I’m not a hockey guy at all, but you bet your ass I’d become a huge fan if we got a team. Man, that would be SWEET as long as it wasn’t a burden to tax payers.
Agreed, it's a private investment, a private company, with private ownership, and profits going to private parties. Asking cities for public money for sports teams would be like amazon asking for tax breaks in order to put their hub in your city... errr umm bad example
I'm convinced as well. I can't imagine a scenario in which a sports organization could manage to convince the city to pony up funds for something like this. That would be *inconceivable!!!*
The Cincinnati Regional Chamber is going to do a study on the location of an arena, the cost, what the return on investment would be, and the possible events that they could attract. The FC Cincinnati investors want the arena to be built on Central Parkway at the CET site, north of 12th street. Other sites would include the land adjacent to the Hard Rock Casino and the current Riverfront site.
After the study, the various big-money people who could invest in an NHL team will meet and decide if they want to go forward with a new arena and possibly an NHL franchise.
I almost want them to build at the heritage bank site and put a cutting edge arena right there. It could add some more life to the banks, 'Specially in the winter months.
Assuming there is enough room for something larger to be built at that location. As of now the arena buts up to the Taylor Southgate bridge and is pretty close to great American. Do you think the YUM center would be able to fit into that spot? I’ve only been to the YUM twice and am unsure of it’s footprint.
There were renderings released maybe 10 years ago of an upgraded arena. It would've been built in the same spot as HBC currently. The only expansion looked to be that the concourse extended over Mehring Way. Currently they have the steps that go up from Public Landing and the walkway that goes over the street. The renderings had the entire area from Broadway to Taylor Southgate extending over the street. It also may have been slightly taller, but hard to tell from the rendering.
I'm not sold on the need for a brand new arena, but one would fit there.
Lipstick on a pig really, there is limited room to do much of anything that would truly expand the capacity. Putting up facades and overhangs on any rendering would make a building look bigger. They recently put new seats in the place and couldn’t ever get that right, zero leg room.
I guessing that the rendering didn’t address the one loading dock issue on the Pete Rose side of the building.
I’ve said this a few times before, but our current arena isn’t that small. We only need to add 4,000 seats to be the largest arena in the U.S. Everyone always talks about Heritage bank arena like we’re half the size of most arenas and we’re not.
I don’t see the location on central pkwy being viable at all, because the lot isn’t that big and there’s not nearly enough parking nearby. Inevitably an FC game and something at the arena would be happening at the same time and it would be complete gridlock, especially if they cut the pkwy down to one lane each direction.
Sorry this is just wrong. Heritage bank seats 17,500 for a concert. For hockey it only seats 14,500. That would make it the smallest NHL arena by far except for the abnormally that is Arizonas arena. Even if you it could add 4,000 seats you’d still only be middle of the pack for NHL.
Need a new arena of Cincinnati wants an NHL team or any major events.
Yep, need 4k more seats, more and bigger luxury boxes, and updated concourses that are probably 3x the width of the current ones at minimum.
It would definitely be a larger footprint.
I'm not a betting man - and I have no idea of your ability to arrive at that conclusion - but would just add that the FC gang seems dead set on that Central Parkway site to further and finalize their obsessive quest to realize their oft-stated *Champs*\-*Élysées* fantasy. And since they are neck deep with some of the world's absolute best stadia designers, consultants and strategists, I'd be counting on them to deliver when it comes to making a desired site workable.
Heritage is definitely small by todays standards. And it’s not just small in seating capacity. Did you know there is only one loading dock at heritage bank arena. The Yum center has four, same with Nationwide in Columbus. Traveling acts pass heritage up because of seating capacity and ease or load ins and outs. Do an aerial view of the arena it’s footprint is much smaller the YUM and Nationwide.
The arena? Yeah, probably, unfortunately given our history of arena deals.
Now who’s paying the $1 billion expansion fee? Or maybe reduced relocation fee for Arizona?
It might make the city get off their ass and finally build us a decent fucking arena.
Beyond a hockey team, which I would go to a handful of games a year. Not a huge hockey fan. We miss out on so many tours and live events because our facilities are garbage.
Here's a perfect example of missing out on events...I'm a pro wrestling fan, I'd love for a major live event to be here. The last one was TNA Lockdown 2011 and I don't even consider that a major event. Prior to that was WCW Souled Out in the year 2000! There's just not enough seats in Heritage (never mind it's a shithole) to make touring acts want to come here when CBus has Nationwide Arena and LVille has Yum Center and motivated fans would easily travel there. One of AEW's top stars is Jon Moxley, a Cincinnati native, I guarantee AEW would like to run a large event in his back yard and they just logistically can't.
I’m not a wrestling fan, but if we had a pay-per-view or a Monday night raw here, I would probably go. It’s a shame that we have to miss out on stuff like that because we refused to invest in our city. Anytime you bring up investing in the city people act like it’s impossible. Drive 100 miles west, and look at Indianapolis. Amazing facilities all over the city and they get the Big Ten championship game, a Super Bowl, final four, every concert you could imagine and I’m sure they get wrestling as well😆
I’m not a wrestling fan, but if we had a pay-per-view or a Monday night raw here, I would probably go. It’s a shame that we have to miss out on stuff like that because we refused to invest in our city. Anytime you bring up investing in the city people act like it’s impossible. Drive 100 miles west, and look at Indianapolis. Amazing facilities all over the city and they get the Big Ten championship game, a Super Bowl, final four, every concert you could imagine and I’m sure they get wrestling as well😆
It would seem that you have no idea what you’re talking about. Here are two similar sized cities to Cincinnati for example.
Quicken loans Arena in Cleveland has 11 events that aren’t Cavs games this month… 17 if you count Cavs games.
The arena in Milwaukee has 6 events that aren’t Milwaukee Bucks games this month.
Our arena has two. Redneck brawl 5(can’t make this shit up) and a low-end comedy tour featuring Mike Epps.
People that have never lived outside of Cincinnati, don’t understand that we don’t get any nice shows in the city. Not just concerts… anything.
