The Stanley Cup Final has been going on the past week, not that we've noticed much in Seattle.
Which is interesting, considering the NHL almost certainly will be the first major winter sport added to this city's landscape the next few years. Overnight, we'll go from a city that pays scant attention to the NHL to one in which sports fans are scrambling to Google tidbits of the league's basic history.
Now, that's not too unusual and certainly was the case when the league set up shop in North Carolina, Dallas, Phoenix and Nashville. In case you were wondering, Nashville is now playing in its first finals. It's OK, you certainly haven't paid attention to what has gone on in the NHL's showcase event.
No matter, since you aren't alone. Seattle certainly has hockey die-hards, but finding local sports bars showing Stanley Cup games or any sports radio talk about them is next to impossible.
And that could be an issue going forward. Not a deal-breaker, but certainly a challenge for any group bringing NHL here.
I've heard for a while now that we are five to 10 years from getting an NBA team back. In addition, I'm told the NBA fully expects us to get NHL here first and will closely monitor the situation before announcing any expansion process that could bring basketball back to town.
So, having the NHL succeed here is a must. And given the current climate, it may not be the slam dunk _ or empty-net goal _ that some proponents keep assuring me it would be.
First, we don't have a real NHL culture. Yes, we have junior-hockey culture and adult recreational hockey culture. But again, you're more likely to find college softball on TV at the local sports bar than the Stanley Cup Final.
So we would have to grow that culture. Yes, there would be a rivalry with the Vancouver Canucks _ a huge drawing point for the league _ but local fans still would need to be convinced to pay some of the highest ticket prices in sports.
And the pool of money to draw from would be smaller than in other cities.
A couple years ago, I wrote about an American Cities Business Journals study of how our capacity to support teams would be pushing saturation limits if we brought NHL and NBA in here. The study compared Total Personal Income (TPI) of 83 U.S. and Canadian cities with what it costs them to support existing pro sports and major-college teams.
We already have the Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders and NCAA Huskies competing for the equivalent of major professional sports money. And though the study did not include them, there are also smaller-priced ticket pro teams such as the Storm, Reign and Thunderbirds.
The study concluded our metro population had enough income left to accommodate an NBA team but was just "borderline" in its ability to absorb the more expensive NHL.
Bringing both in? That's a far riskier prospect.
Not impossible, but risky.
After all, Seattle, even with a Metro area of 4.4 million, is still not that big. And it's a far-flung 4.4 million not served as well by regional transit as similar-sized cities.
Our city core is only 700,000. So, we're relying on fans traveling large distances, which is where much of the arena transportation discussion arises.
It's an important discussion. Parking and transportation would have to improve.
And anybody selling hockey here must do the leg work. Giving those who want to bring in hockey at least a year-and-a-half of lead-in time to market the sport is a must.
This isn't Las Vegas, which had zero major pro sports competing for that city's dollars when the Golden Knights were announced as an NHL expansion team.
Also, Las Vegas has a steady influx of tourism expats that will buy tickets to see their favorite visiting NHL teams when they come to town. We would get some of that from new workers flowing in to Seattle, but probably not as much.
And our sports dollar _ as mentioned _ already has several teams competing for it.
Again, that doesn't make success impossible. For sure, a new Sodo arena or remodeled KeyArena inevitably would be a hot ticket. But depending on how well _ or poorly _ the team performs, that novelty can quickly wear off.
So look for an NHL expansion team soon after the city approves a contract with any arena group. In the end, it would take big-time marketing to sell the NHL in a town where there is little interest in the Stanley Cup Final.
Oh, that catfish thing with the Predators? Some Preds fan threw a dead giant catfish on the ice in Pittsburgh during Game 1, got arrested and faced up to six years in jail before cooler heads prevailed.
The tradition of Preds fans throwing catfish on the ice dates to an October 2002 game against the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit fans famously throw octopi on the ice, and the Nashville supporters were trying to mimic them by heaving some favored southern cuisine.
Hey, you've got to start traditions someplace, especially in cities with no serious prior NHL interest.
Don't laugh too hard. That'll soon be us _ perhaps even heaving Pike Place Market salmon over the rinkside glass.
