Sportsnet 590 The Fan: ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski on the Atlanta market and the possibility of an expansion team and things are different now than they were before.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Ailish Forfar: “I think we might be spoiled a little bit by the recent success. You know, one of them won a Stanley Cup and one of them is already a playoff contender. both in markets that have seemed to really embrace and maybe, to his surprise, at least in Vegas, and it’s been really awesome to see.
So is it a copycat type of situation where you look at the revenue and these Championships and looking, seemingly super easy for these expansion teams, and think, Well, Atlanta has already had a blueprint at one point. Maybe this time around, something’s different. What is different this time around, Greg?
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Wyshynski: “Oh, there’s a ton different. Actually spoke to the mayor of the city where they’re trying to put this arena that was in the Ansan Carter expansion requests today. And he told me, you know, the demographics have shifted a lot in Georgia, and even in the last decade. The business community is a lot different than it was in the last decade.
And so the conditions on the ground in and around Atlanta, are a bit different than even when the Thrashers were there. And that’s something that Bill Daley, the NHL Deputy Commissioner, kind of voiced to ESPN last September when we talked to him about a potential Atlanta expansion bid.
Talking about you know, the location of the rink was probably going to be more conducive to fans coming to games and, and it’s just how the conditions on the ground are different.
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So, you know, for those of us that are a little bit weary about maybe three strikes and you’re out more than three times is a charm when it comes to Atlanta. There is a lot of people there and in the NHL that, that do believe that if they put a team there, it could be a different scenario than it was for the Flames and Thrashers.