Is Eugene Melnyk a good owner?

[Fandlauer]

I'm sure he'll fill us in about the few unsold seats to the outdoor game on the fan 590 shortly.

 

[coladin]

What exactly is the expectations of an average owner? I'd like to know what you are judging him against to come to that position.

Is he average financially in terms of his willingness to invest towards winning?
Is he average in terms of hiring/creating a positive front office?
Is he average in terms of creating a positive perception of the brand?

Are there any aspects at which he excels relative to his peers? Any you feel he falls behind at?

It seems many feel he puts forth a dishonest image for the franchise, he makes comments that undermine the position of the franchise, and he is too tight with the purse strings causing the team to trade off performance for profits.

He pays the bills. Bryden, couldn't or didn't. Bryden spent a lot of other people's money, like a pro. He also lost a lot of people's money. Did anyone here lose a cent on the Sens? He pays for it, but has to make the business viable. If that means a skeletal staff, well...that is the nature of business. These guys typically bankroll their passions through other viable businesses. His fortune took a major hit and he has to do what he can to keep the team viable.

He is average in terms of investment. JD1 posted all of that for you all, but it will be ignored because it doesn't suit your torches and pitchforks routine.

Don't know about front office. I've had my ticket issues always looked after. Whether it is positive or not, who the bleep cares, I just buy tickets to watch the games. Not to do Secret Santa and chat around the probably now empty water cool (because he is broke right).

Positive perception? Gee, that's a toughie. Everyone was kinda positive last spring and it translated into tarping seats so...sad sack fanbase. Karlsson is a nice player, Stone too. Players are visible in the community. We have an outdoor game. There is a rink on Parliament Hill with Senator Greats on it.

Excels? Nope. He falls behind in allowing his personal views to be heard. Even though he does it once or twice a year, people here hibernate and wait for it. Can't control those types of people, but they are out there. I think his handling of firings, while I like Cyril and is a good man, I felt he had to go because ticket sales were plummeting, whether it is his fault or not. I was at the Phoenix game last year. How much longer did he last? Anselmi, no doubt a costly hire and we will see if it pans out, but many felt he had more experience to take the team to the next level...and downtown.

 

[JD1]

I think he is more disliked because he makes a lot of money off the stadium and all the concerts he does and does not funnel any of that into the team and then cries poor.

I read posts like this and shake my head. I think I've posted a half dozen times in the last week that the Forbes folks detail their valuation methodology in their articles and in the footnotes and I've suggested that people read it to better understand.

the revenue realized from non Sens events is noted as being included in the financial analysis of the team.

 

[JD1]

He was at the Rangers game. He's been in town since Wednesday, at the very least... unless he left immediately after the mid-week game?

Melnyk was on parliament hill at 2 according to the boys on 1200

 

[thinkwild]

The history of NHL owners is littered with a rogues gallery of rich deplorables, scam artists, and criminals. Its amazing how many billionaires fit that description.

I’m not sure there is that much room for manipulating hockey related revenue. Of course there are things such as the sale of a franchise for capital profit which is considered revenue related to hockey, not hockey related revenue.

Melnyk suggests that he is losing money every year causing the team to go over a hundred million in debt. And yet the franchise value increased by over $300 mil in that time. Must be those huge losses that are driving the huge increases in his equity. Amazing that so many billionaires are willing to spend half a billion dollars to buy such a money losing franchise. But that’s why they want billionaires to own NHL teams, and not millionaires like Bryden. Its so they can deal with losing money for many years. After all, they are capitalists, not operational profitists

 

[Bileur]

Any of those Average, Good or One of the Best votes want to reconsider?

 

[BonkTastic]

Off the top of my head?

Karmanos is probably my #1. Jeremy Jacobs is up there, too. Kroenke in Colorado is awful.

Francesco Aquilini is on the "bad" side too, but for different reasons than Melnyk.

I'm willing to revise my list, now.

Karmanos is probably still #1 for actually moving the team, but Melnyk is the easy #2, and he's bridging the gap. He's past everyone else at this point.

Today's comments firmly upgrades Melnyk from the list of "worst current owners" to the list of "worst owners in the modern era". Congrats, Eugene. It takes a legitimate miser to make that list. You now find yourself in the company of the worst of the worst.

 

[harrisb]

Plain and simple, he’s an idiot...
Family of 4 goes to 10 or so games a year and almost all playoff games, those will be my last, screw him. All hail sportsnet!!!!!

I’d honestly rather the team relocate then support him, that’s bad. If he thinks his comments helped I’m sure there are others in the same mindset.

