Bettman - Senators need a new home

[Fandlauer]

What is the link to his blog?

 

[tokyoite]

Shocker.

NHL commissioner sides with a NHL owner who is working on a deal for a new arena.

Bettman is employed by 30 owners. That's why.

 

[pepty]

According to a very solid source, the Ottawa Senators have been sold to a group headed by a guy named Jeff Hunt (an owner of the Ottawa Redblacks of the CFL).

Eugene Melnyk has finally given up his pursuit of a new arena. I don't know yet what it means to their future in Kanata and if they will still build a new arena in Lebreton Flats.

This will be announced sooner rather than later.

If this is true there will be dancing in the streets.

 

[Korpse]

Bettman is employed by 30 owners. That's why.

Well yeah, I wasn’t surprised, I was being sarcastic.

 

[gstommylee]

Bettman is employed by 30 owners. That's why.

30? you mean 31 and soon to be in a couple years 32.

 

[Inkling]

I didn't think OSEG was deep pocketed enough for the NHL. Some members are developers though, which would fit exactly with the Lebreton Flats project. Hopefully they might have picked up another partner along the way if the rumour is true. In both cases of the RedBlacks and Fury, they had trouble keeping their teams together after a successful season (RedBlacks won, Fury lost in the final) which some speculated at the inability to put up the money needed.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

I didn't think OSEG was deep pocketed enough for the NHL. Some members are developers though, which would fit exactly with the Lebreton Flats project. Hopefully they might have picked up another partner along the way if the rumour is true. In both cases of the RedBlacks and Fury, they had trouble keeping their teams together after a successful season (RedBlacks won, Fury lost in the final) which some speculated at the inability to put up the money needed.

Well if the rumour is true, I imagine they have wealthy partners (such as the Desmarais').

 

[LadyStanley]

Melnyk ain't selling

 

[SladeWilson23]

^^Doesn't mean anything imo. Vanderbeek was equally as defiant, and look where he is now.

 

[edog37]

It would be foolish to assume the NHL will not move out of either market IF they don't get a deal done

Gary Bettman turns up heat on Ottawa, Calgary to get arenas built - Sportsnet.ca

The NHL will not move anyone out of either market. That is up to ownership with league approval.

 

[Jeffrey93]

I notice Bettman is pretty quick to clap his trap about how Ottawa & Calgary "need" a new home......meanwhile San Jose's arena opened in 1993 while Ottawa's opened in 1996. Seems to me the Canadian Tire Centre is FAR better than the SAP Center. Yet, there is no babbling from Bettman about the Sharks needing a new home.

Why is that?

Because the Owners don't want him to? Because San Jose will be moving to San Francisco when the Chase Center is completed? Because both Flames and Senators owners want Bettman to subtly threaten their city and fanbase?

The Saddledome is slightly older (opened in 1983)....so the Sharks have a 10 year advantage on the Flames. The Flames conducted a study a year or so ago looking into renovating the Saddledome versus building new. That tells me renovation is a reasonable option. I mean, the Key Arena in Seattle that opened in 1962 is being renovated and that is causing all the talk about expansion/relocation.

What I'm getting at.....the situation in Calgary and Ottawa isn't dire at all. Both facilities are more than adequate. The Senators have a location problem....not an arena problem. That isn't anything new. The Flames realized how long it took Edmonton to get an arena deal done....so they started early....it's been delayed, no big deal.

But San Jose? Everyone seems pretty quiet on that front, last article I could find about the Sharks trying to get San Jose to build them a new arena was 2 years ago....since then it has been nothing but speculation they will join the Golden State Warriors in SanFran.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I notice Bettman is pretty quick to clap his trap about how Ottawa & Calgary "need" a new home......meanwhile San Jose's arena opened in 1993 while Ottawa's opened in 1996. Seems to me the Canadian Tire Centre is FAR better than the SAP Center. Yet, there is no babbling from Bettman about the Sharks needing a new home.

Why is that?

Because the Owners don't want him to? Because San Jose will be moving to San Francisco when the Chase Center is completed? Because both Flames and Senators owners want Bettman to subtly threaten their city and fanbase?

The Saddledome is slightly older (opened in 1983)....so the Sharks have a 10 year advantage on the Flames. The Flames conducted a study a year or so ago looking into renovating the Saddledome versus building new. That tells me renovation is a reasonable option. I mean, the Key Arena in Seattle that opened in 1962 is being renovated and that is causing all the talk about expansion/relocation.

What I'm getting at.....the situation in Calgary and Ottawa isn't dire at all. Both facilities are more than adequate. The Senators have a location problem....not an arena problem. That isn't anything new. The Flames realized how long it took Edmonton to get an arena deal done....so they started early....it's been delayed, no big deal.

But San Jose? Everyone seems pretty quiet on that front, last article I could find about the Sharks trying to get San Jose to build them a new arena was 2 years ago....since then it has been nothing but speculation they will join the Golden State Warriors in SanFran.

Source required that states the Sharks are bolting SAP for SF, Jeffrey, you do realize the Sharks have 2 hockey teams playing out of SAP, THE Barracuda, and the rumblings are that the practice facility may be utilized for said Barracuda

 

[BattleBorn]

I notice Bettman is pretty quick to clap his trap about how Ottawa & Calgary "need" a new home......meanwhile San Jose's arena opened in 1993 while Ottawa's opened in 1996. Seems to me the Canadian Tire Centre is FAR better than the SAP Center. Yet, there is no babbling from Bettman about the Sharks needing a new home.

Why is that?

Because the Owners don't want him to? Because San Jose will be moving to San Francisco when the Chase Center is completed? Because both Flames and Senators owners want Bettman to subtly threaten their city and fanbase?

The Saddledome is slightly older (opened in 1983)....so the Sharks have a 10 year advantage on the Flames. The Flames conducted a study a year or so ago looking into renovating the Saddledome versus building new. That tells me renovation is a reasonable option. I mean, the Key Arena in Seattle that opened in 1962 is being renovated and that is causing all the talk about expansion/relocation.

What I'm getting at.....the situation in Calgary and Ottawa isn't dire at all. Both facilities are more than adequate. The Senators have a location problem....not an arena problem. That isn't anything new. The Flames realized how long it took Edmonton to get an arena deal done....so they started early....it's been delayed, no big deal.

But San Jose? Everyone seems pretty quiet on that front, last article I could find about the Sharks trying to get San Jose to build them a new arena was 2 years ago....since then it has been nothing but speculation they will join the Golden State Warriors in SanFran.

SAP Center is one of the first arenas built with the "newish" standards for arena design. They've got boxes, the seats are fairly close to the playing surface, it gets upgraded fairly consistently, and I think they're getting ready to do or recently completed some renovations. It's definitely not the Saddledome with a small lower bowl and seats in the stratosphere. Add that to the fact that teams are trying to move (The Oakland A's) and recently have moved (49ers) to San Jose versus the opposite.

Ottawa's facility seems fine, it's just not in a good location.

 

[Very Stable Genius]

Have pity on us Sens Fans. This is what we have to deal with.

 

[ColinM]

The full interview from that sound clip is here: Melnyk: 'Why would I sell it?'

I don't think he's actively shopping the team or looking at new markets. Rather Melynk is just a really crummy PR person. He'd be better off not giving any more interviews.

 

[Korpse]

The full interview from that sound clip is here: Melnyk: 'Why would I sell it?'

I don't think he's actively shopping the team or looking at new markets. Rather Melynk is just a really crummy PR person. He'd be better off not giving any more interviews.

I don't think he is shopping the team wither but one comment that will leaves me hopeful is "if Melnyk chooses to sell or is forced to sell..." Melnyk has an usually high debt on the team. I'm far from an expert on the matter but he has had issues with refinancing his debt before, perhaps the sale of the franchise is out of his hands.

 

[Spartachat]

According to Melnyk, Ottawa doesn't need a new downtown rink anymore as it will alienate the fan base in Kanata.

 

[Isles72]

Sell the team to someone with a fatter bank account who can massage the politics a bit better .

I've usually stayed close to the arena when I've attended Sens games or concerts so I dont really know what fans from the city are up against travelling 30 km's to kanata and back.

that arena is far from being old enough to require replacing so this talk from bettman is grinding my gears .

 

[ottawah]

According to Melnyk, Ottawa doesn't need a new downtown rink anymore as it will alienate the fan base in Kanata.

I see it as slightly different, more likely they have done market research to determine the issues. I'll just copy and paste from a different forum, but here is my take on why he is saying that :

The fact that government employees cannot accept virtually any gift (and certainly not hockey tickets) from suppliers.

That is why Ottawa has the worst corporate sponsorship in the league (I suspect, I know it is very very low). 1 out of 6 people in the NCR work for the government (which likely represents 90+% of procurement in the Ottawa region), and they are forbidden from accepting tickets to go to a game. And most of the big companies work directly and quite exclusively with the government. That is not the case in other cities where companies routinely buy tickets, especially boxes, to entertain clients. Its the problem with moving downtown. The vast majority of good earners downtown are government. Hence the additional corporate support would be minimal.

This is one of the reasons they built where they did in the first place (biggest reason is that they did want Lebreton but were denied). Kanata is referred to often as silicon valley north. There is substantial private high tech which ash been a good corporate buyer for many years (and has higher paid employees than downtown) who have been a staple of the season ticket holders. Even when Ottawa had a downtown arena, 2/3 of their tickets were sold to west and south end companies and people. Quebec and east end did not the support the sens,, hence why they could not sell even arizona level tickets downtown (crappy arena and team mind you, but in year two in the honeymoon phases thats not acceptable). Moving downtown, which for the next 10 years will be a nightmare to get to from the west end (you will have to take a car, then a bus, then a train), will likely see corporate support heavily dry up.

