Are Cities Like Dallas To Blame For The Hockey Lockout?

Pro hockey might have to slash its entire season as a lockout that started last September drags on. So why can't hockey kick up the revenue it needs for sustainable profit? Maybe because of cities like Dallas that lack a broad, enthusiastic fan base, says Todd Jewell, a sports economics professor at the University of North Texas in Denton.

Jewell talked with NPR's Tom Goldman for a Morning Edition piece today. And he says the expansion of National Hockey League to Dallas in the '90s is part of a string of disabling choices for the league. 

Negotiators for the league and the players met for eight hours yesterday, as a decision nears on whether the NHL will put its entire season on ice for the second time in eight years. Hear more of Jewell's theories in the full story: