Relocation Issues and a Panthers Merger?

News and Notes from around the Business world of Hockey...

- The NHL and NHLPA are butting heads over a possible second franchise in the Toronto area via Relocation (Globe and Mail):

"With a handful of Sun Belt teams struggling to sell hockey, NHLPA director of player affairs Glenn Healy believes the timing could not be better for the NHL to seriously look at transferring a second team to the Toronto area.

He also stated that, in addition to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie and a group that wants to bring a team to Vaughn, Ont., there are at least two other factions interested in landing another NHL team for Southwestern Ontario.

"They have been trying to fit a square peg into a round hole for a lot of years," Healy said yesterday, in reference to the failure of the Sun Belt teams in the NHL. "They have tried everything in the world to sell the game, market the game, put fans in the seats and it doesn't work for a lot of reasons."

The square peg into a round hole analysis is a perfect way to put it. I've never been a big fan of the southern movement to being with, but I'm all for sticking with the ones that have worked relatively well so far.

- Speaking of the Southern movement, the Florida Panthers are the subject of merger talks (Sports Business Journal):

"The Florida Panthers are in negotiations to merge the team, its arena management company and rights to the real estate surrounding BankAtlantic Center with Sports Properties Acquisition Corp., a public-stock company formed last year, sources said.

The potential deal values the assets at $230 million, including debt, with the plum in the talks a planned mixed-use development around the south Florida arena, the sources said. The negotiations have been taking place over the last several weeks, the sources said."

As a franchise, the Panthers have struggled from poor on-ice performance, but the BankAtlantic Center books over 200 events per year, which most likely means a nice profit in general. The merger would probably help a lot with any Panther debt that is lying around.

- That's all I got for today, but I found these commercials on YouTube the other day and I cannot believe I forgot about them. "Clement Clement, hands of Cement" haha, enjoy:

The Monday Memo

News and Notes from around the Business World of Hockey...

- Philly @ Pitt draws a 1.0/2 for NBC's Game of the Week yesterday (Puck The Media).

- Are the Montreal Canadiens and the Bell Centre up for sale? (CBC)

- If the Lighthouse Project for the Islanders does not go though, Queens is opening its arms to the club (NY Daily News).

- Finally, an old Panthers commercial (head shot, Colin Campbell?):



More later.

Update, 6:30 PM EST:

- On TV, the Canucks play to an audience over over 300,000 a game. (Sportsnet.ca)

The Battle of Florida: Part III

I figured I would run this one more time before the end of the season. Here is the first part, and the second part.

The Lightning out-average the Panthers by about a 1,000 per game (16,435 to 15,448), but this difference shrinks to about 100 if you just solely look at the second half figures (16,111 to 15,998) as of today.

Here's the big graph (click to enlarge):



Both teams benefit from their similar opponents travel schedule. For example, the highs on the graphs for both teams are Northeastern clubs such as Montreal, Toronto, Boston, and New York (Rangers, that is). But, with Florida in the Eastern race while Tampa Bay preps for next season, it will be interesting to see if Florida can find any sort of base to work off of. Tampa Bay should still out-average Florida in the end though, with more of a fan-base due to their Stanley Cup history along with the bigger capacity of the St. Petes Forum compared to the BankAtlantic Center.

Come on back tomorrow.

The Tuesday Memo

News and Notes from around the Business World of Hockey.

Somewhat of a slow day today, Playing Below Capacity will be coming up soon.

- An update/collection of all the ticket pricing news from the NHL and NBA (Sports Business Journal). They made this handy-dandy chart:



- An opinion piece where Shane Morin-Farraway wants four teams to be contracted from the NHL (Bleacher Report).

"Which leaves us with four possible candidates for retraction: Atlanta, Florida, Nashville, and Phoenix.

Although it could be argued that these teams have a chance to succeed in their respective markets, tradition dictates otherwise. The NHL, when all has been said and done, have failed in their Southern ventures."

Personally, four is too many. That robs the NHL of perfectly good revenue. If I had my way, Atlanta and Phoenix would be gone, and Florida would be moved. But lets save those rants for the long summer days of the off season.

- Another opinion piece by Sean Paddison where he is looking for coaches and managers of the future (Bleacher Report). One part I liked:

"Modern technology and research techniques allow coaches to develop solutions to help them beat previously-unbeatable teams. The Penguins record this year is a strong example of what happens when coaches have enough time to learn how to beat other teams."

