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Quebec City announces bid for $400 million arena


devilzibook

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As I mentionned in another post, the mayor of Quebec city made an annoucement this morning about a brand new arena to welcome a NHL franchise.

Well just for you my fellow english friends, I found an article on TSN!

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=294991

QUEBEC -- Quebec City has announced its intention to build a modern arena in the hope of bringing back an NHL team, a decade and a half after the city lost its beloved Nordiques.

"The time has come to offer our population a modern arena. . . A modern nordic city needs a modern arena."

He told the news conference that hockey is a "religion" to Quebecers.

Aditionnaly, RDS (french TSN) add these little lines:

http://www.rds.ca/hockey/chroniques/284278.html

Translation:

During a meeting with NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman, last Friday in New York, Mr. Labeaume has received assurances that Quebec would climb to the top of the list of candidate cities for getting a team NHL.

In exchange, Quebec must make a formal commitment to undertake the construction of a new arena.

The management of NHL has even agreed that the team could play in the actual arena until the delivery of the new building.

Edited by Devilzibook
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I'd love to see a Canadien/Nords rivalry again.

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Why do they "deserve" another franchise? Just because it's Canada? I never understood the "deserving" part.

You know i dont get it either. "Deserve"....give me a break. And, i would like to see Quebec have a team again one day, but dont tell me about deserve. Cuz if anything they dont deserve it as their population and corporate base is far too small imo.

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bah .. you guys are haters .. canada breathes and breeds hockey, if you cant see how it helps the sport overall to have a franchise in canada rather then florida ... bah.. Im tired of arguing today and its only 12pm..

Actually, it doesn't help the sport as far as expanding its audience. You're simply going into a market that already embraces hockey. You're not gaining any new fans.

Not really a hater, if they get one they get one. I'm not against it. I just don't think they "deserve" it.

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I agree that you're not necessarily gaining new fans because the market already embraces hockey....

But I see the value of restoring a great rivalry helping the sport in terms of attention /storylines, and making games more compelling. I'd certainly be more drawn into watching Habs / Nords than say Thrashers / Coyotes.

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I agree that you're not necessarily gaining new fans because the market already embraces hockey....

But I see the value of restoring a great rivalry helping the sport in terms of attention /storylines, and making games more compelling. I'd certainly be more drawn into watching Habs / Nords than say Thrashers / Coyotes.

That may be true for you, but the average American sports fan can't even locate Montreal or Quebec City on a map. There is no way it would get any significant amount of coverage in the US.

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That may be true for you, but the average American sports fan can't even locate Montreal or Quebec City on a map. There is no way it would get any significant amount of coverage in the US.

(Disclaimer: This isn't targeted at you personally, it's just that the comment got me going.)

Are we really still going after the mythical "casual sports fan"? Come on, haven't we figured out by now that such an animal doesn't exist? We've already seen that dropping franchises into non-hockey areas rarely turns them into hockey hotbeds. (Dallas seems to be the sole exception here.) We've also seen that the average American sports fan couldn't be paid to give a crap about hockey. You might be able to hook them with playoff overtime, but otherwise, why bother trying to cater to people who don't want your product? It doesn't matter that Vegas doesn't have a team or that Phoenix is losing their team or that the league plays in cities that the average xenophobic American hasn't heard of, because they don't watch hockey to begin with! And once you do become a hockey fan, does it hurt your enjoyment of the game any to see places like Ottawa and Quebec City with teams while Vegas and KC go without?

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Actually, it doesn't help the sport as far as expanding its audience. You're simply going into a market that already embraces hockey. You're not gaining any new fans.

Not really a hater, if they get one they get one. I'm not against it. I just don't think they "deserve" it.

Good point Sammy, personally I think that any city that has had a franchise in the past does not deserve another, Quebec-Hartford-Winnipeg blew it the last time they had a team, why give them another one?

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Good point Sammy, personally I think that any city that has had a franchise in the past does not deserve another, Quebec-Hartford-Winnipeg blew it the last time they had a team, why give them another one?

I don't agree with that. Philly had a team before the Flyers, Pittsburgh before the Penguins, St. Louis before the Blues, Bay Area before the Sharks, and I'm sure everyone knows about the more recent Minnesota and Colorado situations. Bottom line is just because one franchise fails in a market doesn't mean another one can't succeed.

