Getting In on the Game

Both Schoenborn and city representatives say the arena renovation has benefited everyone involved. Russ DeCurtins, the arena’s executive director, says the building is booked about 160 days a year, and that the renovation has more than paid for itself. Teri Ellis-Schmidt, executive director of the Sioux Falls Convention and Visitors Bureau, says that the upgraded arena “not only added to the quality of life, but it’s become a real draw for our tourism and convention business.” All told, she adds, “it’s shown itself to be a revenue generator.”

The arena may have been an economic boon, but what about the hockey team? Some experts suggest that the economic impact of teams like the Stampede can be overstated. “Teams like this usually have a very small impact, if any,” says Mark Rosentraub, dean of the College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University and an economist who has written extensively on the relationship of economic development and sports teams. “Don’t get me wrong—it’s a good thing to have. But as an economic driver, it’s more like a big movie theater.”

Rosentraub says that having a team in a smaller city like Sioux Falls can be valuable as long as the expectations of having a team aren’t inflated. “If a community believes it’s really going to improve the quality of life and create dramatic economic opportunities, they might be disappointed,” he says. “But if they’re realistic about it as a source of entertainment and nothing more, it can be positive.”

League president Gasparini says there’s no room in the USHL for scenarios commonplace to big-league sports, where franchise owners threaten to move unless given public money for facility construction and renovation. “Our markets are small enough that if you don’t have a great relationship with the community, the team won’t survive,” he says. “You have to have the citizens on your side, so that’s what we strive for.”

A Shot at a Different Goal

While the USHL has no formal relationship with the National Hockey League, that might be changing. Talks are underway for a formal player development agreement between the two entities; a few USHL teams are already owned by current NHL owners. Since these talks are at an early stage, it’s impossible to say what such a deal would mean for USHL owners. But it would validate their efforts to improve the quality of their product.

Hockey may be the least popular of the “big four” U.S. sports, but USHL owners believe that just gives the league more room to grow. Gasparini says the USHL is planning on expanding from 12 to 16 or possibly even 18 teams over the next four years. Schoenborn says that even when competitors swoop in for a piece of the pie, the pie only seems to get bigger.

“Last year in Des Moines, the American Hockey League [a professional developmental league affiliated with the National Hockey League] brought in a new team [the Iowa Stars], and we’re doing better than ever there,” he says. “It’s odd. You’d think that if you build a new hotel across the street from an existing hotel, the existing one would lose some occupancy. But I haven’t seen that.”