Will the new NHL team in Las Vegas be a long-term success? Are there enough hockey fans to support a franchise?
Those questions won’t be answered for many years, but the early indicators suggest that the new NHL team in Vegas is off to a great start. A recent report states that the team already has over 15,000 deposits for season tickets and more continue to come in.
Confirmed: The Las Vegas NHL team has surpassed 15,000 deposits on season tickets for 2017-18 and headed toward 16,000. #VegasGotHockey
— Steve Carp (@stevecarp56) June 24, 2016
Prior to making a formal decision on a team in Vegas, the NHL wanted to make sure that home games would truly feel like home games for the new team. One original fear was that the various casinos would give out the majority of tickets as comps and as a result the home team wouldn’t have a true advantage as the crowd would be made up of neutral fans. Those fears might be squashed now that over 15,000 deposits have been made, a majority of which have come from individual buyers.
While the number of season ticket deposits are encouraging and should be commended, the long-term success of the franchise is very much up in the air and will depend on one thing – winning. The best way to fill an arena and to boost TV ratings is through success on the ice. The Vegas club may already have a huge base judging by their season tickets, but they’ll struggle to maintain that number should the team disappoint.
