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Post by Brent on May 20, 2009 16:22:39 GMT -5
Snippets from his article... Columbus' interests aside, taking the Coyotes back across the border -- the team moved from Winnipeg to Phoenix in 1996 -- carries a ring of justice. The NHL would be better off with some of its southern U.S. franchises in Canadian cities, where the fans care about the sport maybe 100 times more. [...] Rooting against NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is never hard. He looks determined to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix because it was his grand vision to stretch the NHL over the southern half of the United States in search of big population centers, wider popularity and bigger TV contracts. Mostly, that plan has been a failure; today, NHL games are on a second-tier cable network and the teams on the worst financial footing are located in Phoenix, Nashville, Atlanta, Miami and Tampa. [...] On the other hand, Phoenix isn't Columbus, either in market or geography. There are more people in Phoenix but probably more prospective customers here, and a winning team in Phoenix still has to compete in a market saturated with pro sports franchises. When I sort out my feelings, it comes down to this: Now that it finally has a competitive team, I believe Columbus is going to grow into one of the NHL's best markets. I also believe the NHL would be better off in cities where it's immensely popular rather than places that barely know it's there. Full story
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Post by mrconfusion87 on May 20, 2009 21:16:21 GMT -5
Snippets from his article... Columbus' interests aside, taking the Coyotes back across the border -- the team moved from Winnipeg to Phoenix in 1996 -- carries a ring of justice. The NHL would be better off with some of its southern U.S. franchises in Canadian cities, where the fans care about the sport maybe 100 times more. [...] Rooting against NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is never hard. He looks determined to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix because it was his grand vision to stretch the NHL over the southern half of the United States in search of big population centers, wider popularity and bigger TV contracts. Mostly, that plan has been a failure; today, NHL games are on a second-tier cable network and the teams on the worst financial footing are located in Phoenix, Nashville, Atlanta, Miami and Tampa. [...] On the other hand, Phoenix isn't Columbus, either in market or geography. There are more people in Phoenix but probably more prospective customers here, and a winning team in Phoenix still has to compete in a market saturated with pro sports franchises. When I sort out my feelings, it comes down to this: Now that it finally has a competitive team, I believe Columbus is going to grow into one of the NHL's best markets. I also believe the NHL would be better off in cities where it's immensely popular rather than places that barely know it's there. Full storyWell Columbus was a good strategic decision - meant to cover all of Ohio! I'm glad the product of ice is getting better there and the investment is STARTING to pay off... I dunno if I can say that about Phoenix!
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Post by edog37 on May 21, 2009 10:02:49 GMT -5
Snippets from his article... Columbus' interests aside, taking the Coyotes back across the border -- the team moved from Winnipeg to Phoenix in 1996 -- carries a ring of justice. The NHL would be better off with some of its southern U.S. franchises in Canadian cities, where the fans care about the sport maybe 100 times more. [...] Rooting against NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is never hard. He looks determined to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix because it was his grand vision to stretch the NHL over the southern half of the United States in search of big population centers, wider popularity and bigger TV contracts. Mostly, that plan has been a failure; today, NHL games are on a second-tier cable network and the teams on the worst financial footing are located in Phoenix, Nashville, Atlanta, Miami and Tampa. [...] On the other hand, Phoenix isn't Columbus, either in market or geography. There are more people in Phoenix but probably more prospective customers here, and a winning team in Phoenix still has to compete in a market saturated with pro sports franchises. When I sort out my feelings, it comes down to this: Now that it finally has a competitive team, I believe Columbus is going to grow into one of the NHL's best markets. I also believe the NHL would be better off in cities where it's immensely popular rather than places that barely know it's there. Full storyWell Columbus was a good strategic decision - meant to cover all of Ohio! I'm glad the product of ice is getting better there and the investment is STARTING to pay off... I dunno if I can say that about Phoenix! Columbus made sense since it was in a good population area, actually knows what snow & ice is in a natural sense, has a division 1 hockey team (Ohio State) & is relatively near to other NHL cities (Pittsburgh & Detroit)....
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Post by WJG on May 22, 2009 11:30:32 GMT -5
I've always thought of the Jackets as the American version of the Flames or Oilers.
Not a huge city (comparatively), not a huge fan base, but they are dedicated.
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Post by suitup17 on May 22, 2009 23:10:09 GMT -5
Columbus makes a lot of sense, but Phoenix sure doesn't.
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