ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE EXPANSION FRANCHISE CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA JOE KLEES

GEOGRAPHIC TRADITIONS, STANDARDS & CONCEPTS Traditions and Standards Concepts

PROJECT BACKGROUND What cities in the U.S. and Canada would be the most suitable for new professional hockey franchises? Study area will include all major cities within the United States and Canada. Currently 30 teams in North America 23 teams in the United States 7 teams in Canada 16 teams in the Eastern Conference in N.A. 14 teams in the Western Conference in N.A. Map of the area of interest with locations of current NHL team locations.

OBJECTIVES Acquire data for NHL, AHL, NCAA and CIS teams including stadium addresses, stadium capacity and ticket sales. Other factors include ice rink locations, little leagues and any other factors that become Acquire data for a complied list of potential NHL expansion cities including potential stadium locations, fan base, geographic constraints, junior hockey teams, ice hockey rinks and any other factors yet to be determined. Create an index model to find which potential cities have the best fan base and location based on current hockey team locations, population and local hockey ticket sales, ice hockey rinks, junior hockey teams and any other factors yet to be determined. Create an index model to find which current NHL cities should be moved based on ticket sales and location. Based on objectives three and four I will then recommend four cities to receive new NHL franchise and recommend two cities to move their franchise to one of these new cities. Also come up with a new realignment plan for the new league.

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS FOR FRANCHISES United States Seattle Portland Las Vegas Houston Milwaukee Kansas City Canada Quebec City Hamilton Toronto (2 nd Franchise) Saskatoon Map of the potential NHL team locations.

VARIABLES FOR THE NEW AND MOVED FRANCHISES Potential Cities for new Franchises Potential Stadium Locations Fan Base Geographic constraints AHL and NCAA Hockey teams Junior Hockey teams Ice Hockey Rinks Current Franchise Cities to be moved Ticket Sales Stadium Capacity Percentage Geographic location Age of Franchise

DATA NHL and AHL Team Data Sport Map World. (n.d.). Map of NHL teams. hockey/north america/nhl. Sport Map World. (n.d.). Map of AHL teams. hockey/north america/ahl. ESPN. (2015). NHL Attendance Report. NCAA and Ice Arena Locations Rowe, D. (2013). USA Hockey Camp Potential Map. ArcGIS ESRI Story Maps ff064f889b6fb34df45c49de ff064f889b6fb34df45c49de

RESULTS

CONCLUSION

LITERATURE Pattison, W. D., The Four Traditions of Geography. Journal of Geography Taaffe, E. J., The Spatial View in Context. In Annals of the Association of American Geographers 64: National Geographic, n.d. National Geography Standards Index. National Geography Standards.education.nationalgeographic.com/education/standards/national-geography-standards. Arnous, M Geotechnical site investigations for possible urban extensions at Suez City, Egypt using GIS. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, Abdullahi, S., Mahmud, A., & Pradhan, B Spatial modelling of site suitability assessment for hospitals using geographical information system-based multicriteria approach at Qazvin city, Iran.Geocarto International, Mills, B., & Rosentraub, M The National Hockey League and Cross-Border Fandom: Fan Substitution and International Boundaries. Journal of Sports Economics, Rowe, D. (2013). USA Hockey Camp Potential Map. ArcGIS ESRI Story Maps. (Accessed April 10, 2015)