Storm to leave Altrincham !

[ginger]

Confirmed now as Storm back at the AO (or MEN or NYNEX for those old enough)!

Excellent news and opportunity. I suspect rent will be on a % basis initially, with aim of growing crowds since it's mutually beneficial.

I also hope the league considers the possibility of moving playoffs there, or a reworked CC format that gives a similar one weekend, final four set up.

Huge opportunity for Manchester - I would suspect there'll be good idea sharing going on behind the scenes from other teams on help to build crowds (certainly can't argue with what's been done here to do that).

Will be my first away trip in years next season - I've got some very dear personal memories of going there as a kid and to go back to watch hockey will be fantastic, if a little emotional

[DSLSteeler]

Given how much they are bigging this up, for very good reason I might add, the idea of them moving back out of there again in a couple of years to a new arena that holds 3k fans now seems illogical and I suspect its now not happening. Wonder what happens now to the plans then for the new gaff.

https://www.manchesterstorm.com/official_statement/

[DSLSteeler]

I was part of that 17245 record crowd. It was a marvellous experience. I really hope this works. It would be fantastic for the league. I don’t know how often the AO Arena is booked for events now. Will Storm be able to play there at weekends? Until they can actually fill the AO, which may be some years, I imagine they will be shunted to the less popular dates. I imagine storm must have thought all this through. it would be awful to see them go bankrupt again. If it looks stable for a couple of years I can’t see the league turning down the opportunity to hold the playoffs there.

AO Arena only has a dozen or so events between now and this time next May. The Co-Op Arena on the other hand has a dozen events on for next month alone. It's a gamble for both the AO and Storm, but provided both don't get carried away and allow for time to build the fanbase up, I don't see why it can't work over the longer-term. Storm were getting 2.5k last season for attendance, getting that up to an average of at least 4k next season isn't out of the question, between a good promotional campaign, and plenty of folk being curious to check them out again at the arena. If it works, long-term Storm will by far be the biggest team in the league.

Just hope for their sake that they are not taking on all the risk with a big fat tenancy fee that can only be covered with a sizeable increase in attendances. This deal benefits the AO as much as it does Storm as it seems the AO was turning into a venue without a purpose otherwise, so you would hope that the annual costs reflect that.

[smbmetal]

I’d be delighted if I was a Storm fan with this news.

Might help them attract better players, as they’ll know they’ll be playing out of a much better facility.

Wonder if it will attract some of the old fans back as well?

Market it right and the potential is huge. I’m sure both the Storm and the AO arena will have learnt some harsh lessons from the past.

I’ll also probably go for a visit for good old nostalgia’s sake. Guess only the 1st tier will be opened up?

If I were the EIHL, I’d announce the CC final to be held there now. Pretty sure Coventry are still regretting handing home ice advantage to Nottingham when they were the home seed.

Appreciate the playoffs are contracted to the Nottingham, but I’d move those as well and make the tickets cheaper etc when the contract is up for renewal.

[mark]

From memory that bottom tier alone is around the 5k mark

[greeny]

personally would not get too excited,,,, dont think the fan base is there any more,,, good old days of hockey have gone,,,,,,hopefully i am wrong and they dont come crashing down with a bang,,,,,,, time will tell

[Clear The Zone]

personally would not get too excited,,,, dont think the fan base is there any more,,, good old days of hockey have gone,,,,,,hopefully i am wrong and they dont come crashing down with a bang,,,,,,, time will tell

Similarly people used to say the same about the Steelers, that the fanbase isn't there any more, the glory days were gone and that we needed to downsize to a 4k seater arena in rother valley. They were wrong.

[Steeling thunder]

Attendances around the league are generally rising and the Elite league is one of the best attended in Europe.
We need to keep growing the league and hope we can attract some more lucrative league sponsors.

[Keith Sheppard]

personally would not get too excited,,,, dont think the fan base is there any more,,, good old days of hockey have gone,,,,,,hopefully i am wrong and they dont come crashing down with a bang,,,,,,, time will tell

By the end of the Norton Lee era we were down to 3000 ish on average, I can remember a game or two where the upper tier was blanked off. If I were Storm I’d be on the phone to Tony asking for tips on how he grew the fan base.

[Jayboy]

They can have Dave Simms if that helps what...