...in 2001 they drew 2.95 million...this year they're averaging towards about 2.75 million (remember, school isn't out yet). If you draw 2 million you're doing damn well. these attendance figures are worthless...they mean nothing. the question is, can a team make more money in Houston than they can in Ottawa or Calgary. The answer is a resounding "yes."
According to the attendance reports, the 'stros are averaging 30,000 and change a night. Stadium capacity is around 41,000. That means 27% of the seats are going empty every night. Thats down 2% from last year, which was down 5% from 2000. Now this is for baseball, a game I would guess most Houstonians would call themselves literate at. What kind of nightmarish numbers are we going to see for a sport that most Houstonians know jack squat about. 60%....50%? Do you think the league is willing to take a chance on a embarrassment like that? I don't think so.
30,000 a night is around 2.5 million!! you know how many owners would kill to draw 2.5 million!!?? if you draw 2 million you're doing very well. the astros are among a handful of franchises that have EVER drawn 3 million in a season. having said that...attendance for a baseball team in no way is an indicator for attendance for an NHL team. when the Rockets were selling out every night, astros attendance sucked...you couldn't look at how poorly the astros were drawing and say, "man...that town doesn't deserve an NBA team! they can't sell out baseball games!!" that makes about zero sense. again...it comes down to where they can make money. houston would make more money for the NHL than cities like Calgary or Ottawa, even if they don't draw as many fans in attendance. we're a bigger market and it's US dollars. carolina...dallas...tampa...phoenix...miami...san jose...if these cities can do it, so can Houston. or is it..."gee carolina can't even show up for a playoff basketball game...how in the world could they ever support hockey!" or, "miami can't support baseball, how can they ever support hockey??"
What do you expect from lazy Houstonians? The A/C is set on 72, the direct tv is hooked up with a subscription to every sports station possible, a Miller High-Life is in the left hand with the remote in the right, and the Lazy-Boy recliner purchased in the afternoon was just delivered from Gallery Furniture that night....
Sounds like Coyotes to Utah unless Arizona steps up their game to keep them. No mention of Houston: https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39915208/coyotes-relocate-salt-lake-city-part-nhl-plan
