Third time’s a charm to secure a hockey team. NHL needs metro Atlanta.

I began my career working in the sports industry six decades ago, initially with the Braves and Hawks, and I have drifted in and out of various sports projects over the years since.

While working in both Atlanta and New York, sports has been a fun sideline. The most fun has been helping cities secure big league sports franchises. I was involved in the efforts of Miami to get the Marlins and Denver the Colorado Rockies in Major League Baseball, the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA, the Dream in the WNBA and the Ottawa Senators in the National Hockey League.

We never lost, which is part of why I kept doing it. I wanted to keep my streak going. I knew how to do it. There were, for instance, 16 groups pitching to get the big league baseball franchises that landed in Miami and Denver. Both of my groups won. I knew what the leagues wanted and how to make sure the leagues knew that was what they would get.

In Atlanta, the chase is now heating up to lure another NHL team, despite two past teams failing here. Nobody wants a strike three, so why in the world would any league ever go to a place where it didn’t work before? The answer is simple. The economics of hockey have changed and Atlanta has changed.

The Atlanta Flames and Thrashers struggled to survive as businesses. The economic model of hockey was broken with little or no broadcast revenue and few reasons for sponsors to get involved. The audiences may have been passionate, but they were relatively small. That has changed. Nearly every NHL team made money last year. The average NHL team is now valued at $2.1 billion. Their formula works.

And Atlanta has changed. Our city is the only Top 10 TV market in the Southeast. Sports leagues need Atlanta and its nearly 3 million TV households.

5 things that Atlanta needs to woo the NHL

Bob Hope is chairman of Hope Beckham Espinosa. He is former public relations director of the Atlanta Braves and was Ted Turner’s original publicist. (Courtesy)

There are five fundamentals for Atlanta to get a hockey team:

First, there must be a large and vibrant corporate community. Atlanta has that in abundance. No city has more companies that are active sports sponsors including the banks, Coca-Cola, Delta, Home Depot, UPS, IHG, Chick-fil-A; it is a long and impressive list. Proven community support is crucial, and the size of the market counts.

Second, any new team needs a big-time billionaire whom the owners want in their club. Ideally, it is someone who makes any meeting seem more important, but it also needs to be a team player. They don’t want a rogue in the room.

Third, there must be a place to play. Without funding in place, a new arena is a delusion. There can be no doubt when it comes to building a new arena.

Fourth, looking real is important. An existing organization like the Hawks, Falcons or Braves could get a team without setting up a dedicated company. However, otherwise, there needs to be a dedicated organization similar to Atlanta’s effort to win the Olympic bid.

There are five fundamentals for Atlanta to get a hockey team:

First, there must be a large and vibrant corporate community. Atlanta has that in abundance. No city has more companies that are active sports sponsors including the banks, Coca-Cola, Delta, Home Depot, UPS, IHG, Chick-fil-A; it is a long and impressive list. Proven community support is crucial, and the size of the market counts.

Second, any new team needs a big-time billionaire whom the owners want in their club. Ideally, it is someone who makes any meeting seem more important, but it also needs to be a team player. They don’t want a rogue in the room.

Third, there must be a place to play. Without funding in place, a new arena is a delusion. There can be no doubt when it comes to building a new arena.

Fourth, looking real is important. An existing organization like the Hawks, Falcons or Braves could get a team without setting up a dedicated company. However, otherwise, there needs to be a dedicated organization similar to Atlanta’s effort to win the Olympic bid.

That is evidence of commitment. The organizing group needs to have all the right companies and community leaders involved.

Finally, the convenience of the arena counts. The NHL plays 84 games in a season, with multiple games in any week. That doesn’t include playoffs. Teams have their own planes. They are in and out of town easily.

It’s not a matter of if, but when hockey returns to ATL

This is a rendering of a planned redevelopment of North Point Mall in Alpharetta by Jamestown and New York Life. It is centered around a 20,000-seat arena large enough to support an NHL franchise if one were announced for the Atlanta area. (Courtesy of Jamestown)

The two new efforts are getting started. Major real estate projects are contingent on getting a team. Forsyth County and also the City of Alpharetta have put out the alert they have development plans that include an NHL team. I suspect the NHL would love to have its arena as the anchor for a planned community, similar to the Braves at The Battery in Cobb County. Both site plans are impressive. But neither will happen without a team.

Whether sooner or later, the NHL will likely put a team in Atlanta. The NFL, for instance, went for years without one team in Los Angeles, the second-largest market in the U.S., and now has two. Atlanta is a must-have city for a league and continually grows in importance. A team will come.