((HT: VegasChatter))
This isn't the first time that the HQ has floated this story, but the idea is that the WorldWideLeader is already looking at the story and may be shooting a "30 for 30" with the Maloof Brothers.
Without an arena and a team...
But...
Vegas Chatter is saying that the "Birth of a Franchise" story is already being shot with the development of the new AEG arena front and center. The arena, set for opening in spring of 2016, would be the apparent home for a new sports franchise- when its completed.
Two weeks ago, NHL Number Two Bill Daly was asked about Vegas by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
Las Vegas is intriguing, Daly admits. In fact, out of curiosity, Daly queried a bunch of service industry folks — bartenders, waiters, drink servers, dealers, pit bosses — last weekend about whether they felt a professional sports team could thrive there.
“I got a variety of different responses,” Daly said. “The demographics of the market are pretty good in terms of average annual income. Las Vegas natives earn good salaries, good livings. I think they genuinely like sports. It’s a nighttime city, so it would have to be uniquely scheduled in terms of focusing maybe on industry nights as opposed to your typical Thursday-Saturday nights where everybody would be working.
NESN's "The Instigators" think Seattle and Quebec City are better ideas...
Showing posts with label NHL expansion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NHL expansion. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Reports: NHL to Expand to Vegas and _______
((ht: nypost.com))
It appears the National Hockey League is ready to grow.
And like the early U.S pioneers, they are working under the credo "Go West Young Man".
How else to explain the report that the league is looking two teams for their Western Conference.
And the reason this is newsworthy? Well, one of those teams may very well be the 1st pro sports team to base in the gambling capital of North America, Las Vegas.
The New York Post reports the NHL has already chosen owners for the Vegas franchise, billionaire William Foley and Vegas mobsters-hoteliers/former NBA owners, the Maloof family.
Oh, wait, did we just say that?
The team would play in the new 20,000+ seat arena being built on or near the MGM Resort and be admitted with a roughly $400 million expansion fee.
Read more from the Post RIGHT HERE
The story doesn't mention another franchise location, but the reason the league would need 2--to balance things with the Eastern Conference which has two more teams.
Our bet: Seattle. The league and the NBA have already flirted with Chris Hansen and others looking to bring the NBA and/or the NHL to Seattle. And they've proposed building an arena to house one or both.
We could be wrong, but either way, look for the NHL to make an announcement at some point. Our guess would be maybe after the 1st of the year, but we could be wrong too.
It appears the National Hockey League is ready to grow.
And like the early U.S pioneers, they are working under the credo "Go West Young Man".
How else to explain the report that the league is looking two teams for their Western Conference.
And the reason this is newsworthy? Well, one of those teams may very well be the 1st pro sports team to base in the gambling capital of North America, Las Vegas.
The New York Post reports the NHL has already chosen owners for the Vegas franchise, billionaire William Foley and Vegas mobsters-hoteliers/former NBA owners, the Maloof family.
Oh, wait, did we just say that?
The team would play in the new 20,000+ seat arena being built on or near the MGM Resort and be admitted with a roughly $400 million expansion fee.
Read more from the Post RIGHT HERE
The story doesn't mention another franchise location, but the reason the league would need 2--to balance things with the Eastern Conference which has two more teams.
Our bet: Seattle. The league and the NBA have already flirted with Chris Hansen and others looking to bring the NBA and/or the NHL to Seattle. And they've proposed building an arena to house one or both.
We could be wrong, but either way, look for the NHL to make an announcement at some point. Our guess would be maybe after the 1st of the year, but we could be wrong too.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Gretzky Trying To Bring Hockey To Seattle...???
According to the New York Post, he is...
In an article by Larry Brooks and Josh Kosman, they say that he is a party in one of three groups trying to get a team into town.
But, remember, Commissioner Gary Bettman is in no mood to expand.
So, that means that a franchise like San Jose (looking for a new barn) or Arizona (in need of any kind of financial stability still) are under the looking glass from this moment forward.
That way, the geographic balance won't be upset- until the National Hockey League ultimately decides to expand...
Chris Hansen has said he won't put any kind of weight behind building his new arena that he is accumulating property for in South Downtown Seattle unless an NBA franchise is ready to be brought to town.
Chris Daniels had the story back in May about one of the groups that might be chasing an NHL franchise- led by Victor Coleman- that met with the mayor of Seattle.
