The Business of HockeyDiscuss the financial and business aspects of the NHL. Franchise sales, valuations, TV contracts, ratings, expansion, relocation, the CBA and work stoppage discussion goes here.
Part XI: Phx Coyotes - Greetings, Starfighter, You have been selected...
With less than a month until the start of training camp, sources tell ESPN.com that season-ticket sales have once again stalled in the face of uncertainty surrounding the team's future. One source said season-ticket sales have topped out at about 4,000, ahead of last year, but still about half what should have been in place given the team's success last season. Perhaps even more significant is around one-quarter of the 87 suites at Jobing.com Arena have been sold for the coming season.
...
Critics have wondered all along whether this market could support an NHL franchise. Perhaps a better question is whether the team can survive the local politicians and city officials, who seem oblivious to the clock ticking away on the Coyotes' future in Glendale.
Instead of moving quickly to come up with a new lease agreement this summer with the Ice Edge Holdings group -- the only viable contender to buy the team regardless of rumors to the contrary -- the city has balked at conditions demanded by the group of Canadian and American businessmen.
the key points, which must be taken somewhat at face value if DJ is endorsing the article:
- season-ticket sales have topped out at about 4,000
- one-quarter of the 87 suites at Jobing.com Arena have been sold
- The city has thus far balked at guaranteeing up to $7.5 million annually, explaining it doesn't want to endanger the city's credit rating.
- Ice Edge Holdings group -- the only viable contender to buy the team regardless of rumors to the contrary
- An initial asking price of $140 to $145 million has now jumped up to somewhere between $160 million and $175 million (excluding the $25m glendale is requiring to replace the money from the sewer fund)
Last edited by peter sullivan: 08-27-2010 at 06:28 PM.
^ he has thrown in the towel...that is painfully obvious....if they were negotiating with glendale would he really say that?....never.
ice edge are out in my opinion.....coyotes fans had better hope one of the infamous shadow lurking bidders becomes real very very soon....3 weeks until the first pre-season game.
how much money could this team lose this year?.....that $25m might be a drop in the bucket unless things change quickly.
Didn't Glendale say they'd have comment till Monday? (EDIT I guess they didnt' "comment", but the numbers have been released) Interesting timing of the article, and if that's 4000 TOTAL season tickets, not "new(firsttime)", and those numbers are correct, combined with Mr.Jones witticisms, things look bleak.
Unless of course JR is in the weeds somewhere, or the other "mystery buyers" that were alluded to...
EDIT: I had a feeling the next chapter of the Saga was around the corner....
Quote:
how much money could this team lose this year?.....that $25m might be a drop in the bucket unless things change quickly.
As the NHL stolls off to the bank with 25 mil in their pockets....
If Westgates viability depends on the Coyotes, I'm amazed the guys who have their 100's of millions or even billions tied up in the project haven't come up with an owner. Even if they had to giveup some of Westgate, is it not better than losing all?
if the stumbling block is that glendale wont guarantee the $7.5m for Ice Edge, there is no way that they would ever be able to agree to reinsdofr's deal....and i have a hard time believing that he would demand anything less from them now....i once thought that he would be back but it seems less likely now.
with so few tickets and suites sold, it might make the NHL have to dip into the loss fund sooner rather than later....they can start doing it next week....that may trigger a whole other level of debate if the promised legal challenges from GW come into play once the money is actuallly withdrawn.
my guess is that next week will be an important one....
2 months of silence will likely come to an end and we will finally find out what has been happening this off season....with a glendale council meeting and this announcement from IEH both on the same day, some answers will probably finally come to light.
glendale has definitely lost the $25m...nobody is going to agree to paying those losses this year even if the team is sold before christmas...who in their right mind would agree to forking over that money that without having any way to affect the outcome of those losses?
if the stumbling block is that glendale wont guarantee the $7.5m for Ice Edge, there is no way that they would ever be able to agree to reinsdofr's deal....and i have a hard time believing that he would demand anything less from them now....i once thought that he would be back but it seems less likely now.
with so few tickets and suites sold, it might make the NHL have to dip into the loss fund sooner rather than later....they can start doing it next week....that may trigger a whole other level of debate if the promised legal challenges from GW come into play once the money is actuallly withdrawn.
my guess is that next week will be an important one....
2 months of silence will likely come to an end and we will finally find out what has been happening this off season....with a glendale council meeting and this announcement from IEH both on the same day, some answers will probably finally come to light.
glendale has definitely lost the $25m...nobody is going to agree to paying those losses this year even if the team is sold before christmas...who in their right mind would agree to forking over that money that without having any way to affect the outcome of those losses?
Technically, of course, the IEH annoucement is supposedly about the ECHL. I actually wouldn't put it past them to say "we're not commenting at all on the Phoenix situation, this is about the ECHL", just to get media rabid. I don't see CoG all of a sudden saying "yes we'll pay the 7.5 mil", 3 weeks before the season starts and alot of advertisiing, ect, dollars being put elsewhere(not to mention the people buying the tickets).
