Omaha Knights Moving to Illinois
Ken King announced announced the relocation of the AHL team from Omaha, Nebraska to the Quad Cities (Moline, IL). The move remains subject to AHL Board of Governor approval at a meeting and is also subject to ratification by the Illinois Quad City Civic Center Authority.
Hopefully the move will mean more support for the team. Despite finishing 1st in their division, the Knights couldn’t muster more than 3500 average visitors in a saturated hockey market. Time will tell if the Quad Cities of Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa will prove to be a better location.
The new location will be situated in along the banks of the Mississippi River and on the Illinois/Iowa border – within 250 miles of five of their AHL rivals the Rockford Ice Hogs, Peoria Rivermen, Chicago Wolves, Milwaukee Admirals and Iowa Stars. Travel costs go down while the team plays its home games in Moline, Illinois at The MARK of the Quad Cities, one of the premier arenas found in the mid-west.
Quad Cities was most recently home to the United Hockey League’s Quad City Mallards for the last 12 seasons; the Mallards led the UHL in attendance seven times during this period. During their tenure in the UHL, over 3 million hockey fans attended games at The MARK of the Quad Cities.
No word if there is room for another professional hockey team.
[tags]omaha knights move, quad cities ahl, calgary flames ahl, quad cities hockey[/tags]
I live in Abbotsford BC, Canada and heard a rumour that the Calgary Flames AHL hockey team might be moving here into their new arena set to open next year? After reading the news I guess not? lol
This is old news, the Abbotsford rumor may fly, the city approached the Flames and if their current deal with Quad Cities doesn’t fly they may move close to BC :P