Las Vegas and Ontario going AHL with Charlotte? Leaked by Wheeling VP

[hockey]

http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/534437.html?nav=523


Could a league switch be in the future of the Nailers?

''A city like Charlotte going to the 'A' is a great move because they can support it,'' Bommer said. ''It's hard for a team like Wheeling to compete with Las Vegas, Ontario, and Charlotte.

Compete with Las Vegas and Ontario? You already do compete with them, unless your saying you could not compete with them for an AHL franchise which they will be getting.

[Segelrj]

I could see Ontario moving to the "A" since they are owned by Anschutz who in turn owns the LA Kings and if the AHL does decide to move from the Northeast to the West then I could see LA moving from Manchester to Ontario. Ontario has a new building it's in the LA Metro and the city is really supporting the team.

Las Vegas is a totally different story. Although as a Wrangler fan I'd love to see them join the AHL, I just don't think it's gonna happen. I'd be more willing to bet that the Wranglers fold following this season then move up to the AHL. With the way the Wranglers are marketing (which is more word of mouth than anything) the AHL seems like a no go. Now I've heard alot of talk of Bakersfield going to the AHL for Anaheim and Las Vegas being the ECHL affiliate for Bako and Anaheim. It could also be vice-versa with Vegas in the AHL and Bako as the ECHL affiliate. All-in-all unless Billy is kicked out of marketing the Wranglers and Fleisig either puts in a lot more money or sells the Wranglers/Condors to the Samuelis, I can't see the Wranglers in the AHL...

The Nailers VP could be referring to the size of the cities that Charlotte, Las Vegas and Ontario are and the amenities that they have. They are three of the largest cities in the league and play in state of the art arenas, while the Wheeling metro only has 100,000+ residents and a 34-year old arena. Bigger cities mean more money and you can market your product to a larger audience. I believe that these could be hurting Wheeling's recruitment for young, good players and given the choice the kids are choosing So Cal, Vegas and Metrolina b/c there is more to offer them than in places like Wheeling, Johnstown and Elmira.

[Primis]

http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/534437.html?nav=523


Compete with Las Vegas and Ontario? You already do compete with them, unless your saying you could not compete with them for an AHL franchise which they will be getting.

Or he could simply mean compete with them in MSA/market population size.

Charlotte - 2,400,000
Las Vegas - 2,000,000
Ontario - 410,000 (Ontario-Riverside-San Bernadino only)

Ontario's looks small, but that's because their MSA is geographically small (because California is so screwed up with the sprawl in that area) and they actually draw from other nearby MSA's as well. You could very well list their MSA as something more like 1,000,000 or so.

Charlotte is tied for the largest MSA in the ECHL along with Cincinnati.

Now compare to Wheeling:

Wheeling - 150,000

Wheeling is the 3rd-smallest in the ECHL -- 2nd smallest actually now that Johnstown is technically out of the game. Only Elmira, NY is smaller at 120,000.

You could make Wheeling's market size 10 times larger, and it'd *still* be only half of Charlotte's market size. Think about that disparity for a second...

And I'd suspect that like most of the midwest, it's actually fallen a bit since that last census, maybe to actually 125,000 or 130,000 in Wheeling?

[Bob Rotruck]

That's a pretty funny subject line. No, the Wheeling VP did not leak the info that you think he did. Nice try though.

[FWKRTJ]

That's a pretty funny subject line. No, the Wheeling VP did not leak the info that you think he did. Nice try though.

Huh?

[Bob Rotruck]

not sure what you mean by "huh?"

He's talking about bigger markets in general. He is very clearly not leaking any info. It's pretty funny to infer that based on his statement that obviously was not what he was saying.

Might mention it to the person who was quoted so he can have a good laugh about it too. It's crazy how you can make the most innocent comment about something and then somebody else misinterpret it that badly. Not just crazy though...can be dangerous sometimes too of course.

[hockey]

not sure what you mean by "huh?"

He's talking about bigger markets in general. He is very clearly not leaking any info. It's pretty funny to infer that based on his statement that obviously was not what he was saying.

Might mention it to the person who was quoted so he can have a good laugh about it too. It's crazy how you can make the most innocent comment about something and then somebody else misinterpret it that badly. Not just crazy though...can be dangerous sometimes too of course.

Woah, I'm just trying to add some flavor to the rumors section.

[Bob Rotruck]

So did you mean the thread as kind of a joke? If so then I obviously didn't see it that way. No biggie. If anyone really did think there's a chance of LV heading to the AHL they are free to continue thinking that and it won't affect the very slim chances of that ever happening (barring some weird mass exodus of ALL the National Conference teams to the AHL or something like that I suppose).

[FWKRTJ]

not sure what you mean by "huh?"

He's talking about bigger markets in general. He is very clearly not leaking any info. It's pretty funny to infer that based on his statement that obviously was not what he was saying.

Might mention it to the person who was quoted so he can have a good laugh about it too. It's crazy how you can make the most innocent comment about something and then somebody else misinterpret it that badly. Not just crazy though...can be dangerous sometimes too of course.

You answered what I was going "huh" about...thanks!

But to be perfectly honest, I read the comment the exact same way the thread originator did...so I don't think he's really spinning anything. Perhaps a poorly worded or inteded analogy (or perhaps just a comment that can be taken many ways?)