Saturday November 1, 2003
This month's Greater Milwaukee Magazine feature's an article containing some speculation about Milwaukee's ability to field an NHL team, and the state of pro hockey in general in the city.
The author seems to think that right now, it'd be a "no-go" but seems to hold out some hope for change in the future. "Will Milwaukee ever have a NHL franchise? Phil Witliff, the general manager of the Admirals, doesn�t see it on the horizon. "Nothing is imminent at this point. Fifteen years ago I would have said yes," Witliff said. "We tried to bring a NHL franchise to Milwaukee and in the end we withdrew the offer because we perceived it as a bad deal. At that point in time, $50 million for a bad team was not the direction we wanted to go." The last time the NHL expanded, they charged $80 million for a franchise.
Milwaukee is not a huge market for sports; a medium sized town with limited financial and corporate support. "We conducted a survey in 1990 to help determine if Milwaukee could support a NHL team," Witliff said. "At that time it proved overwhelmingly that it would have, but that was 15 years ago when the average ticket price was $15. Now it�s $60. Would $60 a ticket fly in Milwaukee?"
In today�s competitive sports market, you need corporate support for a NHL team and Milwaukee simply doesn�t have that luxury. There would be a lot of competition in this town with the Brewers, the Bucks and essentially, the Packers."
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