NHL: Why the NHL Should Not Abandon Non-Traditional Hockey Markets

One of the biggest misnomers around is that an NHL franchise cannot succeed in a non-traditional hockey market.

A prime examples supporting this claim is highlighted by the former Atlanta Thrashers and their current ownership woes. It is true that hockey has a natural disadvantage in those markets because of the locals being unaware of the game of hockey, but the prime reason why a team like the Thrashers failed was because Atlanta was the wrong kind of non-traditional hockey market.

What do I mean by Atlanta being a bad market?

The Thrashers had one main factor going against them, there were too many other teams in Atlanta. The city all ready had an NBA, NFL, and MLB franchise before the Thrashers were formed, and because of the stiff competition from more well established franchises in the area, compounded by the fact that Atlanta has a pretty low population compared to cities like Houston, made it difficult to succeed.

A similar situation could be argued in Phoenix, including the fact that the Coyotes don’t play in Phoenix proper, instead in Glendale.

But for every Phoenix and Atlanta, there are towns that have actually succeeded, the best example being Nashville.

Why has Nashville succeeded in establishing a fan base in a comparatively smaller TV market? Well, the Predators don’t have any direct competition for fans. The only other team in the area is the Tennessee Titans, but for the most part, the Predators and Titans seasons don’t over lap.

By not being in direct competition, the Predators can get a good chunk of the people who attend Titans games to go to Predators games, thanks in large part to the lack of direct competition.

There are a few additional factors which have helped Nashville become a successful franchise— stability at the coaching position with Coach Trotz, as well as simple success on the ice.

By having stable coaching there can be a stable system where the general manager only has to find players to fit one system, as opposed to needing players that could play in any.

In a sport like hockey, many times the reason why a team fails in one location is not because of possible fan support, but because of how little success those teams had. If the Thrashers were able to achieve success, they would have been able to get a large following in Atlanta.

People don’t want to see losers!