Earlier this week there was a post about the future of the Sharks in San Jose because of their arena. How does this apply to the Columbus Blue Jackets and Nationwide Arena? San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo is quoted in the piece saying.
"“We have been talking to the Sharks about how we make arrangements for the construction of another facility here in San Jose. At some point we know, within our lifetimes, this arena will outlive its useful life. We know we have one of the oldest arenas already in the NHL. Hard to believe that’s true, but it is. So whether it’s a significant upgrade to this arena–it’s got to be more than a facelift, obviously–or the construction of a new one, we need to start having conversations about those sites.”"
For reference the SAP Center opened in 1993. Nationwide Arena opened in 2000. There are many differences in the situations of the two teams. The major one is that the Sharks may have two different opportunities to move to new arenas close by while still staying in the same market. At some point the Golden State Warriors will build a new arena and there is discussion about building a general use arena to fill out the entertainment options in Santa Clara near Levi Stadium. Both of these would be alluring options for the Sharks.
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This isn’t a “panic the Blue Jackets are moving” piece at all. Just be aware that these are the types of games that team owners tend to play. The 5th Line may be spared some of it as the owner of the team knows there is a perception that a major league sports franchise in Columbus is the most public part of his father’s legacy in the city. Also with the upgrades that were done to the arena two years ago in preparation for the All-Star Game Nationwide Arena is poised to stay near the top tier of stadiums for a while yet.
The worst case scenario that I envision down the road is that the Blue Jackets may have a similar home situation as the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes share a home arena with N.C. State basketball. Down the road when it would be reasonable to build a new arena I can see an arena being jointly built by the City of Columbus, the State of Ohio, and the Ohio State University that would house both OSU athletics and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
All things considered I’m happy the worst thing I would have to worry about in that situation is that the Blue Jackets might have to play in an arena with red seats someday.