Thrashers moving to Winnipeg

[Phishfan]

^^^ A winning team competitive in the playoffs would help with that though. The kicker is which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

[Brian Fein]

I'm not sure...  I wonder if the outpouring of fan support would counteract that.  Hockey players tend to like to play where they get the support of the fans...

I wonder how many of the Winnipeg hockey fans followed their allegiance to Phoenix, and if so, if they're willing to drop that allegiance like a bad habit to root for the Winnipeg Thrashers.

[Brian Fein]

Answer:  None. 

You can walk across the street and see your team live, in your own town, or watch them on TV from 2,000 miles away?  What would you do if the Panthers moved to Seattle?  Still be a fan?

I think I would still be a fan, only because I've followed the team for so long.  Although I'd have some bitterness to go along with it, there'd be no other option for me locally for hockey.  I can't say that I'd be AS into it as I am now...  Maybe more of a casual observer...

Then, after 10+ years of being a die-hard Seattle Panthers fan, would it be easy to just drop them and root for a new Miami franchise?  Not sure...

[Spider-Dan]

As a Seattle Sonics fan, I can tell you that my current favorite team is whoever is playing against the Oklahoma City Thunder.  And I can't see that changing anytime soon.

Do you think many Cleveland Browns fans rooted for the Ravens?

[Spider-Dan]

One thing about Winnipeg is it is in the middle of nowhere.  Literally.  Nothing around it.  This will be an awfully tough sell for any free agents.

Doesn't Green Bay have the same problem?

[MikeO]

Doesn't Green Bay have the same problem?

And Buffalo

[StL FinFan]

I think I would still be a fan, only because I've followed the team for so long.  Although I'd have some bitterness to go along with it, there'd be no other option for me locally for hockey.  I can't say that I'd be AS into it as I am now...  Maybe more of a casual observer...

Then, after 10+ years of being a die-hard Seattle Panthers fan, would it be easy to just drop them and root for a new Miami franchise?  Not sure...

Ask anyone in St Louis if they still cheered for the football Cardinals after they left.  Even before the Rams moved here, very few people supported the Arizona Cardinals.

[wyvernmcd]

I haven't been on here for weeks and look at all the mess that I have to clean up (sigh)...

[wyvernmcd]

It's Atlanta...they'll get another NHL franchise at some point.

I would totally disagree with this. They have had 2 chances at it and despite making the playoffs (more consistently as the Flames rather than the 1 4-game sweep by the Rangers) have never won a playoff series in the existence of the Atlanta franchises. That plus bad/corrupt ownership will kill any team anywhere.

Atlanta wont get another team back and most of the people there didn't really care because they are caring about the other main sports teams there (plus the college football games and college sports that are in the area as well).

[wyvernmcd]

Its a Canadian sport and always will be.

That is a short-sighted view. That is like saying "Vancouver should win the cup so it can be brought back to Canada. This is a complete mis-statement.

The Cup stays in the hockey hall of fame more than 250 days  every year North of the 49th parallel (that's Canada territory for those of you that dont have a globe handy).

"Basketball should stay in the US. "

Same view. Its played worldwide and there are many pro leagues in the world but from that point of view, the players outside of the us are wasting their time.

[wyvernmcd]

I hope they change the name.

They are currently discussing that and so far the two big names that have been kicked around are the Jets (their original team name yet the Phoenix Coyotes have all the old Winnipeg retired jersys and other rafter memorabilia) and the Moose since the Manitoba Moose have been moved (from the AHL).

Jets would be the better and classic name to carry but I am not sure that the league will accept it without making some embarrasing statement about not allowing it.

[wyvernmcd]

This thread is about Atlanta losing a team.  Last time I checked, all Miami's teams were still in Miami. 

Considering the other "Miami" teams are no longer in existence like the Miami Fusion (made the Finals and got beat, following year was destroyed and players were sent to the remaining MLS teams) and the Miami Manatees (a mery minor league franchise that didn't technically make it through the first season of the WHA2 and still made the Finals in that league as well). The Manatees situation was mostly due to no fans mostly due to no advertising for the team and the AAA for the Miami Heat is only a little further down the road and has a better parking situation that the Miami Arena (which was already imploded/destroyed).

BTW, the Panthers are not a "Miami" team although they originally were and initally had the team name "Miami Panthers" way before they started in the NHL (was a concept name). That was later changed to the Florida Panthers (which may be changed to something else provided that the team/ownership wants to tank the organization or not).

[wyvernmcd]

The thread evolved into Atlanta being a terrible sports city and what are other terrible sports city's. 

And Miami has all of their sports teams....for now! The Panthers could bolt at any time. It's not like they are the hottest thing to hit South Florida popularity wise. 

Mike, one thing that you are missing that most people do not know has political ties to the Florida government. I have not 100% confirmed this but there is a Florida lobbyist who is fighting tooth and nail to keep the team in florida and gets a couple of millions of dollars to do such a thing every year (I think it is about $5 million). I didn't get the guys name but he is one of the 5 highest grossing lobbyists in the state of florida. It would take a lot more than dismal sales and poor attendance to chase this team away.

[wyvernmcd]

Winnipeg seems pretty excited to get a hockey team back...they met their goal of selling 13,000 season tickets in a matter of minutes.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6625982

This story is a little misleading to the fan(s) outside of the league. About half of the season tickets were sold before the clock started. Those tickets were exclusive to the season ticket holders of the Manitobe Moose (of the AHL) and they could get up to 8 seats per season ticket account. Realizing that the winters in Winnipeg are to the point that if hockey were the only thing functioning in the city, things would be normal; not to mention what else are you going to do in the winter when all the roads have frozen over other than be entertained.

Half of the remaining tickets that are available for the Winnipeg (insert team name/identity here)'s were bought by ticket corporations. Translation, ticket scalpers. Knowing that people in that area would sell their house to watch the Winnipeg team, they bought a lot of the remaining tickets to sell them later at an inflated rate.

Though the speed is still impressive, it is not all going directly to the fans and you do have to add 2 days of "pre-sale" tickets to that 4 minute time frame.

[wyvernmcd]

^Thanks.

One thing about Winnipeg is it is in the middle of nowhere.  Literally.  Nothing around it.  This will be an awfully tough sell for any free agents.

Players will first go to teams that they have a fan base that appreciates them. Look at Florida. Nathan Horton wanted to leave this team; now he is pretty much worshipped in Boston. Roberto Luongo wanted to leave this team (through his crazy agend demands); now he is pretty much worshipped in Vancouver (despite his playoff mental problems). Why would this be bad for the free agents? They want the fans to cheer for them and to be loud. They continuously say that and players really don't care what they have to do to get there.

Other than having to live near the arena (which may be an issue for those players who are not used to the winters in that area), I don't see any reason that this would chase free agents away.