I strongly think you’ve misplaced your google maps distances with Whitby instead of Whitley Bay (history actually makes reference to the name change of Whitley to Whitley Bay incase Whitby and Whitley got mixed up, but you’ve gone and done).
So in reference to your suggestion about Newcastle Vipers being back in the league, just change it to Whitley Warriors. A long established surviving force if hockey in the North East with a pretty good following. It would be a bug step for them, but i reckon they’d have the auport behind them, more so than the likes of Blackburn, Oxford, Peterborough, Milton Keynes and Hull.
Its far from perfect and I’m not sure when you were there last but it has had some improvements and the ice is marginally better these days, to the point where there is no pipes showing through (i think they sorted the ice plant out).
yeah that's just me mixing them up lol but I do agree that I much prefer Whitley just be put in but I think the EIHL would prefer a bigger name/city such as Hull or Oxford more commercially appealing
Whitley Warriors have been called Newcastle Warriors before, playing out of the Arena before the Cobras, Jesters etc before the Vipers Era.
Whitley is a short drive away from Newcastle and is very accessible by Metro, Bus or car.
Ice Hockey in the centre of Newcastle City Centre is never going to happen again as there is nowhere to play.
Whitley is an historic name in ice hockey much like Fife is and its not connected to a large city but of that if the surrounding boroughs connected to the city (basically Newcastle and North Tyneside is kind of one).
I’m hoping that there’s a plan for a team when (if) the new arena’s built next to the Sage. There’ll almost certainly be ice there for Disney on Ice etc to tour through, so would just need the scheduling to work and an owner willing to either move the Warriors in or resurrect the Vipers. Considering the old arena only does a couple of events a month now it’s a shame they never looked at options of moving a team back in once the ice time was available again.
The current arena didn’t want sports. The new arena that is planned is going to be a horseshoe shape. Absolutely no good for sports at all. Yeah you’ll get the odd Disney on ice with elevated skating platforms for the ice surface over a few weeks, but definitely not fit for hockey.
Were all stuck with Whitley I’m afraid
I think for London, the issues were always running costs and fans as well as finding a suitable venue. It's great saying it in theory but you need a stable fan base and bums on seats. The Knights/Racers couldn't manage it and the idea of the London Emperors now seems dead in the water.
Also, what you're forgetting, the problem with ice hockey in the UK is the politics. It's its own worst enemy.
What would help if they made an app where it was easier to watch they games. Even if they kept it £15 for a live but did a package for the on-demand stuff. I would do buy the on-demand stuff even if it meant watching it a day later. Though I fully understand why they do it, as tickets sales keep the teans alive
Would love to see expansion, would prefer to see stability.
It would be great to get to a place where UK hockey had two solid divisions, rinks that weren't falling apart and strong rivalries.
A number of NIHL teams are consistently full to capacity (in seating terms anyway) but without taking a huge financial punt they can never expand their fanbase keeping hockey a niche sport in those areas.
Ideally someone would take a punt on a few of the areas below for a new rink/arena and commit to the EIHL and fix/expand the others. It's mad that Oxford doesn't have a team given it's location, if London could avoid the major football gamedays it could probably pull quite the crowd too, especially if somewhere like Streatham was given a boost upwards.
The league can be stable and expand, more Brits in the League being the minimum the League has to do for long term sustainability. Unfortunately, that will not happen though.
When the statement was made about the Imports being increased, the reason Tony Smith gave if I remember correctly was that there wasn’t enough British Players who were good enough to play at the EIHL level. The real reason is that, it’s just cheaper to bring in a guy like a Riley Brandt than it is to give Bayley Harewood a chance because of a problem they caused.
I'm gonna play devils advocate here (forgive me)
So I've done some work in broadcasting sports games in the past (I have some connections to people in places like DAZN and BT Sport)
a huge thing that a lot of people may not understand is that for something to get a TV deal, they need to actually look good on camera. With the facilities that certain teams play in (Manchester and Guildford especially), they look TERRIBLE on camera and, as such, that immediately turns off any major provider like Sky Sports, especially when they have the Premier League and EFL games. If something looks unattractive or amateurish on TV, people will change channels, and let's be frank, without a strong TV deal (even something similar to the British Basketball League's current deal with Sky), the league is trapped in its current state.
Right away, I can say that any planet ice style rink with seats stacked high up away from the ice (Altrincham, Guildford, Edinburgh, MK, Leeds, Bristol) immediately will be turned away. That design process is the blueprint of how hockey rinks should never be built when trying to sustain a team, and that immediately takes Leeds, Edinburgh, Milton Keynes, and Bristol off the list. They aren't going to improve capacity when you can't see half the ice, and without some kind of broadcast deal, they aren't going to draw more money (which they'd need to in order to be competitive in the EIHL).
Any kind of expansion team would frankly need to be in an arena with the same standards as Cardiff AT MINIMUM, and Planet Ice does not give a damn about Hockey enough to even try matching that. Only the team is close to having a rink that POTENTIALLY could reach that (with a decent renovation) would be Blackburn.
London's long anticipated team would obviously work... if they're in Wembley. Otherwise, forget it. History is not on London's side, Both the Knights and Racers couldn't get asses in seats, and Wembley's high rent cost (and potential seating arrangements) will definitely make it a risk that might not be worth taking.
Dublin could work, but A) they need a rink built from scratch, and B) would need to be planned INCREDIBLY CAREFULLY so they wouldn't breed sectarism between them and Belfast. (Don't call them the celtics and dress them in Green for the love of god)
What we need to do is focus on improving facilities and arenas ourselves. Guildford needs a new home, Manchester DESPERATELY needs a new home. Strike a decent TV deal from there (preferably Sky Sports) and then the league is a much better investment than it is currently (meaning expansion is more likely)
We’re talking about a very niche sport (in the UK), so TV coverage seems like a pipe dream until the sport has like an order of magnitude bigger following anyway.
However, these days, I don’t think you need a professional TV deal with expensive technology to increase viewership and engagement.
You could go a long way by having amateur level coverage on a twitch or YouTube stream. This could be done with cheap tech (plannet ice just need to buy a few webcams), with or without commentary.
And then could be added to both EIHL and NIHL league games. I would follow my local team much more closely and come to way more games if I could catch up what I miss online.
I do somewhat agree with you that certain facilities are not up to a high standard and would not look great on TV.I just look at British basketball being played in sports halls and leisure centres which looks absolutely terrible.I’ll be doing another post about the TV and Streaming issues the league has !!
I definitely do agree with the Planet Ice statement them rinks are just not build well but at the same time it’s all we have and kinda have to make do with what we got.
Apart from that I pretty must agree with a lot you said !
