Market Saturation

Move the Marlies.

Move the Barracudda too.

Move any team that operates in an NHL city. Doesn't have to be too far. Just far enough. Let another township have a claim on a team and foster a sense of community pride. Let that team help foster an economy and mean more to that community than it could do in a place where everyone is all glossy eyed for the NHL stars.

Chicago has won the cup 3 times since 2012. Do you think anyone would there would care if the Wolves won the Calder Cup? Do you know who would? Peoria. Davenport. Naperville. Smaller cities that would love to see some hockey. While San Jose, Toronto, and Chicago all might be very large markets, with a huge appetite for hockey, the teams there will always play the second fiddle to the big team. They won't be stars but supporting actors. They are affordable alternatives to

I may not get the economics of it, but there are plenty of states and cities whom could do well for both the AHL and NHL to have access to hockey. Sixty teams across the United States and Canada, with plenty of states getting double or triple duty for hosting means those sports markets have to choose a team to cheer for. But a state like Idaho? North Dakota? Montana? Delaware? They have 0 sports teams to cheer for, so why not have teams there to make heroes of your players rather than stand in the shadows? Why not have your team be a marquee event rather than the "affordable" discount option? Wouldn't having fans that actually care about the team do better to train the players for the pressure of the big league more so? Drive them to be better so they can bring pride to the smaller cities they represent?

The AHL does a great job with this in general, but there are a few teams with serious over lap that could do better to be be somewhere else. At least its something worth considering for the inevitable expansion...

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there are no markets suitable to foster better growth. Maybe the teams are most profitable where they are right now. I just have a hard time buying into that form of market saturation for teams within the same sport.