Would A Second Hockey Team in Chicago Survive?

[Captain_emerica]

With all the small market teams failing in the NHL because their owners are running their businesses into the ground, it got me to thinking what if a smaller market team moved to Chicago? How would the people of Chicago react to having a second team besides the Blackhawks? Chicago is a great city for hockey and I think that they could support two teams. The blackhawks has been number one in attendance for the last 4 years but would people show up to support a second team? Just random thoughts, I wanted to see what other peoples opinions would be.

 

[Jntg4]

I think it'd get by, but what happens when both teams suck? Will it go back to Chicago being 2nd last in attendance and having that be split between two teams?

 

[whitesoxman77]

I think it'd get by, but what happens when both teams suck? Will it go back to Chicago being 2nd last in attendance and having that be split between two teams?

my thoughts exactly

 

[DewsSox79]

Is this question a hypothetical if there wasnt this lockout? if yes, than a 2nd team probably could survive. there are multiple 2 teams in a city scenarios across this country in pro sports, at times both suck at the same time and they are still around.

 

[Jntg4]

They did a study that showed the Canada could support x more teams in different sports, wonder if any feasibility study has been done for Chicago.

Intangibles would simply be would anyone actually desert the current team in a sport here to be a fan of another, or would they at least follow the new team assuming they were in another league?

Cubs-White Sox has gone back a long way, before fan bases were quite as established. In the then-growing city of Chicago, you had the NL's first dynasty in the Cubs (as they were called by 1903), winning pennants in 1876, 1880, 1881, 1882, 1885, and 1886, but nothing since. Then you had the White Sox who had won the AL pennant in the AL's first season as a major league. The Cubs were founded on October 12, 1869 just because the Excelsiors sucked compared to the top teams in New York and Brooklyn and of course Cincinnati in 1869... the city wanted a winner, and that is how the Sox were able to get into the market. But now times have changed, with more cemented allegiances, so it is questionable whether a new team would be able to gather fans efficiently enough here. My gut tells me it would work, but it would still be risky trying to put a 2nd NFL, NBA, or NHL team here (think NFL would work best given limited # of games and seats by the Bears).

 

[Diehardfan]

No.

 

[southern_cross_116]

Short answer -- anyone remember the Chicago Cardinals?

If not - then I think the answer has to be no -why bother? Maybe in Milwaukee...

 

[ClydeLee]

Short answer -- anyone remember the Chicago Cardinals?

If not - then I think the answer has to be no -why bother? Maybe in Milwaukee...

I think the Cardinals could work again.. Or another NFL team. Demand there is high.

NHL, eeh, 20k in the stands most of the mid 2000s sounds like their market.
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[Jntg4]

Short answer -- anyone remember the Chicago Cardinals?

If not - then I think the answer has to be no -why bother? Maybe in Milwaukee...

They relocated 53 years ago, the situations then and now aren't comparable.

 

[icehogfan08]

I think the wolves are considered the 2nd team in Chicago. The express failed, I know it's AA hockey but the tickets where cheap and the team was winning.

 

[southern_cross_116]

They relocated 53 years ago, the situations then and now aren't comparable.

Really? You have a well established team with a tradition -if not of, say the Montreal Canadiens- still with a storied history ... like the Bears -and do you seriously think a new team could ever compete with that?

I'd be interested in hearing why you think that.

 

[Jntg4]

Really? You have a well established team with a tradition -if not of, say the Montreal Canadiens- still with a storied history ... like the Bears -and do you seriously think a new team could ever compete with that?

I'd be interested in hearing why you think that.

Well if that's all we're looking at, then why was Chicago able to support 2 MLB teams? When the AL became major in 1901, the Cubs weren't great, but had more history than most other NL teams, let alone AL teams, having won 6 pennants in the league's first 25 seasons (and some of the other champions had since folded by that time). Or the Chicago Whales drawing larger crowds than both the Cubs and the Sox on many occasions in their two year Federal League existence.

Obviously, these are poor examples as they come from a completely different time period and do not correlate with the current market and economy in Chicago. The Cardinals example didn't either.

I just don't feel a time that long ago and now are comparable in the grand scheme of things.