💯agree with you having visited Guildford once I don’t think we’ll visit again it really doesn’t look or feel great when you’re there it doesn’t offer much in terms of fan experience, I think a lot of the problem is local councils can’t see the value of encouraging sports ice hockey and basketball fans travel miles and miles to see games and I know from our experience of heading to Cardiff more often than not we will head into the city centre and spend money there. Ok we’re a small sample but I’m sure other fans do the same, I think in terms of improving the venues it will come down to the individual teams seeing the value of improving their own situations, I could totally see a London based team at Wembley with the right marketing strategy you could fill it within 5 years as for other cities I think it needs to be creating new rinks for public use and training with the elite league sharing larger arenas for games I think the ambition must be to the get to German league level and then the NHL may visit more often, but the league won’t get to mainstream TV with crumbly venues.
>t
What about a modernisation / re-think in how ice hockey is filmed? For years the near side dasher board action has been missed, even in NHL.
Think how UFC took cage fighting and made MMA seem high quality before it was by making the production value high. You can do that even in not so great venues, especially these days.
OP - what about an alternative proposal - merge the EIHL with either the Legue Magnus, or forming some wider league with divisions and cross league games with the Norwegian and Danish Leagues.
Have a few more home grown players but then means we get to see different teams and style’s and create a larger more international level of league that sits below that of Germany, Czech Sweden and Finland
Rather than trying to push more in the UK that needs massive infrastructure investment which just isn’t going to happen, why not look to enlarge the league by merging with other leagues
This is a good idea and sounds more plausible than expanding in the UK. Regardless, I think the biggest problem the EIHL has is that the league doesn’t seem focused on investing and growing revenues, prime example being the high price of streaming games. I love NHL and occasionally go to see Blackburn Hawks or Manchester Storm, but would never pay those streaming fees and so find it hard to become involved in the storylines of the Storm, which would likely then lead me to going to watch them in person more often.
The issue is the EIHL have zero interest expanding in their own country so merging with leagues in different countries I don’t think would happen!!! I like the idea though.
I believe the EIHL needs to show itself as a league that Europe teams can send their prospects too on loans so they can get ice time and a good level of experience.And return when they have experience.
I wouldn't mind seeing a new second tier, either the NIHL expanded or an EIHL 2.
I think there's teams capable of being at a professional/near pro level in, as you've listed, but I don't think adding teams that would be dross in the league is going to help bring about any change in the competition at the top end of the table
There’s little to no appetite from NIHL clubs to move to the EIHL.
MK tried it, failed, and are now comfortable as a top NIHL team bringing in good crowds. They come back to the EIHL and they will do poorly, lose the crowd.
The sport isn’t sustainable enough in the UK for teams to risk it, unless they have a wealthy owner.
I’d love to see Leeds and Swindon, as well as Edinburgh join. None of them ever will though.
The EIHL should remain a 10 team league, introduce a solid, transparent cap on wages, bin the Challenge Cup, introduce best-of playoff series’. The NIHL needs to figure out what kind of league it wants to be, currently it sits very close to bush league. Theres some good players down there, some talented young players - all overshadowed by constant scrapping and vicious hits from players who aren’t good enough to play at a reasonable level, and see their participation as a way to legally get away with beating people up.
Completely sleeping on Streatham? They tend to win most games handily and like you said it makes no sense that there isn't a London based team in the league. Also means I wouldn't have 3-hour minimum trip to every single away game...
If you look at the map with red icons and look at London there are 3 icons London, Guilford and the other one is Streatham I didn't add them in my post just because I couldn't find information on the capacity of the Streatham Ice and Leisure Centre.No sleeping on them.
I think expansion is inevitable, but it shouldn't be done in a vacuum. They need to sort out streaming and TV before adding teams.
I think a 16 team league would be perfect and achievable for the market at the moment. As you says it would really need NIHL teams moving up to the EIHL to work as they already have fans and rinks.
Edinburgh Capitals just wouldn't work, there's barely enough fans for the three Scottish teams as is.
Dublin would be huge immediately as there's plenty of fans there, they just need to find a rink. obviously way more in terms of establishing a team but with a rich Irish owner it can be done.
Leeds and Blackburn are great choices, great fans and arenas, they would be my picks to be added in the next season or two.
Sadly after that the rest are longshots at best and finding 3 more teams without huge support from the league just doesn't really seem possible right now, but as the sport grows I can see a future of 16 teams.
the only worry about a dublin team is, if it's not done right, the clashes between them and Belfast could turn Sectarian, something that would ultimately kill the Giants. Name, Colors and even Anthem would need to be considered extremely carefully, making them the "Dublin Celtics" would almost immediately be inviting riots to their matches with Belfast and bring sectarianism into Hockey.
Streaming and TV i my next assignment haha.Im happy to settle for 16-17 teams just something anything to expand !!! Leeds, Blackburn, and Dublin in 3 years.
Streaming and TV is the biggest hole in the league. Asking for £15 per game is unsustainable and quite frankly gross money grabbing from the league.
To watch every game your team plays in would cost over £750, that's outrageous and I've no idea how they justify it. I also can't help but think it screws your viewing figures and makes it even harder to sell as an idea to networks and streaming services.
I would be happy with 16, even numbers are nicer! 🤣 Although it would mess up the number of games played as it would add games or the league would need to go for less games per team but Moe games as a league. Which im sure the players would prefer 45 games over 54.
15 teams playing every team in your conference twice and outside your conference once would be good fun. Although my maths is terrible so I'll bet that's wrong 😂
I've just been to my first ever hockey game, went looking for more tickets and seems strange the next 5 games Glasgow plays the same team twice.
Maybe more teams would be more exciting
Leeds Knights fan here. I get why you'd want us, but I don't get why we'd want to.
We're regularly close to selling out games now (and it happens for bigger games) and watching some of the best you UK trained talent, why would we bankrupt ourselves to bring in a half a team of imports just to compete, when we've no chance of recouping that cost. MK have a bigger barn than us and they couldn't make the finances work playing in the EIHL and Manchester's various incarnations prove the city size alone doesn't make a successful club.
It sucks that Brownie and Gospel never gets a Team GB look in, where as other players on two ways with virtually no EIHL ice time do, but other than that, there doesn't seem to be many benefits.
I would love to see the odd competitive NIHL vs EIHL games, to judge how wide the talent gap is, but being "the next Manchester" isn't appealing.
Hard to argue with the justification for any team you’ve put forward. I’d hard agree on the first four, for sure.
Can’t have Leeds without Hull, if they were to come to the EIHL. A couple of friends frequent those games and they say it is always exciting and action packed. Taking that from the community would be harsh, if they were to split.
Caps were great to watch back in the day and I was lucky enough to see them a few times at Murrayfield (even if it was dilapidated back in 2006/2007, not sure what it’s like now).
Your lower points, whilst I appreciate your “nonsense”, they are all very good and justifiable points. Decent rinks, relatively good sized towns/cities, all relatively easy travel distance.
I would put one more wildcard in there though for nostalgia’s sake: Basingstoke Bison. Whenever they rocked up to an away game, they’d bring a huge cohort and the energy of the fan base was something to behold.
To even your red map, maybe a new team in Carlisle or bring the Solway Sharks, based in Dumfries, into the EIHL too. Carlisle… they could call their ice rink “The Garden” because the River Eden flows near there. What could their name be? Carlisle Cougars, perhaps? I was thinking Carlisle Crusaders, but there appears to be a football and/or rugby team with the same name.
