News Article: Melnyk: 'not selling the team — period'

[coladin]

Hey Superfan, let's explore your position for a minute.

1) Is there any set of circumstances or behavior by Melnyk that would cause you to stop buying tickets? If so, how close are you to the point where you say "enough is enough"? Can you please let us lousy fans in on the Gold Standard you apply so we can be Superfans too?

2) Does Melnyk owning the team absolve him from having to try and win over the fans and generate loyalty?

3) Do you think Melnyk's actions, both public and private, make it more or less likely for Karlsson to stay?

1) Behavior? Like Weinstein situation? I don't know, wtf. Certainly nothing to this point. He is a blowhard, buffoon. I can separate that moron from my team, though. I can cheer for Karlsson and dislike the owner.

2) No. He has a job to do. I am easily sold because I am loyal to my team, warts and all. They have promos, you guys all see them. But you all know where the team plays.

3) Players know the numbers, they are little businesses all about numbers. If the place is empty, as it was versus the Rangers, they know there may be an issue getting paid. Don't you?

I am not a superfan. I'm just loyal. I would be a regular guy in Toronto, Philly, Montreal, etc...But in Ottawa I guess I would be a Superfan.

 

[coladin]

Respectfully disagree.

Boycotting the team and forcing Eugene to sell is an option as well and one where I don't have to give my hard earned money to a fool.

Why don' t you come back when that happens? Clearly you don' t seem to be a fan of the team. Aren' t you embarrassed?

 

[coladin]

tax write offs aren't what they used to be. As a small business owner the write off is 15% and the CRA pays attention to the point you need to keep logs of who attends. And of course here locally you cannot take government clients

No, no, he knows lol

 

[Hit the post]

People make up a lot of stuff here to make themselves feel better.

I can tell you one old "urban legend" Canuck story (which I of course have no idea whether it's true or not....)...

Back in the REALLY awful Canuck years (ie., when the Habs or Leafs came to town - the Pacific Coliseum was probably 90% or more for the away team LOL)......a person had the fortune of been given two Canuck tickets to an upcoming game. However, due to prior commitments, he couldn't go to the game. Try as he might (there was no such thing as craiglist/stubhub/etc., then heh), he couldn't sell the tickets or even give them away to friends for free. Finally in frustration, he left the tickets on the front window of his car (under the wipers) - he lived right near the arena. No takers for several days until gameday! What the person found though totally surprised him. Instead of a fan taking the tickets - the person found ANOTHER pair of tickets attached to his windshield!

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

If we really wanted to compare fanbases, the Leafs should have an arena that houses around 68,000 people.

As it is, less than 3,000 people have to buy tickets per game, because 13,000 are corporate season tickets and the other 3,000 are non-corporate season ticket holders.

Those 13,000 tickets come with tax write-offs.

Ottawa actually has more non-corporate season ticket holders (4,000) than Toronto does, to go along with the 4,000 corporate season tickets, requiring a walk-up crowd of around 10,000 back before we tarped seats.

You missed the point, you can't compare the Ottawa market to the Toronto market.

It would be like comparing a house cat to a tiger.

 

[NHL Dude 120]

I wont be going to anymore sens games until Melnyk sells the team.

 

[leburn98]

Respectfully disagree.

Boycotting the team and forcing Eugene to sell is an option as well and one where I don't have to give my hard earned money to a fool.

Financially boycotting a team to force out an owner is never a good thing, especially if we are to take Melnyk at his word that the finances of the team is at best OK and at risk of relocation if things don't improve. If you truly want to force Melnyk out, you need to protest and make it known why you want him out. Say what you will about the Leafs and their fans, but having fans attending games with paper bags over their heads, throwing waffles and jerseys on the ice, chanting 'Let's Go Blue Jays" and so on was not a good look for MLSE, the NHL and the Leafs brand. No ownership or league wants that kind of negativity surrounding one of their franchises. The negativity led to the Teacher's Pension Plan selling off their shares to Bell and Rogers, who in turn cleaned house and embraced the rebuild.

