Florida Panthers ALMOST named after Blockbuster Video?

Here’s Brody Brazil. I just want to say what you’re about to hear was a beauty of a phone call to 8334 Brody. And that’s what this voicemail line is all about. If you’ve got something to say or ask or share with this YouTube channel, I want to hear it. I listen to all of your messages and I play back and respond to the best ones. Hey Brody, my name is Joe from South Florida and I just saw your video on the San Jose Tiger Sharks prototypes and inspired me to call to tell you about a concept name for the Florida Panthers back in 1993. Initially considered to be called the Florida Blockbusters. It was an idea of franchise owner and Blockbuster Video CEO Wayne Heisinga after learning the other expansion team awarded uh to the Disney company announced their team name would be the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim named after the hit movie. And not only was the Blockbusters name considered, but there were concept designs for the logo in the jersey. In fact, I own a replica blockbuster jersey patterned after that concept and it is beautiful. It’s awesome. Thanks, Joe. Thank you so much. I pride myself on knowing a lot of different sports backstories and even things that weren’t true but people thought were true. And I try and sift through all of this. Joe, I somehow missed it that the Florida Panthers were once attempted to be called the Florida Blockbusters. I wasn’t even fully aware of this. You spelled out the story, but I’ve got the visuals and even more in just a second. But first, I feel like we literally need to rewind. a second. Don’t forget to rewind your VHS tapes, by the way. Um, what was Blockbuster? Oh my gosh, I’m feeling old here, even at 44 to explain what was a big part of my childhood. Like, if you wanted to watch a movie, there was pay-per-view back in the day, but even then, it was ordering on your remote, sometimes even calling in on the phone to order a movie or a program or something on your cable television. Like, the internet didn’t exist, kids. I get it. like this was the way you watched movies or shows or I see a bunch of EA sports video games now. This was from the later years of Blockbuster. I can tell this was from like the 2000s just based on the photos and the fact that there’s DVDs out there. It used to be VHS tapes and then all of a sudden, ooh, video games. You can rent those, too. And then DVDs and Blu-rays and then eventually Blockbuster is not even a thing anymore. So, I know I’m talking about something that doesn’t even exist. Actually, one of them still does. More on that in just a second. But this is what Blockbuster was and it was huge in the late 80s and early 90s. Every town, every community somehow had a Blockbuster video pop-up. Weren’t there also Hollywood videos or other chains? But Blockbuster was the one and they grew so quickly and then they disappeared so quickly. Probably in the late 2000s, early 2010s. Look, we just don’t need this physical copies of uh of media anymore. And I love the fact that some still exist. I’m not talking against it. I’m just saying it doesn’t exist. Well, the owner of Blockbuster Video was the person who bought and started the Florida Panthers when they were awarded a franchise by the NHL. And so the top left, I’m I’m thinking here, the top left was the actual mockup of the logo. Same colors, right? The blue and yellow and kind of like that cartoony design. He’s got a mallet. That that worker has a mallet in their hands. Obviously, the jersey here, which has been mocked up, is more of a hockey player facing the other way, but still the same kind of effect of something striking. So, this is I don’t know that this was one of the official jersey mock-ups. I just found this on the internet. Somebody made this to try and replicate what the original design was. But, yeah, top left, that was an official mockup and design of what the Florida Blockbusters could possibly be. Now going back to the call which everything was explained so well. I want to just go over this one more time. In 1993, Florida was awarded an NHL team and the Mighty Ducks also debuted in the 9394 season. Their name had been established obviously before that, but it was the Disney company who had the movie Mighty Ducks who then got to name a team after something that was already part of their business. So Wayne Hisinga is out there thinking, “Wait, if I own Blockbuster Video, and the Disney company owns the rights to Mighty Ducks, and they get to name a team after their property, their business, you know, the Mighty Ducks, it’s a movie. It’s a it’s a there was a a series of movies, obviously. So it was still going, but it eventually would come to an end.” I guess they make merch, too. But Wayne’s like, “Hey, this is an ongoing business. Why wouldn’t I name my team after the business? Get that synergy. Get that collaboration going.” Well, he was obviously denied. The NHL probably looked at him and said, “You’re not Disney.” I mean, Blockbuster is a very corporate thing. At least kids love the Mighty Ducks. It’s going to be in Anaheim, right around the corner from Disneyland. I don’t know. They they kind of drew the line, the NHL did, in saying, “Okay, not everybody who gets a new team gets to name it after their other business, right? At least there was some some creativity with Mighty Ducks. I wish they would still go back to being called the Mighty Ducks.” In my mind, every time I say as a broadcaster, Anaheim Ducks, I feel like I’m missing Mighty in there. I just go right back to the movies. Make it that way again. Anyway, the NHL kind of drew the line and stopped them right there. But the concept jerseys were made, the initial logo was designed, all of it denied. Blockbuster Video, we should talk about what’s happened here since, right? Like a tale of two paths. Blockbuster Video filed for bankruptcy in 2010. It was a struggle in the 2000s, right? The internet, uh, people renting, uh, videos and movies on their devices or a PlayStation or an Xbox or, you know, through their cable or satellite subscription. So, Blockbuster fell on hard times. It’s similar to brickandmortar stores and what happened with online retailers and what Amazon has done in recent years. It’s just it was an evolution. Blockbuster was a beautiful time, but it was only for a time. And by the way, if I go back to that image of a Blockbuster, like I can still smell the inside of a Blockbuster video. Can’t you if you’re old enough? I should have said that before when it was on the screen. Like, close your eyes and just smell Blockbuster. Something about tapes and DVDs and the smells of the 80s and 90s. I I don’t know. I’m weird. Bankruptcy in 2010, closed all the corporate stores by 2014. Right now, there’s only one Blockbuster video that still exists. So imagine that if the name had been Blockbusters the entire time and then Blockbuster video went away and the Florida Panthers are a Stanley Cup winner. Their franchise has been doing great and especially in recent years, not always, but especially lately. And so there’s only one Blockbuster that remains. It’s not even corporate owned. I think it’s privately owned. It’s up in Bend, Oregon. I’ve heard about it. I want to visit it. By the way, if you’re watching and you work there or you you’re associated, I want to come by and make a road trip up to Bend someday or a quick flight up to Bend. I I would love to go back and just have that nostalgia of seeing it. But again, the Florida Panthers have ascended into being a a good hockey team and Blockbuster videos just don’t exist. So hopefully this was educational, informational. I appreciate the call. That was an excellent tidbit is something that even I was like, “Wait, is that is that true? How did I not how did I not know about that?” So I learned something on this video, too. So I love the voicemail line. Hey, thumbs up down below if you appreciated this video. Helps me the video of the channel. Throw your throw your comments in, too. I’d love to hear what you have to say about it. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to this channel. I would love to see you back here next time.

