Comments on: Will it be Mr. Wonderful or Mr. Balsillie for the Phoenix Coyotes? http://www.nhldigest.com/balsillie-vs-nhl-for-phoenix-coyotes/ NHL Hockey News and Equipment Reviews Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:21:49 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Chris Cairns http://www.nhldigest.com/balsillie-vs-nhl-for-phoenix-coyotes/comment-page-1/#comment-73589 Chris Cairns Fri, 22 May 2009 20:33:35 +0000 http://www.nhldigest.com/?p=1288#comment-73589 I realize that there is a lot more to this issue than just moving the team... however, one argument that keeps coming up is the location of Hamilton, and how it will be a Buffalo killer. I live twenty minutes from Buffalo on the Canadian side, and wanted to put my two cents in. It was stated that Buffalo thinks it gets 15 - 20% of it's revenue from Southern Ontario. I wonder what percentage of it is from the Niagara Region, as opposed to the rest of the Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton, and beyond. When you look at a map centered around Hamilton, there is a huge population in Brantford, Kitchener Waterloo, Hamilton itself, and southwestern suburbs of Toronto. I agree with Basille that Southern Ontario is underserved. It is a given that you can't get tickets to a Toronto game, so they are in a situation like the Rangers, Islanders, and Devils, where they have may have to share some space at some point. The one consideration with the Buffalo vs Hamilton debate is the Canada US Border which on game days is a significant wait. One needs to leave work early from Niagara to get across, get a bite to eat, and into their seats in a Buffalo game. Someone from Hamilton (or beyond) would have to leave considerably earlier, and it would not necessarily be a family friendly outing with an after midnight return home. Hamilton is a great location, and I don't think it would be a huge loss of revenue to Buffalo, because those in the Niagara region will probably still mostly support Buffalo, and those with the rest of Southern Ontario will support the other two teams. Go Leaf's Go!!! Chris I realize that there is a lot more to this issue than just moving the team… however, one argument that keeps coming up is the location of Hamilton, and how it will be a Buffalo killer.

I live twenty minutes from Buffalo on the Canadian side, and wanted to put my two cents in.

It was stated that Buffalo thinks it gets 15 – 20% of it’s revenue from Southern Ontario. I wonder what percentage of it is from the Niagara Region, as opposed to the rest of the Greater Toronto Area, Hamilton, and beyond.

When you look at a map centered around Hamilton, there is a huge population in Brantford, Kitchener Waterloo, Hamilton itself, and southwestern suburbs of Toronto. I agree with Basille that Southern Ontario is underserved.

It is a given that you can’t get tickets to a Toronto game, so they are in a situation like the Rangers, Islanders, and Devils, where they have may have to share some space at some point.

The one consideration with the Buffalo vs Hamilton debate is the Canada US Border which on game days is a significant wait. One needs to leave work early from Niagara to get across, get a bite to eat, and into their seats in a Buffalo game. Someone from Hamilton (or beyond) would have to leave considerably earlier, and it would not necessarily be a family friendly outing with an after midnight return home.

Hamilton is a great location, and I don’t think it would be a huge loss of revenue to Buffalo, because those in the Niagara region will probably still mostly support Buffalo, and those with the rest of Southern Ontario will support the other two teams.

Go Leaf’s Go!!!
Chris

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