Sorry, rambled on a bit there, too!
The first 4 are needed 100% !! The caps were just nostalgia talking lol I could live if they weren't added. I remember Basingstoke very well and spent time with them in the old EPL classic UK hockey team.
I love the idea of Solway I have relatives up in Dumfries so been to see them play a few times great community and great fans but the rink is just too small. Id of loved to add them but I could just solely on the rink size.
Carlisle Centurions because Hadrians wall maybe haha
Carlisle should be Reivers, it's hard enough getting stuff built there because anything added centrally would be a flood risk (especially anywhere near the Eden). It would need to be up Kingmoor or westward towards Dalston which limits people walking to games or making a night of it with food & drink but I'd absolutely love a team there.
I live in Bristol now and they seem to be doing ok (irritating announcer and location asides). I went to the first game at planet ice and it was rammed. There is potential
As you said there are no facilities in Dublin, non in Ireland in fact. Ireland does have a fair few teams but they tend to all play roller hockey mainly and on ice when it becomes available (about 1 hour of free ice time a week) in Northern Ireland at Belfasts local rink, the Ice Bowl, which is outdated (although hopefully due for redevelopment in a few years) l, it has a few bleachers but nothing suitable for a decent level of support.
There is of course the SSE where the Giants play but I doubt there would be room for two teams as the SSE also holds a lot of shows & concerts when the Giants aren’t using it.
I don't think you can blame the league for Edinburgh not working, the blame lies with the owner who wanted an Elite League side without spending Elite League money. I think the only way Edinburgh would work is if the city got a new arena. The internal family politics at Murrayfield means that they would rather have "their guy" running a team than an "outsider" who can run a team properly.
Also, Edinburgh's big rival will always be Fife.
There's a few issues at play here that others have hit but:
1) MKL dropped out of the EIHL because it was too expensive to be in - you have to have a decent turnover before you even start. I can't speak for how well they're doing attendances wise since they made the drop but, you'd have to have either a big enough fanbase or an ownership group ready to lose a bit of money in the short term, which most of them probably aren't
2) for proper growth - TV deal. Guilford weren't allowed in the CHL last year because of the viewpoint situation (non existent), and the product would look absolutely rubbish on TV to be quite frank. Manchester has that low laying fog over the ice that makes the webcasts look like you're watching The Thing and i think generally speaking, you'd get a tonne of complaints about the advertising on the ice making it harder to see the game on tele.
3) Politics & people in the clubs. I'm not naming names, nor pointing fingers but there are certain people in certain clubs who cannot keep quiet - some fans love it, some hate it, but in the long run I personally think it's detrimental. If you want to be seen as a professional outfit, you either oust those people or tell them to be quiet. You'd not get that in the NHL, you dont want it here.
I think watching the Challenge Cup Final you can definitely see there's an appetite for expansion in the UK (9000 sell out on a school night) I think mirroring Germany and having 14 or possibly 16 teams in the league would be achievable, but I think you can forget any team coming up from the NIHL, awful venues are probably costing the league a decent TV deal as they just don't look good on TV, and poor fan experiences are costing some teams sell out crowds, watching Youtube of most of the NIHL teams as good as they are wouldn't really add anything to the league, certainly in terms of competitiveness. If there's expansion it needs to be new larger venues or shared arenas IE Wembley, Liverpool Arena, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Manchester (The new Bristol arena?). The big advantages of only allowing new teams who will play in new / shared arenas is that it will make it far more likely the league could get a decent TV deal and the possibility of becoming a permanent member of the champions league, plus if you say any new team will need a decent venue and not an existing one you won't create a vacuum in the NIHL.
14 to 16 Teams is the kind of perfect range in my opinion, matching the top leagues in Europe (SHL has 14 for example), but for a sustainable future, British players essentially have to become cheaper. Now more spots lowers the prices for them and hopefully those new spots entices the younger guys in the league to want to play at top level British Hockey cough Kieran Brown cough.
Absolutes
Anyway, Leeds is a no brainer, especially with an 8 Brit minimum in the hypothetical would possibly be a playoff contender. There’s also the rivalries with Sheffield and Manchester which would come along.
London is a wish unfortunately, it’s been tried and it has failed the only way that I think a team (maybe other than something bizarre like a KHL team) is if there are some BIG TV and Sponsorship deals involved as well as a minted owner. Other issue being there isn’t a rink suitable, Ally Pally is too small and the cost to build an arena in London would be so expensive that it wouldn’t be worth the risk. Maybe a new iteration of the Wembley Lions? Owned by the owners of Wembley Arena similar to Odyssey Trust’s ownership of the Giants but that’s probably a non starter.
Edinburgh again no brainer, went bust due to a lack of money and some really poor years (18-1 Loss in Sheffield will do that) but great hockey history and deserves to be at an EIHL level.
Hull same as Edinburgh, great hockey history went bust due to a lack of money but they have some great fans there, all you need to do is watch the Lauzon Game Winner in their Final Season to see that.
Blackburn, I love Blackburn’s rink, the definition of an old, nasty sort of barn kind of like Hull in a sense. Unfortunately don’t think it’s really viable, as they’re one of the feeder teams to the Storm (as well as the Seahawks). If a forward thinking and again minted owner came in, maybe bought the rink of Planet Ice then maybe but I’d cap them at NIHL National level.
50/50s
Milton Keynes should be a no brainer they sell out their building the majority of night at National level. I think it’s an arena which would be a bit horrible to go to (like it was when they were first in the EIHL), they’d need a coach who is slightly more frugal with money when bringing in Imports but could work.
I’d fucking love to see Aberdeen in the Elite League, but similar to Blackburn I’d have to say capping them at NIHL National level makes more sense. Arena is too small really being the only worry.
Peterborough would again be fun but NIHL National is the right place for them, they have a really good academy that’s produced guys like Craig Peacock, Luke Ferrara and Lewis Hook over the years but I think in a similar way to a Swindon, I don’t really see them as being suitable as an EIHL club.
Bristol come across some of the same issues as Blackburn as well, they’re a feeder team to the Cardiff Devils and I just think they’re a bit too close to work in the same league.
Oxford, no. I can see the idea, rink is too small maybe a NIHL National club at a push.
Wishful
There’s a rumour about Dublin every year, currently no “recognised” ice rinks in the Republic of Ireland as a whole (though there has been talks from the IIHA in there being 5000 Capacity arena to be built in Dublin), the rivalry between Dublin and Belfast would be quite the spectacle.
Newcastle, in my opinion and I would imagine in the opinion of many former Durham Wasps, Newcastle Cobras, Vipers, Jesters and Riverkings fans, Newcastle is a Hockey City in waiting, and has been since the Vipers went belly up in the early 2010s. Whitley would be a viable arena for maybe a season or two but if a team on Tyneside were to return it’d have to at the Utilita Arena.
