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You mean like Ottowa? Some places have trouble because they made bad decisions about things like their arena. Phoenix, Florida and Ottowa seem to fall into that category. These teams play in arenas that make it hard to be a fan.
Las Vegas won’t have that problem. They’ll live or die if Vegas can rally around them as a real community. So far it looks good with sold out season tickets and a waiting list.
I agree with Bettman’s push into the sun belt. That’s where the young(er) people are. The entire north (and that includes Europe) aren’t having enough children to keep their countries going much less a sport.

Ottawa's problem isn't just the location of their arena. Because it's a government city they also don't have the same level of corporate support you get in other major cities. There isn't a single company among the 50 largest companies in Canada with its headquarters in Ottawa, which is amazing when you consider that even Saskatoon -- with a population of about 200,000 -- has one.

Las Vegas will attract fans as long as its a novelty, and if they improve over time and become a winner they'll do very well. That's not the hard part, though. The real challenge is after they've become a winning team and then they have to go through a rebuilding period. Sun Belt teams are notorious for having fickle, fair-weather fan support. It's easy to draw fans when you're a winner, but it takes a strong hockey market to get 15,000 or more fans to come out to see a mediocre team. There are a lot of places in North America where a team can do this, but it's not going to happen in the Sun Belt.