Is the NHL immune to the recession?

As it announced plans to hold its next three awards ceremonies in Vegas, starting with one June 18 at the Palms, talk of the NHL coming to Vegas surfaced again. The intended stadium partnership between Harrah’s and AEG would provide the 20,000-seat arena needed to house the franchise. That’s the Limbo Project—it could resurface at any time, but there is little hurry to rush it.

It’s been a foregone conclusion that the NHL would land here—given that the league wants to add two teams and Las Vegas is the fastest growing metropolis in the United States. The city and outlying areas provide nearly 2 million people, a number that surpasses NHL cities like Edmonton and Calgary, even Dallas.

But is this a hockey hotbed? The Wranglers drew less than 4,000 fans for the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs. The team has fared reasonably well at times, and attendance was expected to spike after the Wranglers advanced to the deeper rounds of the Kelly Cup playoffs this season, but it remains to be seen how the team would be supported in a down year. Attendance decreased more than 8 percent this year.

It’s also uncertain whether the pricey NHL can be carried by locals, especially casino employees in a suffering city.

Charging big dollars for boxing matches is one thing; visiting high rollers justify the investment with casino play. But in a casino town in which people often receive comps, will the average fan pay more than $100 for a single hockey game?

Many NHL arenas charge in the area of $125 for ice-level seats, even for non-playoff teams. That doesn’t include parking and concessions, which push that number over $150. Upper-level seats ranging from $50 to $70 really test a fan’s loyalty. So far, the fans keep coming amidst rumors of the league hitting the breaking point.

The resistance point may be occurring in the nosebleed seats. A scalper approached this reporter before a game recently and showed the price of the ticket he was down-scaling. You know times are tough when the scalpers complain.

While a new arena will interest fans, whether Las Vegas will fit in remains a legitimate question.

By Dave Bontempo

Casino Connection Sports Editor Dave Bontempo is an award-winning sports writer and broadcaster who calls boxing matches all over the world. He has covered the Philadelphia Flyers in the playoffs, as well as numerous PGA, LPGA and Seniors Golf Tour events, and co-hosted the Casino Connection television program with Publisher Roger Gros.