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.
Wouldn't Bettman have shared this with the fans during his NHL hour?
Annd speaking of conflicts, there is one other thing, I've mentioned prior, that nags me about the time being taken to transact this sale.
The NHL has pleaded patience, and told anyone listening that deals of this magnitude take time. There's a lot of due process, I'm sure - but they assure us the process has to be respected - a quote from Daly himself, just about a week ago:
And they've also denied speaking to anyone else, about relocation.
How can they say it takes this long to sell a team to a prospective owner to keep the team where it is; yet, if a sale is forced to outside interests, it seems to happen overnight - and that new owner, with only 3-4 months to spare, has to do much more work to get the team relocated, new staff, marketing, day-to-day operations, etc?
Quite hypocritical of the NHL, if you ask me.
At this point, it seems to me that the most telling information is that the COG seems completely unaware of any negotiations and/or discussions for the sale of the Coyotes. Since it seems that there is nothing to negotiate between the NHL and a prospective owner with a fixed price for the sale, there doesn't seem to be a plausible reason for those negotiations to be a drawn-out affair. All the NHL needs to do is identify someone who is willing to pay the purchase price. The main negotiations would then have to be on a long-term lease with the City of Glendale. Yet, we continue to hear from the mayor that the City of Glendale has not been contacted by any prospective owners (Jamison won't even return her calls), and even Ed Beasley has stated that it is now appropriate to look at Plan B, suggesting that he doesn't have progress to report on the sales front.
So I am quite skeptical of these reports of 2 or 3 parties "in negotiations" for the sale, since the main party to the negotiations has repeatedly stated that they know nothing of these negotiations.
The NHL keeping on saying there are STILL 3 potential owners willing to keep the team in Phoenix, if true, I don't see how they could come to an agreement soon, as any serious discussions will have to be made with only one. And those take time!
Say you got 200M to play with. You want to buy an NHL franchise.
Why would you buy the Coyotes, and must keep'em in PHX for 7 years, when you can buy St.Louis, or better, the Devils from bankrupcy, probably for less money? What about NYI?
Make no sense. Of all the NHL team opportunities to come near, PHX is the worst one.
In these sort of transactions, one, two, even three years is a very short period of time.
So I am quite skeptical of these reports of 2 or 3 parties "in negotiations" for the sale, since the main party to the negotiations has repeatedly stated that they know nothing of these negotiations.
Ditto. Im beyond skeptical actually. Well into my cups of Cynicism. The glass on your Bull%*/+ Meter shattering as the league plumbs yet new depths of the septic tank they had custom built years ago to fill with the excremental meanderings of its owners, Presidents & Commissioners...
... now sing along boys & girls;
We all live in a Yellow Submarine
a Yellow Submarine, a Yellow Submarine
It always seems that potential owners are really excited about keeping the team-until they actually, you know, look at the actual numbers. Or they are thinking/hoping that the team will be sold to them for a song and the arena thrown in with it-and I don't see that happening.
Say you got 200M to play with. You want to buy an NHL franchise.
Why would you buy the Coyotes, and must keep'em in PHX for 7 years, when you can buy St.Louis, or better, the Devils from bankrupcy, probably for less money? What about NYI?
Make no sense. Of all the NHL team opportunities to come near, PHX is the worst one.
In these sort of transactions, one, two, even three years is a very short period of time.
Absolutely. There are much better options out there for owning an NHL team. No way Phoenix gets sold to anyone keeping them in Phoenix.
It always seems that potential owners are really excited about keeping the team-until they actually, you know, look at the actual numbers. Or they are thinking/hoping that the team will be sold to them for a song and the arena thrown in with it-and I don't see that happening.
Well, this is the maddening part of it all. The league insists price isnt a concern, its widely known and understood that the COG simply isnt in any position to provide subsidies and even if attempted they have proven to be both timid & unreliable when it comes to execution. Regardless of ones opinions on the Bonding issues.
I mean, just how long would it take to "look at the numbers" TL?. A few hours?. A few days if youve hired a myopic accountant?. Yet were to believe the NHL guff that the deal is so complicated that the delay is really quite normal?. Tell that to Rogers & Bell. Go sell it in Tampa, Atlanta & Texas..
or as Long John Baldry once decried, "dont try to lay no Boogee Woogee on the King of Rock n' Roll"....