Sportsnet's John Shannon had contact with those aligned with any Gretzky effort- from his Twitter: Gretzky source tells Sportsnet: "Potential ownership groups have reached out, but we certainly haven't aligned with anyone"
The HQ recalls just how involved Gretzky was with the Coyotes franchise, and it makes sense that his name would be attached to activities out west again.
In an article by Larry Brooks and Josh Kosman, they say that he is a party in one of three groups trying to get a team into town.
But, remember, Commissioner Gary Bettman is in no mood to expand.
So, that means that a franchise like San Jose (looking for a new barn) or Arizona (in need of any kind of financial stability still) are under the looking glass from this moment forward.
That way, the geographic balance won't be upset- until the National Hockey League ultimately decides to expand...
Chris Hansen has said he won't put any kind of weight behind building his new arena that he is accumulating property for in South Downtown Seattle unless an NBA franchise is ready to be brought to town.
Chris Daniels had the story back in May about one of the groups that might be chasing an NHL franchise- led by Victor Coleman- that met with the mayor of Seattle.
Sportsnet's John Shannon had contact with those aligned with any Gretzky effort- from his Twitter: Gretzky source tells Sportsnet: "Potential ownership groups have reached out, but we certainly haven't aligned with anyone"
The HQ recalls just how involved Gretzky was with the Coyotes franchise, and it makes sense that his name would be attached to activities out west again.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
So Much For That "Second Arena In Toronto" Idea...For Now...
((HT: Sportsnet))
Remember all that talk about having a second team in Toronto for the NHL...???
That idea is getting shelved for the now...
The City Council voted 11-2 Wednesday night against using any public funds to build an NHL-sized arena. That vote pretty much kills the plan with businessman Graham Roustan, the CEO of GTA Sports and Entertainment, to build a 20,000-seat arena.
Roustan would pay for half while the city would have paid for the other half of the C$162.5-million cost... but, then, Roustan said he would put up C$200-million last week, but that idea didn't work either...
The City Council has now decided to study that second proposal further, and there's no idea as to when the Markham Arena idea would be revisited.
Here's Damien Cox with FOSG Elliotte Friedman discussing the issues with the Markham Arena idea before it got voted down with NHL player agent Anton Thun...
The HQ believes that a second franchise in the GTA would be a success- unquestionably...
The deal just has to be the right deal...
Remember all that talk about having a second team in Toronto for the NHL...???
That idea is getting shelved for the now...
The City Council voted 11-2 Wednesday night against using any public funds to build an NHL-sized arena. That vote pretty much kills the plan with businessman Graham Roustan, the CEO of GTA Sports and Entertainment, to build a 20,000-seat arena.
Roustan would pay for half while the city would have paid for the other half of the C$162.5-million cost... but, then, Roustan said he would put up C$200-million last week, but that idea didn't work either...
The City Council has now decided to study that second proposal further, and there's no idea as to when the Markham Arena idea would be revisited.
Here's Damien Cox with FOSG Elliotte Friedman discussing the issues with the Markham Arena idea before it got voted down with NHL player agent Anton Thun...
The HQ believes that a second franchise in the GTA would be a success- unquestionably...
The deal just has to be the right deal...
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
NHL To Seattle Sometime Soon...???
((HT: Mitch Levy/950KJR Radio))
Mitch's Twitter has been busy Tuesday evening...
He has people (and we all know how influential and accurate "people" are) that are telling him that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is telling the Board of Governors that, when the Arizona Coyotes sale goes through and is approved, an expansion team is recommended to go to Seattle.
Here's the series...
The current MOU would undoubtedly need to be tweeked to keep the arena on track
The ownership group that was interested in buying the Phoenix franchise remains in play here, amongst others.
All of this contingent upon 1) a solid ownership coming forward and buying the team and 2) the new arena staying on track to be built
If approved, the new expansion Seattle NHL club would cost approximately $275M. It would begin playing here in the 2014-2015 season.
The end game here is that, if the arena stays on track, the city would be attractive for an NBA franchise when the NBA expands- as is anticipated when the new television contract comes up for discussion...
Ownership groups would, obviously, include the Hansen-Ballmer group that has (currently) lost out on an NHL franchise.
And this also brings up the question for franchise 32- Quebec City or Markham...
The HQ thinks Quebec with the Sun Media connections and the framework that's in place...
