It came as a bit of a surprise on Thursday that the USHL will be making an announcement on June 24 about expansion into California, Nevada, and Arizona. We know that all the junior hockey leagues are looking to expand their footprints on the North Ameican map - sometimes with teams switching leagues to do so - but expansion by the USHL into these three states is a big move for a league that's generally only had games played in the US midwest. For a league whose furthest southwest team was in Kearney, Nebraska, this represents a massive shift in the USHL's thinking with the potential to have two isolated, independent divisions playing hockey before meeting in the Clark Cup Final. The only question that needs to be asked is into which cities the USHL will expand in these states.
According to
the release on Thursday, the USHL "and a group of stakeholders have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish member clubs in Arizona, California, and Nevada" with no cities named nor a definite number of teams being added in those states. This could be a two-team expansion or we could see massive expansion depending on that group of stakeholders, but it should be noted that Los Angeles Kings President Luc Robitaille was named in the release along with former USHL Commissioner Tom Garrity and West Coast Hockey Sports and Entertainment executive Ben Robert.
If those three men are involved, this looks like a very real development as all three have multiple contacts that may want to own teams. I'm not going to speculate on who should own teams because ownership could come in many forms, but I will speculate on the cities who could host a team based on venue availability and market size. Will these sites work? I can't say for certain, but they do have venues that could make hockey profitable for these owners.
The Obvious Cities
FRESNO, CALIFORNIA: THE ECHL once called Fresno home, and the Falcons used to play in
Selland Arena which can hold up to 7600 fans for hockey after the 2006 renovation that installed more comfortable seating, a new video replay scoreboard, message boards, and a new ice-cooling system for hockey games. With 542,107 citizens as per the 2020 census, Fresno ranks as the fifth-largest city in California and the city boasts a diverse economical sector for corporate sponsorship.
STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA: Once home to both the AHL and ECHL, Stockton is the the 11th-most populous city in California with 320,804 residents as per the 2020 census.
Adventist Health Arena only hosts NBA G-League games at the moment, has many modern amenities, and would seat 9737 fans for hockey if a team played there. The arena still has a working ice plant, so it would only need a permanent tenant to make hockey work. Stockton also has a diverse, growing economic sector that could assist with corporate sponsorship.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Hockey in Phoenix? Say it ain't so! This could work well in Phoenix if a similar arena-usage deal with made with the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Mullett Arena was good enough for NHL hockey, but the Sun Devils may want to have a USHL team playing in their building when it comes to recruiting players for their team. Amenities like private suites and concessions are already in place, so it wouldn't take much to move into Arizona's largest city and get things rolling. The venue and fanbase would already be present.
RENO, NEVADA: Reno has flirted with professional hockey teams for a long time, but none have found the staying power needed. They do have a bit of a hockey history with University of Nevada-Reno Men's ACHA Division-III team, but Reno could have its first permanent team with a USHL expansion team. Grand Sierra Resort
broke ground on a new, 10,000-seat arena for the University of Nevada men's basketball team in October, but there was a rendering of an ice hockey rink in their release. Reno is the third most populous city in Nevada with 264,165 residents as of 2020, and it is the most populous city in Nevada outside the Las Vegas Valley. They have a diverse economic sector buoyed by several hotels and casinos, so they likely won't have to worry about begging for any sort of corporate sponsorship.
Potential Cities
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA: Sacramento has never really been a landing spot for hockey, but they do have an NBA team so there has to be a market. The city isn't far from Stockton, and the Golden 1 Center where the NBA's Kings play does have an ice plant despite never hosting a hockey game of any kind. It is the sixth-most populous city in California with a 2020 population of 524,943, but the metropolitan area contains 2.46 million residents. Sacramento's economic sector has seen major gains in healthcare, manufacturing, and technology, so corporate sponsorship is there. The only question is will the Kings want an ice-requiring second tenant in their building?
GLENDALE, ARIZONA: Do I really need to explain why? The Arizona Coyotes played at Desert Diamond Arena, so it can clearly do hockey. Would people show up to watch USHL hockey? That might be a harder sell than getting them to drive out to see the Coyotes play.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: It would make sense to consider Los Angeles, but one has to wonder if a USHL team could find a market with all of the other sports and entertainment options happening in Los Angeles everyday. There are arenas one could call home, but junior hockey might be a harder sell in Los Angeles with NFL, NBA, and NHL options along with everything else happening there. It's not impossible, but Los Angeles might be saturated with sporting options.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: There's no doubt that San Diego has supported the AHL Gulls as their team. The Gulls have virtually zero competition when it comes to other entertainment options, and they have an arena that could easily handle the crowds seen by the USHL. The question would be whether or not San Diego would support two hockey teams with the same enthusiasm shown for the Gulls.
BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA: We saw the IHL call San Francisco home for a few years and the NHL tried to make this area work with the Seals, but there might be more of an appetite for USHL hockey in the bay area. The Cow Palace is old, but it does have 11,089 seats for ice hockey. Oakland Arena also has hosted hockey games, but the catch is that both venues are ancient despite recent renovations. The Bay Arena could work, but it may need some tweaks to be profitable.
Cities To Avoid
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: With the NHL's Golden Knights, the AHL's Henderson Silver Knights, the NFL's Raiders, the WNBA's Aces, the new PWHL team calling Sin City home and future NBA expansion coming to the city, putting a USHL team into the alrrady-saturated Las Vegas market would be unwise. I understand the draw to move into the Las Vegas Valley, but there simply isn't a slice of the entertainment market remaining to make a USHL team viable.
FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA: This one should be simple as Flagstaff does not have a viable arena. It's located in a great area and would likely have a market of fans that they could build, but no venue makes Flagstaff an impossible dream for immediate expansion.
ANY OTHER AHL CITY, CALIFORNIA: While I respect the success seen by teams in Bakersfield, Ontario, San Jose, and Coachella Valley, having a USHL team compete for market share against these teams would see both teams fall below their potential profitabilities. Yes, it could work in these cities, but the USHL needs to put down strong, stable roots in the southwest with this announced expansion.
TUCSON, ARIZONA: For the same reason as the other AHL cities in California, a Tucson USHL team certainly don't need to be competing with another team for market share with the AHL Roadrunners. Both teams would likely fall below their potential profitabilities by competing for the same fans, corporate support, and market appeal.
Obviously, there are some appealing markets listed above with a handful of more challenging markets, but we'll have to see what happens on June 24 when it comes to this announced expansion. The USHL is certainly taking a risk in starting up a southwest division that's hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from their current sixteen teams, but this feels like one of those "dream big" moments that could pay off in a major way for the USHL and for hockey.
With growing registrations coming from non-traditional markets like the southwest, putting major junior teams in those markets will give those kids a chance to play closer to home. It will also bolster US colleges and universities when it comes to potential recruits moving from the USHL to the NCAA, so the ripples of this expansion wave will be felt down the line for generations of hockey players to come.
Assuming that this expansion is successful, the USHL could see massive benefits. That's always the goal with a project like this, but when there's talk of northern teams potentially looking at other leagues for more structure and stability, adding a handful of teams in a place that hasn't had junior hockey might make the USHL stronger...
... as long as those expansion teams are successful and profitable. With junior hockey profit margins being razor-thin in most seasons, failure won't sell USHL hockey in any prospective hockey market.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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