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Maybe this is a long shot and I'm sorry if it's already been discussed, but is it possible Jamison has the money but is stalling on his decision because he has wanted to give the team a chance to pick things up?
The attendance right now is dismal, as is the team's on-ice record. It doesn't look like a very desirable purchase at the moment, and Jamison still has the ability to back out at this point.
I'm certainly not pretending to understand the mentality behind a millionaire businessman, but I know if I was considering buying something and I saw that it didn't work the way I was hoping it would, I might hold on to my money a little longer.
Of course, there's also the likelihood that Jamison already knows the team is a turd and that it'll take 700 years before it makes a single dime in profit, but he's buying it anyway to prove a point.
I don't think this is the case for one single season. Coyotes on-ice success has been in positive for last three seasons. Their attendance performance has been roughly the same for as long if not longer. Finally, if we are to believe what Coyotes fans says, the attendance wont change much if the ownership does not change first. So that thing that Jamison is waiting for...well yeah I think he's loosing everyone's time with it. Buy it or go home.
It seems like they can't have a lot of loose ends by the Closing Date (January 31, 2013).
That is a lot of hoops to jump prior to Thursday. Considering the major of those is the sale of the team from the NHL to JIG which requires a majority BoG approval. Unless they pull an "emergency" meeting tomorrow on the deal, I have my big doubts.
I dont understand why this has to be so last minute. Either he has investors or he doesn't. The league wants a favourable subsidy from the CoG. The dotting of the t's should be a formality if there's an agreement in place with the NHL.
I've been away from here for about six months, so I'm totally out of the loop.
Can someone summarize what's going on? It sounds like there's a deadline of some sort, but deadlines have come and gone in the past and not made a difference. Should this one be any different?
It makes no sense for Jamison to be cutting it this close. As noted, his signature on the AMF has no validity til the BOG approves him. Why would anyone wanting to buy a team wait until what is effectively hours before the deadline to close the deal? Unless, by 'close the deal', he means a press conference saying they are so close but need a time extension on the AMF to close the deal thereby passing the hot potato onto the new Glendale city council to take the rap when the clock strikes midnight.
He had so many prime opportunities in 2012 to close a deal and in January, there was the day after the lockout, having the deal done by the first game of the season, the first home game of the season. And how much confidence can the fans have in such an owner who squeaks in before the deadline to buy the team, a team with deep losses only mostly covered with heavy subsidies, where the owner would need to take a loss for at least a season or two before he turns a profit, a profit which only appears when the stars align in just the right way.
It makes no sense for Jamison to be cutting it this close. As noted, his signature on the AMF has no validity til the BOG approves him. Why would anyone wanting to buy a team wait until what is effectively hours before the deadline to close the deal? Unless, by 'close the deal', he means a press conference saying they are so close but need a time extension on the AMF to close the deal thereby passing the hot potato onto the new Glendale city council to take the rap when the clock strikes midnight.
He had so many prime opportunities in 2012 to close a deal and in January, there was the day after the lockout, having the deal done by the first game of the season, the first home game of the season. And how much confidence can the fans have in such an owner who squeaks in before the deadline to buy the team, a team with deep losses only mostly covered with heavy subsidies, where the owner would need to take a loss for at least a season or two before he turns a profit, a profit which only appears when the stars align in just the right way.
You have very effectively summed up the fears of this Coyotes fan.
Even by some chance that gramps Jamison has cobbled together the required funds to purchase the team we all know how this will eventually end up. Gramps Jamison buying the team will just be another stop on the line and some time along the route the whole thing will derail be it 3, 5 or even 10 years.
I've been away from here for about six months, so I'm totally out of the loop.
Can someone summarize what's going on? It sounds like there's a deadline of some sort, but deadlines have come and gone in the past and not made a difference. Should this one be any different?
The old Council has an agreement to pay him on average of 15m/year for the next 20 years if he purchases the team by this Thursday, Jan 31st. 4 of the council have since been replaced with those that seem less enthused with the agreement. The new Mayor has said he will honor the former councils deal up to Thursday but not a second longer. Any new agreement in the future is expected to be significantly less appealing then the current offer for a new owner.
Pierre Lebrun on RDS just said Jamison will not close by Thursday and will instead ask for an extension.....take it for what it's worth. If the council doesn't give the extension it's over....
And how much confidence can the fans have in such an owner who squeaks in before the deadline to buy the team, a team with deep losses only mostly covered with heavy subsidies, where the owner would need to take a loss for at least a season or two before he turns a profit, a profit which only appears when the stars align in just the right way.
This is something that isn't being mentioned much at all yet. Let's say Jamison and co. cobble together the roughly $200 million needed to purchase the team and run it at a loss for the new two to three seasons. If getting the investors on the same page takes this long, how long will it take before these guys start looking like ASG 2: Electric Boogaloo? I mean, Atlanta didn't fail as a market because hockey won't work there. The Gwinnett Gladiators have done quite well for themselves for the past decade. The failure was mainly an ownership group that saw the income potential for the building and saw the hockey team as an anchor, not an anchor tenant.