 

[nwfisch]

Well if that's all we're looking at, then why was Chicago able to support 2 MLB teams? When the AL became major in 1901, the Cubs weren't great, but had more history than most other NL teams, let alone AL teams, having won 6 pennants in the league's first 25 seasons (and some of the other champions had since folded by that time). Or the Chicago Whales drawing larger crowds than both the Cubs and the Sox on many occasions in their two year Federal League existence.

Obviously, these are poor examples as they come from a completely different time period and do not correlate with the current market and economy in Chicago. The Cardinals example didn't either.

I just don't feel a time that long ago and now are comparable in the grand scheme of things.

Then what was the point of posting them?

If I remember correctly, baseball was much bigger 100 years ago than football is today, so its little wonder to me why 2 baseball teams survived.

I don't think there is enough of a market now of distraught Blackhawk fans or Bear fans now to justify a second team.

 

[Jntg4]

Then what was the point of posting them?

If I remember correctly, baseball was much bigger 100 years ago than football is today, so its little wonder to me why 2 baseball teams survived.

I don't think there is enough of a market now of distraught Blackhawk fans or Bear fans now to justify a second team.

The point of posting them was to show that the Cardinals example was bad, as you cannot compare the eras.

And no, baseball in 1901 when the AL took control was not all that much more popular than football today actually. They had no mass media besides newspapers to help them get to that level, it was basically you go or you read in a newspaper. Just 50 years earlier, baseball was still laughed at as a child's game.

And you don't think we could support a 2nd team to a decent level with the huge waiting lists for season tickets and expensive ticket prices of the current teams? I'm sure a market this large could easily put another team in the upper-20s or lower-teen ranks of attendance in either league (though the NFL team would need a stadium large enough for that).

 

[DewsSox79]

The point of posting them was to show that the Cardinals example was bad, as you cannot compare the eras.

And no, baseball in 1901 when the AL took control was not all that much more popular than football today actually. They had no mass media besides newspapers to help them get to that level, it was basically you go or you read in a newspaper. Just 50 years earlier, baseball was still laughed at as a child's game.

And you don't think we could support a 2nd team to a decent level with the huge waiting lists for season tickets and expensive ticket prices of the current teams? I'm sure a market this large could easily put another team in the upper-20s or lower-teen ranks of attendance in either league (though the NFL team would need a stadium large enough for that).

jesus christ....stfu already with your stupid ass posts.

 

[Jntg4]

jesus christ....stfu already with your stupid ass posts.

Baseball was just starting to grab a real hold then, peaking much later. There is a reason that before that teams would fold on an almost year-to-year basis and two entire major leagues folded (and then 4 teams of the AA merged into the NL, 3 of which were contracted) in the early 1890s.

1901 baseball was not more popular than 2012 football. And regardless of whether they were or not, they'd not be getting revenue from TV, newspaper, online streams, deals for use of logo, etc. so the two aren't comparable.

 

[ClydeLee]

I don't get why people always say.. You think they could compete? It's not about some effort to compete when you build something new in that plane.

It's trying to tap an alternate market that could initially like both squads. The newer being marketable as cheaper and being more entertainment in the city. I don't think there are enough hockey fans but to sat there aren't for football is a stretch. With the size of the NFL and I always hear people made the Bears tickets are so high and few, a big cheaper ticket team could sell for excitement and slowly grow a nitche base that's profitable

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[X]

probably not.

 

[Diehardfan]

As long as we're being honest. Fans have a pretty short memory. It wasn't that long ago that this city couldn't support one hockey team, let alone two. The pre-Rocky/Johnny Mac days was a time of bad teams, bad hockey and very low attendance. When the current run comes to an end and the team has to rebuild again, its very likely that the fans will disappear again....Hawk fans are clearly more like Sox fans than Cub fans. You better put a product on the ice if you want those full houses to continue.

 

[Captain Iago]

As long as we're being honest. Fans have a pretty short memory. It wasn't that long ago that this city couldn't support one hockey team, let alone two. The pre-Rocky/Johnny Mac days was a time of bad teams, bad hockey and very low attendance. When the current run comes to an end and the team has to rebuild again, its very likely that the fans will disappear again....Hawk fans are clearly more like Sox fans than Cub fans. You better put a product on the ice if you want those full houses to continue.

History does not agree with you if you go further back. THE ticket to get in town for many, many years were Hawks tickets; they were soooo hard to get...even with mediocre teams. Fans didn't have a choice until the mid 90s to get their hockey fix in an alternate way.