Back from a week in Las Vegas and Valley really opens up the mind to a broader perspective when it comes to entertainment and sports in general. Having several conversations with locals about the now departed IHL, the current ECHL Hockey team and the NHL in general. The people of Las Vegas who are residents don't have a specific sport they follow in the dozens of thousands other then their University Basketball. Sure they love their NFL football and they love their NBA Basketball but don't write them off when it comes to NHL Hockey just yet. IN several southern cities I have visited over the years, their can be a distaste for hockey as minor league. Not the case with the majority of locals in Las Vegas and area.
Before you start saying, "C'mon, let's be real here, there is not the population or $ for hockey in Las Vegas!" think again! Las Vegas and Valley has a population of approx 2 million people. That is the population of residents not with tourism. Currently with the economy being the way it is in the last few years in the States Las Vegas is attracting approx 120,000 in visitors each day for tourism. That would mean on a daily basis, there is 2.12 million people who could consider the NHL game for entertainment.
There is also something important for NHL hockey to survive in any city and that is called Corporate Dollars and we know there is plenty of that in droves in Las Vegas. 70% of International Flights into Las Vegas are from Canada and we know that they experience about 1500 visitors from Canada daily via WestJet alone. The approx totals are 4700 Canadians are visiting Las Vegas daily. It is estimated that about 2,000 Las Vegas Residents are french Canadians who reside as residents and then there are those who have relocated and live in Las Vegas from other parts of Canada.
So doing some math here, let's say 25% of Canadian visitors would take in a NHL hockey game in Las Vegas and 25% of the local Residents who are Canadian would do the same. That would bring our total to...1175 Visitors to buy a ticket to a NHL game and 500 local French Canadians who are now residents of Las Vegas as well. Add in a guess of a additional 2,000 Canadians who reside in Las Vegas and you have a additional 500 people to purchase tickets to a NHL Hockey game. That would bring a total of 2,175 Tickets guaranteed to be sold every game at a very manageable number. Even if Las Vegas Residents were at .5% that would consider to buy tickets to go to a NHL game that would amount to a further 10,000 people. While you would have to be careful with ticket prices. entertainment value is what matters in Vegas, very few places have cheap tickets for anything. It's a place where people expect to be entertained and also expect to pay decent prices for that. In my estimate (I believe it is under estimating as well) that would mean the arena could sell easily close to 12,200 tickets per NHL game.
Enough with my numbers, let's look at some local news
out of Las Vegas on this very topic...
Frozen Fury 2012 Las Vegas at the MGM Grand (CANCELLED)
L.A. Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche
The NHL lockout has cancelled this great event. You can blame the owners, you can blame the players but either way hockey fans will get no game in Las Vegas this year. Don't worry, they'll have the event next year and expect fans to fill the seats all over again. Apparently, the NHL believes that it is ok to have a work stoppage just as the game was gaining some serious momentum. Can you tell I'm a disgruntled fan? If every season ticket holder in every city would just stop paying the NHL might realize that the game really is about the people who fill the seats, buy the merchandise or travel to see their teams.
Tickets for this game will be refunded at the point of purchase. However, if you have a hotel reservation or flight booked I guess you have to go to Vegas! Luckily, for you this huge hockey fan is a big fan of Las Vegas as well.
The current seating capacity of the MGM Grand Arena is 16,800 but likely would be slightly smaller for hockey. It is possible the MGM Grand could be a temporary home for a NHL team until a new Sports Arena could be constructed. Wait! You have not heard? Here is another article and rendering of a possible new entertainment complex in the great city of Las Vegas...
Las Vegas could soon have an NHL-ready arena
By Brian Stubits | Blogger
Quebec City is working on an arena that will be open for operation by 2015 in hopes of luring an NHL franchise back to town. Seattle continues to try and reach an agreement with investor Chris Hanson to eventually build an arena there that would be suitable for both the NHL and getting an NBA team back. The Toronto suburb of Markham is getting its own arena that would be NHL-ready.
Those are the very obvious reasons why Quebec City, Seattle and Markham are 1, 2 and 3 when discussing potential relocation of teams in hockey. Las Vegas might soon be in the conversation. In similar fashion to Seattle, Las Vegas would like to get an NBA team in town. There has actually been discussion of Sin City getting pro basketball after the league has had events in Vegas including the All-Star Game. That just opens the door for the possibilities of a hockey team joining for the fun.
Getting a new building up in Vegas has been a conversation for some time. The latest proposal which seems to have some steam building would put a state-of-the-art building with a capacity of nearly 20,000 right on the Las Vegas strip. Imagine that arena in the rendering above being right down the street from the world-famous images of Las Vegas. Personally, I love the fact that it comes with a fountain pool out front of the main entrance ... so Vegas.
The Las Vegas Arena Foundation (LVAF) is proposing a 20,000-seat indoor arena to be built on the Strip on land owned by Caesars Entertainment behind Imperial Palace. The facility would be suitable for an NBA or NHL franchise, as well as other events such as concerts or the National Finals Rodeo, which has been at the Thomas & Mack Center since 1985. The LVAF is planning to fund the $500 million project by implementing a 0.9 percent sales tax for specified businesses within a three-mile radius of the proposed location.
he story goes on to outline the finer details including financing as well as the hurdles said proposal faces in addition to the support it already has. Basically, it's only in the very early stages and might not come to fruition but knowing Vegas a new arena will be coming one way or the other and the city will likely always be mentioned as a possibility for relocation.
If the league officials were to be honest with themselves I wonder how much of an appetite they would have for putting another team in the Southwestern desert. It's not to say there aren't good hockey fans in Las Vegas -- just like there are good fans in the Phoenix area -- but the question is if there are enough. By the rendering above it's pretty clear what the main goal of the arena would be ... the NBA, not the NHL.
I would think at this stage there is as good of a chance of a hockey team -- Coyotes,Islanders or possible expansion teams -- making Vegas its home as there is of snowball's chance in, well, Vegas. But if you build it they might come (sorry to you, Kansas City).
The Foundation wants to fund building the arena thanks to a sales tax hike to help pay off the $500 million estimated cost. The Sun report says the proposed arena would have 94 luxury suites to go along with the 20,000 seats making it an ideal setup for a team to call it their home. Major professional leagues have been wary to pursue Las Vegas, however, thanks to that whole legalized gambling thing in Nevada.
As for the NHL’s interests in Vegas, the annual NHL Awards call the city home as does big time hockey fan Jerry Bruckheimer who has had ownership aspirations in the past. Vegas joins Quebec City, Seattle, Brooklyn, and Kansas City as potential future landing spots for the NHL either via relocation or expansion.
The HockeyFanatic shares on his blog similar thoughts and even rates Las Vegas as #3 choice for a NHL team.
Las Vegas, Nevada – the NHL in Las Vegas? The idea is not that far fetched as you may think. With the large number of Canadians who visit Sin City, the NHL could do very well in Vegas. Las Vegas surprisingly does not have a professional sports team, so the NHL would not be in competition with other major sports although the UNLV teams might have something to say about that. The IHL previously took a test spin in Vegas with the Las Vegas Thunder, so ice hockey does work there. The annual preseason games between the Kings and Avalanche doe very well in Las Veags each September. I would love to see an NHL franchise in Las Vegas, I think a lot of other fans would like to see a team there too. A longshot but maybe not as far out as we think.
Anyone notice the cost approx being 500 Million? Are we very far off of that number with our State of the Art complex Edmonton is considering? I know in my case, I would plan a time in Las Vegas and take in a NHL game in Sin City every time I went, I would likely go yearly as would many other Canadian hockey fans. I am not saying, but I am just saying! Just a thought...Agree? Disagree? Let us know what your thoughts are.
NOTE: THe Las Vegas Wranglers playing in a older, smaller arena, in a semi-minor pro league the ECHL average almost 5,000 fans a game. The difference of interest between the ECHL and the AHL? Quite different. The difference between the ECHL and the NHL? Monumental.
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