Will Hartford get another NHL team?

[The Voice of Reason]

UConn hasn't fallen, the WBB is #1, the fans have gotten spoiled.

[MadVlad]

MLS could play at the Rent, no new field needed...

[The Voice of Reason]

The answer is of course yes.

But people do not get civic pride from a wintergarden or museum like they do from a pro sports team. Cities get enormous pride from having pro sports teams. They are huge phalic symbols to the world, just like skyscrapers. And that is why cities spend gobs of time and money dreaming about pro sports. Its what keeps residents drooling as well.

MLS could play at the Rent, no new field needed...

[blackstone]

MLS could play at the Rent, no new field needed...

[Lowerdeck]

We should be considered lucky the Mohegans decided to buy a WNBA team and bring it to Montville. That's the only pro sport in Connecticut right now, and people still like UConn better.

I would imagine there would be more Red Bulls fans in greater Hartford than the Revolution. And either way, a new team in Hartford would draw better than the present support for Red Bulls and Revolution combined. The Rent has already hosted international friendlies, whenever those come around they sell tickets like crazy and it's big news on 3 and 30.

I would rather see MLS to come here than NBA. I'm not a fan of the MLS or the American game, but if a team came to Hartford I'd definitely come out to see a few games. NHL wouldn't be bad, but that (or NBA) won't happen for a while.

[The Voice of Reason]

I would be one of those guys who buys 4 mid level season tickets just to help promote the team by bringing non soccer/MLS fans.

[MadVlad]

i think the lessons of our nfl, nba (as they showed with the wnba), and nhl experiences tells us that any league trying to be major is not going to put a team in hartford between nyc and boston. too bad our political people said no to gambling in hartford. that would have changed things, as it would have in bridgeport. the money is monstrous. as it stands, the game plan for any major pro league is "no hartford".

[MadVlad]

We should be considered lucky the Mohegans decided to buy a WNBA team and bring it to Montville. That's the only pro sport in Connecticut right now, and people still like UConn better.

[blackstone]

The halfway between Boston and New York fable is flat out wrong. Any businessman can see that Hartford is the largest media market without a pro sports franchise, and it's a very rich market to boot. We aren't talking about MLB here, where most people are already fanatic about the Red Sox or Yankees, we are talking NHL where the team here already had a fan base, and most people hate the Bruins and Rangers. The point of the comment "it's too close to Boston and New York" is that it implies the NY and Bos teams have fanbases here. The Bruins have a minor fanbase here, mostly now people over 60 that were fans prior to the Whalers existing, but the Rangers had almost no one. Even now, with the Wolf Pack here, the Rangers STILL have almost no fans here. Growing up I knew NO Rangers fans, and probably 5 Bruins fans, including my Dad. And he would still go to Whalers games and hope they win, except when playing the Bruins. I don't know about you, but I've been to 1 Rangers game and 3 Bruins games since the Whalers left, so they certainly won't be losing my money if we get a new franchise. Also keep in mind, the Whalers did a pathetic job of marketing the team, even in their core area of Hartford/Springfield. They could easily push marketing out to New Haven, New London, Vermont, and Albany. They completely ignored markets that could have opened doors for them. So, while I understand while people may have the NY/Bos pereception, it is flat out wrong, and any businessman looking to have a successful team would know that.

[MadVlad]

your point is well taken. my point is that the "leagues" are against putting a team in hartford. league interests are what count. i believe that leagues are not interested in putting a team here when nyc and boston are against it. those two view us as their battleground for fans. and what they want counts to the league, whether it is the nba (and wnba) or nhl, or mls.

[Lowerdeck]

The Mohegans were opportunists. When news broke that the WNBA was going to change it's rules to allow markets that don't have NBA franchises, there was a group organizing in Hartford to bring a team to the city (especially since Hartford is THE reason for the change in the rule). The Mohegans, already being an organization, stepped in and offered their arena. The WNBA was so amped to get into CT they took that offer instead of waiting for the Hartford group to get organized and acquire a team. They essentially relegated their league to the middle of nowhere in a casino, if they had had even a smidgen of patience, they'd have had the market they really wanted, and have a stronger franchise for it. So I'm going to disagree that we should consider ourselves lucky that the Mohegans have the team, the only people that are lucky are the Mohegans, everyone else would be better suited with the team playing out of the Hartford Civic Center....

[Luca Brasi]

your point is well taken. my point is that the "leagues" are against putting a team in hartford. league interests are what count. i believe that leagues are not interested in putting a team here when nyc and boston are against it. those two view us as their battleground for fans. and what they want counts to the league, whether it is the nba (and wnba) or nhl, or mls.