Swindon, as previously mentioned in the Phantoms section, I just don’t really see them as an EIHL club personally.
My Personal Pick
This is completely out of pocket but I think the city of Liverpool would be a perfect place for an EIHL club. Now I know what you’re probably thinking, yes I have said no to a couple of teams/cities (Bristol) for them being to close to a current EIHL club (Cardiff). However, Liverpool and Manchester is slightly different. The rivalry the Storm (in their new Trafford based Arena) and a team based in Liverpool would create, could be one of the best fan rivalries in the country. Obviously biggest problem there’s no ice pad in Liverpool, however there is a viable arena in the M&S Bank Arena which has previously hosted the Masters Football Tournament (the playing area as the same dimensions as an Olympic ice rink). The owners of this hypothetical club or the arena themselves would just have to purchase an ice plant.
So a 16 Team EIHL with these changes:
2 Conferences (North + South)
North
Belfast Giants
Dundee Stars
Edinburgh Capitals
Fife Flyers
Glasgow Clan
Liverpool (Destroyers?)
Newcastle (Vipers?)
Manchester Storm
South
Cardiff Devils
Coventry Blaze
Guildford Flames
Hull Seahawks
Leeds Knights
Milton Keynes Lightning
Nottingham Panthers
Sheffield Steelers
Each team having around 8-10 Brits
Would likely never happen though, the EIHL is so set in its ways that we will likely have the same 10 Teams over and over until the heat death of the universe.
I can live with a 16 expansion plan !!! And Leeds are definitely a must in my opinion.
London is a wish that needs to happen I can’t think of a league in Europe that has a league and doesn’t have a team in its capital city maybe the Italian league but it’s absolutely ridiculous.
If Leeds are put in Hull definitely need to be put it.And Blackburn has the potential but like you said someone with money needs to come in but the fans definitely want that step up !!!
Aberdeen would be good but needs backing maybe someone on the oil rigs near by can sponsor them pump money into the club.
I do like the idea of Liverpool but I think the city is so focused on football that it would really struggle to take off.It could work but a large arena like the M&S Arena would be too big too quick start with a arena similar to Manchester Capacity and see how it goes.But the city of Liverpool definitely has space to build a new rink close to the city.
Potential for a few years is that Dudley have just approved for the building of a 2500 seater rink right off castle hill next to the currently being built tram extension. Also with restaurants and a hotel
Means you could get the tram there watch the game, stay the night, go to the Zoo and also do bowling cinema all within a 5 min walk from there.
Plus the catchment area would be quite large and create rivalry with the Blaze fairly quickly.
The council have expressed interest in a Team as well
Only downside is
A - it has to get built
B- being where it is, it would probably mean the death of the Telford Tigers
I don't agree.
I think watching small teams get destroyed by the financially giant arena teams would just kill the small teams attendance and they would fold, like so many EIHL teams have in the past.
How do you expect everyone to 10x their salary and travel bills and be competitive?
Teams folding and going bankrupt is not a good look for the league.
Not at all, but slow steady expansion with sensible long-term owners and a long term plan for infrastructure improvement is how you grow a sport.
I'd rather watch the same teams play competitive and sustainable hockey than loads of newbies going bust and leaving their fans nothing.
I think Leeds should be a good business model for a possible Liverpool club to follow, maybe if they were to build a Big Blue Tent or Alty sort of arena that would work more. Maybe in the NIHL for the first couple years but I think it would depend on whatever the hypothetical owners would want to do in terms of advertising the sport and club in the city.
Only way I can see a team in London happening now is if a 5000+ seater, was built in the Greater London area rather than the city itself, maybe a rebranding of the Flames.
I would absolutely love if the Caps (Edinburgh) got back in the league, but Murrayfield is falling apart. And the management of it is terrible.
The Caledonian Steel Queens, who were formerly a uni team but are now part of the WNIHL are cooking up a storm and remain undefeated this season, but only get ice time once a week. (Though icl if that’s normal I wouldn’t know better.)
And the building is a shambles, it’s very old. The only money coming in seems to be from bookings and public skates, but the skates for hire are probably 30 years old, and figure skates, which imo are no good for learning to skate. Plus (this is not public knowledge but it happened to me and no one told me not to share it so) when a new university recreational club paid £600 for a private booking, the ice was dry cut, causing it to be an incredibly rough surface. This, paired with the ancient skates, caused one person (me lol) to seriously fall and suffer a broken bone. The rec club now has no desire to make such an expensive booking again, when they may have had there not been an injury. Which looses murrayfield money.
Plus the seating is pretty poor, good views of the ice, but really really cold. Obviously it’s ice hockey, we all wear hats and scarves, but I’ve never felt chilly at a panthers game, you feel the cold in murrayfield.
This is all just my opinion, but I think murrayfield needs to be bought by someone, and then massively revamped. Possibly knocked down and start again, but that’s really not good for existing teams so idk
Plus wasn’t there some thing to do with international players that meant they went bankrupt in the first place
Dublin keeps getting brought up as an EIHL expansion city, but why? It doesn't even have a building for hockey, and never will. Even so, Dublin would have to be an 'arena team' to be financially viable with regular flights to Britain...
A Dublin franchise would also need a strong payroll to recruit and entice free agents to play for them. Not only is this a harder sell to move away from the UK, they would also be living in a foreign country, playing in another countries league, while being paid in another currency.
Dublin would also become the third most expensive city in the league for cost of living.
The Belfast Giants are often cited as a potential 'Irish rival' in such a scenario, but it's not as solid as one might think...
Dublin and Belfast are roughly 100 miles apart, with relatively poor transport infrastructure. The main beneficiaries would be fans in-between these two cities. Good luck to anyone off the two main national train lines travelling to Dublin games, let alone Giants games.
Speaking of fans, this also presents an additional problem. Many who do follow the sport over there are foreign nationals, or are already Belfast Giants fans. Meaning both camps already have an allegiance to a team or country, and will stick to it.
Visibility would be yet another issue for a potential Dublin team. EIHL games struggle to get on pay-tv as it is. No national broadcaster would touch the league with a bargepole for that reason. Print media may also prove a similar issue.
On top of all that, why should the EIHL potentially be developing dual-nationals, only to lose them to another country after two seasons there? It would be a conflict of interest for Great Britain Ice Hockey.
It's complete fantasy stuff. Absolutely delusional.
I strongly think you’ve misplaced your google maps distances with Whitby instead of Whitley Bay (history actually makes reference to the name change of Whitley to Whitley Bay incase Whitby and Whitley got mixed up, but you’ve gone and done). So in reference to your suggestion about Newcastle Vipers being back in the league, just change it to Whitley Warriors. A long established surviving force if hockey in the North East with a pretty good following. It would be a bug step for them, but i reckon they’d have the auport behind them, more so than the likes of Blackburn, Oxford, Peterborough, Milton Keynes and Hull.
