Philadelphia Phantoms sold

PHILADELPHIA, Pa – The Philadelphia Phantoms, the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, have been sold to a Pittsburgh based group, known as The Brooks Group, in excess of $3 million dollars. TBG also own the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers, as well as other various minor league baseball franchises, will officially take over operations of the team when the current AHL season is over. The news does not come as a complete surprise as plans for a new entertainment complex and hotel caused the Phantoms current owners, Comcast-Spectacor, to finally consider other options for the team. The new “Philly Live” project will include redeveloping the area which would require the removal of the Phantoms current home, the Wachovia Spectrum. The Phantoms were rumored to be considering Trenton, N.J. and Atlantic City, N.J. as alternatives should the team decide to move, but President and CEO of Comcast-Spectacor Peter Luukko spoke on Comcast Sportnet in Philadelphia’s on the Daily News Live show, expressed that those cities were not acceptable options for the team. The Trenton Devils (ECHL) are the closest professional hockey team to Philadelphia, but with the T-Devils and Lowell Devils (AHL) are owned by the New Jersey Devils, that option did not appear feasible, despite Trenton and Lowell’s poor attendance levels these days. Atlantic City use to house the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies (ECHL), but have since moved to Stockton, Ca for attendance reasons. There are rumors that the Lowell Devils will move to Trenton after next season. Lowell, like Trenton, is having major attendance issues, averaging 2,065 fans per game which is dead last in the AHL. Trenton is not fairing much better averaging 2,479 fans per game. Only the Johnstown Chiefs are worse in the ECHL, but J-town’s arena can hold 3,880 per game, while Trenton’s arena can hold 7,605. Lowell’s arena can hold 6,500 for hockey. One possibility for the Phantoms could be a move to Reading, Pa, where the ECHL’s Reading Royals currently play. One major issue that AEG/SMG own a 50/50 share of the Royals. AEG/SMG is a competitive rival of Comcast-Spectacor, but with the Phantoms being under new ownership that may no longer be an issue. If the Phantoms new ownership group want the team to succeed attendance wise, than a move into Reading could be a likely destination. The Royals are currently seventh in the ECHL in average attendance (4,824). The impressive part is the Royals are in the midst of having their worst season ever. In Reading’s first season, all but four home games were sell-outs.  Reading plays in a 7,160 seat arena. If the Phantoms moved to Reading it would mean a boost in Reading’s attendance by becoming the AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, but it will also do the same for the Hershey Bears, and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Royals fans are known for traveling with the team and with Hershey and Scranton an hour west and north of the city, adding fans in both arena’s would help both clubs and boost the leagues average attendance figures. Before the Phantoms came into existence, the Bears were the Flyers AHL affiliate. Local fans have always had an long time love affair with the Bears and the Flyers long before the Phantoms became a reality on December 18, 1995. Reading is an hour between Hershey and Philadelphia. Fans from Reading have always had a bond with all of the four major sports teams in Philadelphia area, so coming to Reading would be a natural fit for the Phantoms and for the Flyers. Reading is also home of the Philadelphia Phillies AA farm team, the Reading Phillies, who play in the Eastern League. Luukko did say, however, that Glens Falls, N.Y. could become the Phantoms temporary home. Comcast-Spectacor has an arena in the area that could temporarily house the Phantoms for one season. There have been rumors of a new arena being built in Allentown, Pa, which is roughly twice the population of Reading. Moving to Allentown would make sense should approval for a new arena be passed by the city. Last season A new baseball stadium opened in Allentown and houses the Phillies AAA affiliate, the Leigh Valley Iron Pigs. Still, a move to Reading might be in the offering since AEG/SMG, who also own the Los Angeles Kings, are now the majority owners of the ECHL franchise in Ontario, Ca. Leagues usually never approve of an ownership group owning more than one team in the same league, and rumors of the Kings dropping the Royals for Ontario could finally become a reality in the off-season. Another option could be that the Phantoms would move to Wheeling, WV. With rumors that TBG, who own the Nailers, might move the Nailers to Youngstown, Ohio, due to what else, poor attendance. Having an AHL affiliate in Wheeling could become a reality, but the problem with that theory is proximity. The closest AHL franchises to Wheeling are the Lake Erie Monsters, who reside in Cleveland, Ohio; and Hershey. Both are roughly five hours away from Wheeling, so it doesn’t look like Wheeling will be an option to move the Phantoms, but than again TBG now owns the Phantoms, not Comcast.. Still, with today’s announcement, the wheels are officially turning. Now it’s only a matter of time before we find out where the Phantoms will finally call home. Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com