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the Florida Panthers were almost named the “Florida Blockbusters”. The team’s original owner, Wayne Huizenga, also owned the Blockbuster video rental company and wanted to name the NHL franchise after his business.
While the Blockbusters name was a serious contender, and jersey concepts were designed, the National Hockey League rejected the proposed name. Ultimately, the franchise was named the Florida Panthers after the endangered species native to the state.

Wayne Huizenga was a business magnate who also owned MLB’s Florida Marlins and a share of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Using a corporate name was a strategy he had considered for his teams.

The Blockbusters team would have worn blue and gold to match the colors of the video rental company.

Although the concept advanced to the point of uniform designs, the NHL put a stop to the plan before the team could debut.

The eventual Panthers name was inspired by the endangered Florida panther, a native animal. The franchise later committed to financially supporting panther preservation.

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6 comments

  1. The Vancouver Grizzlies and one other franchise (I think Charlotte, but can't recall for certain) each applied on the same day to relocate to Memphis. The founder of FedEx, Fred Smith, was a sports guy and offered both applicants a huge financial package (9 figures overall) if either relocated, part of which would have involved naming the relocated team the Memphis Express. The NBA approved Vancouver's move but shot down the name change; there would eventually be a Memphis Express however – for the eight weeks the Alliance of American Football existed, anyway. Also, the Houston Astros were originally named the "Colt .45's" in part due to a business relationship between the team and Colt firearms; one that was to expire once the team entered the Astrodome. Last but not least on the team naming "What might have been" merry-go-round, there's the time the New Jersey Nets hired a company that proposed a rebrand of the franchise to the "New Jersey Swamp Dragons." Everyone was on board with it within the organization except one person: it's alternate Governor. The rebrand went before the NBA Board of Governors for a vote, but for whatever reason the alternate governor represented the team at the meeting instead of the majority owner of the time. The vote has to be unanimous for such changes, and it was except for… you guessed it… the alternate Governor of the Nets, who torpedoed his own team's rebranding plan.

  3. I wouldn't put it past them. Considering how the Anaheim Ducks got named, this is in the same pew. And sadly considering today's money-worshiping business mentality and its lack of decorum all in the name of making a dollar, I predict at least one team will succumb and sell their team to a corporate sponsor.

  4. Hey, if soccer teams put their corporate sponsor logo on their shirts, why couldn't a NHL team do so? What, are we all of a sudden so simon-pure? My suspicion is that Gary Bettman, who had just started as commish back then, would allow the "Mighty Ducks" because Disney was a content-creator and could create more hockey content. Blockbuster, on the other hand, was simply a carrier. What were they going to do, devote more shelf space to NHL-highlights VHS/DVD's?

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