That’s exactly what the Dallas Stars realized when they started building ice rinks in a part of the country that knew about as much about the sport as they know about skiing in the Sahara.
Hockey was a foreign language in Texas when the Stars moved there in 1993, but has since become part of the local sports culture thanks to a massive undertaking that’s strengthened a fan base and energized an entire generation of Stars fanatics.
We now have a policy where a persons own comments are needed to go along with a link to a story. Also a bit of the story should be in quote tags.
Now that being said. The hotel where I work is used each year as a home base for a tournament for young kids. Teams from all over the US and Canada, and there were at least 4 from Texas. I say kudos to the Dallas Stars for getting down into the grass roots and promoting the game. To the rest if the non traditional hockey markets, do your business a favour and read from the Stars playbook
More like "If you win, they will come", otherwise the luster will wear off pretty quickly and the team will be on the move.
It takes time to build a fan base, and imo NHL teams especially ones in non traditional markets help develope the game at a grassroots level. Once you build a generation of young hockey players you have created a hockey market.
The only southern cities I see with successful hockey programs are cities with successful NHL teams. The fact that Dallas became very good, very quickly was a major boost for its fan base, the public's desire to learn and play the sport and ultimately the growth of youth programs. We may never see another Brian Leetch regardless of the health of the sport in Texas, but if the state can produce a few decent players it still doesn't really make the whole process and the necessary dedication worth it. Texas will never become a reliable producer of NHL players. Hockey has been in Cali for 40 years now with 4 franchises and the state has only produced a handful of players. The state will never be considered a viable hockey market. Neither will Texas.
Hockey at the grassroot level is not a bad thing. If Nashville can get a hockey into the grassroots they might get suppport from more people. I hope this is a long term goal for the new owners, getting kids into hockey at an early age can plant seeds for new Nashville fans of the future.
At least Dallas has a chance of succeeding. I didn't mean to sound anti-Dallas. I've always liked the organization and the fans and I have 0 problem with professional hockey being in Texas. The fact that the team won in just 6 years is a major success story and the main reason why hockey will remain in Dallas for many years to come. But as for development of the sport in Texas I just can't picture it. Now Nashville on the other hand just completely seems like a lost cause to me. The people just don't seem to care at all. The team ices one of the most exciting teams in the league last year, breaks all it's franchise records and they still can't meet the league average in ticket sales. Nashville and Phoenix are the 2 hockey cities right now that I seriously doubt would embrace the sport even if they won the Stanley Cup. I really don't know what they would have to do to get people interested in the sport.
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Last edited by Quintessence : 09-13-2007 at 11:18 PM.
I really don't know what they would have to do to get people interested in the sport.
Help fund municipal arenas and sponsor minor hockey People must first know and understand the game before any embracing takes place. Its not going to happen overnight, and it appears they have an ownership group that realizes this.
You can fund and sponsor all you want. Nashville is a football city. The only way you can make people pay attention to the sport is to win with a professional team. When the team wins and the people still don't pay attention then you have issues like the Preds are having right now. Try and sponsor hockey in the heart of Mexico and see how far it gets without a successful NHL franchise. You can't get people in a non-traditional market into the sport without first showing them just how wonderful the finished product is. The people of Nashville have seen the finished product for 9 years now, they just don't like it. There is no way that any professional team anywhere in any sport should make the playoffs for 3 straight seasons, improving every year and then face potential relocation. It's the signs of a complete and utter rejection of the sport by the general populace. Hockey needs to get out of Nashville now or they'll risk being the new Montréal Expos. The Nashville experiment has failed.
Edit: And now I have to go to bed. XD
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Last edited by Quintessence : 09-13-2007 at 11:42 PM.
Explain the support that the Leafs get, and the support the Rangers and Redwings got before they finally won a cup again? Fact is you have to get the game itself inside the heads of people, not the NHL team. Once you can get grassroot support, the rest is easy.
A game grows in Texas
A game grows in Texas
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