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Atlanta wants to give hockey a third chance, but that shouldn’t happen. We have been here and done this before. Twice, actually, and each time ending worse than the last. Atlanta wants to give hockey a third chance, but that shouldn’t happen under any circumstances…ever. We have seen this movie before. It sucks.
You can make excuses for why it sucked. But that doesn’t change anything nor does it provide reasoning for doing the same thing over again. Eventually, you just have to move on and accept reality. The reality here is that Atlanta and hockey aren’t a good fit.
But hey, what do these latest plans entail? Forsyth County in suburban Atlanta. Like uber suburban. Like closer to South Carolina than Atlanta suburban. Okay, that’s an exaggeration but not by much. Anyway, local officials there are working on a proposal that would provide $400 million in public subsidies to a developer looking to build a $2 billion hockey arena to anchor a massive mixed-use development. That plan would assume the city lands an NHL expansion franchise.
The plan seems fine, but why a developer who is going to make a ton of money on this mixed-use development needs any public help is a mystery. I mean, if you can afford $1.6 billion, finding the remaining $400 million shouldn’t be too difficult. Especially considering the public money will fund an arena for a sport that has failed twice in Atlanta.
The biggest issue here is the fact there are numerous other places more deserving of an NHL expansion franchise. Obviously, Quebec already has an arena reach for an NHL team and a fanbase that would lose its mind if the sport were to return. Salt Lake City seems like a great place for hockey even though I find the city to be an unimpressive snoozefest. Houston has a quirky hockey history for a town in Texas with Gordie Howe and the Aeros. Hartford deserves a second chance if they can get a stadium together.
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12 Comments
I hop the ATL gets another franchise so we can continue the decades-long tradition of watching Canada not win the Stanley Cup. Seriously, Canada's last Stanley Cup was during Bill Clinton's first term!
Ok with Hamilton you do have to realize that both the Leafs and the Sabers would have to agree to give up some of their exclusive zones for that meaning getting a team there might be very hard. Now Salt Lake city is trying to get more involved with sports as they are trying to get the MLB as well so it could be a compelling case. Quebec always is biding for another team but again you have to realize that while we might not care about TV markets and income other sources the NHL does which has been a problem for them. Atlanta has been screwed over both times by reasons mostly out of their control but they could get a chance and the NHL sees it if it fails they will probably just become another Canada team again. Then there is Houston most likely if they get the a team it would be the Aeros as that has the history here going back to the WHA. During that era they were very good and quiet popular but as the WHA began to fold the NHL was only intrested in mostly Canada teams and only took the whalers. Now there is one thing that has to happen for this ownership has to be the same as the Rockets as they would share the venue but the owner of the Rockets has been intrested in getting the NHL in Houston. Here recently Toyota center was approved for renovations some of which would give it an ice rink with the quality the NHL wants. Now for a time Houston did have the minor league Aeros but they left due to clashes with their owner and the Rockets owners hence why Tillman Fertitta would have to own both.
Reasons why Atlanta is the worst hockey market:
– Atlanta Thrashers relocated (2011)
– Atlanta Flames relocated (1980)
– Hockey enrollment in Georgia is 0.02% (2021-2022) – 1 out of every 500 people plays hockey (40th out of 50 states)
To demonstrate HOW BAD those numbers are – Georgia with 11,029,227 population only has 2,078 people registered to play hockey.
To put that into perspective Georgia is one of the worst hockey markets in North America.
Atlanta has less hockey players than Prince Edward Island (5,557) which only has a population of 154,331 people.
Think about that….150 thousand Canadians support hockey better than 11 million Americans. FACTS.
You want to get REALLY embarrassed Atlanta? Georgia has less hockey players (2,078 as of 2021-2022) than the Canadian Territories (3,474).
Nunavut – 36,858 people
Yukon – 40,232 people
Northwest Territories – 41,070
Canadian Territories – 118,160 people – 3,474 hockey players enrolled
Georgia – 11, 029,227 – 2,078 hockey players enrolled
Georgia has more people than Sweden…it has more people than Greece.