In Phoenix, it's looking similar again. If people are investing in this team, it's for the ability to eliminate $15 million a year from the budget, knowing it's going to come from the city come hell or high water. It's not even about getting hockey guys in place in Phoenix; it's about getting an owner or owners that understand they'd be losing money hand over fist until 2015 while making a franchise that makes the team's brand, the arena, and the community stronger. If someone truly wanted to own the Coyotes in Glendale, it makes logical sense to want the city to be as strong as the team. With the AMULA on the table, that can't happen. Either its citizens are about to get taxed in ways that few Americans understand, the basic municipal services are going to be reduced to just the bare necessities (or even less), or perhaps both. And yes, it's idealistic of me to think that such a person exists, but therein lies the problem: the only way someone wants to buy the Coyotes and keep them in Arizona is if the city is willing to strip itself of any money and service it can provide. I'm sure Gary Bettman had similar talks with the Atlanta government about ways to keep the team in Atlanta for the time being, and I'm sure their mayor offered no such ransom. This isn't to say he didn't like hockey or the Thrashers; it simply means he took the interests of all Atlantans in mind over that of a few that wanted NHL hockey.
Maybe we're all wrong about Jamison. Maybe he'll sweep in tomorrow or Thursday, right the listing ship for the first time since its WHA days, and make it a model sports franchise in the US Southwest. However, at this moment, the motivation doesn't seem to be there, and I'm much more afraid of what that means for Glendale than what it'll mean for the Coyotes, especially if Jamison simply takes the money over the next five years and run off while someone buys the team and moves it to parts unknown for far less than $170 million.
Random people on twitter say GB said on his radio show today that he was flying to AZ tomorrow. Apparently there was an emergency BOG meeting today. Let's see if any actual source reports that.
Edit: Guy that started this has 5 followers, obviously has a lot of credibility. I'm not even gonna post the link to said tweets.
Pierre Lebrun on RDS just said Jamison will not close by Thursday and will instead ask for an extension.....take it for what it's worth. If the council doesn't give the extension it's over....
why should we believe anything RDS has ever stated.... Folks, this is what it boils down to:
If Jamison closes or signs by Thursday, it is over, because the next stage is the BOG approval of Jamison, and if that occurs, his interest in SVSE goes to the next bidder, since he is no longer an active executive in SJ...
IT'S COMPARABLE to Hansen and the Kings deal in Seattle...on ice, nothing changes as it has since '09.
Pierre Lebrun on RDS just said Jamison will not close by Thursday and will instead ask for an extension.....take it for what it's worth. If the council doesn't give the extension it's over....
That would be interesting: "We're going to have an announcement Thursday that we are asking for an extention (so we can hopefully have a bigger announcement down the road)"
Even though the council is against the current deal, I'm tempted to lay odds that they make a "surprise" acceptance of the extention-with the idea that they're going to work out yet ANOTHER deal for less money.
That would be interesting: "We're going to have an announcement Thursday that we are asking for an extention (so we can hopefully have a bigger announcement down the road)"
Even though the council is against the current deal, I'm tempted to lay odds that they make a "surprise" acceptance of the extention-with the idea that they're going to work out yet ANOTHER deal for less money.
If happens, you heard it here first
Just said it on twitter, Greg jamison does not have the cash!!!! Will ask for extension from city council... Nice!!!
Pierre Lebrun on RDS just said Jamison will not close by Thursday and will instead ask for an extension.....take it for what it's worth. If the council doesn't give the extension it's over....
Lebrun has been credible in the past so we will see if Dreger or any of the league's mouthpieces also chime in.
Pierre Lebrun on RDS just said Jamison will not close by Thursday and will instead ask for an extension.....take it for what it's worth. If the council doesn't give the extension it's over....
Is Lebrun speculating or does he claim to have inside inf?... either way, how embarrassing would that be for Greg Jamison? Id guess plenty, and if if in doing so he retains that veil of secrecy (at least be open & honest in Executive Session, lay your cards on the table, tell them who the investors are & why the request) Id really wonder if the man has no shame at all? Weiers has already told him he wont grant an extension, and there certainly arent enough votes on Council to grant such should be it be put to a vote though thats apparently not even required... So it begs the question; why would Greg Jamison ask for an extension when he's already been told "wont happen" if indeed he cant pull the purchase off, setting himself up for public embarrassment in the process? If he cant get it done by Friday, strikes me he'd simply announce he's done, its over, couldnt accomplish the task, leave with dignity & his mysterious investors in hand. Let the NHL deal with the fallout, Daly or Bettman claiming theres still hope, that "others" are still looking at the "opportunity" etc.
Is Lebrun speculating or does he claim to have inside inf?... either way, how embarrassing would that be for Greg Jamison? Id guess plenty, and if if in doing so he retains that veil of secrecy (at least be open & honest in Executive Session, lay your cards on the table, tell them who the investors are & why the request) Id really have to would wonder if the man has no shame at all? Weiers has already told him he wont grant an extension, and there certainly arent enough votes on Council to grant such should be it be put to a vote though thats apparently not even required... So it begs the question; why would Greg Jamison ask for an extension when he's already been told "wont happen" if indeed he cant pull the purchase off, setting himself up for public embarrassment in the process? If he cant get it done by Friday, strikes me he'd simply announce he's done, its over, couldnt accomplish the task, leave with dignity & his mysterious investors in hand. Let the NHL deal with the fallout, Daly or Bettman claiming theres still hope, that "others" are still looking at the "opportunity" etc.
We all know the truthfulness of the Canadian media when it comes to the Phoenix Coyotes......
Other than the (US) Original Six teams, I'm sure most Canadians want all the hockey teams for themselves in places like Saskatoon, St. Johns, Halifax, Thunder Bay and Yellowknife.
At this point, I've read everything from "It'll be done tomorrow and they're staying" to "GJ needs an extension and it's all about to fall apart."
We'll find out by the end of the week for sure, I suppose. We'll see.
