Why Not Canada: Hamilton
WHY NOT CANADA | HAMILTON | QUEBEC CITY | TORONTO | WINNIPEG
Why Not Hamilton? (Wednesday)
The NHL balked at billionaire Jim Balsillie's plan to move the team to Hamilton a couple of years ago. The money was refunded. The party fizzled.
It wasn't supposed to be this way when the city built Copps Coliseum in 1985 and played host to the 1987 Canada Cup - and one of Canada's greatest ever hockey moments.
Full Story | Stats and Scorecard for Hamilton
PROFESSOR O'REILLY'S SCORECARD for HAMILTON
At TSN's request, Professor Norm O'Reilly developed a grading system for what makes an NHL team viable. Here's how Hamilton did.
| Market Attractiveness |
Franchise Viability |
| Economy: B |
Arena and Location: C |
| Demographics: B |
Competition and Barriers to Entry: D- |
| Market size: A+ |
Potential Owner (Jim Balsillie): A |
| Corporate presence: B+ |
|
HAMILTON'S FINAL GRADE: D+
What Professor O'Reilly says: "If you look at the market, it's very strong, extremely supportive of hockey, no doubting it at all. There's a facility there that we know needs some renovations. The challenge becomes that you have two other franchises in the market. You have Buffalo and the Leafs. So it becomes a political thing."
Note: O'Reilly's evaluations are based on his own background and knowledge of the subject, transcripts of interviews done by TSN/Globe and Mail for this series and data collected from various sources including Statistics Canada, the Conference Board of Canada, Environics Analytics, IMI and Harris-Decima.
By The Numbers: Hamilton
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812,[4] Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe. Since 1981, the metropolitan area has been listed as the ninth largest in Canada and the third largest in Ontario.
Traditionally, the local economy has been led by the steel and heavy manufacturing industries. Within the last decade, there has been a shift towards the service sector, particularly health sciences. The Hamilton Health Sciences corporation employs nearly 10,000 staff and serves approximately 2.2 million people in the region.
Hamilton is home to the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, the Bruce Trail, McMaster University and Mohawk College (Largest skilled trades college in Ontario).
Head Offices
* Does not include surrounding communities
Dollars Spent Per Citizen
Notes: Quebec, Winnipeg and Hamilton revenue based on 2008-09 average of Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton
* Does not include surrounding communities
Metro Population
Note: Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Burlington and Oakville bring market value to 1,630,352
Percentage Of Population (Age 24-39)
* Does not include surrounding communities
Median Income
Revenue/Gate Receipts?Profits From 2008-09 (Six Canadian NHL Cities)