Very true.

- Finally, a classic Nike Hockey promo:



This could be updated later so check back.

- Update, 12:30 PM EST:

The Mayor of Nashville is asking Gary Bettman to hold the 2015 All-Star game in Nashville (Tennessean):

"(Mayor Karl) Dean used the proposed new downtown convention center to make his pitch when Bettman visited on Feb. 19, said David Freeman, who leads the group of investors who bought the Predators in 2007. Previous inquiries about hosting the All-Star Game have fallen flat because the city doesn't have enough convention space or hotel rooms to accommodate the fans, media and others who would be here for the game and related activities, Freeman said."

Hey, I think they deserve it. Why not.

- Update, 2:05 PM EST:

The Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild, might get a big boost in value soon as $33 million of loans might be wiped clean in an effort by the city of St. Paul to line up funding for another ice rink to be built across from the Arena (Star Tribune).

"The idea is to provide a place for the Minnesota Wild to practice, to host amateur ice hockey and figure skating events, to handle overflow from Xcel Center events and to give downtown visitors another reason to hang out and spend time and money."

Playing Below Capacity: Florida Panthers

Welcome to the eighth edition of Playing Below Capacity, a series here at Puck Money where I've been taking a look at teams (as of December) playing below 85% capacity in their arenas. The previous seven editions can be found here. Today its off to Sunrise, Florida where the Panthers are fighting for their first playoff appearance since the spring of 2000 and are currently ranked 29th in attendance by capacity coming in at 79.1%. However, the Panthers are enjoying a 1.5% gain from their first half average attendance, including a 10.5% jump in the last two weeks as they just wrapped up a six game homestand at the BankAtlantic Center.

*Note: Please remember that I'm a young college kid who thinks he knows what he's talking about. Any "problems" that I suggest the Panthers have are my opinion and are most likely not 100% accurate (but close to it, if I do say so myself). Enjoy and please do comment.

Here are the ideas I came up with that could be problems with getting people to go to Panthers games on a regular basis...

• Arena Location/Age
• High Ticket Prices/Poor Promotional Events
• Metro Population
• On Ice Product
• Location/History of Franchise
• Other

First, some basics about the Florida Panthers (wikipedia):

• The Florida Panthers began play in 1993 when in 1992 Blockbuster mogul H. Wayne Huizenga was awarded an NHL Franchise. The Panthers entered the league in '93 with the
  (now) Anaheim Ducks. The team is now owned by Alan Cohen and other wealthy Florida-based businessmen.
  
• In 14 completed seasons in the sunshine state, the Panthers have made the playoffs three times, twice not advancing past the first round. Their 1995-1996 season was one to remember as the Panthers made their only Stanley Cup appearance.
• For their first five seasons, the Panthers played at Miami Arena in Miami, FL. In the fall of 1998, the Cats moved to the now-named BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, FL, about 35 miles north of Miami and about 15 miles west of Fort Lauderdale, FL.
  
• The capacity for Ice Hockey at the BankAtlantic Center is said to be 19,150 or 19,250 with standing room.

- Arena Location/Age:

The BankAtlantic Center opened in 1998, so being a decade old is not a problem. The Sports Road Trip Guys say the arena is gorgeous, but the location was a poor choice. Lets take a look from the satellite (click to enlarge both):



The BankAtlantic Center is noted by the "A" arrow. The "city" of Sunrise is very much a residential area, or to put it frankly, a giant retirement village. The arena is placed between a swamp and the nations fourth largest outlet shopping mall. With Sunrise only having just over 90,000 inhabitants, lets take a look at where most other Panther fans have to come from to get to Sunrise:


The green "A" arrow represents Miami Arena, the Panthers former home. The "B" arrow represents the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, and the "C" arrow represents the center of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. From Miami to Sunrise is 35 miles according to google maps, or about 45 minutes by car. From Fort Lauderdale to Sunrise is about 15 miles, or 20 to 25 minutes by car. Although I've never been to Sunrise, I have almost no doubt this has an affect on the game by game attendance. The club had five years starting in 1993 to find a new home in East Florida, and by placing the arena in Sunrise, the choice seems rushed. I could not find any articles about the placement choice, but placing the Arena in Fort Lauderdale would have been a much more logical choice. I understand this is easier said than done, but in a downtown setting this arena would have looked great and the Panthers would enjoy at least ~500 more spectators per game.

