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malikr65

What would be best for Hartford  

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  1. 1. What would be best for Hartford

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And also, from watching Rentchsler (did I spell it right?) Field on TV, it kind of looks like the seats are bleacher style.

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There are about 8,000 chairbacks. The rest of the 32,000 seats are bleacher style. I'm not exactly thrilled either, but what can you do. All of the UConn football fans I've talked to say they actually prefer the bleachers because it encourages people to stand up moreso than if they are in a seat with a back on it. Perhaps they have a good point. However, I'm still hoping that one day they will convert most, if not all the bleachers to chairbacks. The stadium was built with expansion in mind, so maybe they'll put in more chairbacks when/if they decide to expand in the future.

The chairback seats are called "VIP seating" and it shows in the cost. I sat in the chairbacks at Wednesday's soccer game, each seat was $85.

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I have never been to the Mohegan Sun Casino but most of you guys say the drive isn't bad but I would still like to see the Sun play at the Civic Center or at a brand new facility in or near downtown. Playing way out there just makes them feel like they are not CT's team. And also, from watching Rentchsler (did I spell it right?) Field on TV, it kind of looks like the seats are bleacher style. Are they and if they are does that bother anybody? I personally think that they should have individual seats but that would probably have skyrocketed the price. I would love to see an arena football team in hartford. I enjoy watching it on TV when the NFL is in the offseason. Also, I think Hartford and the metro area are more than big enough to support a NBA & NHL team at the same time. We should take the Whalers back from North Carolina and convince a dead end NBA team ( LA CLIPPERS) (ATLANTA HAWKS) to come play in Hartford. But i definitely think that they would need a new arena to play in. Maybe they could build one in East Hartford. Even though I would rather have them in Downtown Hartford, where could an arena fit? I still wish that Uconn's stadium was built in Hartford rather than across the river.

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There's room north of downtown in that ocean of surface parking. There's also room over near the bushnell in another ocean of surface parking.

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Most football stadiums only have bleachers, I don't know of any who all stadium seats, at least the ones I have been to. In fact, I don't believe Sun Devil stadium here in Tempe has a sigle stadium seat besides club level and the suites. If you had a stadium with all seats it would lower the capacity quite a bit.

Anyone ever been to Rupp arena in Lexington? One of the worst places to watch a game. It was bleachers in a arena! The place isn't any bigger than the HCC but holds about 3,000 more people because of this.

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Louisville has all chair backs.  I think it may be the only stadium in college football with no bleachers.

stadium-back-corner.JPG

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Wow, that is crazy. From seeing that stadium on ESPN a few times, it looks like a nice atmosphere. Lousiville really has become a good football school as of late. Nice adition to the Big East, especialy for the best basketball conference in college.

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I voted for NBA. UConn Huskies basketball is extremely popular in CT and I think an NBA team would complement the Huskies nicely. I'm sorry, but I don't consider the NHL to be on the same level as the NBA, MLB or NFL, at least not while Gary Bettman's around. Bettman's crusade to water down hockey and relocate teams to places that didn't really care about hockey (and still don't!) has been a big blunder on his part. Nationally, hockey is just not as popular as the other sports. And Bettman, unfortunately, does not understand that. Even more unfortunate is that Bettman won't even consider keeping teams in places like Hartford and Winnipeg, where fan support was strong and loyal. At least when the original Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore in 1995, the NFL promised and delivered a new Browns team to Cleveland. The NBA did the same thing for Charlotte when the Hornets moved to New Orleans with the Charlotte Bobcats. OTOH, the NHL has done no such thing for Hartford, and maybe if they had, they'd have more credibility in my book. And what about that lock-out?

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Any new NHL teams will be in southern cities...more money.

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Big mistake if the NHL keeps expanding in the Sunbelt. It's just not popular down there. Not with pro and college football, pro and college basketball, baseball and NASCAR already there. NHL hockey will only get a fraction of the fans that the other sports have, all of which have established followings. Bettman is delusional if he thinks there is all this untapped fanbase in the Sunbelt for ice hockey. As it is, the southern NHL teams are, by and large, not doing all that well, as far as popularity is concerned.

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But are those cities wedged between Boston and New York?

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Baltimore is wedged between Philly and DC and it has two sports teams. In fact, Baltimore is within commuting distance of DC and has two major-league teams of its own. Surely Hartford can support at least one. Baltimore and Hartford are similarly-sized TV markets (Baltimore is 23rd, Hartford 27th).

As for the loyalty of New Englanders to the Pats, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins, that's probably why Providence may never see a major league team of its own. Providence's close proxmity to Boston also doesn't help. But with Boston and NYC both being two hours from Hartford, it's far enough away from both of them that it could have at least one team that stands out on its own, and it can draw fans from surrounding areas, such as New Haven, New London/Norwich, Springfield and Albany.

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Very true about how MLB and NFL have a larger fan base. I am a fan of the Celtics, but a lot bigger fan of the Redsox and Patriots. I have never liked the Bruins and never will. I love Boston sports, but the Bruins really have no fan base in Connecticut except for maybe northeastern parts near Putnam.

