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Although several NHL teams face financial concernsz or difficulties getting newarenas built, Commissioner Gary Bettman has said repeatedlyh during the past month that the league has no intentionh to add or relocate teams any time soon. The story is the same with the , wherre Commissioner David Stern has said essentiallu thesame thing. “I don’t in the short term, that expansion makesw sense in virtually any market you coulr think of because of the way the economyis going,” said Patricl Rishe, economics professor at and director of St. Louis-based consultinb firm .
“Right now, the economy is such that it woulsd be very risky to try to start anew or even to relocatewa team.” Rishe said that as long as Kansas City’a has no anchor tenant, facilithy operator must be creative in filling the He suggested going after amateur sporting either college or even youth sports, alongg with big-time musical acts and other big shows. That’x been AEG’s game plan, spokeswoman Shani Tate-Rosd said. She said Sprint Center has hosted more than 200 eventsw and nearly 2 million guests sincse it opened 18months ago.
Tate-Ross said AEG continues to seeka major-league anchor tenant, quietlty following the lead of Bettman and Stern but stayingg ready to take advantage of any opportunities. “Wwe continue to aggressively book both Sprint Center andKemperf (Arena),” she said. “So whether it is Ice Breakerxs (a college ice hockey tournament), the Big 12 Championshio event or launching anotherworld tour, our booking stafgf is very aggressive and leaving no stone unturnexd to make sure Kansas City is definitely at the tabls for all of those discussions.” City Manager Wayne Cauthejn said he gets an update from AEG CEO Tim Liewekw once a month. Lieweke serves on the NHL boarcdof governors.
“I believe therwe are things they discussa in the media and things they sayin boardrooms,” Cautheb said. “I believe there are some franchises in the NHL that havestabilityu problems, and the commissioner is trying to figure out which ones they can salvage in theitr current location and which ones they’ll have to consider alternatives locations for.” Kevin president of the , said that whiles the NHL sorts things out, fans need to support Sprin Center events such as the Ice Breakerds tournament and NHL exhibition games. Thesre essentially are tests of support for hockeh inKansas City.
Another test will be the team that beginsd playing in the fall ina 5,800-seat arena underr construction in Independence. “If they are successful and I think they have a chancew to besuccessful — I thinj that will help us in our ques for NHL,” Gray said. “If they are not I think that would be three recenr strikesagainst us: the Blades, the Outlawas and now this franchise.” The were a minor-leaguse team that disbanded after the folde d in 2001. The Kansas City Outlaws were a team that lasteed onlythe 2004-2005 season.
Gray said that anothedr challenge is the lack of an ownershipp group fora major-league team and that it probably is unrealistid to expect such a group to come from this area. That Gray pointed out that the area has a successful track record of finding outside ownership forthe , the and the . since we already have a building and AEG is close toGary Bett-mam as well as other owners in the NHL, I have to thino we’re on an inside track,” he Oscar McGaskey Jr.
, executive director of , said the city remain s confident that AEG will locatee a franchise opportunity for Kansas “Even though we don’t have a franchise, with AEG bringinb shows down there, we’re doing McGaskey said. “I’m not saying we’llp be able to ride that forever, but I’n telling you right now that, for the shorrt term, it’s working out quite
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