Update: After being directed to a thread on HF Boards which discusses the location of the BankAtlantic Center or "BAC," many season ticket holders and consistent fans enjoy the arena location because of how easy it is to get to with highways and parking. Although I still think downtown Ft. Lauderdale might draw more crowds, some/most/half of Panther fans do not mind the location of the BAC.

- High Ticket Prices/Poor Promotional Events

One would think the Panthers would attempt to keep ticket prices low to attract more consistent fans, but a Panthers game for the family can cost Mom and Dad a couple of bucks. According to teammarketing.com, The Panthers are 11th in the Fan Cost Index for the NHL at $309.44. The Fan Cost Index:

comprises the prices of four (4) average-price tickets, two (2) small draft beers, four (4) small soft drinks, four (4) regular-size hot dogs, parking for one (1) car, two (2) game programs and two (2) least-expensive, adult-size adjustable caps.

Florida's FCI is up 14.1% from last season, along with their average ticket price being up just under 3%, which raises that cost to $52.61 and in turn is just above the NHL average. The Panthers average ticket price is $111.34, which is just under the NHL average. Could these prices affect incoming fans? Sure, but the Panthers are right around the NHL average, which is really all you can ask for.

Although the tickets might be a little high-priced, the Panthers marketing department does a great job of offering great deals to bring in new fans and keep old ones. The most recent is the Panthers Promise Plan; a four game ticket plan where if the Panthers make the playoffs you get priority access to playoff tickets. If the Cats fail to make the playoffs, you get four tickets to the '09-'10 season for free. I'm sorry for the cheesiness, but what a great deal! Along with this, the Panthers have plenty of theme nights, and they have another marketing favorite of mine; the Panthers First Timer Program. The program allows anyone with a Florida Drivers License to apply for two tickets for free to one game. It has drawn some slight criticism as the Panthers are constantly in the rumor mill for giving away a hefty amount of tickets, but I still like the deal as it has the great possibility of creating new fans.

- Metro Population

The "city" of Sunrise has just over 90,000 people. The metro population of the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area is key though, coming in at just under 5.5 million people (statshockey.net). The city of Sunrise has the second lowest population in the NHL, defeating only the tiny Uniondale. The metro population is a solid one, but seeing that Ice Hockey is a predominately white and non-Hispanic demographic, the Panthers most likely suffer that only about 40% of the population is just that in the South Florida Metropolitan Area.

- On-Ice Product

As I mentioned, the Panthers are looking to make the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons. With the Panthers currently 7th in a tight Eastern Conference playoff race, the Panthers attendance should no doubt benefit from the Cats on-ice play for their remaining 11 home games. Lets take a look at the Panthers attendance compared to their on-ice play (click to enlarge):



The average attendance of just over 16,000 in 2001-2002 was the franchises highest average since its creation in 1993. The fact of the matter is, Southern Florida is a tough market to sell hockey in. An average over 15,500 should be considered a success, and an average over 16,000 is pretty well done. Of course there is always room for growth, but the plan for the Florida heads running the show should be to get back to that 2002 level and stay there for a couple of seasons.

The Panthers are an exciting team on the ice, with young forwards like Michael Frolik, David Booth, and Nathan Horton leading the way. Arguably the teams best player, 25 year old Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, has been thrown around in more trade rumors this season than anyone I can remember. The club has found a successful tandem of goaltenders in Tomas Vokoun and Craig Anderson, both of which should be back for the 2009-2010 season.

- Location/History of Franchise

As stated and with kind of basic knowledge, hockey is somewhat of a tough sell in Florida. Do not get me wrong, the sport does great for its location and history with the area. It definitely has a pulse as the Statewide Amateur Hockey of Florida in in association with USA Hockey along with Florida Scholastic Hockey League, a high school hockey league setup about 11 to 12 years ago. Hockey has come a long way in the state, thanks to the help of the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

- Other

The Panthers are the 24th most valuable team in the NHL at $163 million dollars; which is up 8% from last year. Their value and revenue have risen every year since the lockout, but unfortunately so has the negative operating income, which last season came in a $-9 million. They also have a considerable amount of debt compared to their value, at about 50%. Still, you do not hear much about financial trouble out of the Panthers. Huge losses like the Coyotes are experiencing (that are being reported) are either not prevalent or not being reported. This is good, as it allows fans and players alike to concentrate on the hockey at hand, especially in a such a playoff drought.

