Gary Bettman, the man who brought the NHL to the Sun Belt, now offers hockey in a city that is built for winter sports.
Pay no attention to that dawdling franchise in Arizona. Bettman wants hockey in Las Vegas.
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After all, the Coyotes weren't the team with the NHL's lowest average attendance last season. That dubious distinction went to the Hurricanes, who these days pass for a stiff breeze.
Vegas is pro sports' flavor of the day. The Raiders want a lick; so do other teams in need of cash … sorry, we meant to say a burgeoning base of support, no matter how transient. The NFL isn't the only operation looking to stick a finger in the Sin City pie … sorry, we meant to say grab as much money as possible from expansion or transfer fees.
Soon to be at 31, the NHL likely will grow to 32 if it can find a city in the western half of North America that can support a franchise. Canada is all but tapped out — sorry, Saskatoon — so the usual suspects now are Portland, Seattle, Kansas City and just about any other sizable urban area west of the Mississippi. Viva, San Antonio!
The NHL must expand to the west, you see, to reestablish balance. Moving the Red Wings and Blue Jackets to the Eastern Conference left Bettman's game of Risk overloaded to one side. Vegas and city-to-be-named would give the NHL 16 teams in the East, 16 teams in the West.
Not that fans are flocking to see games in markets where success is elusive. Of the 12 teams that had average attendance of less than 18,000 last season, five were in the East. If hockey is so popular, why did a Stanley Cup finalist draw fewer than 17,000 fans per game last season? The Sharks averaged 16,747.
That's great considering the Hurricanes pulled in more than 4,000 fans fewer on average.
The sparkling Vegas showroom holds 17,368 for "ice hockey."
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman (Getty Images)
Should the focus be on money instead of attendance? You bet your flat screen. But TV revenue is a sore point for U.S.-based teams, especially in markets where NHL stands for not having luck. Canadian teams, when the loonie is strong, are better able to reap financial rewards from TV.
There is great disparity in team values, from big metro moguls to a lower class. Example: Last fall, Forbes listed its franchise figures and had the Rangers worth $1.2 billion, followed by the Canadiens at $1.18 billion and the Maple Leafs at $1.15 billion. The Leafs stink, are in gut-rehab mode and thus are no longer the NHL's move valuable least successful team.
The Coyotes were valued at $220 million in Forbes' 2015 rankings. Least valuable? The Panthers at $186 million. The Original Six, by the way, held the top five positions, with the Red Wings eighth at a puny $600 million.
For the Vegas team, expansion fees alone amount to $500 million to enter the league and be a doormat starting in the 2017-18 season. In comparison, Minnesota and Columbus joined the NHL and paid $80 million each in 2000.
There's no chance Vegas will pay off the way Vancouver did. The Canucks came into the league in 1970 for $6 million. They are now worth more than 100 times that figure.
The half-a-billion principal owner Bill Foley and pals will pay will be divided among the other 30 teams. Yeah, expansion!
Bettman crowed in a statement confirming Vegas as Team 31 that he and his disciples are "truly excited that an NHL franchise will be the first major professional sports team in this vibrant, growing, global destination city."
But do fans develop in a destination city or just show up when their favorite team is in town? Displaced followers flood an arena when their boys come in and tend to stay away from other games.
Vegas promises big immediate financial returns, but when the novelty wears off it could be in no better position than the Phoenix market. Vegas loves winners. Expansion teams don't fit the profile. The so-called Black Knights will soon be playing nickel slots while NHL power teams table with the high rollers.
We get the West Point connection to the Vegas team name, but it smacks of oxymoron. Too bad the team won't be quartered in the Excaliber.
Vegas is known for many things. Gambling and, shall we say, pleasures of the flesh are chief among them. Hockey isn't.
So thanks, Gary, for hooking a league better suited to contraction into expansion.