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Post by aj0512 on Jan 31, 2023 11:04:22 GMT -5
For any travelling fans out there, the Hamilton Bulldogs will be temporarily relocating to Brantford, Ontario for the next three seasons, pending approval from the Brantford City Council (vote is February 7). The team will be rebranded as the Brantford Bulldogs and play out of the Brantford Civic Centre, the same building the old Brantford Smoke used to play out of back in the CoHL/UHL days. The arena has never really been updated (other than replacing seats a few years back), so roughly $10 million in upgrades will be needed to bring it up to OHL standards. It will now be the smallest OHL arena, with a capacity of 2,981. www.brantfordexpositor.ca/news/local-news/bringing-ohls-bulldogs-to-brantford-right-thing-to-do-says-team-owner |
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Post by donjohnson on Jan 31, 2023 16:27:06 GMT -5
This is one of the crazier stories out there and the $10mil in upgrades just adds to it. The City of Hamilton decided to upgrade their arena and no one really told the Bulldogs about it until it was already approved. They're booting everyone out for minimum 2 years and the Hamilton ownership is leaving for 3 just to be sure.
The fact that they're getting booted out of their arena and then they're paying 10 million to upgrade another arena is just baffling to me. Unless they've got a sweetheart deal where they're keeping all gate, concessions and more, they're never going to come close to recouping the 10mil that they're putting into this arena.
For those who don't want to pull up Google maps, this would be the equivalent of the Spirit playing home games at the Dort arena in Flint. The Spirit would completely lose their fan base...this is just wild.
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Post by aj0512 on Jan 31, 2023 18:16:56 GMT -5
Getting waaaayyyy ahead of myself here, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Bulldogs just don't go back to Hamilton after this. Their owner offered to build a new OHL-sized arena in Hamilton a while back, basically out of his own pocket, but the city wouldn't let him, and now the city is kicking his team out for renovations. Can't imagine he's too pleased right now. The interesting thing to me is after the standard lease expires in Brantford, the club has three 1-year options to stay if they need or want to. Maybe if Brantford is a success, they'll build a new rink? And then that leaves someone else (Mississauga?) to move into Hamilton's rink once it's completed. Or maybe an expansion team? Who knows. Again, way ahead of myself, but I think there's potential it could reshape the league down the road.
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Post by spiritfan8 on Feb 1, 2023 18:15:31 GMT -5
Ok. One question. Specifically WHO is paying the 10 mil to upgrade Brantford?
Brantford is only 15 miles from Hamilton and there’s no team currently playing there, so not really like Saginaw going to Flint. But I take your point. This is very odd.
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Post by aj0512 on Feb 1, 2023 22:16:48 GMT -5
Ok. One question. Specifically WHO is paying the 10 mil to upgrade Brantford? Brantford is only 15 miles from Hamilton and there’s no team currently playing there, so not really like Saginaw going to Flint. But I take your point. This is very odd. $3 million is coming from Brantford's "casino fund", while the team will pay the remaining $7 million. If the Bulldogs leave after three years, they will return the $3 million to the city. Renovation plans include a new video scoreboard, locker rooms/training room updates, new glass and dasher boards, updates to the media center, and expanding concession stands and restrooms. |
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Post by MidlandSpiritFan on Feb 7, 2023 9:57:35 GMT -5
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Post by spiritfan8 on Feb 7, 2023 21:59:24 GMT -5
Thank you, aj. So do I have this right—Hamilton is getting kicked out of their arena for 3 years. It’s costing the Bulldogs 7 mil to have a place to play (potentially 10 mil if they leave after 3 years), and the arena is 7000 seats smaller.
Another thought—I wonder how they are handling season tix with ghe greatly reduced seating capacity.
Is this as big a fiasco as I think it is??
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Post by donjohnson on Feb 8, 2023 7:25:12 GMT -5
As I mentioned before, the drive time between the two arenas is 37min. The drive time between the Dow and Dort Center is 38min. If the spirit moved to the Flint arena I would cancel my season tickets and go every once in a while. It would also change how I schedule my weekends so when the team came back in 3 years I may have different priorities.
For example... I used to watch the red wings all the time and would go out of my way to watch them... Then I lost the bally channel on my streaming a few years ago. Now, as big of a hockey fan as I am, I haven't watched the wings and barely watch hockey on TV anymore. I don't know how this will affect Hamilton but I think it would kill hockey in Saginaw.
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Post by spiritfan8 on Feb 9, 2023 19:38:26 GMT -5
I guess I dont really think about that, since it’s a half hour drive to the Dow for me anyway. But I certainly agree the effect would be more severe in Saginaw than Hamilton. Canada is a different animal when it comes to hockey. Frankly, I doubt the Bulldog will be going back to Hamilton; we should probably get used to the Brantford Bulldogs.
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Post by aj0512 on Feb 10, 2023 12:44:01 GMT -5
There's a new website for the Brantford Bulldogs along with a secondary logo. The FAQ section doesn't seem to paint a happy picture when asked if they will return to Hamilton some day. They've sold over 1,500 season ticket deposits in about 36 hours. I'm predicting the Bulldogs will stay in Brantford and eventually build a new arena, while the Steelheads flail around in Mississauga for a couple more years before moving to Hamilton once the renovations are done. bulldogsseasons.com/ |
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Post by donjohnson on Feb 10, 2023 13:22:18 GMT -5
Totally agree with both of you...the Owner was REALLY ticked about the renovations and probably would love to tell Hamilton to shove it and we're happy here in Brantford. One thing I noticed for their tickets in Brantford is that there's a pretty big push to lock people in for the full 3 years. Looking at attendance numbers, Hamilton averaged around 4000 fans per game so if they can fill the arena every night and average close to a sellout per night, it's probably close to a 500-700K loss per season just on straight ticket sales (not factoring suites or anything like that). I would imagine that could be made up with a more attractive arena lease so I can totally see them staying in Brantford if the support is there.
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Post by aj0512 on Mar 8, 2023 11:12:29 GMT -5
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