OT Sport : NFL Lambs vs Whiners -- Hockey vs NFL Relocation

[callitwhatyouwant]

There isn't really any place to post this on the forum with the death of the NFL talk but figured it would be an interesting place to post this. What did hockey get right about their moves to Seattle/Utah/Vegas etc.. That the NFL got wrong with LA. This is in regards to building up their fan base for those particular teams. Not necessarily whether or not they are selling games out.

Last night you had a pivotal game for the 49ers and Lambs where the 49ers who are beat up to hell had to go to LA to get a win. I didn't watch the game as I had work, but I saw a clip today of the stuffed run at the end. And all you see on the banner is "rams house" and then a sea of Red. Vegas seems to be the number 1 destination for opposing fans for hockey and their place is still black and gold. Utah and Seattle seem to have a fun thing going. I realize Atlanta never took off but was that the city or the leagues fault? I was too young to get that movement.

What is the NHL doing correctly that the Lambs and Chargers can't get figured out for their home events?

[Frank Barone]

There isn't really any place to post this on the forum with the death of the NFL talk but figured it would be an interesting place to post this. What did hockey get right about their moves to Seattle/Utah/Vegas etc.. That the NFL got wrong with LA. This is in regards to building up their fan base for those particular teams. Not necessarily whether or not they are selling games out.

Last night you had a pivotal game for the 49ers and Lambs where the 49ers who are beat up to hell had to go to LA to get a win. I didn't watch the game as I had work, but I saw a clip today of the stuffed run at the end. And all you see on the banner is "rams house" and then a sea of Red. Vegas seems to be the number 1 destination for opposing fans for hockey and their place is still black and gold. Utah and Seattle seem to have a fun thing going. I realize Atlanta never took off but was that the city or the leagues fault? I was too young to get that movement.

What is the NHL doing correctly that the Lambs and Chargers can't get figured out for their home events?

I don't think the Rams and Chargers are doing anything wrong regarding how they conduct their home games. They do have some inherent problems though.

LA was without an NFL team for 20+ years. During this time, pro football fans in the LA area became fans of the 49ers and Raiders mainly. Also, there are a lot of transplants in LA that root for the team from the area they moved from. When the Rams and Chargers sold their SSLs and season tickets, a lot of brokers, etc. ended up owning the tickets and sell them to visiting fans. Since a lot of people outside LA want to visit LA and Sofi, most if not all Rams and Chargers home games have more away fans than local.

The primary problem they will continue to have IMO is that they put two teams in LA. Stan Kroenke had the money and interest in owning an LA NFL team, which I understand was important to the league. He invested heavily in Sofi, whereas the Chargers invested very little. But having the Chargers also in LA would seem to be a drag on what the Rams are trying to accomplish regarding building a fanbase.

[TAFKAP]

IMHO it comes down to how the leagues treat their fans. The NHL did EVERYTHING they could to save the Coyotes, to the point of reserving the name and franchise history. Vegas and Seattle being expansion and not causing fans to lose their teams. Now I get that this opinion is not shared by Canadians. The NFL took all the cash they could and thought they wouldn't get held responsible. They [shirt] on their fans.

[IsDurbanodoingtime]

It's a known quantity how well niners show up in LA. Pretty sure the league is ok with two teams in socal. They aren't worried.

[DawgDad]

Atlanta (Thrashers) was a disaster created primarily by an utterly dysfunctional and eventually disinterested ownership group that also owned the Hawks and were suing each other into oblivion. In the end, when the team was looking for new ownership the combination of the big money in Atlanta (say, for instance, Arthur Blank) and the City politicians turned their backs, and Bettman was more than willing to extort as much money as he could from Winnipeg.

Atlanta may be a vibrant thriving City attractive to many but most of the people I hang out with avoid it like the plague. Most of the hockey fans around here ring the City in the suburbs. Notably, the Braves were essentially invited to leave, and they did.

Also, the arena situation for hockey was not fan-friendly. We weren't even allowed in for pre-game warmups, by design they had everyone lined up outside and in the CNN Center until 10 minutes prior to game time.

[callitwhatyouwant]

It's a known quantity how well niners show up in LA. Pretty sure the league is ok with two teams in socal. They aren't worried.

I'm not saying they are worried. They are filling up the stadium. I meant more how do you build up a real fanbase? Maybe I just view sports a bit differently, but part of the fandom for me is experiencing a tailgate, or going to a sports bar where there's a bunch of the same fans with you. It's the experience that ends up making you like the team. When the Lambs left STL, I wasn't living in STL anymore so I tried to still follow the current players but Kroenke just kept making that harder and harder. I tried to adopt a new team, like the Falcons, Titans, or Saints. But I never got to attend a game. It was weird just picking an arbitrary team on TV and watching.

That is more the point. How did the NHL get it right and get the fans to embrace the team right away. I know a couple examples are that they are new. But Vegas definitely is the quintessential city where the residents are fans of other teams. And people travel there all the time (I guess thats changing). We've also seen multiple city moves with the mild, starts,jets, yotes etc.