According to the Lancers broadcast, there are rumors of both Buffalo and Utica getting MISL teams next year. Has anyone heard anything about this?
The Rhinos owner is from and lives in Utica, and he was spotted at a Syracuse MISL game. So, there's some fuel to the fire in regards to the rumor mill. It's interesting that a recent Syracuse article noted their breakeven point is only around 2,800. Utica has a small arena, but I'd bet it could be rent even cheaper. And, of course, if you have a nice regional division, it brings costs down more. Buffalo, on the other hand, would be more difficult with HSBC's availability and cost, and I can't think of a good secondary option.
That would really be interesting, especially if Rob Clark is involved. How many Rhinos would play for Rochester in that case? Where would Buffalo play? The Burt Flickinger Center? I can't think of any other MISL team that plays in an NHL arena, as it seems to be beyond their means at the moment.
That would really be interesting, especially if Rob Clark is involved. How many Rhinos would play for Rochester in that case? Where would Buffalo play? The Burt Flickinger Center? I can't think of any other MISL team that plays in an NHL arena, as it seems to be beyond their means at the moment.
I knopw new york is big buy can you realy see the misl having 4 teams in new york I dont the divisions are unbalanced as it is
Rob Clark's and his father made it clear that they had interest in bringing the AHL to Utica years back. It never happened, and the economic viability always seemed questionable. Filling up a small 4k seat arena over a small MISL schedule seems somewhat more viable -- especially with a nice Syracuse rivalry. They'd have a nice pick of dates there. So, it could be interesting. No idea regarding Buffalo. I'd think they'd have to play at a place with boards, and the Pepsi Center and Buffalo State only hold 1,800. Maybe First Niagara Arena would give them a cut rate if they take non-prime dates like weekend afternoons. That's all I can think of....
When did this league get picky enough to start deciding teams can't get into the league because they are too close to each other. If these two come in next year and the Chicago team that is not in because they could not get all of their games at the same arena comes in and if Norfolk does not return (a real possibility with their attendance) you'd have 4 central teams and 5 eastern teams.
The only way that this works is if the Sabres own the team. I don't see a team using the Pepsi Center because the parking there is too tight for a pro team. Buffalo State College would be a good bet, if they didn't have to worry about NY State Government saying no to pro sports on college campuses. The best situation for a Buffalo team would be a back-to-back doubleheader with the Buffalo Bandits for the latter half of the season (Fri-Sat or Sat-Sun night dates). This way, they're not converting the surface from ice to turf and back again on an individual case basis. Just my $.02...... Aaron
Buffalo and Rochester are about an hour apart Don't know if that many die hards are in the vicinity to support 2 teams that close.... BUT if you pony up the $125,000 fee YOU ARE IN!
Well, according to this video (I know it's old), by 2014/15 season we will have teams coast to coast. I would like to also see how their envisioning of Canadian teams/divisions pans out. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAGFWxDd6tM"]USL I-League - YouTube[/ame]
I would love to see the MISL in Utica. It would cut down my travel time from 1.25 hours to Syracuse to 10 minutes to Utica. However, any Utica team is going to be competing with Utica College hockey. UC charges $5 per ticket and is leading Division III hockey in attendance at about 3,500 per game. UC hockey is so successful that it killed a pro hockey team that was 20 minutes away and charged $10 - $12 per ticket.
I take everything USL says with a grain of salt. When they went USL Pro it was supposed to expand along a regional format. I'm pretty sure Los Angeles and Antigua aren't considered regional to any other team in the league. USL will chase a check anywhere but if they could put together regional pods to expand (a couple more in the midwest, a group of 4 or so to enter at once in each of the southeast, southwest and west) I wouldn't mind at all. Of course for our region I'd love to have Philly and Harrisburg back and then maybe Pittsburgh, DC and Richmond later. Having driven the NY Thruway back and forth several times this weekend to see the Sharx play in Syracuse and Rochester, as well as a side journey to Niagara Falls, I can see where a Buffalo team could be viable (at least from a distance standpoint and if they can find a suitable venue) as well as one in Utica. The region seems to do fine with all its hockey teams. Its just an issue of finding the niche group to market to in each area.
Honestly, I don't buy that a significant number of people from Buffalo are traveling here for the Lancers. A fair number do for the Flash since they practice there and have some names, but I don't sense it with the Rhinos or Lancers. The extra diehards from rivalry games would probably more than make up for the (maybe) couple dozen lost. The arena is definitely the challenge in Buffalo. Utica, and getting to be a big fish in a small pond, is interesting. UC Hockey does have a nice following, but the indoor soccer team's selection of dates would still be far better than what Syracuse gets (due to the Crunch taking up many more dates), and the Lancers (with the Amerks, Knighthawks, and Razorsharks also competing for dates).
From the video, it said that the I-League wanted to be affiliated with the US Soocer Federation and the "Canadian Soccer Federation." Since when was there a "CSF?" I hope they meant the Canadian Soccer Association. I also like how they said that in 2013, the I-League would expand into the Canadian Prairie Provinces "including Quebec." Since when was Quebec in the Canadian Prairies? I guess I am just too picky with certain things.
Syracuse is only 1.5 hours east of Rochester ... so the distance isn't an issue for team "support ability". As for Diehards ... when Syracuse visits Rochester we never had more than a handful of Syracuse fans that I could see ... so they don't really make the journey.
I never said there were no diehards ... just not alot. Its not like a Rochester Knighthawks lax game against the Buffalo Bandits ... where at least half the crowd is from Buffalo and the atmosphere feels more like a Buffalo home game.
I can tell u that I talked with Soccer Sam and he said the Utica does want to place a team in the MISL but he never heard anything on Buffalo
A team in Buffalo could only work if the Pegula's own the team. The FN Center has plenty of open dates, so that would not be a problem. The Blizzard had a nice following when the Sabres owned them, but when the team was sold everything kinda fell apart.
A little off topic but I did not feel like starting a thread for this but if anybody is a Rampage fan and would still like an apparel souvenir - message me