Anaheim Ducks Tales: The Making of an NHL Franchise

The Anaheim Ducks are celebrating their silver anniversary this season, a phenomenal milestone for any franchise. However, it has been 26 years since the dream of bringing hockey to Orange County became a reality.

Before the Anaheim Ducks were even a thought, a conceded lawyer named Gordon Bombay stepped onto the big screen. After getting into a little trouble with the law, he was sentenced to community service. His service to the community? To coach the District 5 youth hockey team.

Together, both the team and coach Bombay learn valuable life lessons. In the end, the Mighty Ducks actually learn how to play decent hockey. You know the whole story. I don’t feel like I need to explain. This is classic 90’s Disney.

The movie was a box office smash, inspiring a trilogy. Not only did it inspire two more movies, but it also sparked an idea in the mind of Michael Eisner, the CEO of the Walt Disney Company. If a movie about hockey could be so successful for Disney, why not create an actual hockey team?

Personally, I find it quite ironic that a company so dedicated to being family friendly and filled with magic would want anything to do with a hockey team. Nevertheless, Eisner began the process of pursuing an NHL franchise.

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim go from Dream to Reality

There would be many benefits to the Disney Company if they were able to pull off owning the next NHL franchise. It would be good for future marketing ploys. Disney could promote themselves to a different demographic. Plus, the opportunity for cross-promotion was infinite.

A Disney franchise would also already have a built-in fan base. California already had two hockey teams at this point, including the Los Angeles Kings who had “The Great One”, Wayne Gretzky, on their team. For any other company thinking of bringing another hockey team to California, that would be almost impossible to compete with.

Nevertheless, this was Disney! One of the biggest American companies in existence. Everyone had at least one Disney movie in their house, Disney land was a huge attraction, and many people had enjoyed the Mighty Ducks movie. I mean, the movie grossed over $50 million dollars in theaters.

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• Anaheim Ducks Tales: The Past Reminds Us to be Thankful for the Present

Although the movie didn’t have anything to do with professional hockey, a hockey franchise with the same name would definitely draw in more people. Plus, speaking from experience, once you watch your first NHL game, you won’t want to miss another one. I know it isn’t that way for everyone, but I’m sure that is the story for a lot of Anaheim Ducks fans from 1993.

Not only would this be a lucrative business for Disney, but it would be a very clever partnership for the NHL. The thought was, it would be a smart business move for both parties. Both would be able to use each other to their advantage.

Finally, in December of 1992, the Walt Disney Company was awarded the rights to an NHL franchise. They had to pay a hefty fee of $50 million dollars, which included compensation for the Los Angeles Kings, seeing as how the new franchise was encroaching on their territory.

Building Arrowhead Pond

The Walt Disney Company had one more hurdle they needed to jump over to make this dream a reality. Their new franchise needed somewhere to play. As fun as it would have been, they couldn’t exactly play in the middle of Disney Land.

Construction on the Arrowhead Pond was completed in 1993, just in time for the Mighty Ducks inaugural season. Arrowhead Water paid $15 million for naming rights over the next ten years. It would later be renamed the Honda Center after Honda purchased the naming rights.

Since their inaugural season in 1993, the Anaheim Ducks have had the privilege of playing in this beautiful facility. A recent deal with the city of Anaheim will see the Anaheim Ducks playing there for the next 25 years.

Although the Mighty Ducks didn’t always have the best success under the Disney branding, we owe them a little bit of gratitude for being the creative minds behind the franchise we have all come to love.

Do you love the Ducks as much as we do? Let your voice be heard! Come and write for us here at Pucks of a Feather.