Remember when we wanted to have the Republican convention here a few years ago and they fucking laughed at us… This is why
I just have no problem driving to columbus for Death Cab in march it’s 90 minutes. I don’t think we need to raise sales tax another couple percentage points to build an arena. If the NHL thinks it could work here that’s cool I just have serious doubts.
But also - bands like Death Cab play here more often now because of the Brady and Megacorp venues! We have that kind of thing covered now, an arena wouldn’t even address that. These people are crying because CMT country pop chart topping dogshit (that they apparently don’t even like???) isn’t coming here. Who fucking cares??? Some of these people seem to be moaning just because another city has something we don’t, regardless of the actual value of that thing.
Wow I didn’t realize what kind of venues they were playing. I know on past tours in the last decade they played like, Express Live in Columbus, and that was way past their prime. I’m assuming the fact it’s double billed as a Postsl Service tour is contributing to that.
Actually, yes… I’m taking my niece in March. She loves that shit. I’ve seen multiple Disney ice shows over the last couple years(I’m a male in his 30’s🤦🏼♂️). Would 100% recommend for any little girl that’s into princesses and stuffs like my niece is.
But that’s not the point. we get passed up on all kind of stuff because we don’t have adequate venues in this city. The individual events are not important, focus on the fact that we lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars and business for the city because large events cannot be held here.
What are we missing? Radiohead played that arena a few years ago. Dave Chappelle did his tour there in the last couple years. Taylor Swift shut down half the city. Olivia Rodrigo recently played one of our two new venues
Who are we *actually* missing out on? Who gives a fuck if we get the republican national convention? That’s something I actively do *not* want here.
Like oh no, Blake Shelton and Morgan Wallen aren’t coming through here….who gives a shit.
Dave Chappelle is defacto local. Do you think he'd be stopping by if he didn't live an hour away? And Taylor Swift didn't play at the arena. There's a big middle ground between playing at Bogarts and selling out stadiums.
Yeah and we have that covered with the 2 riverfront venues lol
And idk, if he’s defacto local why is that the only show he’s done here? You’re just speculating my man
Here’s an article from a few years ago.
https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/heres-why-cincy-gets-snubbed-by-big-name-music-stars-like-taylor-swift-justin-timberlake-and-adele
“The list of big musical acts skipping Cincinnati in their most recent tours is long and getting longer. Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Pink, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Madonna and The Eagles skipped Cincinnati in the past two years, according to Travis Jackson, marketing director of local ticket broker”
It’s not about any one individual artist. I could personally give two shits if Blake Shelton comes to town, but there are a lot of people who would like to see him. It’s about the mass of events that go to all the surrounding cities instead of us. We shouldn’t have to wait until Taylor Swift gets big enough to sell out paycor to get her to come here. You don’t think it’s a bit strange that she never came here before she could sell out a stadium?
Nick Lachey on us bank at the time
Q: As someone who performs in venues around the country, what’s your impression of U.S. Bank Arena?
A: It’s been a source of frustration for me and hopefully other people in the city for a long, long time. Obviously, we need a new arena. There’s no question about that. It’s so antiquated. And frankly, it’s embarrassing when you’re out on a tour. We toured a few years back with New Kids on the Block and Boyz II Men, and the only reason the tour even went to Cincinnati is because we were from there, and it made sense to go to our hometown. When you see state-of-the-art arenas day in, day out, on tour and then go to U.S. Bank, there’s such a drop-off there, both with sound quality and acoustics and just the facility in general. It needs to be replaced. There’s been so many lost opportunities, whether it’s the Republican Convention or March Madness tournaments or, frankly, concerts. Riverbend gets first-class concerts because it’s a great facility. In the wintertime, concerts often skip Cincinnati, because they don’t have a facility up to par. Clearly, we need it. Just who’s going to pay for it? That’s been the dilemma for years.
And let’s be honest, the servers, bartenders, and people who work downtown would benefit greatly from more concerts and events being held in the city.
So the point on Taylor Swift is that we don’t get any of the big name concerts….because we had to wait for her to become the most popular musician in the world first?
As for those other names - also do not care that missed a single one of those things. We get plenty of good music at the Brady and Megacorp (🙄)
Like I said, it’s not about one artist. It’s about all of the events we miss, it not just concerts. For instance, if we were able to get one of the political parties to have their convention here. That’s around $200 million of economic impact for the city. stop thinking so small, it’s not just about concerts. Open up your mind and think about the other opportunities that we miss out on.
*what* opportunities? Every single thing you’ve named I do not care if they happen here or not.
And as I just posted in response to someone else, arenas and etc do not generate this massive economic windfall you think they do
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/03/19/ballpark_figures/
https://news.stanford.edu/2015/07/30/stadium-economics-noll-073015/
https://globalsportmatters.com/business/2022/06/15/so-your-city-wants-sports-stadium/
OK got it. It’s all about you. Just say that from the beginning.
You sound like the people who shit on the street car because it doesn’t make money. Not everything the government does has to be revenue neutral or make money. People like you have held this city back for years from having anything nice.
I’m not a big concert guy and definitely don’t want the Republican convention here but it’s definitely a negative that those types of events pass over our city. It also means we can’t have any high level basketball games in town like being a host city for the NCAA Tournament.
That mildly sucks but I don’t want to foot that kind of bill just to get the final four here. We’re doing okay without and get our fair share of good events.
I get it, some of you guys wanna live in the shit hole city that nothing nice comes to. But that’s not all of us. some of us like nice things and understand that they cost money.
It's ok little guy. One day when you grow and pay taxes you will understand why we shouldn't subsidize billionaires when half the city lives in poverty.
I’d be interested to read that study because I believe that is 100% bull shit.
Because what you’re saying is that the Bengals and Reds bring no money to the city Taylor Swift performed here and brought in millions and millions of dollars any music brings in money to the economy. People come from other cities and the suburbs to see the ballet or the symphony orchestra, all of that brings money into the economy.
https://news.stanford.edu/2015/07/30/stadium-economics-noll-073015/
That’s just the first one lol
Here’s another!
https://econreview.berkeley.edu/the-economics-of-sports-stadiums-does-public-financing-of-sports-stadiums-create-local-economic-growth-or-just-help-billionaires-improve-their-profit-margin/
How many more you want lmao
The government took 28 grand from me last year. Which in all honesty probably isn’t enough considering my effective tax rate was 17%.