Also, if I am a potential NHL owner for any city, other than the big 4-5, I am telling the NHL that I am only willing to put 85 to 100 million tops into a team. Going by recent (albeit rumoured) transactions, NHL teams in most US markets aren't worth a cent more than that.
It always seems that potential owners are really excited about keeping the team-until they actually, you know, look at the actual numbers. Or they are thinking/hoping that the team will be sold to them for a song and the arena thrown in with it-and I don't see that happening.
You have what is widely known as a depressed asset in what is a debateable market ( I'm not saying it is impossible to make work, but history shows it's at least questionable ).
You have a city that is as desperate as it gets to keep the team. Not exactly a position of power when you want to sell something.
You have a price tag of ~$170M on the asset that most would say is no where near worth that. But IMO the NHL will only sell it for that price, because they have a Plan B that will give them the price they want. If it wasn't for places like QC or where ever telling the NHL they are willing to buy the team, they would lower the price. So the the NHL appears to be inflexible, yet claims price is not a problem?!?.
Potential buyers most likely think the asset is worth anywhere from $80M - $100M. So they either over pay for the asset ( which obviously nobody has agreed to do so far ) or they are left being willing to pay ~$100M, but need to either borrow the rest or come up with some other way to make up the difference the NHL wants. IMO, based on the financially history of the asset, I find it unlikely any financial institution is going to lend anyone $70M to buy this team. So you have to try other questionable methods to find the money, which the GWI disagrees with.
So, if you were buying the team, would you not try to buy it for a song?
(Coyotes President Mike) Nealy said that more than three groups are working to buy the team and keep it in Glendale, although he would not elaborate on their identities.
What the heck is "more than three" supposed to mean anyways? 4? 5? 50? How is it possible that the league can't even come up with a specific number?
The rhetoric the NHL is continuously putting out there would no doubt fit right in during Question Period at the HoC.
So, if you were buying the team, would you not try to buy it for a song?
Only if my name was Yoko Ono and the league was amenable to accepting the publishing rights to one of my earlier solo pieces as legal tender. Say, "Primal Scream Part VII' in e minor.... but ya, pretty much covered the sitiation as she sits with that post.
Only if my name was Yoko Ono and the league was amenable to accepting the publishing rights to one of my earlier solo pieces as legal tender. Say, "Primal Scream Part VII' in e minor.... but ya, pretty much covered the sitiation as she sits with that post.
I believe the NHL is just doing what they did with the Atlanta Thrashers, just denied that any relocation was going to happen and said they have a local ownership group in place. Soon you'll see the playoffs end and the NHL will say they exhausted all their options while selling the Coyotes most likely to Quebecor and move the team to Quebec City.
Say you got 200M to play with. You want to buy an NHL franchise.
Why would you buy the Coyotes, and must keep'em in PHX for 7 years, when you can buy St.Louis, or better, the Devils from bankrupcy, probably for less money? What about NYI?
Make no sense. Of all the NHL team opportunities to come near, PHX is the worst one.
In these sort of transactions, one, two, even three years is a very short period of time.
The fact that my Tag is the greatest wrestler of all time? Or that Yoko Ono and Phoenix provide a combination of horrific proportions.
Both.... though I worry that Tarantino might cotton on and buy the rights to The Wrestler Part Deux meets Barfly, Mickey Rourke reprising his role as Hank Chinaski with an Ono soundtrack. Best we keep such concepts off the public airways & forums such as this.
1- Do nothing. And hope the NHL sells the team to someone who wants to keep it in Glendale.
If the team is sold and kept, you look like a hero having spent $50M over the last 2 years to allow it to be kept. If the team moves, you can point to the fact you didn't spend anymore money and blame the big bad NHL for screwing things up.
2- Spend another $25M. And hope the NHL sells the team to someone who wants to keep it in Glendale.
3- The worst-case-scenario... Glendale shells out $25 million, and there isn't even a season due to a lockout.
Deep down I feel this will happen. Fans will be upset about a long lockout and no body will go...team folds or moves and no even notices....
No way does the NHL fold the team. The BOG have spent approx $174 million on it. They want their money back. No way do they walk away from that money when they can get it from PKP. Especially with a lockout on the horizon, the weaker owners would love to have that $6 million back in their pockets (29 * 6 = 174) to wait things out with. I could see that as being a factor with owners pressuring Betmann to sell to PKP NOW. Besides, I could see bad PR, if not a lawsuit, if the NHL accepts another $25 million from Glendale and then turns around and kills the season with a lockout.
