Leicester looking at getting a multipurpose sports arena

[pingchowchi]

Maybe it is just the mayor raising hopes - but who knows?

I certainly would like a closer away fixture

www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/city-arena-sport-music/story-19613323-detail/story.html?sp=normal&1375685888701#axzz2b4kJZmGB

[spik]

Certainly good to get a team in there but it would also be competition for CAPITAL FM regards the music scene.

[yeti]

Nice idea a team in Leicester but would there be enough support for an arena team in Leicester. I know leicester has a decent catchment area but with both football and Leicester Tigers Rugby getting big gates would there be enough interest in an arena based Ice Hockey Team.
I think that in Nottingham after the football teams there is only room for one other big sports team and that is the Panthers. The rugby team are not well supported.
In Leicester I think with the Tigers being such a big team which captures the interest of sport fans in the city it would be very hard to get an arena based ice hockey team to get crowds big enough to support them. I think the basketball team would also increase it's standing in the city and so take some of the potential fans away from watching the hockey team.

This is my concern what do others think?

[Yotes]

You could also view that as showing there's a wide interest in sports in Leicestershire, so a fertile environment for a new start up. I don't think it's necessarily one sport or the other, I'd imagine plenty of Panthers fans also go to County/Forest.

If you take the opposite, a location with no existing sports teams, maybe people don't think of viewing sports as part of their leisure activities, so are harder to convince to give it a go?

[clanfandouglas]

I have every faith a team would work, as look at Glasgow with Braehead as they had to set up in area dominated with Celtic and Rangers then other smaller teams. And the crowds are rising 2500+ each game, so I would hope this would work and same with London franchise being talked about.

[BigLad]

Would those Leicester based Panthers fans (of which there are plenty) then watch the Leicester team or remain Panthers fans?

[Rob Scott]

Aug 7, 2013 11:19:43 GMT BigLad said:

Would those Leicester based Panthers fans (of which there are plenty) then watch the Leicester team or remain Panthers fans?

Out of a say 5000 Saturday night crowd how many do you reckon would live in Leicester?

[Phil Mitchell]

I would imagine that Leicester is in a similar situation to Hull
Hull has big following for the football and even more so now they are back in the premiership
They also have a massive following for Rugby League - being either Hull or Hull KR depending on which side of the city you are from, so ice hockey comes down the pecking order.
I believe the Hull Arena holds 2000+ capacity and one can imagine the atmosphere is great when its full
Will Leicester end up like this - though first of all they have got to approve it and build it - so its a good few years away yet.