A READY-MADE RIVALRY?

Seattle in NHL is good for Canucks

If you’re looking for one reason to think that adding an NHL team just a couple hundred kilometres from Vancouver might help the local hockey squad, just look across the street from Rogers Arena.

There is no doubt that having rival squads in Seattle and Portland, Ore., helps the Vancouver Whitecaps sell tickets.

Not only do both of their Cascadian rivals bring hundreds of fans north with them, there are also a great many casual Caps fans ready to buck up for tickets to those games every year too. When the Caps host the Sounders and the Timbers, the crowds are consistently among the biggest of the season.

So, with that in mind, there looks to be an easy, new rivalry to sell to fans, even without considering what happens on the ice.

Vancouver sports marketing expert Tom Mayenknecht certainly thinks so. Having a Seattle NHL team will only serve to enhance the Canucks’ marketing efforts.

“It’s just another reason for people in and around Vancouver and between here and Seattle to care about hockey,” he said. “It’s another line of engagement.”

And, more broadly, he believes moving into the Seattle market will only benefit the NHL.

“This is another (strong) market for U.S. sponsors, licensees,” he explained. “In terms of overall economics, Seattle is a good place for the league.”

Because of demographics, including substantially higher average incomes than in many other places in the U.S., the Seattle market feels more like a market of six million, he said. (The Seattle metro area has a population of about 3.9 million.)

Seattle will have teams in four major leagues: baseball, football, soccer and hockey.

“If Denver can support five teams (metro population 2.9 million), well then Seattle will be able to do that easily,” he said.

The Caps’ experience in selling tickets, even in a down season, certainly tells a story. But there’s also no doubting that having on-field tension does add something to the promotional narratives. That will surely play somewhat into the Canucks’ marketing, at some point.

The rivalries in recent years with the likes of the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins are evidence of that. Those games were must-have tickets at the height of their storylines.

“You can’t just say it’s a rivalry,” Canucks defenceman Troy Stecher noted. “You’ve got to go through games, you’ve got to build that personality, you’ve got to have battles with guys on their teams. And I think that’s what creates it.’’

One other item that will surely be a relief to the players and Canucks management will be the travel factor. Suddenly, three road games a year will be nearly as easy as playing a home game at Rogers Arena.

For a team that’s battled injuries over the past half-decade or so, it’s entirely possible that doing a little less flying will be beneficial in the player-welfare department.

The Canucks consistently have been among the league’s biggest travellers every season. This won’t be a huge change, but when you’re at one extreme, every chance to reduce such a challenge will be welcomed.