Bettman: Vegas Can Sell Season Tix for the Franchise It Doesn't Have
No one does plausible deniability like the NHL.
For over a year, signs have been strewn everywhere that the league's gonna grow before it says it's gonna grow.
For example:
- The NHL's Eastern Conference has 16 teams to the Western Conference's 14.
- Then there's Bill Daly, Gary Bettman's version of Joe Biden, who flat-out told Seattle businessmen on a fact-finding junket to Vancouver that the league was gonna grow.
- Veteran old-school journalists using veteran old-school methods have confirmed sources saying the league's gonna grow imminently.
So while a 20,000 arena is going up in Las Vegas, orchestrated by a kajillionaire who's not stupid -- allegedly, given his choice of partners -- chances are it's more than likely the league's gonna grow, and possibly in that direction.
So the season-ticket drive in Las Vegas will be hyped to the max any day now.
The metro area indeed has a population of two million, but its work force is unique. Vegas truly is a city that never sleeps, meaning it runs three eight-hour working shifts per day. At least one of those shifts is sleeping at any given time.
Granted, that's not taking cocaine and greenies into the equation, but still, the practical number of potential fans available is a lesser percentage than would be found elsewhere.
There could be a question, then, of some ticket purchasers wondering later what they'd just bought. Still, that'll be right in line with the NHL's expansion position, which still has everyone wondering what is and what isn't.