The bigger issue, by far, has been the meager government pay raises in relation to the increase in ticket prices. The current location supported toronto level crowds for over a decade, and only once the public service salary raises started taking on a big drag, did attendance sag. This is a major key for the downtown arena. If it costs so much that ticket prices have to be boosted 25%, then it could be a disaster in the making. If he gets solid government support and can keep price rises minimal, its a boon I'd think.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I'm pretty sure the NHL approved the Ottawa group's bid knowing the arena would be in Kanata and in fact the development plan around the proposed arena in Kanata was one of the calling cards of that bid. I feel like these arena location things are typically red herrings for when a team's embrace by their community is lukewarm and the market is marginal anyway.

 

[KevFu]

The Field of Schemes guy says "Owners just have to get one win."

We tend to take statements at face value, when they're really throwing things at the wall to see what sticks with the politicians. If making threats and visiting other cities makes the government say "We can't lose them, we need a problem-solving deal cut," then that's what owners will do.

I think something will get done in both Calgary and Ottawa. Most deals get done at the 11th hour.

 

[ottawah]

I'm pretty sure the NHL approved the Ottawa group's bid knowing the arena would be in Kanata and in fact the development plan around the proposed arena in Kanata was one of the calling cards of that bid. I feel like these arena location things are typically red herrings for when a team's embrace by their community is lukewarm and the market is marginal anyway.

There was no arena plan at the time they were awarded a franchise, which iis why a lot of people were scratching their heads when it happened.

 

[Jeffrey93]

SAP Center is one of the first arenas built with the "newish" standards for arena design. They've got boxes, the seats are fairly close to the playing surface, it gets upgraded fairly consistently, and I think they're getting ready to do or recently completed some renovations. It's definitely not the Saddledome with a small lower bowl and seats in the stratosphere. Add that to the fact that teams are trying to move (The Oakland A's) and recently have moved (49ers) to San Jose versus the opposite.

Ottawa's facility seems fine, it's just not in a good location.

That's comical.

If you can argue the usefulness of SAP Center you HAVE to be able to see the usefulness of the Saddledome.

The small lower bowl used to be 'elite'....now the theory is to make it as massive as possible to pump up the ticket price point.

Anyway....I'd put the Saddledome up against the SAP Center in terms of potential any day. In fact....I'd give odds to the Saddledome.

You mentioned the relocation of teams......tell me why the Sharks wouldn't move to San Francisco? I mean....without some promise of a massive upgrade to the SAP Center or a sweet new arena built on the taxpayer's backs.....why wouldn't they go share a venue with the Warriors?

The rink is old and a BRAND NEW ONE is being built within an hour. That's gotta be tempting. Yet, no word from Leader Bettman about it. Not even to say it isn't going to happen.

Silence talks too.

 

[WadeRedden]

I didn't think OSEG was deep pocketed enough for the NHL. Some members are developers though, which would fit exactly with the Lebreton Flats project. Hopefully they might have picked up another partner along the way if the rumour is true. In both cases of the RedBlacks and Fury, they had trouble keeping their teams together after a successful season (RedBlacks won, Fury lost in the final) which some speculated at the inability to put up the money needed.

They're not. Ruddy and those guys are ballers but not Big-4 level ballers. Hunt is obviously just a front guy for OSEG and if he ever did end up owning a team like Ottawa he'd own like one half of one percent--if that.

 

[Grudy0]

That's comical.

If you can argue the usefulness of SAP Center you HAVE to be able to see the usefulness of the Saddledome.

The small lower bowl used to be 'elite'....now the theory is to make it as massive as possible to pump up the ticket price point.

Anyway....I'd put the Saddledome up against the SAP Center in terms of potential any day. In fact....I'd give odds to the Saddledome.

You mentioned the relocation of teams......tell me why the Sharks wouldn't move to San Francisco? I mean....without some promise of a massive upgrade to the SAP Center or a sweet new arena built on the taxpayer's backs.....why wouldn't they go share a venue with the Warriors?

The rink is old and a BRAND NEW ONE is being built within an hour. That's gotta be tempting. Yet, no word from Leader Bettman about it. Not even to say it isn't going to happen.

Silence talks too.

You're comparing apples to H-bombs.

First, it's all about the luxury amenities. The Saddledome (according to Wikipedia) has 72 luxury suites - 31 at the top of the second level when it was built and another 41 at the top of the lower bowl added in 1995. It's not bad for a 30+ year building. SAP Center appears to be similar, but the arena is a bit more compact meaning those luxury boxes near the top of the arena are closer to the action.

Second, because the SAP Center was designed and built after 1990, it was designed for maximum revenue opportunities. It all started with the United Center in Chicago - state of the art arenas with upgraded amenities became the norm.

Third, and most importantly, I believe that San Francisco is within a 50-mile radius from San Jose, meaning it's not a "relocation" if it were to ever happen. San Francisco is already part of the Sharks' home territory, so discussing a "relocation" that isn't a relocation is a moot point. Heck, for the Sharks first few years they were playing their games at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. And for TV Market purposes, the area is known as San Francisco / Oakland / San Jose, I believe the fifth-largest market in the US - and the local TV contract for the Sharks wouldn't change (although with their $9 million per year TV contract, you could bet they'd want it to change).