- Conclusion

Making the playoffs this season would be a huge help for the Panthers attendance and overall bottom line on the balance sheet. The Panthers do a great job of selling hockey in a non-traditional market, and this should be noted. Still, will the Panthers still be in Florida in five to ten years? I'm not exactly sure. I do not think the Lightning will be relocated because they have won a cup and generally experience better attendance on the west side of Florida. The Panthers attendance is in OK shape, but needs to improve and hopefully will with more of a winning team on the ice as of recent. A good meter for hockey in the Panthers area will be if they make the playoffs, as they should look to pack the BankAtlantic center with Panthers and possibly Lightning fans as well.

Well that about does it for this edition of Playing Below Capacity. Next week we will cover the Thrashers of Atlanta, who are going through a major ownership battle and have struggled on the ice for years now. Please feel free to comment on anything.

Should be more later.

Battle of Florida: Part II

A slow news day led me to re-visit the attendance battle between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers (Click here for first part). The two teams are now very much on the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of playoff, as the Panthers push for its first playoff appearance in seven seasons. However, Tampa Bay is out-averaging the Panthers by about a 1,000 spectators per game, and fills the St. Pete Times Forum to about 85 % while the Panthers are filling the BankAtlantic Center to 79%.

Let's take a look at the Game by Game attendance for each team (click to enlarge):



As you can tell without even enlarging the graph, the red line (Tampa Bay) easily out-sold the blue line (Florida) in the first half of the season. But, as possible playoff fever takes hold in Sunrise, Florida; the Panther's attendance has actually begun to somewhat stabilize and, to an extent, rise.

Florida is up 1.5% from their first half average, and 10.5 % in the past two weeks (6 game homestand). Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is down 5% from their first half average, but up 1% in the past two weeks as they also finished up a 6 game homestand Sunday.

Now, last time I did this I "concluded" three points about these two southern markets:

1. The smaller fan bases the two teams enjoy will most likely be much more willing to attend weekend games rather than weeknight games.
2. Retired diehards that shipped themselves to Florida from anywhere above the Mason-Dixon line will gladly spend their savings on seeing their team.
3. If there is an promotional event going on, the ticket holders are most likely one and done consumers.

During their recent homestands, Florida and Tampa Bay each played host to four weekend home games ("Weekend" to me (and to sports marketers, most likely) mean Thursday through Sunday afternoon). This undoubtedly aided to their recent attendance figures, along with the fact that a couple of great northern markets came swinging through the retirement state in the shape of Toronto, Boston, and Chicago. That covers the first two points.

I think Florida will win the second half battle of attendance against Tampa Bay because of point 3. Florida can benefit from a great playoff race with ticket offers and bandwagon fans; especially if they make the playoffs. After the season/playoffs, I will take another look at this and we will find out if Tampa Bay hung in there or if the Panthers overtook them.

Playing Below Capacity, Florida Panthers edition, comes tomorrow around noon.

Second Half Attendance Boost: Part II

Not much news happening today, so I figured I would run the numbers on the second half attendance boost again. I plan to do this every other Sunday. You can view the first part here, and lets remember that for my sanity, the "halfway" point for each team was put at 20 home games. Note: Attendance figures used are updated through Saturday, Feb. 21st.

First, the all-mighty chart:



As you can see, I added a new column this time around, which will show the difference since I last updated the figures. Only one team has dipped since then, the St. Louis Blues; who were joined by the league as a whole cooling off in the past 10 days. The biggest gainers would be Florida, Boston, and Carolina. Florida pulled off a great feat in the past week and a half; going from being down in the second half to being up over 10%. Boston continued its second-half sellout streak, as they have sold out all 7 games since the start of the second "half," while Carolina undoubtedly benefited from Glen Wesley night and have sold out 3 of their last 4 games.

The good news going forward is that the few teams that haven't benefited from the second half boost yet seem to be gaining ground as noted by the positive green boxes at the bottom of the table.

Moving on...

