IMI International’s “research demonstrates a massive appetite among sports fans for a second NHL team in Toronto, roughly double the interest in attracting an NFL team”, as reported in today’s Globe and Mail and on TSN.
All the evidence suggests the Leafs could comfortably co-exist with another NHL franchise in the Greater Toronto Area, arguably without a dent to the bottom line. In April, research by IMI International conducted to gauge interest in a second franchise showed there are roughly 800,000 residents who consider NHL hockey “a passion” but who haven’t been able to attend a live game in at least two years.
“There is massive demand for a second NHL team in Toronto,” said Don Mayo, global managing partner for IMI in Toronto. “If there is more supply, there will [still] definitely be great demand.”
“The Maple Leafs would be fine,” Mayo said. “The biggest impact would be on other sports teams, such as the [MLSE-owned] Raptors or the Toronto FC, or the Blue Jays [owned by Rogers Communications] because there’s only so much money in a marketplace. It would also impact cultural and other events because people don’t have unlimited funds.”
As seen in the newpaper and online on July 5 and July 8, 2010, IMI International provided local market insights for a joint Globe and Mail/TSN project to evaluate the impact of a second southern Ontario NHL franchise.
Reporter David Naylor notes that “Hamilton and Toronto have the requisite economic prowess to support a professional sports franchise. An NHL team in Quebec City would have the professional sports market to itself, while in Winnipeg a franchise would face competition only from the opposite-season CFL.”
IMI International’s study in April 2010 across the GTA and Golden Horseshoe surrounding Toronto was conducted to determine the interest, impact and potential of a NHL team was for Hamilton, Kitchener and a second team in Toronto.
For more information, please contact IMI International.
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