Vinnie Viola Prepared To Spend Big Bucks With Panthers

[Johnnydollaz89]

They should definitely go best available. They're just a team that could really benefit from a big name talent. I think Huberdeau can be that guy if they put the right cast around him. I'm not really sure what their biggest issue is though...it'd be helpful if they could find a permanent solution in net. I'm of the belief that you build around centers though.

Don't forget about Barkov as well. Think they're pretty deep down the middle with Bjugstad, Huberdeau and Barkov, but one of them might switch to the wing.

 

[Cobiemonster]

On this note, has any team in the NHL been 'built' through free agency recently? Most teams are just supplemented in free agency.

The Panthers need to draft, develop, and make trades, then pay those guys.

I don't think there's been a really good team built through FA but there are teams that have made shrewd trades - that's one thing the Panthers can try and do to maybe speed up the process if they do want to win sooner - but if they can draft, develop and make trades at the same time, it will help them

 

[forty_three]

With a name like that I expect him to be in prison soon.

LUONGO!!!

I can see the important points have been hit.

Well done, chaps!

 

[awaz]

On this note, has any team in the NHL been 'built' through free agency recently? Most teams are just supplemented in free agency.

The Panthers need to draft, develop, and make trades, then pay those guys.

cant afford to build through free agency these days.. if you're looking for a difference maker in free agency you overpay by about 2 mil and 2 years.. can only do that so many times before your cap is all messed up

 

[dash]

Well, if Vinnie wants to turn over some draft picks or young prospects for Mike Cammalleri or Curtis Glencross, I'm sure I can track down Burkie's number...

 

[juliansteed]

And the Panthers win again. That's 6 of their last 7 now. 2 in a row without Huberdeau.

 

[elocomotive]

I don't see how Mister Viola plans on doing what he says though. You can get tickets to a Panthers game for less than an extra value meal. This wouldn't be awful if they had a decent TV contract. But I think the Panthers are the only team in the NHL that has fewer people watching on television than are actually at the game.

So... if they start spending tens of millions more, they are simply going to go bankrupt and the team gets moved (which on second thought, wouldn't be the worst thing if you own them).


PS - I wish there was a minority member named Charlie Cello.

 

[IPostedWhat]

To be fair, most of the money is going towards buying glass panes that are actually see-through.

 

[Cobiemonster]

I don't see how Mister Viola plans on doing what he says though. You can get tickets to a Panthers game for less than an extra value meal. This wouldn't be awful if they had a decent TV contract. But I think the Panthers are the only team in the NHL that has fewer people watching on television than are actually at the game.

So... if they start spending tens of millions more, they are simply going to go bankrupt and the team gets moved (which on second thought, wouldn't be the worst thing if you own them).


PS - I wish there was a minority member named Charlie Cello.

But if you get better players, then fans will be more willing to pay more money - that's what this is all about - you get better players then you have the right to up the ticket prices

 

[BlueWolfZero]

Panthers post game talking as if they are favourites in the East now. Seriously?

 

[puckhead]

I don't see how Mister Viola plans on doing what he says though. You can get tickets to a Panthers game for less than an extra value meal. This wouldn't be awful if they had a decent TV contract. But I think the Panthers are the only team in the NHL that has fewer people watching on television than are actually at the game.

So... if they start spending tens of millions more, they are simply going to go bankrupt and the team gets moved (which on second thought, wouldn't be the worst thing if you own them).


PS - I wish there was a minority member named Charlie Cello.

i saw something the other day that said a team could get as much as $52 million from the league
between the new TV deal and the 'poor-market' subsidies.

 

[elocomotive]

But if you get better players, then fans will be more willing to pay more money - that's what this is all about - you get better players then you have the right to up the ticket prices

I think that in most cities that might be true. But Miami is not a good sports town. Even in the year the Panthers went to the Cup final....

(...hang on, sorry...

I threw up a little in my mouth there...)

... the Panthers were 6th to last in attendance and only had 13,300 coming through the gate. Last season they averaged almost 17,000 fans... right after a strike... as the worst team in the league.

So honestly, I have ZERO idea why Panthers' fans choose to go to games or not.

 

[juliansteed]

I think that in most cities that might be true. But Miami is not a good sports town. Even in the year the Panthers went to the Cup final....

(...hang on, sorry...

I threw up a little in my mouth there...)

... the Panthers were 6th to last in attendance and only had 13,300 coming through the gate. Last season they averaged almost 17,000 fans... right after a strike... as the worst team in the league.

So honestly, I have ZERO idea why Panthers' fans choose to go to games or not.

Well the year they went to the finals, they were not expected to. They were not a top team all year and were only a 3rd year expansion team. I can only assume they sold well in the playoffs, especially in the later rounds.

As for last season, I guess that might just be as a result of having fewer home games, all of which after the Dolphins were done for the season.

 

[Cobiemonster]

I think that in most cities that might be true. But Miami is not a good sports town. Even in the year the Panthers went to the Cup final....

(...hang on, sorry...

I threw up a little in my mouth there...)