Now I am not saying that Sens fans should go around and throw jerseys on the ice, but vocal protests before, during and after games can do wonders. Again boycotting a team financially doesn't do anything but further the narrative that fans simply do not support the team - winning or otherwise. How do you think this looks to potential future investors/owners. Why would any sane business owner look at the current situation from the outside and think "yep, I want to invest 100s of millions of my own money in a franchise that can't even sellout a tarped building".

 

[coladin]

Financially boycotting a team to force out an owner is never a good thing, especially if we are to take Melnyk at his word that the finances of the team is at best OK and at risk of relocation if things don't improve. If you truly want to force Melnyk out, you need to protest and make it known why you want him out. Say what you will about the Leafs and their fans, but having fans attending games with paper bags over their heads, throwing waffles and jerseys on the ice, chanting 'Let's Go Blue Jays" and so on was not a good look for MLSE, the NHL and the Leafs brand. No ownership or league wants that kind of negativity surrounding one of their franchises. The negativity led to the Teacher's Pension Plan selling off their shares to Bell and Rogers, who in turn cleaned house and embraced the rebuild.

Now I am not saying that Sens fans should go around and throw jerseys on the ice, but vocal protests before, during and after games can do wonders. Again boycotting a team financially doesn't do anything but further the narrative that fans simply do not support the team - winning or otherwise. How do you think this looks to potential future investors/owners. Why would any sane business owner look at the current situation from the outside and think "yep, I want to invest 100s of millions of my own money in a franchise that can't even sellout a tarped building".

Well said.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Agreed, it's hard but just try to tune out the noise. These are super rich guys scrapping over amounts of money we can't really comprehend. I try to guess what the motivation is for these comments. Melnyk's comments were directly being fired at the NCC/government with fans being collateral. For sure he will get negative blowback and yes, maybe even a decline in attendance for the short term. He knows this but doesn't care, the few millions he may lose short term are peanuts compared to the end goal of a favourable deal at Lebreton. The comments were calculated.

It could be anything he's trying to get a better deal on; soil decontamination, tax on the arena, LRT, who knows, but it will be in the 10s of millions.

This stuff about the BOGs willing to force him out or others trying to buy his debt to force a sale is nonsense imo. Bettman and Daly know exactly what he's trying to do, they will even encourage it a bit to get the Lebreton deal done. But I bet they did tell him to shut up yesterday, he's not a good ambassador.

It's a high stakes game with dirty players on all sides. In the end, Ottawa is a fine hockey market, the deal will eventually get done, the team will stay and will be playing downtown. Unfortunately we will hear lots of bleating for awhile, it's just starting actually. Think of Friends of Lansdowne on steroids. Add to that we have the Toronto sports media weighing in with nonsense of their own.

How about a music analogy; Dogs by Pink Floyd.

The problem is, we have a few people on here who buy Melynks words hook line and sinker, and act like we have to empty our wallets at Eugene's feet, otherwise we're bad fans and we're responsible for all the stars leaving. And that's complete bullshit.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Not going to comment on the Ottawa situation (since I don't know anywhere nearly enough to render an opinion)...

Last time the Canucks were in the post-season:
Game 1 attendance........18,870 ("official" capacity = 18,910)
Game 2 attendance.......18,870
Game 5 attendance........18,870

No doubt the Canucks had a long lean period (just look back in history where the fans of the other team FAR outnumbered Canuckfans at the old Pacific Coliseum) - but at least in recent history, "freebie tickets" in the regular season isn't going to attract that much attention.

Look, I know folks who have received freebies from the team in Vancouver, and a few other Canadian cities.

You guys honestly think handing out freebies is a rare occurrence?

 

[Hit the post]

Look, I know folks who have received freebies from the team in Vancouver, and a few other Canadian cities.

You guys honestly think handing out freebies is a rare occurrence?

I don't doubt it occurs in the regular season at times (re: to maintain a so-called sellout streak). Playoff freebie tickets? I'd say it would be pretty rare in that situation.

 

[pepty]

My Bad. Travis Yost just tweeted it out 5 minutes before I posted it here.