Here was the conversation from June when Seattle mayor Mike McGinn admitted talking to Commissioner Bettman about the league in Seattle when the Coyotes were in the discussion...
((HT: KING-TV))
Mitch's Twitter has been busy Tuesday evening...
He has people (and we all know how influential and accurate "people" are) that are telling him that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is telling the Board of Governors that, when the Arizona Coyotes sale goes through and is approved, an expansion team is recommended to go to Seattle.
Here's the series...
The current MOU would undoubtedly need to be tweeked to keep the arena on track
The ownership group that was interested in buying the Phoenix franchise remains in play here, amongst others.
All of this contingent upon 1) a solid ownership coming forward and buying the team and 2) the new arena staying on track to be built
If approved, the new expansion Seattle NHL club would cost approximately $275M. It would begin playing here in the 2014-2015 season.
The end game here is that, if the arena stays on track, the city would be attractive for an NBA franchise when the NBA expands- as is anticipated when the new television contract comes up for discussion...
Ownership groups would, obviously, include the Hansen-Ballmer group that has (currently) lost out on an NHL franchise.
And this also brings up the question for franchise 32- Quebec City or Markham...
The HQ thinks Quebec with the Sun Media connections and the framework that's in place...
Here was the conversation from June when Seattle mayor Mike McGinn admitted talking to Commissioner Bettman about the league in Seattle when the Coyotes were in the discussion...
((HT: KING-TV))
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
To Build Or Not To Build... The New GTA Centre Moves On... NHL Expands To 32 To Do It...???
((HT: Sportsnet))
The idea is there... to build another arena in the Greater Toronto area...
This time in the suburb of Markham where the former boss of Bauer Hockey is looking to make another opportunity for pro hockey in the Golden Horsehoe...
Last night, in Markham, the city council was having a contentious meeting as to whether or not to proceed with funding, building, and otherwise get things moving to build the thing.
Former NHLPA big-wig Paul Kelly spoke to the group and asked to build it- almost guaranteeing the tenant...
((HT: Adam Desloges))
Kelly made the rounds this morning with anyone willing to listen to his pied-piperness on the subject- including FOSG Jim Lang on the Fan590:
"I just [explained] to the council and to the citizens that you really don’t get many opportunities to at least have a shot at landing an NHL franchise. These windows come, and while they’re there you’ve got to take advantage of them. And frankly, this is Markham’s time. If they ever hope to land a second team in the Greater Toronto Area, this is the best opportunity they will have.”
Kelly's hook depends on the idea of expanding to 32 teams, but at the same time, there are so many franchises in flux that the concept of being a relocation site would be an easy play.
The vote to keep the idea alive passed by a 7-6 margin. That means the C$325-million project moves ahead, with Markham taxpayers on the hook for half the cost of the complex.
CTV News caught up with FOSG Howard Bloom to discuss a second franchise.
CBC's Monica Platek collected a lot of opinions on the idea as the night went through...
The idea is there... to build another arena in the Greater Toronto area...
This time in the suburb of Markham where the former boss of Bauer Hockey is looking to make another opportunity for pro hockey in the Golden Horsehoe...
Last night, in Markham, the city council was having a contentious meeting as to whether or not to proceed with funding, building, and otherwise get things moving to build the thing.
Former NHLPA big-wig Paul Kelly spoke to the group and asked to build it- almost guaranteeing the tenant...
((HT: Adam Desloges))
Kelly made the rounds this morning with anyone willing to listen to his pied-piperness on the subject- including FOSG Jim Lang on the Fan590:
"I just [explained] to the council and to the citizens that you really don’t get many opportunities to at least have a shot at landing an NHL franchise. These windows come, and while they’re there you’ve got to take advantage of them. And frankly, this is Markham’s time. If they ever hope to land a second team in the Greater Toronto Area, this is the best opportunity they will have.”
Kelly's hook depends on the idea of expanding to 32 teams, but at the same time, there are so many franchises in flux that the concept of being a relocation site would be an easy play.
The vote to keep the idea alive passed by a 7-6 margin. That means the C$325-million project moves ahead, with Markham taxpayers on the hook for half the cost of the complex.
CTV News caught up with FOSG Howard Bloom to discuss a second franchise.
CBC's Monica Platek collected a lot of opinions on the idea as the night went through...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)