At the moment all that's planned is for a new arena/aquatics centre to replace the old Father David Bauer / Norma Bush Arenas and Foothills Aquatic Centre as a future phase of construction. Nothing has been said beyond that.
I think that’d be really successful. Or an arena in the South. Most OHL teams are in the areas surrounding the GTA and the Vancouver Giants moved to Langley.
Decent thought, but to compare CGY and region to either of those isn't really fair. We have, what, 1.5 million total....van is 2.6+ and GTA 5.5+. People supported the Hitmen before at the Saddledome, so I dont think the issue is the location or suitability of an arena, its the oversaturation of teams IMO. Flames, Hitmen, Wranglers, Roughnecks....that's a lot
I would actually argue that Okotoks/High River do seem to want to be seen as Not Calgary. I'd even include Cochrane in that; whereas I see Airdrie and Chestermere as pretty much Calgary.
I have a friend that worked in MH when they built rink there. 5k was the WHL number, but was based on older school thought processes related to concerts. The mid-market concert business appears to be a dead-dog. Much like baseball, the trend is smaller. I've been to langley, its only 4k-ish. I'd say if Tsuut'ina was 3500 even, with a better layout, the hitmen would play there. There's lots to question about the design of that rink though, plenty of misses
In reality to get to 3500 all you need is 5 rows of 100 seats. I'm sure that can be added. One big negative to Tsuut'ina Nation is the fact there is no transit connection. Like I've said in TAZA thread, the city should try to work something out there, even in the short term, I can imagine a bus from Westbrook and Anderson stations. If for no other reason than I'm sure employees of the shops and Casino would like a convenient (and economically efficient) way to get to their employment.
The arena the Marlies played in was built in 1920. The Pacific Coliseum where the Giants used to play was the old NHL arena in the 70s-90s. Not really any reason why we shouldn't have a couple more second tier arenas that can host these teams. I'm not saying there isn't enough demand in Calgary but simply not enough space, especially if the new arena brings more non-hockey events to the city.
well we did have the corral...but much like pacific coliseum it was well past its due date without significant investment. My point about langley is that it's an actual town with an identity. Similar to abbotsford, pitt meadows, maple ridge, ect... Teams/rinks seem to work better in those locations, because it feels a part of something, people and sponsors support the "town team". They also have the benefit of being near each other to draw from. Langley easily has 200,000 people within a 15-20 min drive. That to me is the issue, okotoks and airdrie are both 25-30k each, with significant enough geographic gaps to calgary. You need atleast 100,000 within a shorter distance to build a fanbase, imo
25-30k hockey fans in Airdrie? Pushing 85k here pretty quick total population.
Interesting numbers. I wonder if the drops are related to oversaturation of the hockey market, or general inflation, or mediocre product, as in the case of the Hitmen? Or maybe a case of the combination of those three factors?
I think it's a just an oversaturation of the market causing low attendance in Calgary because you have both the Hitman and Wranglers competing for the same ticket price range ($30-$40 single game ticket)
The one thing I think we're all missing is that these teams are bankrolled by CSEC. Who run the dome, meaning they pay little to no money to play there. Anywhere else they play, means they have to pay a lease. Okotoks supports the Dawgs and Oilers, they could definitely support a WHL team. The unfortunate fact is CSEC has a sports monopoly in Calgary, for better but mostly for worse.
For the Hitman to play in Okotoks, Canmore, or Airdrie they would have to build a new arena which means they could own the arena they play out of