I was curious to see what became of the lawsuit and this is what I found:
Acerus Pharmaceuticals Corporation - Acerus Reports Third Quarter 2017 Financial Results.

Update on Litigation Initiated by Mr. Eugene Melnyk
On December 21, 2016, the Honourable Mr. Justice Wilton-Siegel of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice heard a motion brought by Mr. Eugene Melnyk for leave to commence a derivative action in the name of the Company against certain of the Company’s directors and officers. The motion was dismissed by Mr. Justice Wilton-Siegel with written reasons to follow. On February 22, 2017, Justice Wilton-Siegel issued his written reasons dismissing Mr. Melnyk's claim with costs. Mr. Eugene Melnyk served a Notice of Appeal to the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in order to appeal the decision of Justice Wilton-Siegel.

 

[NyQuil]

You missed the point, you can't compare the Ottawa market to the Toronto market.

It would be like comparing a house cat to a tiger.

Clearly you missed the part where I outlined the difference in scale.

 

[Sensung]

Financially boycotting a team to force out an owner is never a good thing, especially if we are to take Melnyk at his word that the finances of the team is at best OK and at risk of relocation if things don't improve. If you truly want to force Melnyk out, you need to protest and make it known why you want him out. Say what you will about the Leafs and their fans, but having fans attending games with paper bags over their heads, throwing waffles and jerseys on the ice, chanting 'Let's Go Blue Jays" and so on was not a good look for MLSE, the NHL and the Leafs brand. No ownership or league wants that kind of negativity surrounding one of their franchises. The negativity led to the Teacher's Pension Plan selling off their shares to Bell and Rogers, who in turn cleaned house and embraced the rebuild.

Now I am not saying that Sens fans should go around and throw jerseys on the ice, but vocal protests before, during and after games can do wonders. Again boycotting a team financially doesn't do anything but further the narrative that fans simply do not support the team - winning or otherwise. How do you think this looks to potential future investors/owners. Why would any sane business owner look at the current situation from the outside and think "yep, I want to invest 100s of millions of my own money in a franchise that can't even sellout a tarped building".

You are free to do whatever you want with your money. If you want to reward this level of incompetence from an owner, that is your prerogative. Withholding money via a boycott and actively voicing that Melnyk is the reason for the boycott will re-assure potential owners that the market is viable.

The downtown location and long track record of being a stable NHL market will be all they need to make that investment.

 

[Sensung]

1) Behavior? Like Weinstein situation? I don't know, wtf. Certainly nothing to this point. He is a blowhard, buffoon. I can separate that moron from my team, though. I can cheer for Karlsson and dislike the owner.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being where you stop supporting the team based on Melnyk being a blowhard and buffoon, where are you currently at?

2) No. He has a job to do. I am easily sold because I am loyal to my team, warts and all. They have promos, you guys all see them. But you all know where the team plays.

I am loyal to the Sens. I will always cheer for them. I just refuse to give money to this owner.

3) Players know the numbers, they are little businesses all about numbers. If the place is empty, as it was versus the Rangers, they know there may be an issue getting paid. Don't you?

Did the players in Arizona get paid for the last decade? The players know they will get what they are worth, either here or elsewhere.

I am not a superfan. I'm just loyal. I would be a regular guy in Toronto, Philly, Montreal, etc...But in Ottawa I guess I would be a Superfan.

No, you claim to be a super fan who will gladly open your wallet no matter what the owner does.

I am a loyal fan, who refuses to give in to blackmail and demands the owner either starts running the organization properly or sells.

Your decision to spend money does not make you any more loyal or superior a fan...just more gullible.

 

[coladin]

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being where you stop supporting the team based on Melnyk being a blowhard and buffoon, where are you currently at?



I am loyal to the Sens. I will always cheer for them. I just refuse to give money to this owner.


Did the players in Arizona get paid for the last decade? The players know they will get what they are worth, either here or elsewhere.


No, you claim to be a super fan who will gladly open your wallet no matter what the owner does.

I am a loyal fan, who refuses to give in to blackmail and demands the owner either starts running the organization properly or sells.

Your decision to spend money does not make you any more loyal or superior a fan...just more gullible.