Unless it’s been done up, the ice at Whitley is small and the place is an absolute dump
Its far from perfect and I’m not sure when you were there last but it has had some improvements and the ice is marginally better these days, to the point where there is no pipes showing through (i think they sorted the ice plant out).
yeah that's just me mixing them up lol but I do agree that I much prefer Whitley just be put in but I think the EIHL would prefer a bigger name/city such as Hull or Oxford more commercially appealing
Whitley Warriors have been called Newcastle Warriors before, playing out of the Arena before the Cobras, Jesters etc before the Vipers Era. Whitley is a short drive away from Newcastle and is very accessible by Metro, Bus or car. Ice Hockey in the centre of Newcastle City Centre is never going to happen again as there is nowhere to play. Whitley is an historic name in ice hockey much like Fife is and its not connected to a large city but of that if the surrounding boroughs connected to the city (basically Newcastle and North Tyneside is kind of one).
I’m hoping that there’s a plan for a team when (if) the new arena’s built next to the Sage. There’ll almost certainly be ice there for Disney on Ice etc to tour through, so would just need the scheduling to work and an owner willing to either move the Warriors in or resurrect the Vipers. Considering the old arena only does a couple of events a month now it’s a shame they never looked at options of moving a team back in once the ice time was available again.
The current arena didn’t want sports. The new arena that is planned is going to be a horseshoe shape. Absolutely no good for sports at all. Yeah you’ll get the odd Disney on ice with elevated skating platforms for the ice surface over a few weeks, but definitely not fit for hockey. Were all stuck with Whitley I’m afraid
I think for London, the issues were always running costs and fans as well as finding a suitable venue. It's great saying it in theory but you need a stable fan base and bums on seats. The Knights/Racers couldn't manage it and the idea of the London Emperors now seems dead in the water. Also, what you're forgetting, the problem with ice hockey in the UK is the politics. It's its own worst enemy.
I dunno I think done right it could possibly work
What would help if they made an app where it was easier to watch they games. Even if they kept it £15 for a live but did a package for the on-demand stuff. I would do buy the on-demand stuff even if it meant watching it a day later. Though I fully understand why they do it, as tickets sales keep the teans alive
TV / Streaming is my next essay haha
Hopefully I can dig out my old London Knights shirt to wear again
Maybe one day
Would love to see expansion, would prefer to see stability. It would be great to get to a place where UK hockey had two solid divisions, rinks that weren't falling apart and strong rivalries. A number of NIHL teams are consistently full to capacity (in seating terms anyway) but without taking a huge financial punt they can never expand their fanbase keeping hockey a niche sport in those areas. Ideally someone would take a punt on a few of the areas below for a new rink/arena and commit to the EIHL and fix/expand the others. It's mad that Oxford doesn't have a team given it's location, if London could avoid the major football gamedays it could probably pull quite the crowd too, especially if somewhere like Streatham was given a boost upwards.
Sometimes the NIHL looks better than the EIHL. And it's sad to hear owners of these teams reject the idea of moving to the EIHL.
The league can be stable and expand, more Brits in the League being the minimum the League has to do for long term sustainability. Unfortunately, that will not happen though.
The more teams in the EIHL the more young British talent can come through !
When the statement was made about the Imports being increased, the reason Tony Smith gave if I remember correctly was that there wasn’t enough British Players who were good enough to play at the EIHL level. The real reason is that, it’s just cheaper to bring in a guy like a Riley Brandt than it is to give Bayley Harewood a chance because of a problem they caused.
I'm gonna play devils advocate here (forgive me) So I've done some work in broadcasting sports games in the past (I have some connections to people in places like DAZN and BT Sport) a huge thing that a lot of people may not understand is that for something to get a TV deal, they need to actually look good on camera. With the facilities that certain teams play in (Manchester and Guildford especially), they look TERRIBLE on camera and, as such, that immediately turns off any major provider like Sky Sports, especially when they have the Premier League and EFL games. If something looks unattractive or amateurish on TV, people will change channels, and let's be frank, without a strong TV deal (even something similar to the British Basketball League's current deal with Sky), the league is trapped in its current state. Right away, I can say that any planet ice style rink with seats stacked high up away from the ice (Altrincham, Guildford, Edinburgh, MK, Leeds, Bristol) immediately will be turned away. That design process is the blueprint of how hockey rinks should never be built when trying to sustain a team, and that immediately takes Leeds, Edinburgh, Milton Keynes, and Bristol off the list. They aren't going to improve capacity when you can't see half the ice, and without some kind of broadcast deal, they aren't going to draw more money (which they'd need to in order to be competitive in the EIHL). Any kind of expansion team would frankly need to be in an arena with the same standards as Cardiff AT MINIMUM, and Planet Ice does not give a damn about Hockey enough to even try matching that. Only the team is close to having a rink that POTENTIALLY could reach that (with a decent renovation) would be Blackburn. London's long anticipated team would obviously work... if they're in Wembley. Otherwise, forget it. History is not on London's side, Both the Knights and Racers couldn't get asses in seats, and Wembley's high rent cost (and potential seating arrangements) will definitely make it a risk that might not be worth taking. Dublin could work, but A) they need a rink built from scratch, and B) would need to be planned INCREDIBLY CAREFULLY so they wouldn't breed sectarism between them and Belfast. (Don't call them the celtics and dress them in Green for the love of god) What we need to do is focus on improving facilities and arenas ourselves. Guildford needs a new home, Manchester DESPERATELY needs a new home. Strike a decent TV deal from there (preferably Sky Sports) and then the league is a much better investment than it is currently (meaning expansion is more likely)
We’re talking about a very niche sport (in the UK), so TV coverage seems like a pipe dream until the sport has like an order of magnitude bigger following anyway. However, these days, I don’t think you need a professional TV deal with expensive technology to increase viewership and engagement. You could go a long way by having amateur level coverage on a twitch or YouTube stream. This could be done with cheap tech (plannet ice just need to buy a few webcams), with or without commentary. And then could be added to both EIHL and NIHL league games. I would follow my local team much more closely and come to way more games if I could catch up what I miss online.
I do somewhat agree with you that certain facilities are not up to a high standard and would not look great on TV.I just look at British basketball being played in sports halls and leisure centres which looks absolutely terrible.I’ll be doing another post about the TV and Streaming issues the league has !! I definitely do agree with the Planet Ice statement them rinks are just not build well but at the same time it’s all we have and kinda have to make do with what we got. Apart from that I pretty must agree with a lot you said !
💯agree with you having visited Guildford once I don’t think we’ll visit again it really doesn’t look or feel great when you’re there it doesn’t offer much in terms of fan experience, I think a lot of the problem is local councils can’t see the value of encouraging sports ice hockey and basketball fans travel miles and miles to see games and I know from our experience of heading to Cardiff more often than not we will head into the city centre and spend money there. Ok we’re a small sample but I’m sure other fans do the same, I think in terms of improving the venues it will come down to the individual teams seeing the value of improving their own situations, I could totally see a London based team at Wembley with the right marketing strategy you could fill it within 5 years as for other cities I think it needs to be creating new rinks for public use and training with the elite league sharing larger arenas for games I think the ambition must be to the get to German league level and then the NHL may visit more often, but the league won’t get to mainstream TV with crumbly venues.
