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Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime
Buffalo has had good support for the Bandits for quite some time, actually. Same can be said about the Mammoth. I think in both cases lacrosse fills the "affordable pro sports" niche which obviously the major leagues do not.
One thing that bodes well for Halifax is that they will be inheriting a good team from Rochester. I don't know if a brand new team would have success drawing fans, but a solid team from the start will help them build buzz right out of the gate. Moreso than anything, I feel that was the biggest factor in the Rush's success. I don't know anyone who was interested in lacrosse before they moved to Saskatoon and I know plenty of people thought it would fail. The success of the team brought in fans that loved the atmosphere and it helped to build buzz. Now we have arguably the best supported team in the league.
It's almost cliche to look at Halifax pro sports and say "they'll be the Saskatchewan of the Maritimes" but in this case it could be true.
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Totally agree, The NLL entertainment value & fast moving action coupled with an experienced winning team in The Rush in a new city & province that has generations of rich sporting history guaranteed the NLL a successful franchise in Saskatchewan. It appears the cookie cutter formula of the Rush's triumph in relocating to Saskatoon is being used to see if Halifax can sustain same success with a tried & true relocated American team.
That Halifax Arena will basically have to sell out all their games to even be an average attendance success for the NLL. Colorado's NLL team goes up against hockey & basketball, & for brief period the NFL & MLB, during Mammoth's season but still gets the same attendance as the Avalanche. I have faith Halifax NLL team can be a success but not sure if it can be done, considering Halifax Hurricances can't even get more than couple thousand spectators and Mooseheads average little more than 6 to 7 thousand... similar to a hockey team like the Regina Pats.
As far as CFL goes, Halifax doesn't really get more than a couple thousand for it's university football team's games as compared to University of Saskatchewan's 6,500+ spectators, so hard to say if Saskatchewan example is an obtainable goal for success for a CFL team in Atlantic Canada. Not as much corporate sponsorship & less disposable income in that part of the country would only reinforce limited chance for long term success.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JHikka
Oh, please. The NLL because they play against US teams?
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Hard to say, right now novelty of having USA teams for Halifax NLL team to play with may be an added spectator draw.
The WHL in Western Canada has American teams but I doubt anyone would say The Rush have an advantage over Saskatoon Blades since there had been just as many American hockey teams that come to Saskatoon as do NLL teams.
The Rush games against Vancouver & Calgary have just as many if not more spectators as when playing the American teams. The CFL is an all-Canadian league & even when there were American teams years ago, The Riders attendance over the last decade has been the highest than any other decade.
I think it's just novel for Canadians 'outside' of Saskatchewan to know American lacrosse & hockey teams play all over Saskatchewan.