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Did anyone care to mention that the arena lease sucks the feasibility out of having a team there?

If they were getting 5,000 fans out per game, why did they leave? That is the average attendance for an AHL team - and they are lucky to get that.

And wait a minute here, the arena owners, will operate the team right? So they name the rent. If the arena gave them free practise ice, and charged .50 cents a head - they would be competitive with the rest of the market. But I would bet they are taking about 8K to 10K, and not giving a kickback for the well attended events.

Now they didn't gouge the last groups did they?

I wish you all the luck; but if they were getting that kind of attendance (5000), and the other teams left - were did all the money go? Easy answer right! RENT!

So they have gouged everyone else out of existance. Lets not forget about the concessions and parking right? How much of that went to the team?

In fact the arena owners should pay the AHL team owners to put thier team there. Like about .5M or more!

Don't get me wrong, I wish them all the luck, but some of these NHL teams have no motivation to run an AHL team, many of them don't have enough propects to staff an AHL team. Florida doesen't even get 7,500 for NHL games, where are they going to get the money to bankroll a whole AHL team?

adsco wrote:Did anyone care to mention that the arena lease sucks the feasibility out of having a team there?

If they were getting 5,000 fans out per game, why did they leave? That is the average attendance for an AHL team - and they are lucky to get that.

And wait a minute here, the arena owners, will operate the team right? So they name the rent. If the arena gave them free practise ice, and charged .50 cents a head - they would be competitive with the rest of the market. But I would bet they are taking about 8K to 10K, and not giving a kickback for the well attended events.

Now they didn't gouge the last groups did they?

I wish you all the luck; but if they were getting that kind of attendance (5000), and the other teams left - were did all the money go? Easy answer right! RENT!

So they have gouged everyone else out of existance. Lets not forget about the concessions and parking right? How much of that went to the team?

In fact the arena owners should pay the AHL team owners to put thier team there. Like about .5M or more!

Don't get me wrong, I wish them all the luck, but some of these NHL teams have no motivation to run an AHL team, many of them don't have enough propects to staff an AHL team. Florida doesen't even get 7,500 for NHL games, where are they going to get the money to bankroll a whole AHL team?

For starters-the arena owners have always owned the franchise. The only reason Cincy didn't have a team this year is the fact that they were unable to secure an affiliate after Anaheim pulled out for Portland and AHL bylaws require you to have a NHL parent. I think the lease is hardly a problem for these guys.

You may be quite correct; but with attendance like that why did they lose their affilation?

Either the NHL team never got enough money, the development of the players wasn't up to snuff or?

Doesn't add up to me, and I'd really like to know!

adsco wrote:You may be quite correct; but with attendance like that why did they lose their affilation?

Either the NHL team never got enough money, the development of the players wasn't up to snuff or?

Doesn't add up to me, and I'd really like to know!

Affiliations change, it happens all the time. Also, travel length was a big selling point for Portland over Cincinnati (7 total teams in New England + Albany=few overnight road trips)