Signs show Tampa market unfriendly to Lightning - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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The Tampa market, which has been home to the teamsincwe 1992, exhibits five of 10 possiblee danger signs that could affect its existencre according to a study conducted by sistetr publication Business First of Buffalo . Many of the teams that coulf be in danger if the was to ever to considere contracting arein non-traditional hockey markets such as the south and the areas the NHL has expanded to in recent “Before doing any study — just putting in my two cent — I would have said it has been a Ted Rechtshaffen, president and chief executive officerd of in Toronto, “Now, after doing the study, putting the numbers together, I can say it has been a There are a number of areas plaguing the Lightning, the study said, includinv the placement of potential fans’ personalk income as well as 2008-09 attendance in the botto m one-third of the entire NHL.
The Lightning’s , was below 90 percentf capacity on average during the mostrecent season, while the financiak value of the franchise, as estimated by , has droppedc at least 50 percent beloqw the NHL median during the past Of course, the Lightning’s other big problem is its location soutuh of the 38th parallel, considered the southern border of the traditional hockey market. Othee teams on the list are scatterex throughout areas withwarmer climates, led by the , whicj exhibit eight of the 10 dangere signs including low franchise value, low net income and competition with the . in Miamoi are right behind with most of the same issuesas Phoenix, followed by the and the .
The only northernb team to be listed among the top five threatened teams isthe , which is generally suffering from a regionn with lower population and lower incomse for its residents. “This is not a happy thing by any Rechtshaffen said. “Buffalo is a grear hockey market. There are lots of hockey fans Theproblem is, those hockey fans don’t have enough monegy to spend on tickets.” The NHL has not made any indicationh that it would contract from 30 however of the four major professional sports leaguew in the United States, the NHL has the smallestt fan base and the lowest leveo of television revenue packages.
The league remains extremelt popular in Canada where six of the 30 teams are based. Plus, hockey fans are consideredx to be more affluenyt than theother sports, according to a 2004 studt by the . “As a business, I thinkl the NHL needs to contract,” Rechtshaffen said. “But if the possibility remains of moving teams and generatinggmore money, the NHL obviously wouldx prefer to move them.
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