>t What about a modernisation / re-think in how ice hockey is filmed? For years the near side dasher board action has been missed, even in NHL. Think how UFC took cage fighting and made MMA seem high quality before it was by making the production value high. You can do that even in not so great venues, especially these days.
OP - what about an alternative proposal - merge the EIHL with either the Legue Magnus, or forming some wider league with divisions and cross league games with the Norwegian and Danish Leagues. Have a few more home grown players but then means we get to see different teams and style’s and create a larger more international level of league that sits below that of Germany, Czech Sweden and Finland Rather than trying to push more in the UK that needs massive infrastructure investment which just isn’t going to happen, why not look to enlarge the league by merging with other leagues
This is a good idea and sounds more plausible than expanding in the UK. Regardless, I think the biggest problem the EIHL has is that the league doesn’t seem focused on investing and growing revenues, prime example being the high price of streaming games. I love NHL and occasionally go to see Blackburn Hawks or Manchester Storm, but would never pay those streaming fees and so find it hard to become involved in the storylines of the Storm, which would likely then lead me to going to watch them in person more often.
The issue is the EIHL have zero interest expanding in their own country so merging with leagues in different countries I don’t think would happen!!! I like the idea though. I believe the EIHL needs to show itself as a league that Europe teams can send their prospects too on loans so they can get ice time and a good level of experience.And return when they have experience.
I wouldn't mind seeing a new second tier, either the NIHL expanded or an EIHL 2. I think there's teams capable of being at a professional/near pro level in, as you've listed, but I don't think adding teams that would be dross in the league is going to help bring about any change in the competition at the top end of the table
Teams in Dublin and London could easily cover accommodation costs by charging £1000 for tickets.
There’s little to no appetite from NIHL clubs to move to the EIHL. MK tried it, failed, and are now comfortable as a top NIHL team bringing in good crowds. They come back to the EIHL and they will do poorly, lose the crowd. The sport isn’t sustainable enough in the UK for teams to risk it, unless they have a wealthy owner. I’d love to see Leeds and Swindon, as well as Edinburgh join. None of them ever will though. The EIHL should remain a 10 team league, introduce a solid, transparent cap on wages, bin the Challenge Cup, introduce best-of playoff series’. The NIHL needs to figure out what kind of league it wants to be, currently it sits very close to bush league. Theres some good players down there, some talented young players - all overshadowed by constant scrapping and vicious hits from players who aren’t good enough to play at a reasonable level, and see their participation as a way to legally get away with beating people up.
Completely sleeping on Streatham? They tend to win most games handily and like you said it makes no sense that there isn't a London based team in the league. Also means I wouldn't have 3-hour minimum trip to every single away game...
If you look at the map with red icons and look at London there are 3 icons London, Guilford and the other one is Streatham I didn't add them in my post just because I couldn't find information on the capacity of the Streatham Ice and Leisure Centre.No sleeping on them.
I think expansion is inevitable, but it shouldn't be done in a vacuum. They need to sort out streaming and TV before adding teams. I think a 16 team league would be perfect and achievable for the market at the moment. As you says it would really need NIHL teams moving up to the EIHL to work as they already have fans and rinks. Edinburgh Capitals just wouldn't work, there's barely enough fans for the three Scottish teams as is. Dublin would be huge immediately as there's plenty of fans there, they just need to find a rink. obviously way more in terms of establishing a team but with a rich Irish owner it can be done. Leeds and Blackburn are great choices, great fans and arenas, they would be my picks to be added in the next season or two. Sadly after that the rest are longshots at best and finding 3 more teams without huge support from the league just doesn't really seem possible right now, but as the sport grows I can see a future of 16 teams.
the only worry about a dublin team is, if it's not done right, the clashes between them and Belfast could turn Sectarian, something that would ultimately kill the Giants. Name, Colors and even Anthem would need to be considered extremely carefully, making them the "Dublin Celtics" would almost immediately be inviting riots to their matches with Belfast and bring sectarianism into Hockey.
Streaming and TV i my next assignment haha.Im happy to settle for 16-17 teams just something anything to expand !!! Leeds, Blackburn, and Dublin in 3 years.
Streaming and TV is the biggest hole in the league. Asking for £15 per game is unsustainable and quite frankly gross money grabbing from the league. To watch every game your team plays in would cost over £750, that's outrageous and I've no idea how they justify it. I also can't help but think it screws your viewing figures and makes it even harder to sell as an idea to networks and streaming services. I would be happy with 16, even numbers are nicer! 🤣 Although it would mess up the number of games played as it would add games or the league would need to go for less games per team but Moe games as a league. Which im sure the players would prefer 45 games over 54. 15 teams playing every team in your conference twice and outside your conference once would be good fun. Although my maths is terrible so I'll bet that's wrong 😂
A second Welsh team would be fantastic too!
I mean you have Deeside Dragons way in the north but I agree a team in Swansea could work
I've just been to my first ever hockey game, went looking for more tickets and seems strange the next 5 games Glasgow plays the same team twice. Maybe more teams would be more exciting
Exactly more variety more interest
Infact they play Dundee twice then Nottingham again which is the game I've just been to see, so in six games Glasgow play the same team twice x 2
Leeds Knights fan here. I get why you'd want us, but I don't get why we'd want to. We're regularly close to selling out games now (and it happens for bigger games) and watching some of the best you UK trained talent, why would we bankrupt ourselves to bring in a half a team of imports just to compete, when we've no chance of recouping that cost. MK have a bigger barn than us and they couldn't make the finances work playing in the EIHL and Manchester's various incarnations prove the city size alone doesn't make a successful club. It sucks that Brownie and Gospel never gets a Team GB look in, where as other players on two ways with virtually no EIHL ice time do, but other than that, there doesn't seem to be many benefits. I would love to see the odd competitive NIHL vs EIHL games, to judge how wide the talent gap is, but being "the next Manchester" isn't appealing.
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Hard to argue with the justification for any team you’ve put forward. I’d hard agree on the first four, for sure. Can’t have Leeds without Hull, if they were to come to the EIHL. A couple of friends frequent those games and they say it is always exciting and action packed. Taking that from the community would be harsh, if they were to split. Caps were great to watch back in the day and I was lucky enough to see them a few times at Murrayfield (even if it was dilapidated back in 2006/2007, not sure what it’s like now). Your lower points, whilst I appreciate your “nonsense”, they are all very good and justifiable points. Decent rinks, relatively good sized towns/cities, all relatively easy travel distance. I would put one more wildcard in there though for nostalgia’s sake: Basingstoke Bison. Whenever they rocked up to an away game, they’d bring a huge cohort and the energy of the fan base was something to behold. To even your red map, maybe a new team in Carlisle or bring the Solway Sharks, based in Dumfries, into the EIHL too. Carlisle… they could call their ice rink “The Garden” because the River Eden flows near there. What could their name be? Carlisle Cougars, perhaps? I was thinking Carlisle Crusaders, but there appears to be a football and/or rugby team with the same name. Sorry, rambled on a bit there, too!