The Edmonton Oilers did a classy thing yesterday for Hockey Day in Canada, bringing 16 kids and (I'm assuming, although it wasn't mentioned) their families from a town 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle to Rexall Place and really giving them the VIP treatment, as you can see here (4:30 mark):



That is how you market the game, U.S. clubs. I understand its Canada and those kids are already hockey fans, but I bet at least a couple if not more will now become Oilers fans because of the experience.

And finally, for your Sunday viewing pleasure, Coach's Corner with Ron MacLean and Don Cherry:



More (maybe) later.

Old Tyme Hockey

I managed to watch the second period between the Habs and Avs last night in Colorado, where they saluted the 100 seasons of the Canadiens by turning back the clock on their broadcast. They broadcasted in black and white (duh), but also with no scoreboard and between the faceoffs when they would look at a player a simple; 23 M.Hejduk - would come up. Here's a highlight as to how it looked (Brisebois v. Tucker fight):



In other news, the Panthers are jumping in on the Playoff Stretch run ticket offers. Their offer is called the Panthers Promise Plan. You pay for four remaining games and in return if the Panthers make the playoffs you get Priority Access to Playoff tickets. If they fail to make the playoffs, then you receive four free tickets next season in games from October through December. Pretty sweet deal in my opinion.

That's probably it for today, enjoy your saturdays. Tomorrow we have the Flyers @ Rangers, 12:30 PM EST, on NBC. Check it out.

NHL Plans European Vacation Again

During HNIC's Hotstove segment last night, CBC's Scott Morrison reported the NHL is planning 3 games in Europe for the '09-'10 NHL Premier. The NHL's European tour will come back to Czech Republic in Prague, along with again visiting Sweden in Stockholm. The third and new city to host the two weekend games as of right now is Helsinki, Finland.

The tentative plan right now is to send Calgary and San Jose to Helsinki, Detroit and St. Louis to Stockholm, and finally Chicago and Florida in Prague. Morrison noted that these are all preliminary plans though, because the teams (especially Detroit, according to him) still have to satisfy their ticket sales needs.

As I've stated before around here, I'm for the NHL kicking off the season in Europe. Yes, there are some downfalls such as less home games for the loving fanbases over here and some tough logistics for the teams that travel; but I thought the NHL handled the scheduling well with this seasons premier. I'm for all of this because the Premier allows the league and the game to shine on an international level, which will always help the league.

That might be all for today, as I have some serious school-work. So if not enjoy your Sunday.

Playoff Teams With Opposite Attendance

After a loss in intramural volleyball last night, I was checking out the standings going into the second half, and one thing caught me.

In the East, four teams will be fighting for the bottom two spots. The Sabres, Hurricanes, Panthers, and Penguins. In terms of attendance, the Sabres and Penguins do just fine. However, the Hurricanes and Panthers have not played in front of playoff like crowds much yet this year.

Carolina is 23rd in attendance ranked by average, averaging 15,357 a night, which is about 82% capacity at the RBC Center. They only have two sellouts this season, the first two games of the year. The attendance then plunged, going over 15,000 only twice in a span of 13 games. That dip ended with the 17th home game of the season, two days after Christmas when the Bruins visited Raleigh. Including the Bruins game, the attendance has only dipped below 16,000 twice; and the Canes even broke 18,000 for the first time since their second home game when the Leafs visited right before the All-Star Break.

So will the Canes attendance keep climbing as the team fights for their playoff spot since their Cup run in 05-06? I think so. There is a little tradition in Raleigh already with the Cup run, so the "Redneck Hockey" fans might come out of the woodwork again. Only time will tell and I will be watching.

Meanwhile, in sunny Florida, the BankAtlantic Center could definitely use some Panthers Playoff Fever. The Panthers haven't made the playoffs since 1999-2000 and have been, as usual, struggling at the gate. They are 25th in attendance ranked by average, with just under 15,000 a night (remember, its called "paid" attendance). This puts them with the next-to-last capacity rating of 77.8%. Yikes. They have only "sold out" one game this season, when the Canadiens visited at the end of December.

So will the Panthers attendance see a rise due to some playoff fever? Maybe, but I doubt it. The team has too many fair-weather fans. If they make it into playoffs, it wouldn't shock me to see some sellouts, but even that might be a stretch. We will see though.

