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.
If anyone beyond Frank Zappa can read the drum tabs here, please do pick up the sticks & get on with it. The latest as mentioned in LadyStanleys last post on the preceding thread has Greg Jamison beyond enigmatic. Frankly, Im beginning to wonder if Gary Bettman didnt commission Geppetto himself to construct the characters (sans the growing nose bit) in this long running saga strictly for his own amusement. Fractured Fairy Tales. I mean, c'mon here. Giddyup already.
"We're continuing discussions with a couple of potentially interested purchasers," Daly told the media
I find it interesting that instead of having "purchasers" we now have "potentially interested purchasers". Speak english man. This is like being kinda pregnant. You are either buying the team or you are not. You are either negotiating or you are not. To get to this point and have a couple of groups that are just potentially interested doesn't bode well.
"We moved the Thrashers (to Winnipeg) pretty late last year. We're not looking at any deadlines right this minute," Bettman said.
This is even a more interesting comment. Considering that Bettman said the the Atlanta --> Winnipeg move was a one off never to happen again, why would he even mention it? Maybe a move is being setup behind the green door.
Here is the thing. No one but perhaps the NHL knows what is happening. If you think you do, your full of b.s. The Coyotes could be staying in Arizona (at least for a period of years), or they could be out of here and likely in QC by next fall. Anyone who suggests they "know" what will happen is only fooling themselves.
It's fun to speculate, but one could just as easily read Jamison's recent comments as an indication as deal is likely to be done, or an indication that there is no deal (and may never be one). We read what we hope for.
Truth is, I am not expecting some resolution of this issue until perhaps late in the season....not two weeks.
Here is the thing. No one but perhaps the NHL knows what is happening. If you think you do, your full of b.s. The Coyotes could be staying in Arizona (at least for a period of years), or they could be out of here and likely in QC by next fall. Anyone who suggests they "know" what will happen is only fooling themselves.
It's fun to speculate, but one could just as easily read Jamison's recent comments as an indication as deal is likely to be done, or an indication that there is no deal (and may never be one). We read what we hope for.
Truth is, I am not expecting some resolution of this issue until perhaps late in the season....not two weeks.
"We moved the Thrashers (to Winnipeg) pretty late last year. We're not looking at any deadlines right this minute," Bettman said.
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winnipeg had an infrastructure in place with TNSE.....they were also preparing more than a year in advance.....contracts had been negotiated, ticket strategies were done, marketing, management etc was all in place.
whoever is going to buy the coyotes will be starting from scratch.
it is possible that whoever is going to buy the team and relocate them is already working on these things, as TNSE was, but I would think that they would need a little more lead time than they got in winnipeg....they barely made it as it was.
when TNSE was working on things behind the scenes, there were lots of people who knew about it and leaks were pretty common (mostly dismissed at the time)....that doesnt seem to be happening at this point in another market like quebec.
I'm still hanging on to the idea that there is nowhere for them to go right now.
Beasley is retiring, and Scuggs may not run for re-election. Westgate has been foreclosed upon with no takers at a public auction at bargain basement prices.
In other words, the use of a bond is DOA, so where else is COG going to get the kind of money a new owner would want in concessions? The NHL really has to decide if they're willing to fund this thing next year without COG, or lower a price so some owner can actually find enough investors to buy the team. Probably at half the NHL's asking price.
I'm still hanging on to the idea that there is nowhere for them to go right now.
Beasley is retiring, and Scuggs may not run for re-election. Westgate has been foreclosed upon with no takers at a public auction at bargain basement prices.
In other words, the use of a bond is DOA, so where else is COG going to get the kind of money a new owner would want in concessions? The NHL really has to decide if they're willing to fund this thing next year without COG, or lower a price so some owner can actually find enough investors to buy the team. Probably at half the NHL's asking price.
winnipeg had an infrastructure in place...that doesnt seem to be happening at this point in another market like quebec.
Very true. Maybe theres a massive cover-up going on somewhere thats beyond Roswell & the staged Lunar Landing in 69?.
Maybe the NHL genuinely, honestly & optimistically believes they can get a deal done.
Exactly. They can't sell the team to someone in Phoenix without taking a loss.
So their options are to relocate the team, or contract it and recoup the lost money from expansion.
Like Maroons pointed out (he'll always be GHOST to me), the net amount isn't going to change. There is only X number of spots available for expansion, and they already are in the hole for $170-200 million on this one. You can arrange the dollars however you like, but $200 MM is this color.
(That means you place a negative sign in front of it when you add things up. Subtraction is the other mathematical term.)
I just don't see contraction being a realistic option.
IMO, the NHL is starting the process of a move to Quebec City. If you read between the lines of what Bettman said at the BOG meetings, a lot of it is the same stuff he said before the move to Winnipeg was announced ("We never like to move franchises...", "We don't want to raise expectations...", etc). He even said at one point that the alignment allows "flexibility" in case a team has to be relocated. I've also noticed Peladeau has gone dead silent Chipman-style for a while now. I think the NHL told him to keep quiet if he wants to get in the NHL's good graces.
The X factor for me is Markham and what their end goal is. Do they want to try and convince the NHL to move the team to Markham instead of Quebec City? Or do they hope to land an expansion team at some point in the future (the new alignment would suggest the NHL wants 2 more teams at some point).
Phoenix XLII: The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything
And, damn it, I'm reserving that thread title even if I have to take up Fugu's persistent arm twisting generous offer to become a Mod to do it.
The story thus far:
Billions of years ago, a race of hyper-intelligent, pan-dimensional beings commissioned the construction of the planet Earth to answer the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything - just how in the hell is that Phoenix thing going to end?
Followed by the Interregnum between Kings Phoenix the XXXVII-th and Phoenix the XXXVIII-th:
[PYTHON]
The most interesting thing about King Charles, the first
Is that he was 5 foot 6 inches tall at the start of his reign
But only 4 foot 8 inches tall at the end of it because of
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England Puritan
Born in 1599 and died in 1658 September
[/PYTHON]
With this interesting, cryptic response to realignment:
Quote:
Then I asked him about the fact that mathematically, San Jose has less chance of making the playoffs than an East Coast franchise because it is in an eight-team conference.
Also, I thought this thread might be my feelings toward the NHL these days.
You like my title huh?. Yes, it was partly in honor to you & your wonderful avy Bongo, along with being the title to a completely twisted Frank Zappa album....
Oh sure, the Coyotes like the Thrashers were all cute & cuddly like a newborn Chimp when they arrived, but look at what they grew up to be under wayward and completely irresponsible parentage?. Wrecked the furniture, soiled every inch of carpeting... absolutely no table manners. Ninjas' who attack when your neither expecting it nor deserving of their enmity. Just like their step parents & in-laws ASG, Gluckstern, Burke, Ellman, Jerry Moyes & the NHL. Homicidal Megalomaniac's.
I'm really getting tired of people complaining about Atlanta. That was your second chance for a hockey team, and you failed, again! Why are you bashing Phoenix so much? We were successful when they played downtown.
I'm really getting tired of people complaining about Atlanta. That was your second chance for a hockey team, and you failed, again! Why are you bashing Phoenix so much? We were successful when they played downtown.
If the situation with Glendale doesn't work out hopefully there will be a buyer for the team that relocates them downtown so they can becoem successful again.
I'm really getting tired of people complaining about Atlanta. That was your second chance for a hockey team, and you failed, again! Why are you bashing Phoenix so much? We were successful when they played downtown.
Honestly, I would be shocked if the Yotes weren't in Quebec City next year. The conference realignment was the final drop in the bucket for me. They did the 16 west, 14 east thing for a reason, I believe.
