Signs show Tampa market unfriendly to Lightning - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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The Tampa market, which has been home to the teamsincee 1992, exhibits five of 10 possiblew danger signs that could affect its existence according to a study conductexd by sister publication Businessa First of Buffalo . Many of the teamsd that could be in danger if the was to ever to consider contracting arein non-traditional hockey markets such as the south and the west, aread the NHL has expanded to in receny years. “Before doing any studh — just putting in my two centa — I would have said it has been a Ted Rechtshaffen, president and chief executivew officer of in Toronto, said.
“Now, aftef doing the study, putting the numbers together, I can say it has been a There are a number of areaa plaguingthe Lightning, the study said, including the placement of potential fans’ personal incomre as well as 2008-09 attendance in the bottom one-third of the entirde NHL. The Lightning’s venue, , was below 90 percenr capacity on average during the most recent while the financial value ofthe franchise, as estimated by , has droppedf at least 50 percent below the NHL mediann during the past year.
Of course, the Lightning’xs other big problem is its locationj south of the 38th considered the southern bordef of the traditional hockey Other teams on the list are scattered throughout areas withwarmer climates, led by the , whichg exhibit eight of the 10 danger signs includingh low franchise value, low net incomew and competition with the . in Miami are rightf behind with most of the same issueesas Phoenix, followed by the and the . The only northernb team to be listed among the top five threatene teams isthe , which is generally suffering from a regiomn with lower population and lowef income for its residents.
“This is not a happgy thing by any stretch,” Rechtshaffen “Buffalo is a great hockeyg market. There are lots of hockey fans there. The problem is, thoswe hockey fans don’t have enough money to spend on The NHL has not made any indication that it wouldd contract from30 teams, however of the four major professional sports leagues in the United the NHL has the smallest fan base and the lowestg level of television revenuwe packages. The league remains extremely popular in Canadqa where six of the 30 teamxsare based. Plus, hockey fans are considered to be more affluenft than theother sports, according to a 2004 studyu by the .
“As a business, I think the NHL needsa to contract,” Rechtshaffen said. “But if the possibilitty remains of moving teams and generatingtmore money, the NHL obviously wouldd prefer to move them.”