NHL Team in Waterloo Region?

[clasher]

There's no way there will ever be an NHL team here.

[BuildingScout]

There's no way there will ever be an NHL team here.

Again "ever" is a long time. 

I believe there is a good chance of a second team in the GTA within the next 5-10 years with the likely locations being Hamilton, KW, Mississauga and Markham.

[Drake]

Unlikely, but much better than zero. Here is a report from the Mowat Centre in 2011 that mentions K-W as a NHL possibility. Cause for hope.

[DHLawrence]

It's the only place in the western GTA (albeit on the fringe) that is outside both the Leafs' and Sabres' exclusion zone. Still, they've made exceptions before (NY Islanders), so a team in Hamilton or Markham isn't ruled out yet.

[BuildingScout]

Unlikely, but much better than zero.

I would put the chances between one in 10 and one in 20 over the next 10 years.

[schooner77]

As much as it pains me, because I would be first in line for season tickets, there just isn't the corporate structure here to support a team, nor the population base. There is far more money for a second Toronto team, or surrounding region and even Hamilton.

[clasher]

Okay, "ever" is a bit of hyperbole but there's just not enough people and money in KW to support a team. Bettman last fall was denying that the league would expand to Quebec City where there is already a rink and Quebecor's money behind it. Las Vegas apparently wants a team too and the NHL in my opinion has too many teams and too many games in the season already. Seattle would be another place that could use a team I think over KW. The west needs teams more than the east does. I can't really see MLSE allowing anyone else access to their captive fans and license to print money.

[BuildingScout]

there's just not enough people and money in KW to support a team.

I can't really see MLSE allowing anyone else access to their captive fans and license to print money.

The first one is a good point, though do not underestimate the money that Toyota, Sleemans and the insurance companies can put forward. I also imagine some companies down the road in Hamilton would sign up for season tickets. Also is Winnipeg&environs, MB bigger or richer than RoW+Guelph+Hamilton+London+Western GTA? Absolutely not.

Your second point, however is actually an argument in favour of KW since it falls outside the exclusion zone which Hamilton doesn't.

Lastly I fully expect that if this ever happens anywhere in the GTA it would be against the protestations of MLSE.

I think there is 50-50 chances the extension will happen, but Markham or Mississauga and even Hamilton are likelier destinations. However stranger things have happened, e.g. Atlanta has had two kicks at the can.

[Osiris]

Don't forget that all Canadian sports teams operating in leagues where salaries are in USD just saw their costs go up ~20% in the past year. Yes the bigger players will have hedged their exposure somewhat, but it still changes the bottom line calculation significantly when comparing costs in Seattle vs. KW, or Quebec.

[zanate]

Years ago I loved the possibility of Balsillie bringing an NHL team to Waterloo region. These days, I hope we can leave the hosting of an NHL, or other major league team, to a more gullible neighbour.

The reason is that major league team owners have been too successful in extracting very large concessions out of hosts, especially for providing them with a venue. The worst example I'm aware of is the Marlins Stadium in Miami. So long as teams and owners think they deserve these massively expensive enticements to grace a city with their presence, they can go grace somewhere else.

[schooner77]

[quote='zanate' pid='4730' dateline='1423059730']
Years ago I loved the possibility of Balsillie bringing an NHL team to Waterloo region. These days, I hope we can leave the hosting of an NHL, or other major league team, to a more gullible neighbour.

I have to agree with you. And in fact, with the Aud and Centre in the Square already in town, and not being utilized nearly as much as they could be, there's no way we could support a 15-20 thousand seat arena, outside of straight hockey dates. Arenas have to sustain themselves outside of their hockey tenants. Copps has struggled for years to be viable.

[MidTowner]

Well said, schooner77: in no sense of the word is it rational to spend resources constructing a 24,000 seat hockey arena to attract an NHL team that may or may not be successful, while our much smaller venues are under-utilized as it is.

I have to say that I consider Hamilton and Waterloo both to be unlikely contenders. There are many big metros in the States that would be ahead of line, to say nothing of the protests that MLSE would make.

I really do think corporate money is critical to major-league sports team success, to guarantee that a certain number of box seats and tickets will be sold at inflated prices no matter how well the team is doing. Locations like Toronto have a well of this type of money from which to draw. So do other American cities which are headquarters to big companies that you don't always think of. Someone compared the western GTA to Winnipeg, and obviously the former is richer on the whole, but Winnipeg does have actual corporate headquarters in a variety of industries: Monsanto Canada, Buhler, New Flyer, Boeing Canada, and a few massive insurers who are actually headquartered there (not like SunLife, whose President and CEO of course go to work in Toronto). Hamilton is more of a "branch plant" economy, and besides the steel mills and the accompanying steel processors, I can't really think of any companies headquartered there.

[clasher]

The Hamilton steel mills are both owned by foreign companies that have headquaters in the USA and India and/or Belgium (ArcelorMittal) so there isn't a huge corporate presence there either. The same goes for Toyota here, sure the plant has a lot of employees but the front offices aren't all that big of a part of it.

[BuildingScout]

I have to say that I consider Hamilton and Waterloo both to be unlikely contenders. There are many big metros in the States that would be ahead of line, to say nothing of the protests that MLSE would make.

I really do think corporate money is critical to major-league sports team success, to guarantee that a certain number of box seats and tickets will be sold at inflated prices no matter how well the team is doing. Locations like Toronto have a well of this type of money from which to draw. So do other American cities which are headquarters to big companies that you don't always think of. Someone compared the western GTA to Winnipeg, and obviously the former is richer on the whole, but Winnipeg does have actual corporate headquarters in a variety of industries: Monsanto Canada, Buhler, New Flyer, Boeing Canada, and a few massive insurers who are actually headquartered there (not like SunLife, whose President and CEO of course go to work in Toronto). Hamilton is more of a "branch plant" economy, and besides the steel mills and the accompanying steel processors, I can't really think of any companies headquartered there.

First, in terms of fan base there are no cities in the USA that would come ahead of a second GTA franchise which is what a KW/Hamilton/Markham team would be.

In terms of headquarters there are 20 Fortune 500 Canada corporate headquarters in the west end of Mississauga alone that are about the same driving time away from a 401 and Hespeler Road Arena than to the Air Canada Centre.

Having said that I agree that we could end up on the hook for an expensive arena and thus we might be better off with the team not being here.

[clasher]

We could either built the Cambridge LRT or get an NHL team. I think there are way better things we could do with money than building arenas for rich people to play games.