Karmanos fired from his company

[Vowelguy]

http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle...ml?ana=e_trig_rdup&s=newsletter&ed=2013-10-01

 

[Adios]

Whalers are still never coming back. Unfortunately. Unless there's a sudden population shift towards here.

 

[IMind]

Whalers are still never coming back. Unfortunately. Unless there's a sudden population shift towards here.

Shifting demographics aside... we'd need a new arena... before we'd even have a chance... and that seems unlikely in the near term.

 

[Danzz]

F- Karmanos.

 

[Husky25]

Shifting demographics aside... we'd need a new arena... before we'd even have a chance... and that seems unlikely in the near term.

My wife and I went to Denver a couple weeks back when the Sox were out playing the Rockies. The night before our game, we went to the Dallas Stars/Avalanche preseason game. There is absolutely NO (Cant emphasize this little word enough) way that the NHL come back to Hartford with the XL Center in its current configuration.

It's just a completely different ball game than it was in 1997. It's not about seating capacity. It's about amenities and the in arena experience. The State and Global Spectrum would literally have to gut the building, MSG Style, and rebuild the insides from the sublevel up. Not only do concessions not compare, but also the restroom facilities, score boards, and luxury boxes There is not another modern arena in the country that puts its highest paying patrons at a worse vantage point than the lowest paying patrons like the XL does. This doesn't even consider locker, dressing, and green rooms, team and facility offices, and other event venues. The video board alone is out of reach. The Pepsi Center employs a Cowboys' Stadium type system with their overhead and ribbon boards.

I know you have to spend money to make money, but the ROI is mostly likely not large enough or quick enough for the State in the era of $60 Million payrolls (There was no Cap or Floor in the mid 70's).

 

[IMind]

I think Hartford will eventually have a new arena... but it'll be too late for an NHL team. I was looking at the Winnipeg and Oklahoma City models. You have to build a 21st century arena FIRST before a team will even consider you. I think Hartford actually had a really strong window between 2002-2010.. Both the Devils and the Islanders were in awful arenas and if they had made a strong pre-emptive move before they both had arenas it might have worked out. Now that the Devil's have a nice new arena and the Islanders are in Barclays forget about it.