I agree with all of that. I just don't know how Houston is a "better" situation for them unless the owner is willing to sell to Tillman for a reduced price. Otherwise they'd still have to pay bills/rent as a tenant and not sure we'd want an ownership group as house-poor as this one.
I don't think that many do, hence why they're trying to get it done to get a leg up on other franchises. Not many teams in all of pro sports have it, but its becoming the trend. In baseball: Atlanta moved to the suburbs to get this done. Arlington stayed pat on site since they had all the space to build something similar. St. Louis was able to get it done in downtown, albeit it took more than 10 years to finally complete despite it being part of the original ballpark funding deal. Makes sense in baseball stadiums given the amount of dates they're used, however not many other events held in those sorts of parks. I know the Patriots own all the businesses around Gillete and the Texans could certainly do something similar given the space around NRG.... but again, these venues are not used year-round like an NBA/NHL arena is. In the end, if a team can figure out a way to control/own all of the businesses' around the stadium.... and its still used for concerts/shows/non-sports related events, the teams stand to make a large year-round $$$ that gives them a competitive advantage.
Right now they have no solution. They don't have an arena in Phoenix as Glendale isn't renewing their lease and it seems like America West is out of the question. So what choices do they have? Houston should make a simple offer. They can sign a lease to play in Toyota Center or they can get lost. Honestly, if I were the Arizona ownership, I'd look at Canada (specifically Quebec City). They also have an NHL style arena ready to go and they're way more desperate to get a team (since Quebec City used to have a team). And Quebec corrupt enough to give them a nice deal.
If they're not going to sell, I'd be leery if I was a landlord/arena lease owner. If they have nowhere to go, and nobody wants to take them as a tenant, the ownership group should be forced to sell.
Call 'em the "ghost wolves" ... https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/03/science/red-wolves-dna-galveston.html https://www.theatlantic.com/science...early-extinct-animal-live-on-in-texas/601624/
Just bring back the Aeros and I'll be happy until the search ends on finally getting a NHL team in Houston.
Rumor is the Coyotes are looking at building on an Indian reservation bordering Tempe. It might be a threat - Tempe will get the cons of an arena but none of the pros (revenue).
The two things Houston should logically have but don't and are always *this* close to acquiring... a theme park and a hockey team. Only natural they should be intertwined in some way.
5000 seats. The sightlines for TV are going to be ridiculously bad. That's smaller than any AHL arena. All to stay for a few more years in an area that has no real traction in place towards actually building an NHL caliber arena which would take at least 2 years to build, IF they started building today (and they're nowhere near the point of starting building as there is no plan).
They seem to be run by idiots… but again, I don’t think Houston needs yet another team run by idiots.
I’ll take my chances. I’m 47. I’ve probably got about 40 years or less left. I’d like a hockey team…then I can be picky about how they’re being managed.
I’ll take them if they can sell. Given the similarities between the Houston and Arizona market fan bases, I fear their owners would continue to pull the same crap that has them being run out of town there.