The Canadian Territories have less people (118,160) than:
– Ann Arbor Michigan (119,875)
– Billings Montana (119,960)
– Berkeley California (118,950)
but the Canadian Territories AND Prince Edward Island still have more hockey players than the state of Georgia.
Imagine a city the size of Billings Montana and it has more hockey players enrolled than 11,029,227 people in Georgia…a city the size of Billings with an NHL team would be preposterous…yet the Canadian territories support hockey better than the state of GEORGIA.
– Hockey in Atlanta did not grow the game, there are NO NHL players from Georgia currently in 2024 (6.1 million people and not one NHL player – ) – by comparison Nova Scotia has a population of 969,383 people and has 26 NHL players.
– Atlanta Hawks struggle with attendance (18th out of 30 teams) and basketball is more popular than hockey
– The Atlanta attendance was BAD.
2011 – 28th/30 teams in NHL attendance (13,469)
2010 – 28th/30 teams in NHL attendance (13,607)
2009 – 29th/30 teams in NHL attendance (14,626)
2008 – 22nd/30 teams in NHL attendance (15,831)
2007 – 21st/30 teams in NHL attendance (16,240)
The inaugral season was the best attended, then the attendances dropped. 2007 was the Thrashers SECOND best season ever in attendance with a truly pathetic 16,240….and only good enough for 21st in the NHL that year. 2007 was also Atlanta's most successful year losing in the Eastern Conference Quarter Finals. So Atlanta Thrashers BEST attended season (16,240) would be 26th in today's NHL…
– Atlanta Gladiators average 4,696 per game in the ECHL (Gas South Arena capacity is 11,355 for hockey) so they can't even average 50% capacity
– Atlanta's ONLY benefit is the population size (6.1 million in 2020). But by that metric Houston (7.1 million in 2020) is a better option, and hasn't already failed twice before."
Atlanta Thrashers valuations:
2010 – Atlanta Thrashers – $135 million (5.5 million popualtion) second lowest value in NHL
……then they moved to Winnipeg….
2011 – Winnipeg Jets – $164 million (731,000 population) – gained $30 million USD in one season
2012 – Winnipeg Jets $200 million (741,000 population) – gained another $35 million USD in the second season
So….a city with only 700 thousand people, spending Canadian currency did FAR better than the failing pathetic Atlanta Thrashers ever did. According to "Forbes Business of Hockey".
Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg – a city with 5 million less people, a city paying for games in Canadian currency and the team still increased by 50% valuation in a two year span.
Atlanta is a basketball city, that doesn't even support the Hawks.
Never Atlanta.
#NeverAtlanta
#NevaATL
Let's give Milwaukee a chance before another Atlanta team. Wisconsin would really enjoy having its own team. The Wild suck and F Chicago
One thing anyone needs to do to be taken seriously when arguing about relocation/expansion is retire the notion of "deserve." The NHL is a collection of 32 ownership groups with their own interests and "deserves" ain't got a thing to do with who gets a team.
Did DC "deserve" its third chance at MLB while Nashville has never gotten a whiff of a team? Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows, who cares? That didn't factor a whit into why things happened the way they did and it's highly unlikely MLB will leave DC anytime soon.
That's not me advocating for or against the NHL returning to Atlanta but I'm not going to get into "deserves it" Olympics. I feel like my hometown "deserves" an IKEA. Guess what? It ain't getting one.
The NHL sees an opportunity as they have far fewer American teams than any other league. Atlanta is a top 10 metro area in the United States and is also growing. If there is a willing owner then I see no reason not to go to Atlanta.
And with the MLS creeping up on the NHL in the US, the NHL understands that it needs to grow its US market less it gets left behind. So creating more teams in non-traditional markets creates new fans and much more long-term growth. Look at hockey registration in Nevada before and after the Golden Knights.
However a 2 billion dollar arena is very suspicious seeing as the Golden Knights arena cost about 350 million (I know Seattle's cost 1 billion however they were renovating an existing stadium and had to preserve the roof)
How are you just gunna hate on lil Jon like that?
Thanks for the honorable Hartford mention 🐳
I’m all for giving Hamilton a team
cry some more lil bro
The funny thing is their attendance wasn't the worst in the league at the time they were moved.
Fuck off Quebec