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Very true about how MLB and NFL have a larger fan base. I am a fan of the Celtics, but a lot bigger fan of the Redsox and Patriots. I have never liked the Bruins and never will. I love Boston sports, but the Bruins really have no fan base in Connecticut except for maybe northeastern parts near Putnam.

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I'm surprised the Bruins even have a fan base in Putnam. :lol:

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Baltimore is wedged between Philly and DC and it has two sports teams. In fact, Baltimore is within commuting distance of DC and has two major-league teams of its own. Surely Hartford can support at least one. Baltimore and Hartford are similarly-sized TV markets (Baltimore is 23rd, Hartford 27th).

As for the loyalty of New Englanders to the Pats, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins, that's probably why Providence may never see a major league team of its own. Providence's close proxmity to Boston also doesn't help. But with Boston and NYC both being two hours from Hartford, it's far enough away from both of them that it could have at least one team that stands out on its own, and it can draw fans from surrounding areas, such as New Haven, New London/Norwich, Springfield and Albany.

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Please remember that the NFL has twice considered Providence, during playoffs, the home city of the Pats. Yes, the trophy has first been shown in Boston, but the facts are that more than 55% of the season tickets belong to holders south of the stadium. By the way, if the Hartford civic center's roof hadn't fallen, then the Whalers would have been in Providence. The 3000 extra seas added to the refurbished Hartford Center made the difference.

Do I think the Hartford-New Britan-New Haven area could support an NFL team? Definitely! Put a stadium off of 91 north of Wallingford. Similar to Foxboro between Boston-Providence and equi-distant to Worcester. Football has always been bigtime, right after B-ball, in Ct. 48,000 to a high school game in New Haven. Wow, now Uconn needs to pick up the ball.

Mark

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Providence never would have gotten the Whalers. The Bruins would never, ever let a team in Providence, they have their thumb on Providence just like the Rangers now have their thumb on Hartford. Besides, even at the time of the roof collapse, Hartford was doing very well economically, much better than Providence.

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Please remember that the NFL has twice considered Providence, during playoffs,  the home city of the Pats.  Yes, the trophy has first been shown in Boston, but the facts are that  more than 55% of the season tickets belong to holders south of the stadium.  By the way, if the Hartford civic center's roof hadn't fallen, then the Whalers would have been in Providence. The 3000 extra seas added to the refurbished Hartford Center made the difference.

Do I think the Hartford-New Britan-New Haven area could support an NFL team? Definitely! Put a stadium off of 91 north of Wallingford. Similar to Foxboro between Boston-Providence and equi-distant to Worcester.  Football has always been bigtime, right after B-ball, in Ct.  48,000 to a high school game in New Haven. Wow, now Uconn needs to pick up the ball.

Mark

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Not sure where you get your data from, but I had been a Whaler fan since they moved here, and I have never heard anything about them moving to Providence, not once. Providence may have had a shot when they moved from Boston, but Howard Baldwin liked Hartford better, moved them here, and never looked back. He is still to this day trying to get the city a franchise, to this day. If he could get his hands on a team, and the Rangers vacated the HCC, he'd be here tomorrow with that team....

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Not sure where you get your data from, but I had been a Whaler fan since they moved here, and I have never heard anything about them moving to Providence, not once.  Providence may have had a shot when they moved from Boston, but Howard Baldwin liked Hartford better, moved them here, and never looked back.  He is still to this day trying to get the city a franchise, to this day.  If he could get his hands on a team, and the Rangers vacated the HCC, he'd be here tomorrow with that team....

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They had initially looked at Providence before they chose Hartford. Our CC was too small, 12000 for hockey. The city gave no indication they wanted to expand the CC. They chose to stay with R.I. Reds of the AHL. And as I said the collapse of the roof made it easier for Hartford to capture/keep the Whalers, even though the Whalers had made the choice before the collapse. The Whalers were apprehensive of sharing the CC with an AHL team .

If I remember correctly, there was a question of hockey support in Ct. The closest pro hockey team, at that time, was in Springfield. Big business in Hartford came through for the team. Fan support came through and then they were screwd by greed.

Mark

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They had initially looked at Providence before they chose Hartford. Our CC was too small, 12000 for hockey. The city gave no indication they wanted to expand the CC. They chose to stay with R.I. Reds of the AHL. And as I said the collapse of the roof made it easier for Hartford to capture/keep the Whalers, even though the Whalers had made the choice before the collapse.  The Whalers were apprehensive of sharing the CC with an AHL team .

If I remember correctly, there was a question of hockey support in Ct. The closest pro hockey team, at that time, was in Springfield.  Big business in Hartford came through for the team. Fan support came through and then they were screwd by greed.

Mark

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OK, that sounds a lot more accurate than your first statement. And, there were AHL teams in New Haven, and Springfield at the time, if memory serves. Connecticut does have some hockey history, contrary to polular belief.