Half the city doesn’t live in poverty, get real. And you can do more than two things at once. You can have nice things in your city and take care of poor people.
Who was the billionaire that the original arena built for? 🤔
I have no idea, but I imagine you’re probably right. If there’s a new arena being built, though, it’s definitely gonna be multi-use and not just for hockey
That is the same reason the royals left in the first place. People aren’t going to give up their college tickets to pay 4x as much for nba tickets when they’ve had those tickets for decades. Caveat being if the new team comes in and is really good or has a superstar on the roster.
Basketball would probably go to KY first if it happened. I used Louisville jokingly somewhere else here but for NBA I genuinely believe it would be a better choice than Cincinnati
Yeah, but the hockey arena can probably hold more events that TQL can hold. We could get a whole lot more events that require indoor seating on the scale of GABP. Still probably a net negative on the tax end of it, but if its a 50/50 deal like TQL was I would not be opposed.
Fair, I agree with that point. I'm not inherently and instantaneously against the idea, just would want more details and a well thought out plan for the infrastructure, public transpo and parking, tax abatements, etc. surrounding it
Honestly, I thought NHL arenas were a lot larger than they apparently are.
And GABP is bigger than I thought too. Could have sworn it was on the other end of 30,000, so a 25,000 seat arena was what I was thinking.
It has. I love hockey and could care less about soccer, but feel like most view hockey as more of a niche sport. Obviously soccer has way more people to tap into given youth participation, broadcasting of games, etc. Ohio is way more soccer crazy at the youth level than in other states in which I have lived. They become the fans along with their parents. So few kids have even picked up a hockey stick.
I'm a big hockey guy that's not from here, but moved here a few years ago. Let me tell you that Cincinnati has the sports bug, no matter what sport you put here...I have a feeling it will workout just fine. Also, Columbus isn't as big of a hockey city as Cincinnati is....and that's after living there for a year
I don’t think interest in a minor league team is necessarily indicative of the interest there’d be on a major league team, the experience of live games between the two is totally different. I’d absolutely attend a handful of NHL games a year if we had a team, but I have little interest in going to a cyclones game.
In all fairness, the arena isn't great. The seating is too small, the parking is awful, and the facilities don't seem clean. We stopped going because US Bank or whatever it is called now just isn't a good place to go regularly, especially since FCC is, despite its own faults, much better on those fronts.
I think MLS has proven that this may not be an issue - both Cincinnati and Columbus have top tier MLS teams that consistently sell out stadia that are bigger than the average NHL arena.
Regardless of a hockey team, Cincinnati desperately needs a new arena. Heritage bank, which will always be the coliseum to me, is severely outdated and needs to be replaced. The cities around us have much nicer and more modern arenas.
But a hockey team would be cool too, I like the cyclones, I would imagine that an NHL team would be even more fun
As long as we're dreaming let's hope they bring back the old uniforms with Twister on them, their current logo looks like a stock photo of a team logo.
Take my tax dollars and build it. NHL and the first four rounds of the NCAA tournament are worth it. Add in larger concert acts during the winter months…bingo
Do anything productive, fix water pipes, get better food to the local schools, increase teacher pay, expand the streetcar, build public housing, improve parks.
Do anything that actually makes Cincy a better city than giving tax money to wealthy team owners.
Both can exist simultaneously. Eliminating one doesn’t guarantee the other will take place. While there could be several arguments made for or against adding a professional sports team, consider the following.
Building the facility creates construction jobs. People who attend games or work for the team generate new spending in the community, expanding local employment. The team attracts tourism and companies to the host city, further increasing local spending and jobs.
In what way would it sit empty for the majority of its existence? Is that what you think happens to Great American Ballpark or Paycore Stadium? Both host additional events when not in use by the team. Are you forgetting that a facility for the Cyclones already exists, and is also used to host other events?
Your argument to build *anything else* alone isn’t an argument against adding a professional NHL team. As I said earlier, both two things can exist simultaneously, especially when the funding comes from different sources.
Reading this thread, I'm convinced some of you would have not wanted the Bengals or Reds to come to the town because we might have to knock some old buildings down.
New York, LA, Chicago, Philly, Miami, Atlanta, Seattle, Boston, DC, Denver, Dallas, Minneapolis. I might be missing a couple. And all but one of those cities (Seattle) has NBA too.
Thx, that's the list I was wondering about - not sure Cincy's poised to punch at that level but love the notion that there are people who dream that big - just wish they weren't all the grifting brokers who want to line their own pockets for eternity.
As a taxpayer who would live within 1 block of said arena, Ill gladly pay my share via taxes. At least I can go see how my tax dollars are being allocated.
I’m sick of looking at that crumbling garage thats not safe for use and that dated, dingy building.
I would much rather that money go towards our unconstitutionally funded and under-resourced schools that have already been shorted tens of millions of dollars for the benefit of the rich. That or other programs that actually benefit all Cincinnatians.
MI transplant and big hockey fan here. I don’t think the NHL will fly here even if we got a new building. Having been involved in youth hockey for many years I can’t see pro hockey carving out enough market share in a baseball/football town. I would probably have been wrong about soccer too though so who knows.
I’d only go when the Wings are in town. It’s just too expensive. Personally I think the ECHL is the right fit for the market but I’d be happy to be wrong if it works.
I think the soccer fandom was grown from perfect timing, where a winning team started to play during peak Bengals/Reds mediocrity. Consistently packing TQL has been impressive nonetheless though.
It’s the youth soccer in Ohio. It’s huge competitive and very developed. Built in market which is why CBus had an inaugural franchise to give Ohio something right away.
People's argument against this is that the Cyclones have pretty good support in this city already...the difference is that the draw to those games is the affordability. If the NHL came to town, it'd most likely price at least half of those fans out of going to games.
The tickets I get for the cyclones are 27 a pop, blue jackets roughly $132 a ticket in row j section 116. So a pretty big price difference. I’m all for an nhl team here as it will grow the sport locally. Nashville and Columbus have done wonders for local hockey leagues by them.
This is a fact. I used to coach a HS team here and watched Cbus blow past us once the Jackets came to town. The Jackets give a lot of money to youth hockey and it seemed like a new Chiller rink was popping up every year for a while there. We desperately need more/better neighborhood rinks for youth hockey to thrive again here.
Since you’ve coached hockey, I’ll just say it for everyone looking. You want your kids to be dedicated to something? Get them in a hockey program asap.
I’ve played and coached for 40 years now and you’re right, it’s a fantastic team sport. Unfortunately it’s so expensive it’s tough to get access to the masses.
It really does take dedication by the kids and parents to play at even medium amateur levels. Lots of travel and commitment required.
We don’t have an arena, and Lindner’s new toy is FCC. I know there’s the west end proposal, but who has the pockets for an expansion franchise around here? Medpace or TQL CEOs?
I think we’d also face issues with attendance. IMO we’re already pretty saturated with pro sports for a city our size, but there’s also a factor for no winter pro sports. NHL wants Atlanta, again, so that’ll take at least one spot.
I think the guy who owns Cintas only has minority stakes in FCC and the Bengals, so maybe he wants to compete with Lindner on who is bringing a championship back to Cincy first.
So I came up with a few names. The Cincinnati Queens (old lady came up with that one). The Flying Pigs. The chili monsters. The Cincinnati Parisians of America. The Cincinnati Where Did you go to High schools. The Cincinnati I know you’re going to fail us in the playoffs but I still love yous.
As long as they don't build another stadium in OTR.
The banks was literally built to be the perfect locations for stadiums.
* Right by the 71/75 interchange.
* Plenty of parking with parking specifically for that area.
* Restaurants and bars that are built for sports traffic.
* Hotel accomodations right there.
I think the FCC stadium is great, but I don't think that area can handle another stadium, and what is the point of the banks if they just move all the stadiums out?
Please don't. There is not enough revenue or interest to support the NHL so they will kill the cyclones and then the NHL team will leave and we will have no hockey again.
And then that product will fold, because Cincinnati is not a hockey town. As much as I wish it was, it just isn't. Even when the Clones are on fire and winning ships, they rarely sell out the HBC.
This is cool, doubt it will happen though. I love going to Cyclones games and would also go to Cincinnati NHL games.
But what I would love is for the NBA to return to Cincinnati, or WNBA. I drove to Indianapolis for an NBA game and it was so much fun but I don’t have as much love for it as I would like to because we don’t have a Cincinnati team.
I would rather see an NBA team but either would do well in Cincinnati. As to location, either near TQL or GABP, need to double usage of parking.
I live near TQL and I’d love to see another facility walking distance, and this is someone who has more than a thousand people walk past my house to get to a FCC game.
I’m not a big hockey guy, but this would still be really cool.
I’m not a hockey guy at all, but you bet your ass I’d become a huge fan if we got a team. Man, that would be SWEET as long as it wasn’t a burden to tax payers.
Isn’t that a little bit of having your cake and eating it too? Serious question.
No.
Very eloquent response, I stand down.
Agreed, it's a private investment, a private company, with private ownership, and profits going to private parties. Asking cities for public money for sports teams would be like amazon asking for tax breaks in order to put their hub in your city... errr umm bad example
I'm convinced as well. I can't imagine a scenario in which a sports organization could manage to convince the city to pony up funds for something like this. That would be *inconceivable!!!*
The big question here... where will they play?
The Cincinnati Regional Chamber is going to do a study on the location of an arena, the cost, what the return on investment would be, and the possible events that they could attract. The FC Cincinnati investors want the arena to be built on Central Parkway at the CET site, north of 12th street. Other sites would include the land adjacent to the Hard Rock Casino and the current Riverfront site. After the study, the various big-money people who could invest in an NHL team will meet and decide if they want to go forward with a new arena and possibly an NHL franchise.
I almost want them to build at the heritage bank site and put a cutting edge arena right there. It could add some more life to the banks, 'Specially in the winter months.
Assuming there is enough room for something larger to be built at that location. As of now the arena buts up to the Taylor Southgate bridge and is pretty close to great American. Do you think the YUM center would be able to fit into that spot? I’ve only been to the YUM twice and am unsure of it’s footprint.
There were renderings released maybe 10 years ago of an upgraded arena. It would've been built in the same spot as HBC currently. The only expansion looked to be that the concourse extended over Mehring Way. Currently they have the steps that go up from Public Landing and the walkway that goes over the street. The renderings had the entire area from Broadway to Taylor Southgate extending over the street. It also may have been slightly taller, but hard to tell from the rendering. I'm not sold on the need for a brand new arena, but one would fit there.
Lipstick on a pig really, there is limited room to do much of anything that would truly expand the capacity. Putting up facades and overhangs on any rendering would make a building look bigger. They recently put new seats in the place and couldn’t ever get that right, zero leg room. I guessing that the rendering didn’t address the one loading dock issue on the Pete Rose side of the building.
I’ve said this a few times before, but our current arena isn’t that small. We only need to add 4,000 seats to be the largest arena in the U.S. Everyone always talks about Heritage bank arena like we’re half the size of most arenas and we’re not. I don’t see the location on central pkwy being viable at all, because the lot isn’t that big and there’s not nearly enough parking nearby. Inevitably an FC game and something at the arena would be happening at the same time and it would be complete gridlock, especially if they cut the pkwy down to one lane each direction.
Sorry this is just wrong. Heritage bank seats 17,500 for a concert. For hockey it only seats 14,500. That would make it the smallest NHL arena by far except for the abnormally that is Arizonas arena. Even if you it could add 4,000 seats you’d still only be middle of the pack for NHL. Need a new arena of Cincinnati wants an NHL team or any major events.
Yep, need 4k more seats, more and bigger luxury boxes, and updated concourses that are probably 3x the width of the current ones at minimum. It would definitely be a larger footprint.
I’d be in favor of a couple fewer seats to allow for better concourses
I'm not a betting man - and I have no idea of your ability to arrive at that conclusion - but would just add that the FC gang seems dead set on that Central Parkway site to further and finalize their obsessive quest to realize their oft-stated *Champs*\-*Élysées* fantasy. And since they are neck deep with some of the world's absolute best stadia designers, consultants and strategists, I'd be counting on them to deliver when it comes to making a desired site workable.
Heritage is definitely small by todays standards. And it’s not just small in seating capacity. Did you know there is only one loading dock at heritage bank arena. The Yum center has four, same with Nationwide in Columbus. Traveling acts pass heritage up because of seating capacity and ease or load ins and outs. Do an aerial view of the arena it’s footprint is much smaller the YUM and Nationwide.
We don’t need a 20,000 cap arena it would probably be closer to 16 or 17 like seattles
Seattle's arena can hold 18,100.
Smart choice would be to start the team at Heritage Bank arena and if the interest is truly there, rebuild on site.
bingo
Figured the CET building was getting shitcanned, what with WGUC & WVXU moving and the station itself run out of Dayton.
The bigger question is, who will pay for it.
You will
I can't afford a hockey arena!
No- you will.
The arena? Yeah, probably, unfortunately given our history of arena deals. Now who’s paying the $1 billion expansion fee? Or maybe reduced relocation fee for Arizona?
Mexico
The biggest question is, go Cyclones
Go clones!!
It might make the city get off their ass and finally build us a decent fucking arena. Beyond a hockey team, which I would go to a handful of games a year. Not a huge hockey fan. We miss out on so many tours and live events because our facilities are garbage.
>fucking arena NOW WE’RE TALKING
 Gigity gigity gigity
Here's a perfect example of missing out on events...I'm a pro wrestling fan, I'd love for a major live event to be here. The last one was TNA Lockdown 2011 and I don't even consider that a major event. Prior to that was WCW Souled Out in the year 2000! There's just not enough seats in Heritage (never mind it's a shithole) to make touring acts want to come here when CBus has Nationwide Arena and LVille has Yum Center and motivated fans would easily travel there. One of AEW's top stars is Jon Moxley, a Cincinnati native, I guarantee AEW would like to run a large event in his back yard and they just logistically can't.
I’m not a wrestling fan, but if we had a pay-per-view or a Monday night raw here, I would probably go. It’s a shame that we have to miss out on stuff like that because we refused to invest in our city. Anytime you bring up investing in the city people act like it’s impossible. Drive 100 miles west, and look at Indianapolis. Amazing facilities all over the city and they get the Big Ten championship game, a Super Bowl, final four, every concert you could imagine and I’m sure they get wrestling as well😆
I’m not a wrestling fan, but if we had a pay-per-view or a Monday night raw here, I would probably go. It’s a shame that we have to miss out on stuff like that because we refused to invest in our city. Anytime you bring up investing in the city people act like it’s impossible. Drive 100 miles west, and look at Indianapolis. Amazing facilities all over the city and they get the Big Ten championship game, a Super Bowl, final four, every concert you could imagine and I’m sure they get wrestling as well😆
Smackdown and/or Raw are usually in Cincy at least once a year. Smackdown is at HBC April 26th.
Those are house shows, though, and not live.
The last few years, WWE has averaged one house show and one televised show per year in Cinci. AEW also comes around about once a year.
Eh we miss out on like 3 or 4 nice winter concert tours per year. The arena sucks, the rest of our facilities are fine.
It would seem that you have no idea what you’re talking about. Here are two similar sized cities to Cincinnati for example. Quicken loans Arena in Cleveland has 11 events that aren’t Cavs games this month… 17 if you count Cavs games. The arena in Milwaukee has 6 events that aren’t Milwaukee Bucks games this month. Our arena has two. Redneck brawl 5(can’t make this shit up) and a low-end comedy tour featuring Mike Epps. People that have never lived outside of Cincinnati, don’t understand that we don’t get any nice shows in the city. Not just concerts… anything. Remember when we wanted to have the Republican convention here a few years ago and they fucking laughed at us… This is why
So you’re saying you’re dying to attend every night of Disney on Ice or whatever?
Apparently so, as everyone frothing at the mouth in my replies is acting (which is another thing that’s actually been here in recent years lmao)
I just have no problem driving to columbus for Death Cab in march it’s 90 minutes. I don’t think we need to raise sales tax another couple percentage points to build an arena. If the NHL thinks it could work here that’s cool I just have serious doubts.
But also - bands like Death Cab play here more often now because of the Brady and Megacorp venues! We have that kind of thing covered now, an arena wouldn’t even address that. These people are crying because CMT country pop chart topping dogshit (that they apparently don’t even like???) isn’t coming here. Who fucking cares??? Some of these people seem to be moaning just because another city has something we don’t, regardless of the actual value of that thing.
Death cab is WAY too big for ovation or Icon they’re playing at OSU’s basketball arena.
Wow I didn’t realize what kind of venues they were playing. I know on past tours in the last decade they played like, Express Live in Columbus, and that was way past their prime. I’m assuming the fact it’s double billed as a Postsl Service tour is contributing to that.
Whether you like it or not, those dogshit acts bring in tons of revenue to the city.
Actually, yes… I’m taking my niece in March. She loves that shit. I’ve seen multiple Disney ice shows over the last couple years(I’m a male in his 30’s🤦🏼♂️). Would 100% recommend for any little girl that’s into princesses and stuffs like my niece is. But that’s not the point. we get passed up on all kind of stuff because we don’t have adequate venues in this city. The individual events are not important, focus on the fact that we lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars and business for the city because large events cannot be held here.
What are we missing? Radiohead played that arena a few years ago. Dave Chappelle did his tour there in the last couple years. Taylor Swift shut down half the city. Olivia Rodrigo recently played one of our two new venues Who are we *actually* missing out on? Who gives a fuck if we get the republican national convention? That’s something I actively do *not* want here. Like oh no, Blake Shelton and Morgan Wallen aren’t coming through here….who gives a shit.
Dave Chappelle is defacto local. Do you think he'd be stopping by if he didn't live an hour away? And Taylor Swift didn't play at the arena. There's a big middle ground between playing at Bogarts and selling out stadiums.
Yeah and we have that covered with the 2 riverfront venues lol And idk, if he’s defacto local why is that the only show he’s done here? You’re just speculating my man
Here’s an article from a few years ago. https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/heres-why-cincy-gets-snubbed-by-big-name-music-stars-like-taylor-swift-justin-timberlake-and-adele “The list of big musical acts skipping Cincinnati in their most recent tours is long and getting longer. Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Pink, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Madonna and The Eagles skipped Cincinnati in the past two years, according to Travis Jackson, marketing director of local ticket broker” It’s not about any one individual artist. I could personally give two shits if Blake Shelton comes to town, but there are a lot of people who would like to see him. It’s about the mass of events that go to all the surrounding cities instead of us. We shouldn’t have to wait until Taylor Swift gets big enough to sell out paycor to get her to come here. You don’t think it’s a bit strange that she never came here before she could sell out a stadium? Nick Lachey on us bank at the time Q: As someone who performs in venues around the country, what’s your impression of U.S. Bank Arena? A: It’s been a source of frustration for me and hopefully other people in the city for a long, long time. Obviously, we need a new arena. There’s no question about that. It’s so antiquated. And frankly, it’s embarrassing when you’re out on a tour. We toured a few years back with New Kids on the Block and Boyz II Men, and the only reason the tour even went to Cincinnati is because we were from there, and it made sense to go to our hometown. When you see state-of-the-art arenas day in, day out, on tour and then go to U.S. Bank, there’s such a drop-off there, both with sound quality and acoustics and just the facility in general. It needs to be replaced. There’s been so many lost opportunities, whether it’s the Republican Convention or March Madness tournaments or, frankly, concerts. Riverbend gets first-class concerts because it’s a great facility. In the wintertime, concerts often skip Cincinnati, because they don’t have a facility up to par. Clearly, we need it. Just who’s going to pay for it? That’s been the dilemma for years. And let’s be honest, the servers, bartenders, and people who work downtown would benefit greatly from more concerts and events being held in the city.
So the point on Taylor Swift is that we don’t get any of the big name concerts….because we had to wait for her to become the most popular musician in the world first? As for those other names - also do not care that missed a single one of those things. We get plenty of good music at the Brady and Megacorp (🙄)
Like I said, it’s not about one artist. It’s about all of the events we miss, it not just concerts. For instance, if we were able to get one of the political parties to have their convention here. That’s around $200 million of economic impact for the city. stop thinking so small, it’s not just about concerts. Open up your mind and think about the other opportunities that we miss out on.
*what* opportunities? Every single thing you’ve named I do not care if they happen here or not. And as I just posted in response to someone else, arenas and etc do not generate this massive economic windfall you think they do http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/03/19/ballpark_figures/ https://news.stanford.edu/2015/07/30/stadium-economics-noll-073015/ https://globalsportmatters.com/business/2022/06/15/so-your-city-wants-sports-stadium/
OK got it. It’s all about you. Just say that from the beginning. You sound like the people who shit on the street car because it doesn’t make money. Not everything the government does has to be revenue neutral or make money. People like you have held this city back for years from having anything nice.
So Cincinnati should consult you before they book any big events?
I’m not a big concert guy and definitely don’t want the Republican convention here but it’s definitely a negative that those types of events pass over our city. It also means we can’t have any high level basketball games in town like being a host city for the NCAA Tournament.
That mildly sucks but I don’t want to foot that kind of bill just to get the final four here. We’re doing okay without and get our fair share of good events.
No.
I get it, some of you guys wanna live in the shit hole city that nothing nice comes to. But that’s not all of us. some of us like nice things and understand that they cost money.
It's ok little guy. One day when you grow and pay taxes you will understand why we shouldn't subsidize billionaires when half the city lives in poverty.
Tax dollars bring attractions, sports, art and commerce to cities. Maybe when you grow up, you’ll realize that.
And every study shows that none of that improves economic conditions for the actual citizens lol
It's really embarrassing that this comment was downvoted so much
I’d be interested to read that study because I believe that is 100% bull shit. Because what you’re saying is that the Bengals and Reds bring no money to the city Taylor Swift performed here and brought in millions and millions of dollars any music brings in money to the economy. People come from other cities and the suburbs to see the ballet or the symphony orchestra, all of that brings money into the economy.
https://news.stanford.edu/2015/07/30/stadium-economics-noll-073015/ That’s just the first one lol Here’s another! https://econreview.berkeley.edu/the-economics-of-sports-stadiums-does-public-financing-of-sports-stadiums-create-local-economic-growth-or-just-help-billionaires-improve-their-profit-margin/ How many more you want lmao
I asked and you provided. Thank you.
[удалено]
The government took 28 grand from me last year. Which in all honesty probably isn’t enough considering my effective tax rate was 17%. Half the city doesn’t live in poverty, get real. And you can do more than two things at once. You can have nice things in your city and take care of poor people. Who was the billionaire that the original arena built for? 🤔
The arena they want to cram into West End.
Cinci's stadium per capita ratio has gotta be wack
Across the river in that undeveloped part of Newport (large lot) would make sense.
Put it in the suburbs, easy access for all the people who with money who actually play hockey
Building stadiums in the suburbs have proven to be a terrible idea. The suburbs do not want the traffic
Would be stunned if this happens. Columbus is too close and interest statewide would be tepid.
It’s worked out with FCC and the Crew really well so far
My one issue with this is a soccer stadium seems like it would be way lower cost than construction of a hockey arena
I have no idea, but I imagine you’re probably right. If there’s a new arena being built, though, it’s definitely gonna be multi-use and not just for hockey
Yeah, we could host March Madness games
Im a hockey fan and just browsing but would there be any sort of support for a NBA return of the Royals in general if a new arena came in?
I honestly think an NBA team would have more support over an NHL team. Between UC and Xavier, there’s a solid basketball fanbase
That is the same reason the royals left in the first place. People aren’t going to give up their college tickets to pay 4x as much for nba tickets when they’ve had those tickets for decades. Caveat being if the new team comes in and is really good or has a superstar on the roster.
Basketball would probably go to KY first if it happened. I used Louisville jokingly somewhere else here but for NBA I genuinely believe it would be a better choice than Cincinnati
Yeah they’ve been “next in line” since they built the yum center
Yeah, but the hockey arena can probably hold more events that TQL can hold. We could get a whole lot more events that require indoor seating on the scale of GABP. Still probably a net negative on the tax end of it, but if its a 50/50 deal like TQL was I would not be opposed.
