Quebec City. Las Vegas. Saskatoon. Milwaukee. Ghana. Hell.
The Florida Panthers need to be relocated. Any of the aforementioned locales would be an upgrade over the present city this NHL franchise is calling home. I’ll admit the last two might not be the most desirable. Ghana would create logistical issues and the presumed climate in Hell is not conducive to ice hockey. But you get the point.
This team needs to be out of Miami, and the sooner the better. The Panthers enjoyed a brief period where they were relevant in Miami, but that was back in the 1990’s. Granted, the product has not been good for some time now. But the fact is that fan interest has waned to the point where the Panthers are now less than an afterthought. They play in an apparently less than ideal location as far as the arena is concerned. And it appears they’re legitimately losing money.
The Panthers have asked Broward County officials for a $78.4 million bailout. They want relief for the remaining 14 years on their contract with the county, and some help with a couple of other items as well. There was supposed to be a vote on this issue sometime this month. But, politics being what it is at virtually all times, that vote has been shelved for what will almost certainly be several months.
In the end, my guess is that Broward County should and will probably let the Panthers go. There’s a brand new NHL caliber arena opening in Quebec. Las Vegas is going to eventually house an NHL team on the Strip, it’s just a question of when. Seattle is a big league town. And so on.
Last night’s official announced attendance for the clash between the Senators and Panthers was 7311. That’s a huge drop from the previous low of 10063 on Halloween night back in 2007. I watched most of the game and if there were actually 7000 plus bodies in the building, they must have been brilliantly camouflaged.
The Panthers have already announced they will not be offering any discounts this season, nor will there be any giveaways that might attract an audience. The ownership feels it needs to prove to the county that they’re losing big bucks, and the best way to do that is to make sure no one shows up for the games. I think they’re a literal lock to succeed if their aim is to set a league record for attendance. League low, that is.
The NHL needs to accelerate this process by doing whatever is necessary to force the team’s owners to relocate the franchise. The owners would probably love to stay in Miami if they can get the county to bail them out. I get that, as they’d be sitting pretty financially if that were to happen. But it really shouldn’t. County relief or not, this franchise is now dead in Miami. They’ve lost the fan base and now the Panthers are a complete embarrassment to the league. It’s time for this team to get out of Dodge, so to speak, and the sooner the better for the NHL’s sake.
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