As much as I love major league sports, there’s something special about minor league sports. Maybe it’s the crazy promotions, maybe it’s the cheaper ticket prices, or maybe it’s the cheaper beer prices. Who knows? Maybe it’s all three.

New Jersey is well represented in the minor league baseball market with five minor league teams. We also have a minor league football team if you count the New York Jets (buh dum tiss). However, we don’t have any minor league hockey teams, although we had two in the not so distant past.

Can New Jersey support a minor league hockey team? First let’s take a look at the minor league hockey teams of New Jersey past. We have to see what went wrong with them before we can see what can go right in the future.

What’s A Minor League?

New Jersey has had many minor league hockey teams throughout the years. For the purposes of this article, we’re only considering leagues that exist today as part of the North American hockey pyramid. These being the American Hockey League (EHL) and the ECHL. New Jersey recently had a team in the Federal Hockey League, however they lacked any official affiliation or recognition from the NHL so we’ll skip them for now.

The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies

Believe it or not, Atlantic City has a long and storied hockey history. We took a look at it last year when we so graciously suggested to the NHL that they should make the East Coast gambling capital one of their hub cities. Plot twist, they didn’t listen to us.

Atlantic City’s most recent try at minor league hockey was the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies of the ECHL. They played in the historic Boardwalk Hall, better known as the historic home of Miss America from 2001-2005. This venue also saw its team win the ECHL Kelly Cup championship in 2003. Unfortunately, low team attendance lead to the team being sold and relocated after the 2004-2005 season.

The Trenton Titans

New Jersey’s most successful minor league hockey team since the Devils relocated to the state were the Trenton Titans. New Jersey’s capital city was granted an ECHL expansion franchise in 1996, joining the league in 1999 to play in the new Sovereign Bank Arena, now known as Cure Insurance Arena. The Titan were successful both in fan attendance and on the ice, winning the league’s Kelly Cup in 2005.

What happened to the Titans? Unfortunately, the New Jersey Devils happened. The New Jersey Devils bought the team and rebranded them as the Trenton Devils. That turned away a lot of the Titan’s old fan base, many of which were Philadelphia Flyers fans. Remember, Trenton is basically Philadelphia territory. Interesting fact, the Trenton Devils were the only ECHL team owned by their NHL affiliate. That also perfectly coincided with the team having a few bad seasons.

The team, while still under Devils ownership, was about to fold operations. A new investors group bought the team and brought back the Titans name. At that point the damage had already been done and fans never filled up the building like they used to. The team folded for good after the 2012-2013 season, not even relocating.

What Would A Minor League Hockey Team Need?

The very first thing any new potential minor league hockey team would need is a stadium. New Jersey has plenty of hockey rinks, including some with capacity over 1,000 (for example, South Mountain Arena and Middletown Ice Rink). Looking at both AHL and ECHL attendance numbers shows that any arena would need capacity considerably above that figure. The AHL has an average attendance of almost 6,000 fans per game. The ECHL has an average of around 5,000 fans per game, although it look like most teams draw between 4,000-5,000 fans per game.

Even if a hockey rink has enough available seating, is it up to league standards? My “home rink” of Middletown has a seating capacity of 1,500 seats, but only one snack stand with limited options. Are there enough concession and food stands? Are there enough bathrooms? Is there enough parking? Teams want to sell tickets too, and might want a few luxury suits. We’re not saying it needs to be Prudential Center with every gourmet food option under the sun, but you need more than one stand that sells hotdogs and pizza.

Speaking of Prudential Center, there’s always the option that a minor league hockey team could call the Prudential Center home. The Devils already gave that idea a “trial run” this year by temporarily relocating the Binghampton Devils to Newark. Of course, the Binghampton Devils played in the Barnabas Health Hockey House practice rink and not the main Prudential Center ice.

Even if that is an option, it’s a terrible idea. Prudential Center’s seating capacity is way too big for an AHL level crowd. The San Jose Sharks have their AHL team the San Jose Barracuda play at SAP Center. The Barracuda also draw the fourth lowest average attendance in the AHL at 3,512 fans per game. Imagine how that would look in an arena of 17,000 seats? Even if they close the upper bowl and only do lower bowl seating, it’s not a great look.

So What Stadiums Are Available?

Both the New Jersey stadiums that used to have minor league hockey teams are both available and perfect candidate. Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City has hosted hockey games after the Boardwalk Bullies left, including Operation Hat trick, a game for Hurricane Sandy relief during the 2012-2013 NHL Lockout, and the 2012 AHL All Star Game. Boardwalk Hall is regarded highly as a midsized concert venue, and their only current sports tenants are the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) basketball championships in Spring. The Times Union Center, then home of the Albany Devils, used to host the same tournament as well.

Boardwalk Hall also has a great central location with lots of foot traffic outside. Unfortunately, most of that foot traffic is in the summer months when hockey isn’t being played. Atlantic City also has a bad reputation for the lack of success of their sports teams. In addition to the Boardwalk Bullies, the city had a baseball team named the Atlantic City Surf that folded in 2009. Just a few years ago in 2019 the Arena Football League put a team in Boardwalk Hall called The Atlantic City Blackjacks. That would be their only season, as the league folded entirely the year after.

Then there’s the Titans former home in Trenton. Once a successful ECHL arena, the Sun National Bank Center has seen better days. Concerts there nowadays are few and far between, although they do happen occasionally. The arena’s only current tenant is the Jersey Flight of the National Arena League.

Sun National Bank Center advertises itself as a hockey rink that’s available for rent. They even have their old Zambonis ready to go. I’ve heard from sources (a friend who works there) that the arena is getting some work and upgrades done this summer. Even if it is Flyer’s territory, Trenton seems like the most likely existing option.

Will It Be An AHL Team Or An ECHL Team?

Let me be clear, there are no current plans that I have heard of or have been speculated that minor league hockey is returning to New Jersey. Considering the demise of both the Trenton Titans and the Boardwalk Bullies, minor league hockey might be skeptical to return to the state. Then again, with the success of minor league baseball in the state, maybe some are taking a second look.

The business of minor league sports is complex and unpredictable. Teams often fold or relocate trying to find some economic grounding to stay in business. Right now minor league economics are more complex than ever as fans return to stands. Remember minor league teams depend on actual people in seats more than major league teams since they lack the big money television contracts.

Once again this is only speculation on my part, but it looks like the ECHL is in worse shape than the AHL. Sure, the AHL had to make adjustments to deal with the last season, including temporarily relocating some franchises. The ECHL had 11 of their 25 teams sit out the 2020-2021 ECHL season. That doesn’t include expansion franchises.

Who knows how these team’s finances will look after they re-enter the league? Will they have the same ownership? How about if they will have the arena? Will they have to move to make up for lost costs? If they want a new place to play, may I recommend an available rink in Trenton?