Sale of Coyotes to NHL closes

Excuses for Arizona Hockey are quickly going to pot. They have a decent team thats
doing well on the ice and dismally in the stands.
Of course someone is willing to lose 30million per year on this dog, the NHL.
Buyers are just breaking down the doors.
Great work Gary your da man. Pinhead.

Most of the reasons why the teams left Winnipeg and Quebec remain ... small arenas lacking the number of suites and amenities the league looks for, small populations, limited corporate base. The only issue that has been remedied is the exchange rate which is hovering near record highs and is probably unsustainable at this level. For either city to realistically get another NHL franchise is going to require substantial arena renovations or a new barn and for the Loonie to remain strong compared to the USD. 15000 seats isn't going to get it done and depending on the exchange rate to remain where it is would be a pipe dream.

Portland, OR: An NHL TEAM WOULD have amazing fan support. and the west coats needs a team geographically between the sharks and CANADA.

Jared

Actually that might not be a bad idea. 'Phoenix is desperate for money and has a top of the standings team at the moment. Toronto has lots of money and is in last place. What if Toronto were to pay say $100 million to Phoenix to do an entire swap of the teams? In theory it could work.

Then again.... MLSE parting with money is like Russia parting with its nuclear weapons.... not going to happen.

Move them back to Winnipeg.

Maybe they can relocate the Maple Leafs to Phoenix...

The league had a choice between buying the team and trying to sell it or forfeit their rights as a franchiser. Given those choices, buying the team makes sense. They were forced to protect the constitution and by-laws by how Moyes and Balsille tried to make an end run.

Low attendance is to be expected with no advertising budget, marketing plan, a media bias making it seem that the team was already gone no matter what, and a team not issuing many comps. The 6000 range is low even with those considerations, but, expecting them to sell out is unrealistic. This is a team that didn't have a TV contract until about halfway through pre-season. Now that there is an owner it will be interesting to see how things pan out in the next couple of weeks on the attendance front.

Without seeing the lease I'm not sure if the league could avoid the lease termination penalties by simply folding the franchise and immediately expanding elsewhere. Even Chapter 7 doesn't exempt all debts and obligations and the last thing the league needs is another court drama.

At this point most of the key decisions rest with Glendale. They have to be willing to deal if they want to keep an anchor tenant in the building. Moyes agreed to a terrible lease which is going to make finding a buyer to stay in place difficult. There have been a few reports of negotiations proceeding well with Ice Edge and the Argonauts' owners are showing some interest.

In the mean time .. the Yotes are doing well on the ice and Balsille failed in his attempt to end run the very documents that give the league its structure.

Freaking Bettman got a team! Hail Bettman and his morons!

kc getting the new team? who is this chump? thank god you dont run the league, oh wait the nhl has listed kc as a potential city, you might as well be commisioner. las vegas next?

Screw everyone!!! We love our Coyotes here. AAAWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I'll give blood n fight visitor fans at every game. Westside.

why should you get paid when you suck, unless thats what they are getting paid for. Bettman you dirty dog you

Dorkie

I don't hate the Coyotes. I'm on the record several times feeling sorry for the fans and the organization. However, I'm also very critical of the fans (5000?) and looking at the reality of the situation that no one should be stupid enough to buy a team in this state.

Are you referring to the current sell out streak? That depends. Richard Peddie (CEO of MLSE) says that the Leafs have never not sold out in his lifetime, which would be about what 60 years? Official NHL numbers seem to say otherwise for 5 games at the Air Canada Centre however MLSE is claiming that it was a problem with the software. Either way the longest all time streak belongs to the Leafs.

NHL is realy stupid. hockey is not working out in arizona there costing more money problems staying in arizona, nobody is even buying tickets give the team to a market that would be able to support a team i dont know why the NHL cant sell the team to Jim Basille he offered a realy fair amount Garry Bettman you are a @#$% and your stupid too

Move them to hamilton.........

Mike T- you must play catch with Basille (and enjoy it)because you sure hate the Coyotes!

Blah, Blah, Blah, give them a chance and lets see how they do.

Who has the current sell out streak? A Canadian team????? NOPE!!!!!!!!!

Brian,

Your are right. The league can just fold the franchise, get released from the leases and all contracts. Then turn around a grant a new expansion team, let's say to Quebec City an make $200m for expansion fees. Then be winners all around.

SJ

i like the flyer but i like to see 2 more teams to make an even 32 i wanna see quebec n"s to come back and another team idk where

Just a guess - but the team will stay in the western half of US. Who already has a relatively new arena & no NBA team?

San Diego (iPayOne Sports Arena)? Close to LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Denver; will San Diego support a hockey team? Had the NBA Clippers once.
Kansas City (Kemper Arena) not new but has suites & has had NCAA regional basketball games
Kansas City (Sprint Center) didn't they try to lure Mario to get the Penguins to move there once?
Seattle (Kingdome) - renovations? - lost their NBA team - may have decent hockey following & relatively close to Vancouver & San Jose.

I'm picking KC Sprint Center. St L, Detroit, Dallas, Chicago are close. Just a guess.

Brian

The difference between this situation and the Oilers situation though is that the Oilers weren't losing $30 million a year with 5000 people attending games. If it was stupid to purchase the Coyotes before, it has gotten even more stupid.

Also, couldn't the NHL just fold the Coyotes franchise and offer a relocation franchise? If the Coyotes fold, its like a business closing and thus doesn't that void the lease or not?

Attorneys take at least 40%, varies by state. Attorneys win - everybody else loses.

@Post1961

Piss off Don!!

The territorial rights issue has yet to be tested. Toronto claims a single vote veto ... the league is on record as saying it takes a majority vote one way or the other and by-law 36 seems to support the league's position. Since nobody has yet to apply to relocate a team into Ontario it's a moot point.

We now enter a phase where the league will attempt to sell the team to a buyer willing to keep the team in its current location ... just as it attempted in every sale in the past 20 years. If no workable plan to keep the team in Glendale comes about, they will then sell to a buyer willing to relocate within the conditions of the NHL Constitution and By-Laws. This isn't the first time this has happened ... probably won't be the last. This situation is actually very reminiscent of the Oilers before the EIG stepped up and bought the team for less money than an earlier bid that would have moved the team to Houston.

The sticking point on relocation (if it gets to that) will be the lease with Glendale and whatever exit costs a new buyer would incur to break it.

Steve

The territorial rights are ILLEGAL though. That's why Balsillie tried to get the NHL to admit it because the only way to get a franchise in Hamilton is by forcing the NHL to do so. So your right, if anyone plays by the rules its impossible to get a franchise in Hamilton or Southern Ontario. However, Waterloo lies outside of both Buffalo and Toronto's territories. Both teams (specifically Toronto) would probably use their influence in the BoG meetings to deny any move there.

I agree with you about Winnipeg though. My research seems to indicate that David Thompson (former media mogul, net worth 18.7 billion) is behind the proposed Atlanta relocation. I wouldn't be so sure about Quebec though. Kansas City could be a destination as well.