I’m fortunate enough to work in the private sector with decent disposable income, more trips, toys and family time it is. He just lost a financial supporter but I’ll still cheer for the team. I guess he doesn’t need families like mine. That is exactly the message he just sent

 

[CanadianHockey]

I read posts like this and shake my head. I think I've posted a half dozen times in the last week that the Forbes folks detail their valuation methodology in their articles and in the footnotes and I've suggested that people read it to better understand.

the revenue realized from non Sens events is noted as being included in the financial analysis of the team.

His last point remains valid. Melnyk has cried poor before and tried to say the Sens are not a money making venture for him.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

He really is doing his best to retain players that are looking for contract. Really showing commitment to winning.

He's jut an "average" owner with a lot passion!

 

[thinkwild]

To be fair, he was a good owner - when he first bought in. Although a little bit of resentment lingered, wondering: who is this outsider taking the team from our owner Bryden. A guy who was so close to getting a gov’t created investment vehicle where he could sell off his losses for tax breaks and then keep the entire team and arena to himself. Quite the financial engineer!

But quickly Melnyk brought a new attitude and swagger to the fanbase. He created a marketing buzz showing himself willing to spend to the cap. Excitement over the teams prospects for winning peaked. Fans started buying so many tickets, he had to expand the CTC seating (and resell its naming rights.)

Sure he occasionally got drunk, shot off his mouth foolishly, had to have Bettman correct him a couple of times, where Bettman had to suggest that Melnyk was just speaking as a passionate fan, not for the owners BoG. But at least Melnyk was ours. He was reaching his base.

But now, as a member of the deplorable plutocrat class who is haranguing fans as fake fans with his temperamentally unfit 14 yr old plutocrat personality tantrums, no longer willing to invest unconditionally, well the poll results speak for themselves.

But the Ottawa market is definitely in a down part of the fan spending cycle. Part of it must be just from the global pattern of pro sports. Demographics alone are changing things. Smaller crowd sizes is not a uniquely Ottawa, presidential, or even hockey phenomenon.

But part of that is also probably because, for the team – the thrill is gone. Melnyks lost that loving feeling. This is a luxury priced product, pushed to the limits of decency in pricing, in a small market. So price sensitivity should be totally expected. Fans will treat it as a luxury product at luxury prices. And in a small market that can stand out more.

The fanbase has been there. Has demographics, marketing, the place of pro sports in the entertainment environment changed that now? Can a new owner or new arena change that? Can we get back to the attendance and buzz of the pizza line days? Build the team and they will come?

I’m sure hoping its just a business cycle cause I don’t think there’s any way we can impeach him for a new owner who presumably will be willing to invest to the cap.

While on one hand, the fan anger at Melnyks tweeting is understandable, there is also a certain reality that we are a small market competing in a cap era and are probably spending what you’d expect given our situation. The budget is real but its effects are surely not something that we cannot overcome. It’s part of our identity, our cross to bear, and our level of buying tickets is a shared part of the problem too.

But we are the customers of a luxury item and we need to be wooed. Lsss raving -more wooing Eugene.

 

[DrEasy]

Something definitely broke after the Alfie fiasco. Not sure the exact timeline but it must have been close to Melnyk's divorce and Biovail issues.

Spezza asked to be traded one year later.

Gradually, our scouting turned inward: we went more and more old school, being more and more shy about drafting and/or acquiring European players, no doubt because we couldn't scout them properly. And especially forget about Russian players!

In the meantime, hockey analytics is becoming a thing: every hockey ops is setting one up. But we're stagnating.

Hockey coaches kept getting fired, replaced by n00bs.
Internal promotions for management positions meant that everybody was way past Peter's Principle.

Losing some fan favorites (Alfie but also Spezza), plus the same old same old in-game experience, plus ridiculous parking fees, plus the Phoenix issues, led to fans deserting the team, even in the midst of a miraculous playoff run.

So I think it can all be traced back to the time Melnyk's finances took a hit and Alfie left. I was usually happy with Murray's decisions until then. In fact his forum usually was too (MAK notwithstanding ), and so even the polarization in this forum can probably be dated to that point.

 

[Stylizer1]

Something definitely broke after the Alfie fiasco. Not sure the exact timeline but it must have been close to Melnyk's divorce and Biovail issues.

Spezza asked to be traded one year later.

Gradually, our scouting turned inward: we went more and more old school, being more and more shy about drafting and/or acquiring European players, no doubt because we couldn't scout them properly. And especially forget about Russian players!

In the meantime, hockey analytics is becoming a thing: every hockey ops is setting one up. But we're stagnating.

Hockey coaches kept getting fired, replaced by n00bs.
Internal promotions for management positions meant that everybody was way past Peter's Principle.