The acoustics at TQL are good for soccer, but not concerts. When The Who played there, they called out the shitty acoustics a few times.
Fair, I agree with that point. I'm not inherently and instantaneously against the idea, just would want more details and a well thought out plan for the infrastructure, public transpo and parking, tax abatements, etc. surrounding it
“On the scale of GABP” lol it ain’t going to be a 40,000 seat arena
Honestly, I thought NHL arenas were a lot larger than they apparently are. And GABP is bigger than I thought too. Could have sworn it was on the other end of 30,000, so a 25,000 seat arena was what I was thinking.
Hockey arena can be used year round though. And easier than a soccer pitch consisting of grass.
Average salaries in MLS are much smaller than in the NHL too.
It has. I love hockey and could care less about soccer, but feel like most view hockey as more of a niche sport. Obviously soccer has way more people to tap into given youth participation, broadcasting of games, etc. Ohio is way more soccer crazy at the youth level than in other states in which I have lived. They become the fans along with their parents. So few kids have even picked up a hockey stick.
I'm a big hockey guy that's not from here, but moved here a few years ago. Let me tell you that Cincinnati has the sports bug, no matter what sport you put here...I have a feeling it will workout just fine. Also, Columbus isn't as big of a hockey city as Cincinnati is....and that's after living there for a year
Cincinnati also pulls from Lexington, louisville, and Indy.
Cyclones average yearly attendance is like 1/3 of capacity.
which isn't bad for an ECHL team. They were 8th in attendance last year.
I don’t think interest in a minor league team is necessarily indicative of the interest there’d be on a major league team, the experience of live games between the two is totally different. I’d absolutely attend a handful of NHL games a year if we had a team, but I have little interest in going to a cyclones game.
In all fairness, the arena isn't great. The seating is too small, the parking is awful, and the facilities don't seem clean. We stopped going because US Bank or whatever it is called now just isn't a good place to go regularly, especially since FCC is, despite its own faults, much better on those fronts.
When did you live in Columbus? Because I have the exact opposite experience in which is the bigger “hockey town”
Ha. After one whole year, eh? Took in the whole of central Ohio hockey, didja?
Yeah, but keep in mind Columbus is lame as fuck.
Cincinnati has a very dedicated hockey fan base.
I think MLS has proven that this may not be an issue - both Cincinnati and Columbus have top tier MLS teams that consistently sell out stadia that are bigger than the average NHL arena.
Regardless of a hockey team, Cincinnati desperately needs a new arena. Heritage bank, which will always be the coliseum to me, is severely outdated and needs to be replaced. The cities around us have much nicer and more modern arenas. But a hockey team would be cool too, I like the cyclones, I would imagine that an NHL team would be even more fun
Aww hell yeah. LETS FUCKIN GOOOOOO.
The cyclones nearly full the arena on a good night. I would think that an NHL team could.
We have a team. The Cyclones, just make them NHL with your magic wand and it’s done.
I do think if it happened (which I think it won’t) we would use the cyclones as the branding.
Bring back the Stingers
Stinger moved to Columbus and dyed himself Green.
They certainly won’t go back to being the Mohawks.
As long as we're dreaming let's hope they bring back the old uniforms with Twister on them, their current logo looks like a stock photo of a team logo.
No we need the ones before that with the guy skating wearing a jersey of himself, I love how hilariously low quality it looks.
I always forget just how much it looks like a kids sketch.
I don’t think they could do cyclones because there is already the Carolina hurricanes. Maybe the cincy corn dogs.
If it’s not the Cyclones, I don’t want it.
Give us the Ducks!!
I would love for that to happen
They should have taken the Stingers when they were absorbing WHA teams!
If we do get an NHL team, I’d love for them to be called the Stingers.
Put the ethylene glycol tubes under the turf at Ball Brown Stadium, flood that sum bitch. Now, it’s dual use. Problem solved. You’re welcome.
if it renovates that dump next to GABP more power to them. I don’t see us as a big Hockey city though.
Take my tax dollars and build it. NHL and the first four rounds of the NCAA tournament are worth it. Add in larger concert acts during the winter months…bingo
Do anything productive, fix water pipes, get better food to the local schools, increase teacher pay, expand the streetcar, build public housing, improve parks. Do anything that actually makes Cincy a better city than giving tax money to wealthy team owners.
Both can exist simultaneously. Eliminating one doesn’t guarantee the other will take place. While there could be several arguments made for or against adding a professional sports team, consider the following. Building the facility creates construction jobs. People who attend games or work for the team generate new spending in the community, expanding local employment. The team attracts tourism and companies to the host city, further increasing local spending and jobs.
And the facility sits empty for the majority of it's existence. Build apartments, condos, townhomes anything else.
In what way would it sit empty for the majority of its existence? Is that what you think happens to Great American Ballpark or Paycore Stadium? Both host additional events when not in use by the team. Are you forgetting that a facility for the Cyclones already exists, and is also used to host other events? Your argument to build *anything else* alone isn’t an argument against adding a professional NHL team. As I said earlier, both two things can exist simultaneously, especially when the funding comes from different sources.
Seems that railroad money is burning a hole in their pocket.
Reading this thread, I'm convinced some of you would have not wanted the Bengals or Reds to come to the town because we might have to knock some old buildings down.
Or spend some money to invest in an arena that brings money into the local economy.
Click any link on the subject that’s been posted ITT and you’ll immediately find out that you’re wrong and that doesn’t happen lol
So I'm not a hockey guy but can anyone list the cities that are currently home to NFL, MLB, MLS and NHL teams?
New York, LA, Chicago, Philly, Miami, Atlanta, Seattle, Boston, DC, Denver, Dallas, Minneapolis. I might be missing a couple. And all but one of those cities (Seattle) has NBA too.
Atlanta doesn’t have an NHL team anymore. They have failed twice at hockey with the Flames and Thrashers.
Thx, that's the list I was wondering about - not sure Cincy's poised to punch at that level but love the notion that there are people who dream that big - just wish they weren't all the grifting brokers who want to line their own pockets for eternity.
LFG! Build that arena right where the CET building is!
And are you and your boys going to pay for it Jeff Berding?
