NHL Coyotes file for bankruptcy and will move to Canada (Phoenix: sales, renter)

[kuzer]

Coyotes staying in Glendale! I've contacted the team about season's tickets. Hopefully Riensedorf buys the team.

[Finger Laker]

now the real fun starts - haven't seen too much of the ruling, but that article makes it sound like he took a big step without saying much

let's see what kind of offer they can put together to keep the team in the desert and what kind of product they will put forward

i'm glad that this blatant end-around didn't go through - I could care less how much moyes would set to recoup

he did a terrible job with the team, pretty much used the team as a vehicle to help prop up his other failing ventures and got into bed with elman who really only wanted westgate developed and was looking to unload his hockey interests as soon as he could (how this guy skates through criticism on this is beyond me)

lower the overhead costs, if gretzky stays he needs to put some skin in the game and pick up his golf clubs and run some camps

they need to market to the kid market and put a plan together

great news today, but a lot that still needs to be figured out

[azriverfan.]

This is good news and worthy of celebrating. I'm very happy. At least now there is a chance the team could remain in Phoenix for the long haul. In addition, there is supposedly 4 quality and realistic prospective owners who would be willing to keep the team in Phoenix aside from Reinsdorf. Those names will be revealed shortly.

In short, I don't think Jim Balsilie is willing to pay over 400 million to move an NHL team to Hamilton. The Suns cost Robert Sarver over 400 million and they are not only an NBA franchise but a quality NBA franchise. The Coyotes are a struggling NHL franchise and Hamilton isn't a big market and they already compete with Buffalo and Toronto for fan support so it's hard to see an owner recoop the cost of spending over 400 million for a hockey team in a small market. That isn't to suggest the Coyotes wouldn't sell out games in Hamilton but in terms of the overall market, it's hard to see them recover their costs.

I think the genuine fear of losing the team will force people to attend games. Sure there was always talk about the team moving if attendance and overall support didn't improve however many took that fear for granted. I think you will see attendance rise this year.

[azriverfan.]

Ive read a lot of articles on this so I'm summarizing what I've read below. I've also included a link to the official article.

We don't know what the future of the Coyotes entails. Yes, we had a victory in regards to the court proceedings with regards to Jim Balsillie however the Coyotes still have to find a new owner and Balsillie isn't out of the picture. Judge Redfield Baum didn't sanction the sale of the Coyotes to Jim Balsillie, CEO and founder of Blackberry. The reason for his ruling(in a nutshell) was that the sale wasn't approved by the NHL and a sale and move of a team couldn't occur outside the jurisdiction of the the league to which it is in. I understand where the judge was coming from. Can you see the Seattle Supersonics just moving to Oklahoma City without the approval of the NBA and it's comissioner? No, it would have never happened. However, Al Davis did do something similar with the Raiders in how he moved the team from LA back to Oakland so I think that's where Moyes and Balsillie were hoping the judge would approach this case in a similar way.

Nonetheless, if the NHL can't find another owner and if the team's attendance doesn't improve next season, it would not suprise me if the NHL approved of a sale to Balsillie and a move to Hamilton. I know that Balsillie doesn't feel like he is out of the picture and will try to work on another angle to acquire the team albeit he will work with the NHL this time. If a sale is eventually approved to Balsillie, he will likely be charged an additional relocation fee which will likely approach a 100 million plus other fees to pacify the current lease owners (City of Glendale) so he will be paying more than 212.5 million he attempted to pay current owner Jerry Moyes.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=9320358

[krock1dk]

This decision should have been made by all NHL franchise owners rather than a judge who knows nothing about pro sports, hockey or how to run a business. SAD.The only people that will be hurt (financially) with this crazy judicial decision is the taxpayers of Glendale. The team has been in the Valley for over a dozen years and has lost money EVERY season, the stadium is never full, there arent very many hockey fans in this part of the country, and the Coyotes have a horrible record. It is very evident to everyone (accept this silly judge) that the Phoenix area is not profitable market for a pro hockey franchise. That is a fact. Everyone knows it--outside and inside AZ. So why should anyone want the Coyotes to stay? Is it prestige?? Selfishness? I think this judicial decision wont matter in the end and changes nothing. The team is still bankrupt and will be up for a bid by another buyer who will probably move the losing money pit franchise to another market inevitablly within 2 years at most. Glendale was a nice place to live before the Coyotes arrived and will remain so when they leave. This silly decision just slows down their inevitablle departure. I think the Yotes will end up going to Seattle or a Midwest Market. Kansas City, Indianapolis or Cleveland may be viable hockey markets. Evidently it isnt Phoenix. Lots of pro sports franchises in all leagues have relocated to other profitable markets--even OK City has a team--so why does the Valley think its so special and immune?? It 'aint. THE YOTES WILL EVENTUALLY MOVE.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by krock1dk

