Would the NHL have been better off under Bain Capital ownership?

[LEAFS FAN 4 EVER]

http://www.thehockeynews.com/article...ownership.html

[haseoke39]

Great article! He points out a lot of reasons why centralized ownership would help the NHL keep down costs without even having to negotiate with a union.

One big caveat: this would be a first for pro sports. Every fan would be a fan of Bain. Every fan would know their teams resources, strategy, etc. was all coming from the same fountainhead as every other team's. When would Bain fire a GM? Why would they care whether a GM did well or poorly? - they'd be in the exact same position on net. And if fans felt like that was the model they were rooting for, would they care as much?

I think what the author ignores, then, is that Bain capital buying the league likely wouldn't have been a long term fix, for some of the problems I've outlined above, but maybe just a flash in the pan to take control, massively reorganize in a way you can only do with ownership of all 30 franchises, and sell it back at a profit. The same problems would have come up eventually.

[aqib]

Yeah Bain Capital always does a good job when they take over a company.

Signed,

KB Toys

[The Shrike]

Bain wasn't the only one sniffing around during the last lockout, the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund was interested too.

[Lard_Lad]

On the positive side, we wouldn't have a lockout right now. On the negative side, I'm not sure the quality of play would hold up very well after Bain released all the players and brought in cheap Chinese replacements.

[CN_paladin]

Originally Posted by Lard_Lad

On the positive side, we wouldn't have a lockout right now. On the negative side, I'm not sure the quality of play would hold up very well after Bain released all the players and brought in cheap Chinese replacements.

We are talking about the best hockey players in the world not some manufacturing workers. Borderline racism.

[kdb209]

The Bain offer was a pipe dream.

It would have required unanimous agreement among the Owners - and several owners have said there was no way in hell that they were going to sell.

And even if they could have convinced the owners, there is no way that the deal would have been approved by the Feds or the CCB. While a single entity ownership model (a la MLS) is perfectly legal if started that way - it is pretty much impossible to get from 30 separate owners to that model without violating the Sherman Act - and trying to do so during a Lockout with the purpose of breaking a union would also likely be blocked as an Unfair Labor Practice by the NLRB.

That said - the League would have been outsourced to China by now anyway.

[Lard_Lad]

Originally Posted by CN_paladin

We are talking about the best hockey players in the world not some manufacturing workers. Borderline racism.

Please, educate me. How is a joking reference to Bain outsourcing jobs to China "borderline racism"?

[Mathradio]

Originally Posted by Lard_Lad

On the positive side, we wouldn't have a lockout right now. On the negative side, I'm not sure the quality of play would hold up very well after Bain released all the players and brought in cheap Chinese replacements.

Chinese hockey was mostly a two-city affair back in 2005 and today as well. But, in China, hockey is mostly seen as a sport of status nowadays.

[seanlinden]

Originally Posted by kdb209

The Bain offer was a pipe dream.

It would have required unanimous agreement among the Owners - and several owners have said there was no way in hell that they were going to sell.

And even if they could have convinced the owners, there is no way that the deal would have been approved by the Feds or the CCB. While a single entity ownership model (a la MLS) is perfectly legal if started that way - it is pretty much impossible to get from 30 separate owners to that model without violating the Sherman Act - and trying to do so during a Lockout with the purpose of breaking a union would also likely be blocked as an Unfair Labor Practice by the NLRB.

That said - the League would have been outsourced to China by now anyway.

Bang on... Sure, the league would've been in a significantly stronger bargaining position if they didn't need a union to have a draft, salary cap, etc.

However, looking at that possibility fails to a) acknowledge that they were probably $1b short on their offer, and b) that an acquisition of this scale would be heavily scrutinized and potentially even blocked by competition boards.

A nice dream, and maybe even a decent threat....but just too many hurdles. Many owners place an unquantifiable premium on their teams because of the emotion associated with them... there's no way it would make sense for a single owner to buy out all of that premium.