... the Panthers were 6th to last in attendance and only had 13,300 coming through the gate. Last season they averaged almost 17,000 fans... right after a strike... as the worst team in the league.

So honestly, I have ZERO idea why Panthers' fans choose to go to games or not.

As puckhead said, with the new TV deal, teams will be getting more money from it and it should be able to help the smaller markets do more things

And to be fair, it's not like the arena is in the greatest place either, like a lot of arenas in Florida

But I do believe if they can start winning, fans will come

 

[elocomotive]

Well the year they went to the finals, they were not expected to. They were not a top team all year and were only a 3rd year expansion team. I can only assume they sold well in the playoffs, especially in the later rounds.

As for last season, I guess that might just be as a result of having fewer home games, all of which after the Dolphins were done for the season.

Fair enough, guys. Expansion teams often do have some early excitement though. Didn't the Blue Jackets sell out every game for their first several seasons.

I just don't see Florida having long-term viability, that's all. It's not a strong sports town, demographics changes are not in their favor, I think playing in an arena different than the Heat hurts them, etc.

But you guys make good points.

 

[juliansteed]

As puckhead said, with the new TV deal, teams will be getting more money from it and it should be able to help the smaller markets do more things

And to be fair, it's not like the arena is in the greatest place either, like a lot of arenas in Florida

But I do believe if they can start winning, fans will come

Fans will come and so will sponsors. They just have to be careful how they price themselves. They don't want to be too greedy and lose what they have gained but they don't want to miss an opportunity for increase revenues either. They certainly won't be able to make any large increases overnight to regular season games, but what they could do is have a significant increase in playoff games. Chances are they will be matched up against a team that will help them sell out their arena in the playoffs, especially for the 1st 2 home games of a series that will be back to back. And as long as they don't increase them too much, they should still be able to get lots of their own fans who haven't had too many opportunities to see their team in the playoffs. I think fans would accept tickets going way up for playoffs as the team gets better than they would for the regular season from 1 season to the next.

 

[juliansteed]

Fair enough, guys. Expansion teams often do have some early excitement though. Didn't the Blue Jackets sell out every game for their first several seasons.

I just don't see Florida having long-term viability, that's all. It's not a strong sports town, demographics changes are not in their favor, I think playing in an arena different than the Heat hurts them, etc.

But you guys make good points.

I agree with you that it's not a great sport's town. Those were weak numbers even for an expansion team. I was just trying to find some sort of logic behind the odd attendance statistics that you point out.

 

[Cobiemonster]

Fans will come and so will sponsors. They just have to be careful how they price themselves. They don't want to be too greedy and gain what they have lost but they don't want to miss an opportunity for increase revenues either. They certainly won't be able to make any large increases overnight to regular season games, but what they could do is have a significant increase in playoff games. Chances are they will be matched up against a team that will help them sell out their arena in the playoffs, especially for the 1st 2 home games of a series that will be back to back. And as long as they don't increase them too much, they should still be able to get lots of their own fans who haven't had too many opportunities to see their team in the playoffs. I think fans would accept tickets going way up for playoffs as the team gets better than they would for the regular season from 1 season to the next.

Yep all good points

And also, marketing to the younger fans, if you can get more and more younger fans who love the game, it will be good for their future

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Fair enough, guys. Expansion teams often do have some early excitement though. Didn't the Blue Jackets sell out every game for their first several seasons.

I just don't see Florida having long-term viability, that's all. It's not a strong sports town, demographics changes are not in their favor, I think playing in an arena different than the Heat hurts them, etc.

But you guys make good points.

The fact that the arena is so far out of Miami hurts them in a big way. Being in the city wouldn't turn them into a top draw, but I think there would be a significant increase in attendance.

Same thing for the Dolphins. Lousy, old stadium out in the suburbs and a team that hasn't been particularly competitive in recent years (why does that sound familiar?).

 

[forty_three]

Fair enough, guys. Expansion teams often do have some early excitement though. Didn't the Blue Jackets sell out every game for their first several seasons.

I just don't see Florida having long-term viability, that's all. It's not a strong sports town, demographics changes are not in their favor, I think playing in an arena different than the Heat hurts them, etc.

But you guys make good points.

Nope. And there was a major push for local businesses to help get butts in the seats. So the numbers were affected a bit. But they typically didn't sell much out before the Buckeyes inevitable annual collapse. Still don't. Second half of the season has much better attendance than the first half.

And the free tickets and ticket promos are almost non-existent now. So the butts in the seats paid to be there.


I read somewhere that the Panthers biggest problem is the trendiness of the city. Unless the famous people there want to go to the game, no one else does. It's a social event, not a sporting event. They are all social events there. People go to be seen being there, and if no one is looking to see who's there.... It's why the Heat got LeBron. Same deal. They were suffering revenue, got a star and everyone wanted to be seen there.

Their youth hockey enrollment is dismal. All of Florida has 11,000 registered players. Just Western PA has 13,000. All of PA is over 30k. PA has 12.6 million people. Florida has 20 million.