Edited by nyrsuck26
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I don't agree with that. Philly had a team before the Flyers, Pittsburgh before the Penguins, St. Louis before the Blues, Bay Area before the Sharks, and I'm sure everyone knows about the more recent Minnesota and Colorado situations. Bottom line is just because one franchise fails in a market doesn't mean another one can't succeed.

Indeed sir, but you know what succeeding is don't you, winning.(IMO)

The Rockies bailed from Denver because they sucked, same with Hartford, same with Winnipeg, same with Quebec(and Atlanta and Minnesota)

It's support=finace:-

Rockies sucked=nobody goes to watch them=team relocates due to financial reasons. All the above franchises moved due to lack of fan support, and I won't buy any bull$hit about not having a decent arena to play in. Just my opinion based on research.

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I hope for Quebec's sake that, if they build this arena, they actually do get an NHL team. It'd be such a waste of money to build a modern facility just to have no major pro team play there, especially in these economic times. Just ask Kansas City. Having an arena doesn't necessarily = getting a team.

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Indeed sir, but you know what succeeding is don't you, winning.(IMO)

The Rockies bailed from Denver because they sucked, same with Hartford, same with Winnipeg, same with Quebec(and Atlanta and Minnesota)

It's support=finace:-

Rockies sucked=nobody goes to watch them=team relocates due to financial reasons. All the above franchises moved due to lack of fan support, and I won't buy any bull$hit about not having a decent arena to play in. Just my opinion based on research.

That is very true and it only supports my point that markets should not be dismissed just because they had an earlier team that sucked. Teams thrive on front-runner fans. Without them, they can't make a large enough profit and either relocate or fall into oblivion.

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(Disclaimer: This isn't targeted at you personally, it's just that the comment got me going.)

Are we really still going after the mythical "casual sports fan"? Come on, haven't we figured out by now that such an animal doesn't exist? We've already seen that dropping franchises into non-hockey areas rarely turns them into hockey hotbeds. (Dallas seems to be the sole exception here.) We've also seen that the average American sports fan couldn't be paid to give a crap about hockey. You might be able to hook them with playoff overtime, but otherwise, why bother trying to cater to people who don't want your product? It doesn't matter that Vegas doesn't have a team or that Phoenix is losing their team or that the league plays in cities that the average xenophobic American hasn't heard of, because they don't watch hockey to begin with! And once you do become a hockey fan, does it hurt your enjoyment of the game any to see places like Ottawa and Quebec City with teams while Vegas and KC go without?

Yea I agree with most of this and would like to see a team in Quebec City. I was just disagreeing with the thought that restoring a rivalry between Quebec and Montreal would bring more attention to the sport.

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I was just disagreeing with the thought that restoring a rivalry between Quebec and Montreal would bring more attention to the sport.

I also said I agree that you're not necessarily gaining any new fans. I guess my point was that in any sport, a great rivalry will get a little more attention than a run-of-the-mill match-up. Will your casual American sports fan likely still not care that much? yeah, but for the fans the sport already has it would be a good thing.

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I also said I agree that you're not necessarily gaining any new fans. I guess my point was that in any sport, a great rivalry will get a little more attention than a run-of-the-mill match-up. Will your casual American sports fan likely still not care that much? yeah, but for the fans the sport already has it would be a good thing.

True, sorry for missing your point.

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(Disclaimer: This isn't targeted at you personally, it's just that the comment got me going.)

We've already seen that dropping franchises into non-hockey areas rarely turns them into hockey hotbeds. (Dallas seems to be the sole exception here.)

Yeah cuz Carolina, Tampa, and Anaheim have all been very unsuccessful :rolleyes:

Edited by devlman
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That may be true for you, but the average American sports fan can't even locate Montreal or Quebec City on a map. There is no way it would get any significant amount of coverage in the US.

It may not but I'm sure the owners will be happy to add a franchise that makes a profit, less money to dish out to the bottom dwellers. With the Americans trying to destroy the value of their dollar, Winnipeg, Quebec and Hamilton could all support franchises for the next 8 years at least.

Edited by Jas0nMacIsaac
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It may not but I'm sure the owners will be happy to add a franchise that makes a profit, less money to dish out to the bottom dwellers. With the Americans trying to destroy the value of their dollar, Winnipeg, Quebec and Hamilton could all support franchises for the next 8 years at least.

Yea at the end of the day that's the whole idea. Not to get coverage in the US but to make money. I guess I should have put a disclaimer in my post saying I'm not opposed to a team in Quebec City.

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