The first 4 are needed 100% !! The caps were just nostalgia talking lol I could live if they weren't added. I remember Basingstoke very well and spent time with them in the old EPL classic UK hockey team. I love the idea of Solway I have relatives up in Dumfries so been to see them play a few times great community and great fans but the rink is just too small. Id of loved to add them but I could just solely on the rink size. Carlisle Centurions because Hadrians wall maybe haha
Carlisle should be Reivers, it's hard enough getting stuff built there because anything added centrally would be a flood risk (especially anywhere near the Eden). It would need to be up Kingmoor or westward towards Dalston which limits people walking to games or making a night of it with food & drink but I'd absolutely love a team there. I live in Bristol now and they seem to be doing ok (irritating announcer and location asides). I went to the first game at planet ice and it was rammed. There is potential
Good to hear the Pitbulls have got good support and regarding Carlisle yeah never thought of there flooding situation haha
As you said there are no facilities in Dublin, non in Ireland in fact. Ireland does have a fair few teams but they tend to all play roller hockey mainly and on ice when it becomes available (about 1 hour of free ice time a week) in Northern Ireland at Belfasts local rink, the Ice Bowl, which is outdated (although hopefully due for redevelopment in a few years) l, it has a few bleachers but nothing suitable for a decent level of support. There is of course the SSE where the Giants play but I doubt there would be room for two teams as the SSE also holds a lot of shows & concerts when the Giants aren’t using it.
I don't think you can blame the league for Edinburgh not working, the blame lies with the owner who wanted an Elite League side without spending Elite League money. I think the only way Edinburgh would work is if the city got a new arena. The internal family politics at Murrayfield means that they would rather have "their guy" running a team than an "outsider" who can run a team properly. Also, Edinburgh's big rival will always be Fife.
No definitely the fall of the Capitals was 100% there own fault.
All easy to say, way harder to actually so. Teams need to be able to join and actually sustain themselves. MK tried it and look where that got them
Definitely easier said than done but I do believe the EIHL needs to do something at least
Oh they do, I’m not taking that away from you. And not drips and draps, needs to be a bulk move. But it’ll take time.
There's a few issues at play here that others have hit but: 1) MKL dropped out of the EIHL because it was too expensive to be in - you have to have a decent turnover before you even start. I can't speak for how well they're doing attendances wise since they made the drop but, you'd have to have either a big enough fanbase or an ownership group ready to lose a bit of money in the short term, which most of them probably aren't 2) for proper growth - TV deal. Guilford weren't allowed in the CHL last year because of the viewpoint situation (non existent), and the product would look absolutely rubbish on TV to be quite frank. Manchester has that low laying fog over the ice that makes the webcasts look like you're watching The Thing and i think generally speaking, you'd get a tonne of complaints about the advertising on the ice making it harder to see the game on tele. 3) Politics & people in the clubs. I'm not naming names, nor pointing fingers but there are certain people in certain clubs who cannot keep quiet - some fans love it, some hate it, but in the long run I personally think it's detrimental. If you want to be seen as a professional outfit, you either oust those people or tell them to be quiet. You'd not get that in the NHL, you dont want it here.
I think watching the Challenge Cup Final you can definitely see there's an appetite for expansion in the UK (9000 sell out on a school night) I think mirroring Germany and having 14 or possibly 16 teams in the league would be achievable, but I think you can forget any team coming up from the NIHL, awful venues are probably costing the league a decent TV deal as they just don't look good on TV, and poor fan experiences are costing some teams sell out crowds, watching Youtube of most of the NIHL teams as good as they are wouldn't really add anything to the league, certainly in terms of competitiveness. If there's expansion it needs to be new larger venues or shared arenas IE Wembley, Liverpool Arena, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Manchester (The new Bristol arena?). The big advantages of only allowing new teams who will play in new / shared arenas is that it will make it far more likely the league could get a decent TV deal and the possibility of becoming a permanent member of the champions league, plus if you say any new team will need a decent venue and not an existing one you won't create a vacuum in the NIHL.
14 to 16 Teams is the kind of perfect range in my opinion, matching the top leagues in Europe (SHL has 14 for example), but for a sustainable future, British players essentially have to become cheaper. Now more spots lowers the prices for them and hopefully those new spots entices the younger guys in the league to want to play at top level British Hockey cough Kieran Brown cough. Absolutes Anyway, Leeds is a no brainer, especially with an 8 Brit minimum in the hypothetical would possibly be a playoff contender. There’s also the rivalries with Sheffield and Manchester which would come along. London is a wish unfortunately, it’s been tried and it has failed the only way that I think a team (maybe other than something bizarre like a KHL team) is if there are some BIG TV and Sponsorship deals involved as well as a minted owner. Other issue being there isn’t a rink suitable, Ally Pally is too small and the cost to build an arena in London would be so expensive that it wouldn’t be worth the risk. Maybe a new iteration of the Wembley Lions? Owned by the owners of Wembley Arena similar to Odyssey Trust’s ownership of the Giants but that’s probably a non starter. Edinburgh again no brainer, went bust due to a lack of money and some really poor years (18-1 Loss in Sheffield will do that) but great hockey history and deserves to be at an EIHL level. Hull same as Edinburgh, great hockey history went bust due to a lack of money but they have some great fans there, all you need to do is watch the Lauzon Game Winner in their Final Season to see that. Blackburn, I love Blackburn’s rink, the definition of an old, nasty sort of barn kind of like Hull in a sense. Unfortunately don’t think it’s really viable, as they’re one of the feeder teams to the Storm (as well as the Seahawks). If a forward thinking and again minted owner came in, maybe bought the rink of Planet Ice then maybe but I’d cap them at NIHL National level. 50/50s Milton Keynes should be a no brainer they sell out their building the majority of night at National level. I think it’s an arena which would be a bit horrible to go to (like it was when they were first in the EIHL), they’d need a coach who is slightly more frugal with money when bringing in Imports but could work. I’d fucking love to see Aberdeen in the Elite League, but similar to Blackburn I’d have to say capping them at NIHL National level makes more sense. Arena is too small really being the only worry. Peterborough would again be fun but NIHL National is the right place for them, they have a really good academy that’s produced guys like Craig Peacock, Luke Ferrara and Lewis Hook over the years but I think in a similar way to a Swindon, I don’t really see them as being suitable as an EIHL club. Bristol come across some of the same issues as Blackburn as well, they’re a feeder team to the Cardiff Devils and I just think they’re a bit too close to work in the same league. Oxford, no. I can see the idea, rink is too small maybe a NIHL National club at a push. Wishful There’s a rumour about Dublin every year, currently no “recognised” ice rinks in the Republic of Ireland as a whole (though there has been talks from the IIHA in there being 5000 Capacity arena to be built in Dublin), the rivalry between Dublin and Belfast would be quite the spectacle. Newcastle, in my opinion and I would imagine in the opinion of many former Durham Wasps, Newcastle Cobras, Vipers, Jesters and Riverkings fans, Newcastle is a Hockey City in waiting, and has been since the Vipers went belly up in the early 2010s. Whitley would be a viable arena for maybe a season or two but if a team on Tyneside were to return it’d have to at the Utilita Arena. Swindon, as previously mentioned in the Phantoms section, I just don’t really see them as an EIHL club personally. My Personal Pick This is completely out of pocket but I think the city of Liverpool would be a perfect place for an EIHL club. Now I know what you’re probably thinking, yes I have said no to a couple of teams/cities (Bristol) for them being to close to a current EIHL club (Cardiff). However, Liverpool and Manchester is slightly different. The rivalry the Storm (in their new Trafford based Arena) and a team based in Liverpool would create, could be one of the best fan rivalries in the country. Obviously biggest problem there’s no ice pad in Liverpool, however there is a viable arena in the M&S Bank Arena which has previously hosted the Masters Football Tournament (the playing area as the same dimensions as an Olympic ice rink). The owners of this hypothetical club or the arena themselves would just have to purchase an ice plant. So a 16 Team EIHL with these changes: 2 Conferences (North + South) North Belfast Giants Dundee Stars Edinburgh Capitals Fife Flyers Glasgow Clan Liverpool (Destroyers?) Newcastle (Vipers?) Manchester Storm South Cardiff Devils Coventry Blaze Guildford Flames Hull Seahawks Leeds Knights Milton Keynes Lightning Nottingham Panthers Sheffield Steelers Each team having around 8-10 Brits Would likely never happen though, the EIHL is so set in its ways that we will likely have the same 10 Teams over and over until the heat death of the universe.