I've been wrong before, but I think next week could be the death knell, unless one of the aforementioned buyers ponies up the 160 mil and takes the 25 mil loss on top of it which I am SURE CoG would like back....
So Glendale scoffs at 7.5 million/year in parking revenue but had no problem "insuring" a possible deal for 25 big ones. They were so confident that they'd have a deal done before the NHL could take a buck from the bucket on Sept 1st. "It won't happen". Well what did they expect? Their only 2 bidders would drop the yearly "subsidies" from their offers?
It's like they are (fittingly) lost in the desert and some passers-by offered to sell them some water for $50 and they said "No, we'll wait for the next random traveler to appear out of this vast emptiness and hopefully he won't charge us anything to save our lives."
Do you understand what a "retweet" is? It is rather easy to think that someone is writing a tweet themselves, rather than simply re-publishing one by someone else. You freequently do that when someone writes a funny tweet. It is like telling a joke that you heard from someone else.
The above Kovalchuk one was a retweet by Jones of a joke someone else made.
Again, see above regarding re-tweets. That is someone else's comment.
I understand what a "retweet" is, but I am having a difficult time understanding your point. Is it that "iceedgedj" is using other peoples' humorous and/or facetious musings to exhibit his own perspective on the situation? If someone retweets an insensitive or inappropriate joke, doesn't that convey something about them too?
For whatever reason, Daryl Jones thought that it would be a good idea to use his Twitter account to communicate, often obtusely, about the IEH's bid to own the Coyotes. I, and evidently others on this board, think that retweeting others' facetious musings conveys a lack of seriousness on his part, which unfortunately fits with the overall impression that many have had about IEH as a potential ownership group for the Coyotes.
Have you been following iceedgedj's recent tweeting? If so, do you really think it matters that some of his previous posts have been "retweets" in terms of his perspective on the situation?
Technically, of course, the IEH annoucement is supposedly about the ECHL. I actually wouldn't put it past them to say "we're not commenting at all on the Phoenix situation, this is about the ECHL",
you are probably right, but DJ's sudden rash of tweets seem to indicate that he has something to get off his chest.
there will probably be nobody from phoenix in the room but you would think he would get some pressure from the canadian media....an ECHL franchise is barely news.....the only thing that makes it significant to anyone who doesnt live in TBay is that the owners are supposedly in the middle of negotiations to buy an NHL team but saw fit to take a time out and do this instead.
^DJ is using twitter as a defacto mechanism to issue press releases...its not like he is forwarding a private e-mail to a buddy....if he re-tweets its because he wants to be associated with the content of the text.
he isnt tweeting to his wife that he'll be home for dinner....he is suppoosedly the actual person trying to negotiate the purchase of a $170m business...any comment he makes about it, whether first person or endorsing the writing of someone else is relevant to the situation.
...This has been going for so long that Drum and Bass Arena had enough material for a good chunk of their anthology!
Jesus. We're gonna need a lot more than DNB to get through this. Season tickets at 4000 sounds really bad, wasn't the last report 8000? IEH didn't even contend that.
The question is... What is glendales next move? Hold out or beg the NHL to move the team?
They are going to look very very bad giving the NHL money with no one at the table... Goldwater will tear them apart, the media will tear them apart, the public will tear them apart
The reason for the money was so they could conclude negotiations yet at the moment it seems like there's nothing
The question is... What is glendales next move? Hold out or beg the NHL to move the team?
They are going to look very very bad giving the NHL money with no one at the table... Goldwater will tear them apart, the media will tear them apart, the public will tear them apart
The reason for the money was so they could conclude negotiations yet at the moment it seems like there's nothing
I'm taking this is the point where they prod Ice Edge a couple times, get pissed, then try to puppy dog eye Reinsdorf into buying.
No move will be made. Not for this season at least. At this point it looks like Reinsdorf or bust, unless those unnamed investors suddenly appear, or Ice Edge finds a couple million in a trunk that they didn't know they had.
The question is... What is glendales next move? Hold out or beg the NHL to move the team?
They are going to look very very bad giving the NHL money with no one at the table... Goldwater will tear them apart, the media will tear them apart, the public will tear them apart
The reason for the money was so they could conclude negotiations yet at the moment it seems like there's nothing
At this point I wouldn't put it past Jones to confirm they HAVE bought the team at the conference(nevermind how little sense it might make). Nothing would surprise me, really, but his witticisms and seems unprofessional demenor seem to point to the envitable.
I agree with Peter though, I expect if they're going out, they're going out with a bang-possibly a total rip on the NHL, Phoenix, the media, maybe even us here on the business boards!
"Don't you people have a life?!"-William Shatner, SNL I believe.
I agree with Peter though, I expect if they're going out, they're going out with a bang-possibly a total rip on the NHL, Phoenix, the media, maybe even us here on the business boards!:naughty.:
I wouldnt expect IEH to go out burning bridges with the NHL or Phoenix. Their savvier than that. Sorority Boys' dont say #@&+ if their mouths are full of it. Dont expect any fireworks.