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OK, that sounds a lot more accurate than your first statement.  And, there were AHL teams in New Haven, and Springfield at the time, if memory serves.  Connecticut does have some hockey history, contrary to polular belief.

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Great discussion about all the economic, business, and sport reasons for the location of pro teams in NE.

I have been involved on the edges of the phenomeon in Phoenix, Tampa, and Charlotte. I can offer this...it is about the market money. The move will continue to southern cities except for rock solid northern cities.

Providence always has had an opening look edge over Hartford but has an interesting love-hate relationaship to Boston. What I mean by that is while the Patriots are located close to Providence they sit close enough to draw from Boston, the Red Sox are more of a Boston-northern NE draw, the Celtics a city draw, and the Bruins a Boston team with a bit of a Providence draw. So Providence is in a supporting role politically.

An example that is very similar the NE thing is the Tampa Bay area...the Bucs play in Tampa and draw from St Petersburg, Lightning play in Tampa and draw from St Pete, and the Rays play in St Pete and draw (a little) from Tampa - if those two cities were not 40 m from each other - no way...hence the name "the Tampa Bay this or that..."

Hartford is not within competive range of Boston but too close to the monster NYC. When compared to other cities, it is not the premium choice. Bottom line, very tough to get a major league team into Hartford to stay. I see the major league set-up in NE as status quo for decades UNLESS Boston does not accomodate a city team (unlikely due to tradition of Red Sox,Celtics,Bruins) and Providence offers it the royal red carpet...You see, in the end the owners win- still close enough for the money of both metros.

Just my national perspective...off to Dallas.

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Great discussion about all the economic, business, and sport reasons for the location of pro teams in NE.

I have been involved on the edges of the phenomeon in Phoenix, Tampa, and Charlotte. I can offer this...it is about the market money. The move will continue to southern cities except for rock solid northern cities.

Providence always has had an opening look edge over Hartford but has an interesting love-hate relationaship to Boston. What I mean by that is while the Patriots are located close to Providence they sit close enough to draw from Boston, the Red Sox are more of a Boston-northern NE draw, the Celtics a city draw, and the Bruins a Boston team with a bit of a Providence draw. So Providence is in a supporting role politically.

An example that is very similar the NE thing is the Tampa Bay area...the Bucs play in Tampa and draw from St Petersburg, Lightning play in Tampa and draw from St Pete, and the Rays play in St Pete and draw (a little) from Tampa - if those two cities were not 40 m from each other - no way...hence the name "the Tampa Bay this or that..."

Hartford is not within competive range of Boston but too close to the monster NYC. When compared to other cities, it is not the premium choice. Bottom line, very tough to get a major league team into Hartford to stay. I see the major league set-up in NE as status quo for decades UNLESS Boston does not accomodate a city team (unlikely due to tradition of Red Sox,Celtics,Bruins) and Providence offers it the royal red carpet...You see, in the end the owners win- still close enough for the money of both metros.

Just my national perspective...off to Dallas.

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The bottom line is that Hartford is a smart choice for the current NHL and the hole they have dug themselves into. CT could very easily be the most enthusiastic market in the NHL and many teams from the sunbelt would easily do better here then where they are currently. I think Prov. would have a harder time supporting a team as the entire state of RI is only about the size of Metro Hartford and the Metro Boston fans have a team. There would be no draw for a RI team in CT. Here in Hartford we would certainly draw fans from the entire state of CT and western MA this time around. I personally think we will get a team in the near future as someone will figure out that Hockey should go where Hockey is wanted. We will need to grow in order to attract the NBA, but a team could be supported, again due to the fact that CT is a state of 3.5 Million people and Western MA is included and would push the number over 4 Million in terms of regional population.

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Hartford is not within competive range of Boston but too close to the monster NYC. 

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I don't buy that. I lived in the Hartford area for more than 20 years and have lived in the NY area for more than 2 years and I can tell you Hartford is very much on its own, there is very little influence, if any, from NYC. Hartford is 115 miles from NYC. Despite what the offical stats say, Waterbury is not a suburb of NYC. Suburban NYC extends, at the farthest, to New Haven.

When compared to other cities, it is not the premium choice.

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Compared to other cities of similar size, ie Louisville, Providence, Buffalo, Richmond, etc, Hartford has proven to be one of the top choices.

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Hartford itself doesn't have to be within New York's sphere in order for it's market share to be diminished. There's a big piece of Southwest Connecticut that is not going to swing towards supporting a Hartford team over a New York team and that is the problem that Hartford faces. It's the same reason that Providence won't get a pro team unless someone defects from Boston (or in a very unlikely senario, MLB decides Boston can support an AL and NL franchise, and the NL goes to Providence, very very very unlikely). Hartford has a nice large ring of people around it, unfortunately not all of them are oriented towards Hartford. I think the only way we'll see major league hockey come back to Hartford is if the league implodes and is reborn in a new form without the southern teams. It'd be nice to get a team back in Quebec too you know, if the NHL can't make it work in Quebec, I see little hope for Hartford.

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