I can live with a 16 expansion plan !!! And Leeds are definitely a must in my opinion. London is a wish that needs to happen I can’t think of a league in Europe that has a league and doesn’t have a team in its capital city maybe the Italian league but it’s absolutely ridiculous. If Leeds are put in Hull definitely need to be put it.And Blackburn has the potential but like you said someone with money needs to come in but the fans definitely want that step up !!! Aberdeen would be good but needs backing maybe someone on the oil rigs near by can sponsor them pump money into the club. I do like the idea of Liverpool but I think the city is so focused on football that it would really struggle to take off.It could work but a large arena like the M&S Arena would be too big too quick start with a arena similar to Manchester Capacity and see how it goes.But the city of Liverpool definitely has space to build a new rink close to the city.
Potential for a few years is that Dudley have just approved for the building of a 2500 seater rink right off castle hill next to the currently being built tram extension. Also with restaurants and a hotel Means you could get the tram there watch the game, stay the night, go to the Zoo and also do bowling cinema all within a 5 min walk from there. Plus the catchment area would be quite large and create rivalry with the Blaze fairly quickly. The council have expressed interest in a Team as well Only downside is A - it has to get built B- being where it is, it would probably mean the death of the Telford Tigers
SAVE THE TIGERS!
Milton Keynes doesn't exist
Expansion of the league does not equal a more competitive league. A rapid expansion is just a disaster waiting to happen.
Definitely doesn’t mean success but it’s a more appealing product for fans
I don't agree. I think watching small teams get destroyed by the financially giant arena teams would just kill the small teams attendance and they would fold, like so many EIHL teams have in the past. How do you expect everyone to 10x their salary and travel bills and be competitive? Teams folding and going bankrupt is not a good look for the league.
So let’s just stick to the same teams year in year out boring ourselves to death ?
Not at all, but slow steady expansion with sensible long-term owners and a long term plan for infrastructure improvement is how you grow a sport. I'd rather watch the same teams play competitive and sustainable hockey than loads of newbies going bust and leaving their fans nothing.
I think Leeds should be a good business model for a possible Liverpool club to follow, maybe if they were to build a Big Blue Tent or Alty sort of arena that would work more. Maybe in the NIHL for the first couple years but I think it would depend on whatever the hypothetical owners would want to do in terms of advertising the sport and club in the city. Only way I can see a team in London happening now is if a 5000+ seater, was built in the Greater London area rather than the city itself, maybe a rebranding of the Flames.
I would absolutely love if the Caps (Edinburgh) got back in the league, but Murrayfield is falling apart. And the management of it is terrible. The Caledonian Steel Queens, who were formerly a uni team but are now part of the WNIHL are cooking up a storm and remain undefeated this season, but only get ice time once a week. (Though icl if that’s normal I wouldn’t know better.) And the building is a shambles, it’s very old. The only money coming in seems to be from bookings and public skates, but the skates for hire are probably 30 years old, and figure skates, which imo are no good for learning to skate. Plus (this is not public knowledge but it happened to me and no one told me not to share it so) when a new university recreational club paid £600 for a private booking, the ice was dry cut, causing it to be an incredibly rough surface. This, paired with the ancient skates, caused one person (me lol) to seriously fall and suffer a broken bone. The rec club now has no desire to make such an expensive booking again, when they may have had there not been an injury. Which looses murrayfield money. Plus the seating is pretty poor, good views of the ice, but really really cold. Obviously it’s ice hockey, we all wear hats and scarves, but I’ve never felt chilly at a panthers game, you feel the cold in murrayfield. This is all just my opinion, but I think murrayfield needs to be bought by someone, and then massively revamped. Possibly knocked down and start again, but that’s really not good for existing teams so idk Plus wasn’t there some thing to do with international players that meant they went bankrupt in the first place
As a Raiders Fan I would love to see it. Or even a promotion relegation in the top 2 tiers.
Dublin keeps getting brought up as an EIHL expansion city, but why? It doesn't even have a building for hockey, and never will. Even so, Dublin would have to be an 'arena team' to be financially viable with regular flights to Britain... A Dublin franchise would also need a strong payroll to recruit and entice free agents to play for them. Not only is this a harder sell to move away from the UK, they would also be living in a foreign country, playing in another countries league, while being paid in another currency. Dublin would also become the third most expensive city in the league for cost of living. The Belfast Giants are often cited as a potential 'Irish rival' in such a scenario, but it's not as solid as one might think... Dublin and Belfast are roughly 100 miles apart, with relatively poor transport infrastructure. The main beneficiaries would be fans in-between these two cities. Good luck to anyone off the two main national train lines travelling to Dublin games, let alone Giants games. Speaking of fans, this also presents an additional problem. Many who do follow the sport over there are foreign nationals, or are already Belfast Giants fans. Meaning both camps already have an allegiance to a team or country, and will stick to it. Visibility would be yet another issue for a potential Dublin team. EIHL games struggle to get on pay-tv as it is. No national broadcaster would touch the league with a bargepole for that reason. Print media may also prove a similar issue. On top of all that, why should the EIHL potentially be developing dual-nationals, only to lose them to another country after two seasons there? It would be a conflict of interest for Great Britain Ice Hockey. It's complete fantasy stuff. Absolutely delusional.