The man leading the charge to get an NHL expansion team in Atlanta believes that his group is almost ready to officially propose the addition of a 33rd franchise to league executives.
In an interview with 11Alive, the NBC affiliate news station of Atlanta, Vernon Krause described that the next step in the process is speaking with Commissioner Gary Bettman to pitch the idea. That will have to wait until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is in place. Negotiations between the NHL Players' Association and the league are ongoing but could be finished as soon as next month.
The CEO of Krause Sports and Entertainment has already gotten Forsyth County on his side, purchashing the land and meeting county zoning requirements. Krause intends to use the property to build an 80-acre development called "The Gathering" including a state-of-the-art arena as well as homes, apartments, and other retail businesses.
There are also plans in the works to build two additional hockey rinks nearby that could serve as a practice facility for the possible new franchise.
"I think now the next step is for us to go up to New York and meet with the commissioner of the NHL and show them what we have in place with the county in hopes that they vote for expansion."Vernon Krause, to 11Alive
However, a group including former NHLer Anson Carter is also bidding to spearhead their own push for the NHL's return to Atlanta. Alpharetta Sports & Entertainment Group has been public about their interest, but by all accounts are not as far along in the process as Krause and his team.
Ultimately, there lie a few big problems with the movement to bring hockey back to Atlanta, mainly the lack of a stable fanbase. That's directly the reason behind relocating both former NHL teams to their current homes in Winnipeg and Calgary, respectively.
A survey of voters in Forsyth County showed a great deal of interest in a professional hockey team, with 82 percent of people saying they had moderate to extreme excitement about the idea. But there's no guarantee that will translate to actual in-person attendance.
The Thrashers had trouble finding success on the ice, which did not help the struggle to draw interest in the team. It started off strong, averaging more than 17,000 fans per game in the inaugural 1999-00 season, but within two years that number had already fallen to 13,500 attendees on average.
There was renewed excitement when the Thrashers finished as division champions in 2006-07, leading to the team's first and only playoff appearance (a sweep at the hands of the New York Rangers). Attendance spiked to over 16,000 that year, then dwindled steadily to 13,500 in the final season before becoming today's Winnipeg Jets in 2011-12.
The NHL's first attempt at hockey in Atlanta ended similarly back in the '70s. The Flames garnered an average of over 14,000 viewers at home games during its peak in 1973-74 according to HockeyDB. By the time 1979 rolled around, the team could barely draw 10,000 fans per game, and were moved to Calgary for the 1980-81 season.
Both of those franchises actually played in the city of Atlanta. Forsyth County is a 43-mile drive away from the heart of the city. If the previous clubs had trouble maintaining consistent attendance, in an arena located directly off of a major subway line, what would make the league think that this time around could be any different?
The proposed development in Forsyth County is right off of Highway 400, making it easily accessible by car. Still, it's worth taking into consideration that the Thrashers and Flames played in a more optimal location and nevertheless struggled with finding continued support.
There are also concerns about how additional franchises could interrupt league operations as we know it. The NHL would likely need to realign some of its divisions and tweak the format of the schedule to accommodate another club, whether that be through lengthening the season or changing the number of times divisional and conference opponents play one another.
That's not to mention that it would be far more desirable to add two new franchises in one go to bring the league to an even 34 teams. The most likely candidate for the other team would be Houston, something that's also in the works according to recent reports.
Regardless, the NHL is likely still several years away from actually expanding the league, as "The Gathering" in Atlanta isn't projected to be completed until 2033. But we've seen this venture fail twice before, and it's still unclear whether a third attempt would be any more successful.