Onto the West, where it will be a complete crap shoot; something that will be really fun to watch as the season dwindles. Virtually everyone is still in it, as the last place Blues (42 points) trail the 5th place Coyotes by only 11 points, and the 8th place Ducks by 9 points. Although the Blues would have to play very well, it is definitely not impossible. But, to be realistic, I think the Kings, Preds, and Blues may be out of it with the strength of the West. So I think the Coyotes and Blue Jackets can really benefit from a little playoff fever.

Without going crazy on the Coyotes (take a look at my Playing Below Capacity series, Phoenix edition, for more info), they are obviously in a mess off the ice. Everyone loves a winner though, and I really think they could benefit from the hockey fans in the desert getting a taste of the playoffs.

I think the same goes for Columbus, as they have had a solid year on the TV front, as Puck The Media showed. They have not had such as luck at the gate, but have slowly been rising in the past games of the first half. They have only sold out one game, a 3-0 win two days after Christmas (a Saturday) when a solid Flyers club rolled into town. With a hot rookie goalie and with the team only two points out of a playoff spot, the Blue Jackets could be the newest and hottest mid-market team. I think a playoff run, their first of the Jackets existence, would create some die-hard fans and would help the bottom line immensely in Columbus.

Moving on...

Sports Media Watch had a cool post last night, comparing the TV Ratings of NBA and NHL teams in the same markets. Not surprisingly, most of the NBA teams are out-drawing the NHL on the tube, but some are close than you would think. Its worth a quick look.

That's all for now.

The Week's Stats and the Battle of Florida

The Average Spectators for each game this week? 17,296. OK, about 200 below the 17,500 mark that would be considered a success. Along with this, out of 44 games this week, only 17 sold out. Not that bad, but below the 50 and 65% marks I think the NHL should be shooting for.

In an earlier post using the graphs to determine the most stable division, the Northeast came out on top. It came down between the Northeast and Northwest, and I gave a slight edge to the Northeast because of Bostons attendance slowly calming down and rising at the same time. Well what happened this week in beantown? Two sellouts when the Leafs visited on Thursday and the Canes visited on Saturday. Maybe I do have a knack for this stuff.

Moving on... to the Battle of the Sunrise State, Tampa Bay v. Florida. Lets have a look (click graph to get full view):



If I had to describe this graph with one word, it would be volatile. I bring you this graph for a couple of reasons. First of all, I was never a fan of southern expansion to begin with. One or two teams would have been OK, but Hockey and the term "Southeast" don't mix well to me. I refer to such division as the Redneck Hockey division. But back to the graph...

Neither team has a very solid fanbase to begin with. The graph fluctuates so much because:

1. Attendance heavily depends on what night the game is scheduled for.
2. Attendance heavily depends on who is in town on such night.
3. If there is any promotional event going on.

Now look, I would be willing to bet that half of NHL diehard fans are fans of their specific team first before the NHL. Hell, if the Rangers are on and a TV is in my viewing distance I will do anything it takes to get them on the screen. Would I do it for any other game? Most likely not. I might ask for hockey to be put on, but if there is gonna be a big problem, its not worth it.

So, Tampa Bay and Florida experience such fluctuations because:

1. The smaller fan bases the two teams enjoy will most likely be much more willing to attend weekend games rather than weeknight games.
2. Retired diehards that shipped themselves to Florida to die from anywhere above the Mason-Dixon line will gladly spend their savings on seeing their team.
3. If there is an promotional event going on, the ticket holders are most likely one and done consumers.

As I hinted in reason 3, almost all of the fans going to these games are one and done consumers to the franchises. I'd also be willing to be that there are very few season ticket holders that attend every game (I'm guessing somewhere between 1,000-2,000). The retired folks are there to see their team, not the Bolts or the Panthers. And finally, the college couple that had nothing to do won't be going back to the next game unless they completely fall in love with one of the teams.

Now I titled this the Battle of Florida because I think, within 5-10 years, one of these teams will be out of the state and somewhere else. If I had to pick which one to move, it would be Florida. As the graph shows, Tampa has a slight edge on attendance. Also, I'm a firm believer that if a franchise has won a cup, it would be very very hard to move them in this day and age.

Finally, it wouldn't hurt if both teams could get a solid GM that could build a team. Remember in '96 when the Panthers went to the Finals? Miami Arena was packed all throughout the playoffs with 15,000 Floridians. A great way to build a fan base is by winning.

That's all for tonight. Check back tomorrow.