Originally Posted by ARIUS

Over the long-run, I really don't think that the seats will be filled in southern arenas. At best, hockey ranks behind the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, NASCAR, PGA, horse-racing. In most areas hockey ranks behind bowling, WWE, the greyhounds and probably many other "sports". Hockey is not a national sport in the US which is why there has been no adequate national US TV coverage.
The core support for these teams is very small. So whenever a southern team's on-ice performance turns poor, most of the fans will go watch and support someother local team from another sport.