The Business of HockeyDiscuss the financial and business aspects of the NHL. Franchise sales, valuations, TV contracts, ratings, expansion, relocation, the CBA and work stoppage discussion goes here.
A few of us here have, from time to time, discussed the costs of buying and running a minor league team. You can get into the ECHL for around $750k, and it costs about $1M/year to run the team. AHL appears to start at roughly 2x that.
It's certainly doable, for someone with the passion to make it happen.
A few of us here have, from time to time, discussed the costs of buying and running a minor league team. You can get into the ECHL for around $750k, and it costs about $1M/year to run the team. AHL appears to start at roughly 2x that.
It's certainly doable, for someone with the passion to make it happen.
$250x5,000 people is $1.25 Million.
Let's say we have 25,000 members who post somewhat frequently.
Would it be out of the realm of plausibility to consider 20% of those have $250 a year to put into stock for a minor league team?
I would be in pretty seriously on this one though. I think we'd have to go through some capital assuring measures though such as overshooting our goal for the first season and starting renewals quickly after establishing the franchise.
Isn't there a website someone posted a while back that is trying to get enough people to pledge some small number ($100 or so) in order to buy MLSE or just the Leafs? I remember the discussion about it, and the issues that it would raise in having like 1 million people owning a sports team.
Not going to lie, if I was a multimillionaire, I'd seriously consider it (along with bringing a minor league or independent league baseball team to my hometown of Champaign-Urbana).
Location of a said team would be an issue, I'm pretty sure most of this forum member would be scattered all around North America, maybe finding out which minor-junior or senior teams in financial troubles would be the first step.
Not going to lie, if I was a multimillionaire, I'd seriously consider it (along with bringing a minor league or independent league baseball team to my hometown of Champaign-Urbana).
The Northwest Indiana area could definitely support a team, in my opinion.
Unless you mean a hockey team. Don't think that would work in the 219. Wolves are too strong all around here.
Not going to lie, I've gotten the vibe people have gotten a little wary of going to that area for cheap baseball lately.
I haven't got that feeling at all, and most of the people who do like the Wolves just do because they're cheap. Cut the travel costs by 95% and you've got yourself a nice fan base. You could probably include the south siders too.
The larger problem by far is keeping 5,000 people interested in covering annual operating costs. Though there might be some unique marketing and sponsorship opportunities to lighten the burden.
IMO, a more realistic way to do this would be to find a franchise with cash-flow issues and get the current owner to agree to sell a 51% stake. That way you only spend half as much and ownership decisions might be a little more focused and... um... smart.
Not going to lie, I've gotten the vibe people have gotten a little wary of going to that area for cheap baseball lately.
I haven't got that feeling at all, and most of the people who do like the Wolves just do because they're cheap. Cut the travel costs by 95% and you've got yourself a nice fan base. You could probably include the south siders too.
I've never been to the Steel Yard, but driving by it a few times it doesn't seem to be in that bad of area. I could be wrong.
As for another hockey team, there just isn't a need for a 3rd team, as the Express have shown. People don't want to spend the same amount to see 'AA' when they can see 'AAA' in Rosemont.
Last edited by IU Hawks fan: 04-09-2012 at 01:20 PM.
The Rail Cats actually draw fairly well, and their ballpark is a major staple of the Gary community, so they're doing just fine.
Then again, I worked for the Schaumburg Flyers for a season (aka, one of the two reasons why the Northern League collapsed, the other being the Lake County Fielders, who were owned by the same dude), so my views of other independent teams might be a big slanted.
And if I were being completely honest, if I did own the rights to an AHL or ECHL franchise and wanted to stay in the general midwest area, I'd probably look long and hard and the Indianapolis market. You'd have to get rid of the Ice, as I doubt that two teams could be sustainable there, but honestly always thought that Indy, being a downright fantastic minor league town already, would actually be a great fit for either league if done right, the fact that it's already oversaturated as a pro sports market notwithstanding.