This decision should have been made by all NHL franchise owners rather than a judge who knows nothing about pro sports, hockey or how to run a business. SAD.The only people that will be hurt (financially) with this crazy judicial decision is the taxpayers of Glendale. The team has been in the Valley for over a dozen years and has lost money EVERY season, the stadium is never full, there arent very many hockey fans in this part of the country, and the Coyotes have a horrible record. It is very evident to everyone (accept this silly judge) that the Phoenix area is not profitable market for a pro hockey franchise. That is a fact. Everyone knows it--outside and inside AZ. So why should anyone want the Coyotes to stay? Is it prestige?? Selfishness? I think this judicial decision wont matter in the end and changes nothing. The team is still bankrupt and will be up for a bid by another buyer who will probably move the losing money pit franchise to another market inevitablly within 2 years at most. Glendale was a nice place to live before the Coyotes arrived and will remain so when they leave. This silly decision just slows down their inevitablle departure. I think the Yotes will end up going to Seattle or a Midwest Market. Kansas City, Indianapolis or Cleveland may be viable hockey markets. Evidently it isnt Phoenix. Lots of pro sports franchises in all leagues have relocated to other profitable markets--even OK City has a team--so why does the Valley think its so special and immune?? It 'aint. THE YOTES WILL EVENTUALLY MOVE.

The decision was made by all the NHL franchise owners. Their board of governors which comprises of NHL owners voted to keep the franchise in Phoenix. If the NHL approved of the move, it would have occurred. The judge ruled against the move in large part because this sale occurred without approval by the NHL and the fact that Balsillie tried to bypass NHL jurisdiction and move the team thinking antitrust laws would take precedence over NHL approval.

In terms of hockey not succeeding here, I don't see how our market is any different than Dallas, TX. They are not hockey city by any means. The reason their franchise has thrived is because it has won. The Stars won two Stanley Cups and has been managed well. The Coyotes has been mismanaged and it hasn't won. And a big part of the drop in attendance has been due in large part because the organization has never really been a contender. Even when they made the playoffs, they were not thought of as a dominant team that could actually contend unlike the Suns, Diamonbacks and even the Cardinals in the last 10 years. All three of these other teams have put up a team that actually had the ability to contend. No one wants to watch a perennial loser or a team that has the ability to just barely scrape into the playoffs. The team needs a new owner and one who knows how to run a team and is willing to spend money to bring talent to the team.

[Finger Laker]

exactly - the NHL has mismanaged this market since they stepped in the door

AWA was not suited for an NHL arena - even when the team was making the playoffs they could only sell just over 15k seats and many of those were heavily discounted and had an obstructed view

there has been zero attempt at community outreach - when the new building opened and they were going to bring the allstar game the lockout happened

ownership has pretty much used the team as a vehicle to advance their other projects and none really tried to run a profitable winning team

everyone was in a rush to enter the market, build a new building, build a development, get big name retaurants and bars, fill overpriced offices, etc that no one took a minute to focus on the team

giving all that $$$ to gretzky and greenlighting him was a horrible idea

the NHL now has a chance to save face, put some attention to details and work to make it work here

[ibarrio]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

exactly - the NHL has mismanaged this market since they stepped in the door

AWA was not suited for an NHL arena - even when the team was making the playoffs they could only sell just over 15k seats and many of those were heavily discounted and had an obstructed view

there has been zero attempt at community outreach - when the new building opened and they were going to bring the allstar game the lockout happened

ownership has pretty much used the team as a vehicle to advance their other projects and none really tried to run a profitable winning team

everyone was in a rush to enter the market, build a new building, build a development, get big name retaurants and bars, fill overpriced offices, etc that no one took a minute to focus on the team

giving all that $$$ to gretzky and greenlighting him was a horrible idea

the NHL now has a chance to save face, put some attention to details and work to make it work here

The NHL is not going to pour money into the team. The NHL front office will not be in the business of handing over a blank check and saying here, go improve the team. Expect a bare bones approach from the NHL.

The NHL is just delaying the inevitable (mainly because they do not want Jim Balsillie to own a team for some reason). Unless a local guy (Reinsdorf) buys the team they will be moved eventually.

[Finger Laker]

the NHL doesn't need to pour money into the team

they need to facilitate a competant ownership and help strike a deal that works between the community and the team

they should look at the stewardship that MLB provided to the Florida Marlins in their pursuit for a stadium

I'm not asking for them to pour money into the team - i'm asking for them to show a committment to the marketplace and help facilitate delivering a product

there is a huge difference

the league doesn't want a team in hamilton because there is limited growth and revenue expansion opportunity there

however, in a rush to expand they littered the league with poor ownership, poor facilities/contracts and a bunch of markets that need some extra love with zero guidance

they have an opportunity to attone for the errors that they made - the error wasn't trying this marketplace, the error was rushing into a crap facility, getting into bed with a snake in order to get a new facility built, not monitoring that situation and letting the snake pretty much compromise the hockey teams future so he could build up a side development and then having an unassuming dope let the snake weasel out the door in his own greedy effort to have the team prop up his other business ventures

the whole thing has been a sham ..... now it's time to give this thing a legitimate try and it will take cooperation between the city, the league and future owners

[azriverfan.]

The problem right now has a lot to do with Glendale. All of the possible owners including Reinsdorf want concessions from Glendale in any potential deal. They want Glendale to ensure 15-20 million per year in case the team fails to meet demand. While this might seem extremely unfair, Glendale needs a reality check. Would they rather have no team that occupies that stadium or one that demands concessions. With the amount of money the city has invested into that stadium, it would be foolish if Glendale doesn't make some concessions to attract a new owner. Right now, Glendale is making no such concessions and if a new owner isn't found, the city will be a big reason why.