Losing some fan favorites (Alfie but also Spezza), plus the same old same old in-game experience, plus ridiculous parking fees, plus the Phoenix issues, led to fans deserting the team, even in the midst of a miraculous playoff run.

So I think it can all be traced back to the time Melnyk's finances took a hit and Alfie left. I was usually happy with Murray's decisions until then. In fact his forum usually was too (MAK notwithstanding ), and so even the polarization in this forum can probably be dated to that point.

Maybe it was Melnyk who didn't want to resign Spezza?

 

[Stylizer1]

Since Melnyk bought the team we have averaged 18,000 except for the last 2 seasons. He is really greedy.

 

[Hutz]

I've defended the guy for a long time because he did step in and save the team 15 years ago.

That said, he's a good owner to the extent that he can keep his mouth shut and he doesn't seem capable of that. I'm genuinely appreciative of his term as an owner, but based on his recent lip flaps, I'd love if he sold the team to someone else*.

* who won't move the team, of course

 

[Que]

This is ALL on the Phoenix pay system.

40% (42 on a ten year old paper, but...) of the public sector is employed in the capital region.

There were 258 979 public service employees in Canada in 2016. I've heard on CBC Radio that about 60% of employees polled had been affected by the pay system, with a 6/1 ratio of under to over payments. A CBC internet article says over 80 000 employees have reported problems. Let's imagine 40% of these people are send fans and another 40% would consider going to games.

So analytics nerds... 260 000 x 60% x 40% x 40% x 40% = 9 984

Ten thousand people who might attend a game are not getting paid.

Even if we use the 80 000 reported complaints as a number. 80 000 x 40% x 40% x 40% = 5120

SMH

 

[Flamingo]

Good move by Melnyk to run his mouth off and take the heat off the players. Real savvy hockey owner.

 

[Hutz]

Why do you care about who EM likes? Who gives f**k!

A lot of the younger people on here dont realize that the Sens were an arse hair away from leaving the city and EM stepped up, bought the Sens and kept them in Ottawa. With that being said he does come across as "too involved" in hockey operations and a bit nutty sometimes (CSI on Matt Cooke?!?!).

I was there. I'm an older dude now. I really appreciate that and have defended him as an owner because of it. I'm done. That was 15 years ago now. He keeps farting out of his mouth and I'm sick of it. If he can clench his arse lips long enough to negotiate a Lebreton deal, then great. But the dude needs to learn when to just shut his mouth. I hope he sells, I'm grateful that he bought the team when he did, but I'd be happy if he sold it to someone with a bigger vision and/or smaller mouth now.

 

[Hutz]

The day Eugene bought the team he promised us we would be the Mecca of hockey. His words.

I think we’re all still waiting on that one, haha.

Weeeeelll, in fairness, it was a pretty damned talented team when he bought it. There were some pretty golden (regular) seasons there!

 

[JD1]

This is ALL on the Phoenix pay system.

40% (42 on a ten year old paper, but...) of the public sector is employed in the capital region.

There were 258 979 public service employees in Canada in 2016. I've heard on CBC Radio that about 60% of employees polled had been affected by the pay system, with a 6/1 ratio of under to over payments. A CBC internet article says over 80 000 employees have reported problems. Let's imagine 40% of these people are send fans and another 40% would consider going to games.

So analytics nerds... 260 000 x 60% x 40% x 40% x 40% = 9 984

Ten thousand people who might attend a game are not getting paid.

Even if we use the 80 000 reported complaints as a number. 80 000 x 40% x 40% x 40% = 5120

SMH

that sounds good and all but there isn' really much accuracy in the media related to phoenix

 

[Stylizer1]

that sounds good and all but there isn' really much accuracy in the media related to phoenix

They are reporting on what they find rather than what they are told. It might not be perfect but at least it sheds light on the problem.

 

[JD1]

They are reporting on what they find rather than what they are told. It might not be perfect but at least it sheds light on the problem.

really stylizer? what do you know about phoenix other than what's in the media? if what you know about the situation is based on media reports then I'm sorry to tell you that the media doesn't really come close to presenting a real view of the situation

 

[Spartachat]

When I was going to the bathroom during the outdoor game everyone was chanting "screw Melnyk". Too bad the chant didn't catch on to the whole stadium on live TV....

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

When I was going to the bathroom during the outdoor game everyone was chanting "screw Melnyk". Too bad the chant didn't catch on to the whole stadium on live TV....

When you say "everyone", you mean a handful of people, and the reason it didn't catch on is because the people chanting are in a tiny small minority.

 

[DrEasy]

When you say "everyone", you mean a handful of people, and the reason it didn't catch on is because the people chanting are in a tiny small minority.

Do you have a count of people chanting praises for Melnyk? Cause we didn't hear them on TV either for some reason.