Gullible lol. I'm a Sens fan, not a Melnyk fan. You stay home. Spending money supporting my team makes me a way better fan than you. You labeled me Superfan, not me.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Gullible lol. I'm a Sens fan, not a Melnyk fan. You stay home. Spending money supporting my team makes me a way better fan than you. You labeled me Superfan, not me.

Cringe

 

[Do Make Say Think]

You are free to do whatever you want with your money. If you want to reward this level of incompetence from an owner, that is your prerogative. Withholding money via a boycott and actively voicing that Melnyk is the reason for the boycott will re-assure potential owners that the market is viable.

Dude.

That makes no sense at all.

I'll go on the record myself: boycotting the team to force an ownership change makes no sense at all.

There are plenty of ways for fans to support the players AND voice their displeasure with ownership.

 

[Micklebot]

...

I know Bert, a poster here, claims a group keenly interested in acquiring the Senators has been buying Melnyk's debts in an effort to force his hand but sounds like something out of movie.

This idea of people buying up debt to do some sort of hostile take over makes no sense. Any ownership change would have to be approved by the BOG, and the NHL has not looked kindly at business men trying to force their way into the league in the past.

 

[Mingus Dew]

This idea of people buying up debt to do some sort of hostile take over makes no sense. Any ownership change would have to be approved by the BOG, and the NHL has not looked kindly at business men trying to force their way into the league in the past.

It’s also not how debt works. Like at all.

 

[Fandlauer]

One thing I really liked about Melnyk's comments this weekend was his comparison of the team to a McDonald's or a grocery store. In that sense he was absolutely right. Sure you own the franchise, but what will corporate do if you start to destroy your brand and go against what the company as a whole is trying to achieve, we'll you won't be the owner of that franchise much longer. There is no way the BOG is going to allow this goon to f*** up Lebreton. If he can't get it done, the franchise will be in the hands of someone who will.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

One thing I really liked about Melnyk's comments this weekend was his comparison of the team to a McDonald's or a grocery store. In that sense he was absolutely right. Sure you own the franchise, but what will corporate do if you start to destroy your brand and go against what the company as a whole is trying to achieve, we'll you won't be the owner of that franchise much longer. There is no way the BOG is going to allow this goon to **** up Lebreton. If he can't get it done, the franchise will be in the hands of someone who will.

And if McDonald's loses sales after facing competition, they don't shit on the customer base and do nothing to improve their product.

 

[BatherSeason]

I'm not sure I consider Yost to be much better than Melnyk. Both are successful hacks, the worst kind of successful people AND the worst kind of hacks.

Wow, what did Yost do to you?? Seems like a good dude.

 

[FolignoQuantumLeap]

Gary Bettman to Sens fans right now.

 

[umma gumma]

There's no doubt that if he decides he wants to move it that it won't be easy but if he continues to lose money & people are not supporting the team, he owns it why wouldn't he move it? Why would Bettman not allow it, if it is losing money & Ottawa stops supporting it. Bettman doesn't own the team, Melnyk does, he is the one that bought it & pays the bills, I believe he can do what he likes with it. What if he moves the team & back fills the arena with the Belleville Senators ... I mean the Stittsville Senators? .

He's not going to Quebec. Someone else owns the arena; on top of a relocation fee he would have to pay rent and lose out on concession and parking money. How is that a better situation? His other option is to build his own arena somewhere else on top of a relocation fee...more $$$$$$ he'll need to fork up.

Like him or not this city either supports the team or they don't & they lose it just like they lost the Riders a few times when people in Ottawa stopped supporting that football team. While it sucks to support this owner we have to continue to hope he sells the team which he has said numerous times he won't or continue to go to games & ignore the owner is an A-hole. Does Ottawa want an NHL team or not? It won't stay if the people in the town don't support it, he has made that quite clear. It;s interesting how quickly this whole thing went into the tank. The team were doing okay there for a while, most thought they would make the playoffs at the least & then the rails fell off & now we are discussing whether they team will stay or he will move it. What a difference a month makes.

The NHL and CFL are not comparable at all. