Any Chance for Baltimore?

[charliec107]

Any chance a team could come back to Baltimore any time soon or has that train come and gone too many times in the past.

[rams80]

As long as First Mariner is the local arena, your chances are nil.

[bomp]

Don't you mean the Fabulous Baltimore Arena???? :D

No AHL in that building ever again. It's a dump.

[Berkshirian]

Well, news is that Baltimore is considering a new arena in the Canton area east of the Inner Harbor and Fells Point. They have already said they don't think they would get an NBA team, but the AHL would fit in well. GO SKIPJACKS! (In a decade or so?)

[zuma jay]

When I was a kid, the Baltimore Clippers AHL gmes were broadcast on WBAL. The team's fight song was proudly played during the broadcasts. I believe the song went something like:

"Go you Baltimore Clippers...go you Clippers from Baltimore...go you Baltimore Clippers ...and: Score, Score, Score!

[bectond]

Hockey in Baltimore will go over about as well as surfing on the Namibian coast. If indoor LaCrosse failed how in G.DS name would Hockey survive.

[OneBetter]

Baltimore seems to have a horrible time keeping professional sports franchises. Why is that?

I get the impression that it may be in a similar situation as San Diego. Major League teams do well there, but minor league teams have a horrible time surviving. Is this the same sort of case in Baltimore?

[robster2001]

I think it's quite similar to San Diego. San Diego sports fans can drive to LA... Baltimore sports fans can drive to Washington and Philly.

[bomp]

Baltimore seems to have a horrible time keeping professional sports franchises. Why is that?

I get the impression that it may be in a similar situation as San Diego. Major League teams do well there, but minor league teams have a horrible time surviving. Is this the same sort of case in Baltimore?

That is not entirely true. The MISL Blast average over 7,000 a match and actually makes money which is unusual for indoor soccer.

The city really thinks of itself as major league so it won't "lower" itself to support minor league sports.

There is also the problem of the pathetic First Mariner Arena (Civic Center). It was built in the early 60s. It has a stage and holds 12,000. Maybe 8,000 decent seats maximum. Never should have been constructed like it was.

Eddie Hale who owns the Blast wants to build a new arena but doesn't want to build it large enough for the NHL or NBA. So AHL is possible if the building actually appears.

[Hockey]

The city really thinks of itself as major league so it won't "lower" itself to support minor league sports.

Except for the ABA team that recently got a lease there. The ABA is almost one step below minor league.

It has a stage and holds 12,000. Maybe 8,000 decent seats maximum.

So cap the seating at 8,000. Don't even sell bad seats.

I read somewhere there was talk of a group approaching the SPHL about putting a team in. The league turned them down because of geography.

They could do a northern division with Huntington, Baltimore, Upper Marlboro and Salisbury. All have larger rinks that look to be desperate for a tenet. Control the travel costs and get good leases and hockey might have a shot.

[sportsguy12]

Except for the ABA team that recently got a lease there. The ABA is almost one step below minor league.



So cap the seating at 8,000. Don't even sell bad seats.

I read somewhere there was talk of a group approaching the SPHL about putting a team in. The league turned them down because of geography.

They could do a northern division with Huntington, Baltimore, Upper Marlboro and Salisbury. All have larger rinks that look to be desperate for a tenet. Control the travel costs and get good leases and hockey might have a shot.

let's put teams back in markets that couldn't support hockey before.

[bomp]

Except for the ABA team that recently got a lease there. The ABA is almost one step below minor league.



So cap the seating at 8,000. Don't even sell bad seats.

I read somewhere there was talk of a group approaching the SPHL about putting a team in. The league turned them down because of geography.

They could do a northern division with Huntington, Baltimore, Upper Marlboro and Salisbury. All have larger rinks that look to be desperate for a tenet. Control the travel costs and get good leases and hockey might have a shot.

The ABA won't last the season. Severely under-financed. Bad example. Are you sure they are playing at the fabulous Baltimore Arena??

The Arena is a dump. I love hockey but I can go to the NHL Caps forty miles down the road any time I want and they are the real deal (sort of!).

[AHLFAN]

With a new building and a decent owner like Ed Hale. Baltimore could succeed in the AHL.

When the Skipjacks were under local ownership attendance was close to 3500 with limited advertising and so forth. Tom Ebright then invested in the team and attendance went up slightly. In January of '93 rumblings of the Skipjacks moving to Portland began to circulate. At this time Tom Ebright was the sole owner of the Skipjacks. With the rumors flying. Tom Ebright went on the ice several times and denied the rumors. Attendance at this point to a big hit. Finally with three games left to the season. Mr. Ebright told fan and local news oulets if so many ST's were sold the team would stay. The Booster Club went into action. within those three games the Booster Club sold and took deposits for over 500 new season tickets, to no avail. It was reported that Mr. Ebright had already signed a lease with the Cumberland County Civic Center back in February of '93. Baltimore was with hockey for one year. Then in April of '94 rumblings of the IHL putting a team in Baltimore were exposed. The AHL want to protect their territory. (Like what happened in Albany with the Choppers). Two Gentlemen Mr. Gertner and Mr Tesh were granted an expansion franchise. The two were not completely investigated. Two months into the 95/96 season the AHL was ready to take back the franchise and Anahiem was ready to leave. Thes two so called owners hadn't paid one bill. In January of '96 the franchise was sold to Mike Casiano. Again another mistake. He did get things straightened out. But again in the 96/97 season the rumors again started that the team was moving to Cincinnati. Again like Mr. Ebright, Mr. Casiano went on the ice and denied the team was moving. Again it was reported in the news oulets that Mr. Casiano signed an agreement with the Robinsons in Cincy to buy the team. Atttendance fell once again. For the playoffs that year they were lucky to get 1,000 people.

Now. If Mr. Hale (Baltimore Blast Owner) were to build the new Arena. I believe he would invest in an AHL franchise. If that wasn't possible I think he would go for an ECHL franchise.

So dont put all the blame on the fans of Baltimore. Its a shared blame of poor ownership and fickled fans.:eek:

[aardvark]

Minor league hockey teams for the most part have historically done well attendance-wise in San Diego (they averaged 9000+ per game in the old Western Hockey League in the '60's to early '70's, and led the WCHL in attendance every season. When that league joined the ECHL en masse, the Gulls were among league leaders in attendance as well.). What killed hockey in San Diego this time was arena ownership (who also owned the club) claimed they could make more money on concerts and other events than they could on hockey. They folded the franchise when the Avalanche pulled their affiliation with the Gulls, and they couldn't get another organization to pick up the affiliation--they didn't want to go as an independent club. The San Diego Arena is over 40 years old (and looks even older in places), but the hockey fans kept coming until the owners pulled the plug.