Expansion location speculation

[DMaximus 1,045]

The VHL’s recent announcement of a 2 team expansion has created a world-wide frenzy of cities vying for being named the new home of a VHL franchise. Many cities have put together presentations to convince the VHL Board of Governors to pick their city for an expansion hockey team. “The excitement generated by this announcement is great for the VHL. We have received applications from every continent, including Antarctica.” VHL Spokesperson Mx. Greene told us in an interview. “Our newly reformed Board of Governors are reviewing all the applications to make sure the best, most deserving, most hockey loving, most rabid fan base cities get selected.” Mx. Greene said referring to the recent restructuring of the VHL BoG and announcement of a new public liaison in an effort to promote increased transparency from the VHL. The desire to increase transparency is most likely tied to lessons learned from the recent FBI investigation.

 

A VHL franchise is coveted by almost any city. ”Landing a VHL franchise gives a city global recognition instantly. Look at Malmo as an example.” Mx. Greene explained, using the most recent VHL expansion franchise, the Malmo Nighthawks, as an example. “Most people had never heard of the great city of Malmo before. Now you have kids around the world wearing Malmo gear. Some can even point out Malmo on a map, thanks to the VHL.” Malmo has seen an increase in tourism since receiving the hockey team. Additionally the VHL’s technical forward mentality has attracted young, talented engineers and scientists to Malmo. “We’re so happy to have landed our beloved team, the Nighthawks.” Malmo mayor Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh proclaims. “Not only has it brought increased attention to our area, which directly translates to money for our residents, it also creates a comradery amongst them. Our city has a collective shared interest in the success of our team and our city. It’s fantastic.”

 

Not all residents view getting a franchise as a great thing. Dr. Martin Persson, head of a non-profit social awareness group explains “To land a VHL franchise, the city has to pay the VHL money. Then the city has to pay money for a stadium. All that money the city is spending on a professional sports team should be going to more worthy causes, like fighting our higher than average obesity rates.”

 

Not too many clues have been made publically available about what locations are being seriously considered for a franchise. VHL analyst Edward Ashford said “The VHL is currently broken up into 2 conferences. That just happened after the Malmo expansion. One conference is North America, the other is the European Conference. For both conferences to remain equal, one team would need to be added to each. So there will definitely be a team somewhere in North America. Currently there are 3 Canadian teams and 2 American teams. I think the next team will be a city in America. Right now you have a team on each coast, New York on the east coast, Seattle on the west coast. I think the next team will be somewhere in the middle of those two cities. My guess is Chicago. A great city, tons of history. As long as you don’t make a racist team name the franchise should explode with popularity. Now the other team is much more difficult to figure out. If they stick with the European Conference moniker, it could be in any number of countries that currently don’t have a team. Many people think Germany is at the top of the list, but they already had a franchise in Cologne that was disbanded many seasons ago. I think England will get a long hard look, I expect London to be named the next city if they stick to Europe.” Ashford continues with some more details, “I’ve heard rumors they will be changing the conference from the European Conference to the World Conference and including a team from Asia or possibly Australia. If they go that route, there’s a ton of great cities to choose from and it’s really anyone’s guess. I think Melbourne would be at the top of the list if they expanded to the World Conference.”

 

With the S67 season coming to a close, expect an official announcement from the VHL very soon.