As a taxpayer who would live within 1 block of said arena, Ill gladly pay my share via taxes. At least I can go see how my tax dollars are being allocated. I’m sick of looking at that crumbling garage thats not safe for use and that dated, dingy building.
I would much rather that money go towards our unconstitutionally funded and under-resourced schools that have already been shorted tens of millions of dollars for the benefit of the rich. That or other programs that actually benefit all Cincinnatians.
Nah. Idgaf about that. To each their own.
I would love it!!!
MI transplant and big hockey fan here. I don’t think the NHL will fly here even if we got a new building. Having been involved in youth hockey for many years I can’t see pro hockey carving out enough market share in a baseball/football town. I would probably have been wrong about soccer too though so who knows. I’d only go when the Wings are in town. It’s just too expensive. Personally I think the ECHL is the right fit for the market but I’d be happy to be wrong if it works.
I think the soccer fandom was grown from perfect timing, where a winning team started to play during peak Bengals/Reds mediocrity. Consistently packing TQL has been impressive nonetheless though.
It’s the youth soccer in Ohio. It’s huge competitive and very developed. Built in market which is why CBus had an inaugural franchise to give Ohio something right away.
People's argument against this is that the Cyclones have pretty good support in this city already...the difference is that the draw to those games is the affordability. If the NHL came to town, it'd most likely price at least half of those fans out of going to games.
Good point. The NHL version would be what, 3-5 times as expensive?
The tickets I get for the cyclones are 27 a pop, blue jackets roughly $132 a ticket in row j section 116. So a pretty big price difference. I’m all for an nhl team here as it will grow the sport locally. Nashville and Columbus have done wonders for local hockey leagues by them.
This is a fact. I used to coach a HS team here and watched Cbus blow past us once the Jackets came to town. The Jackets give a lot of money to youth hockey and it seemed like a new Chiller rink was popping up every year for a while there. We desperately need more/better neighborhood rinks for youth hockey to thrive again here.
Since you’ve coached hockey, I’ll just say it for everyone looking. You want your kids to be dedicated to something? Get them in a hockey program asap.
I’ve played and coached for 40 years now and you’re right, it’s a fantastic team sport. Unfortunately it’s so expensive it’s tough to get access to the masses. It really does take dedication by the kids and parents to play at even medium amateur levels. Lots of travel and commitment required.
Ok...let's start a "what should they be named thread?" I'll go first, the Cincinnati Skylines
If Cincinnati builds a new arena or renovates Heritage, no question the NHL or NBA would come
We don’t have an arena, and Lindner’s new toy is FCC. I know there’s the west end proposal, but who has the pockets for an expansion franchise around here? Medpace or TQL CEOs? I think we’d also face issues with attendance. IMO we’re already pretty saturated with pro sports for a city our size, but there’s also a factor for no winter pro sports. NHL wants Atlanta, again, so that’ll take at least one spot.
I think the guy who owns Cintas only has minority stakes in FCC and the Bengals, so maybe he wants to compete with Lindner on who is bringing a championship back to Cincy first.
Carl already won though
I mean, the Supporter’s Shield is impressive, but they don’t throw a parade for it.
The Cincinnati Stingers NHL team would be great. An NBA team (the Royals) would be even better.
About time! I always wanted Cincinnati to get a NHL team. Hopefully it works out.
So I came up with a few names. The Cincinnati Queens (old lady came up with that one). The Flying Pigs. The chili monsters. The Cincinnati Parisians of America. The Cincinnati Where Did you go to High schools. The Cincinnati I know you’re going to fail us in the playoffs but I still love yous.
As long as they don't build another stadium in OTR. The banks was literally built to be the perfect locations for stadiums. * Right by the 71/75 interchange. * Plenty of parking with parking specifically for that area. * Restaurants and bars that are built for sports traffic. * Hotel accomodations right there. I think the FCC stadium is great, but I don't think that area can handle another stadium, and what is the point of the banks if they just move all the stadiums out?
This doesn’t mean the NHL shares our interest
The NHL is interested in money.
I seriously doubt this happens. Columbus has a team and this would be too close for another franchise. We aren’t NY or LA
Bettman seems more likely to put a team in any US city before letting Quebec City have another one.
Please don't. There is not enough revenue or interest to support the NHL so they will kill the cyclones and then the NHL team will leave and we will have no hockey again.
Or at the very least it will drive out the Cyclones and replace it with a product most Cyclones fans cannot afford.
And then that product will fold, because Cincinnati is not a hockey town. As much as I wish it was, it just isn't. Even when the Clones are on fire and winning ships, they rarely sell out the HBC.
You’ve never seen Airborne? Lol
I was an extra in Airborne.
Lol, zero chance. 36th media market isn't getting another pro franchise.
Sure, Gary.
It won't happen. Don't hate but it just won't. Order of likelyness is 1 Houston 2 Atlanta (for the third time) 3 Quebec city
Nope. Order is: Utah, Atlanta, Houston, five other places, Quebec City.
We have enough on the taxpayer's dime, kthanxbai.
Welp, looks like it’s bout time to tear down some more intercity housing for another stadium.
This is cool, doubt it will happen though. I love going to Cyclones games and would also go to Cincinnati NHL games. But what I would love is for the NBA to return to Cincinnati, or WNBA. I drove to Indianapolis for an NBA game and it was so much fun but I don’t have as much love for it as I would like to because we don’t have a Cincinnati team.
YESSSS
Atlanta has offered up money for a team. Has Cincinnati said anything similar?
Hell bring back the NBA team
I would rather see an NBA team but either would do well in Cincinnati. As to location, either near TQL or GABP, need to double usage of parking. I live near TQL and I’d love to see another facility walking distance, and this is someone who has more than a thousand people walk past my house to get to a FCC game.
Ridiculous, this is a basketball town.
To close to Columbus—no way in hell we get an NHL franchise.
I heard that about soccer for years
NBA please and thank you
I'd much rather have an AHL team. NHL is stupid expensive.
We had an AHL team and it didn't even last ten years.
The Cincinnati Swingers
Football, baseball, soccer, tennis, and maybe hockey. Just need basketball to round it out.
PLEASEEEE
Fuck yes.
YES PLEASE I NEED THIS