The state economy had nothing to do with the Aces folding. The Aces had a hard time filling the Sully in the best of times and the last few seasons saw dismal attendance for a variety of reasons. Like the lack of advertising which pretty much ensured that most people had no idea when the team was playing. Then when Rod Udd died, the already struggling team was suddenly without one of its biggest financial backers. Couple that with the ECHL realignment which caused the team to fly farther away to play and you had the recipe for what happened.