NHL for Milwaukee?

I think the only way Milwaukee gets an NHL franchise is if Nashville moves to Milwaukee. Owned by the Racine Johnson family.

Nashville currently ranks 21st out of 30 NHL teams in average home attendance. While 21st may not sound great, an average of 16,775 per game is pretty strong, and not a typical candidate for a move. Also, I remember Leipold said not too long ago how great the city has been to the franchise. And where is there stadium located? On the same street as the famous Nashville Bar scene and.....

Across the street from the Music City Center....
Kitty Corner from the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum....
Across the street from Hall of Fame Park....
Only one block from the Symphony Center....

Yeah, let's put the new arena two blocks farther away from everything than it already is.

Ok, now to get back to the point, I don't think Milwaukee will get an NHL franchise nor do I think Milwaukee can support an NHL franchise. I think this is all being blown out of proportion because Seattle says Milwaukee eliminated their chance at an NHL team. Why? Because Milwaukee is building a new stadium for the Bucks. Seattle was hoping we would fail, they would get the Bucks and build a stadium that would house an NBA team and eventually an NHL team. With no NBA, Seattle won't have the funds to build a stadium so they will get shut out from NHL.

Also, as I said earlier, I don't believe that Wirtz blocked Milwaukee, I think Lloyd Pettit told the NHL to get bent when they required a $60 million franchise fee when an entire franchise was sold for $15 million just two years earlier.

It was also Lloyd and Jane's belief, in addition to the cost, that they would endure a lot of losing with an expansion franchise and they were getting older and didn't want to deal with it. They wanted an existing franchise.

Support in this city boils down to one thing, winning. This city will support a winner, when the Bucks were winning back in the day people showed up, the Brewers started winning and attendance rose, when Marquette was top 25 year in and year out we got great attendance numbers... If an NHL team comes here and has reasonable success they will draw people, if they don't? Well then it will fail.

Biggest problem with NHL in Milwaukee is ticket prices. They don't have the massive TV contracts that the other sports have, so it trickles down to the ticket prices.

Look at the Blackhawks....
$18,040 ($410 a game) for 100-level platinum seats
$8,140 ($185) for 100-level prime seats
$6,160 ($140) for 100-level seats
$6,500 which includes a $1,000 annual premium ($125) for 200-level prime seats
$5,840 which includes a $1,000 annual premium ($110) for 200-level seats
$3,470 ($85) for 300-level Tier 1 seats
$2,869 ($65) for 300-level Tier 2 seats
$1,848 ($42) for 300-level Tier 3 seats.

Will be tough to get Milwaukeeans to pony up the cash for an 82 game season?

I believe the Blackhawks are one of the pricier tickets, though. Winning 2 titles in the past few years along with sustained success allow you to do that. I think the Nashville Predators are probably a better comparison to what Milwaukee would charge:

$5,248 ($128 per game) for All-Inclusive Seating
$3,813 ($93 per game) for Premium Lower Bowl
$3,362 ($82 per game) for Standard Lower Bowl
$2,747 ($67 per game) for Lower Bowl Tier 3
$2,050 ($50 per game) for Upper Level Tier 1
$1,476 ($36 per game) for Upper Level Tier 2
$1,189 ($29 per game) for Upper Level Tier 3
$615 ($15 per game) for Upper Level Tier 4

That's not much pricier than Marquette tickets for more than twice as many games. Further, they offer 2-season packages for better discounts or half-season packages for more affordable plans. I think the NHL would be viable here. Chicago is one of the premium franchises in the league and also in a top-3 market. Expectations for an expansion franchise here can't possibly be compared to that.

If the Bucks move, the NHL will come. Bucks stay, no NHL. Its pretty simply. Not enough corporate cash to support two winter sports teams.

I believe the NHL franchise fee was $30 or $33 million, when the Pettits backed out. Given the CBA at the time, there was no way a team in Milwaukee would have been financially successful. I don't remember the Blackhawks being more than a minor issue. Under the new CBA, the NHL would do do fine in Milwaukee, but for the fact that the Bucks are around.

I don't think the NHL comes to Milwaukee even if the Bucks leave.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TheSultan

I don't think the NHL comes to Milwaukee even if the Bucks leave.

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Much as I'd love a NHL team, I agree.

Milwaukee would be the 5th biggest city in the US without at least one of a NBA and NHL team, behind Seattle, San Diego, Cincinnati and KC. Seattle has no arena, San Diego is not getting hockey, Cincinnati has no arena, leaving Milwaukee and KC as the two favorites. Lets assume Seattle would get the Bucks. Where would the NHL expand? Maybe a second team in Toronto, but the Leafs would throw a fit. Same thing happens in Hamilton. Quebec is a probably high on the list, but it is smaller than Milwaukee. Saskatoon/Regina is still too small. Milwaukee has a corporate base used to buying boxes, etc for a winter sports team and has only one other major league sports team, the Brewers. KC has the Royals and the Chiefs, plus the city was a bust during its previously NHL experience (as well as the NBA too - had to share the team with Omaha before moving to Sacramento). I would guess Las Vegas and Milwaukee would be very high on the NHL US expansion list if the Bucks moved. If Milwaukee could manage a new arena after the Bucks moved (which everyone would agree is a pie in the sky idea), NHL expansion would be almost a given.

The NHL has succeeded in cities like Milwaukee (Columbus, Nashville, Raleigh, Tampa, Buffalo etc.), decent sized cities where there is no NBA team. Don't see that formula changing.