I think it would for a few reasons:
-we have good economy
-Nearly 400, 000 people
-TONS of hockey fans
- there have been soooo many great hockey players out of London, or from the London knights, for example, Darryl Sittler, Brendan Shanahan, Rick Nash, Corey Perry, Gagne, Pat Kane, and the list goes on forever.
- We could easily sell out all the seats in the John Labatt Centre
Negative:
- It could KILL the OHL
- a little close to Toronto, but would make a good rivalry
- i would have a tough time cheering for two teams :P
thats what i can think of, what do you guys think?
2007-11-19 15:18:28 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Hockey
thanks Jeff, thats the kind of answer i was looking for.
2007-11-19 15:32:58 · update #1
hehe, the old guys in Chicago and he's disagreeing with me! cool! lol, these are the kinds of answers im looking for.
2007-11-19 15:36:01 · update #2
That is actually a good idea limestone, i never thought of it that way. hmm...
2007-11-21 00:05:14 · update #3
No. There is no room for growth and 400,000 people is on the small side. Hamilton will get a team before you guys. 4 teams in any one area like that would be too many- there are already 2, are you not happy with the leafs or the Sens?
The NHL wants growth potential. There is very little in Canada. The thing is that you may have a lot of hockey fans right now, but it's still small market. It's much better to be a small player in a huge market then it is to be a large player in a small market.
small players in large markets have the potential to be large players in large markets, that's what the NHL wants.
But Ontario should get a 3rd team, it'll probably go to Hamilton though.
2007-11-19 15:29:29 · answer #1 · answered by The Big Box 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
London is easier to get to from Toronto than Hamilton, if you factor in the traffic. If Toronto fans are willing to go all the way to Buffalo to see a game, I'm pretty sure they will go to London. They say Ballisile owns 250 hectares in Cambridge, so it's possible he might put up a new building there. His lot is more than 50 miles from the city, so that would be just too bad for the Leafs. He could probably afford to own an NHL team even if it's bleeds red ink forever.
Between the auto industry, and information technology there are a lot of corporations to buy boxes. I don't necessarily think it would kill the Knights. Edmonton has a WHL team that thrives. One thing is for sure, Mr. Ballsile has more $ than he knows what to do with and he loves London and UWO.
2007-11-20 08:58:09 · answer #2 · answered by michinoku2001 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately the JLC only holds 9,100 fans, which is about 7000 short of minimum capacity at most of the NHL rinks. I think a team would potentially draw enough fans from Detroit to Toronto to support a team, but the NHL would prefer most of those fans not have to travel to bring it up to that kind of attendance, it's a bit of a commute from Windsor, Hamilton or the Toronto area. I think it would be a more reasonable plan to put an NHL franchise into Hamilton and move the Hamilton AHL franchise to London, actually.
2007-11-20 19:28:49 · answer #3 · answered by Limestoner62 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
London has a lousy economy to support an NHL team. London's economy is driven by a small entity known as the University of Western Ontario (supposedly responsible for 40% of the economy).
1) UWO is not a viable corporate sponsor for the National Hockey League
2) The television money would be coming from Rogers, and be split with Toronto and Ottawa
3) Hartford has proven that cities under 500,000 have a problem supporting a major league sport
2Eighty8
London is about 110 miles from Toronto, and 97 miles from Detroit
2007-11-19 23:34:54 · answer #4 · answered by Like I'm Telling You Who I A 7 · 6⤊ 2⤋
Approx. half way between Detroit and Toronto. This plus small population mean no team for London. Just enjoy your Labatt's.
On a brighter note, no fast food chain has been robbed YET this week here in Greenville, NC.
2007-11-20 08:34:21 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think london might make a good hockey city but not as good as canada where hockey started but canada has hockey teams already but london does not in the NHL and i love that u mentiond cory perry hes the best
GO DUCKS
2007-11-20 14:07:54 · answer #6 · answered by Andy B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's too small.
Calgary area has access to over 1.5 million, has a much more booming economy than London does, and if you include all of Southern Alberta that's about 2 million. And we're considered a small market team.
If we're considered a small market team, how would London pan out?
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see it happen. But I think larger cities would get teams before London does.
Besides, it's too close to Toronto. Why do you think Hamilton never got a team?
2007-11-19 23:24:20 · answer #7 · answered by MattH 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
MLSE has a 50-mile radius on a monopoly, for a lack of a better word, on all things NHL and professional hockey. I don't know if the Sabres has something similar, but they probably do. London's 50 miles out of Toronto, right? I can't do conversions for the life of me...lol
2007-11-19 23:37:16 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
The city that most deserves the next NHL franchise already has one... Toronto should get a second team.
2007-11-20 02:24:29 · answer #9 · answered by [z]ther 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The lack of availible corporate sponsorship, and a viable tv deal.
I don't think it would have too much affect on the OHL.
2007-11-19 23:39:02 · answer #10 · answered by Wings Fan! 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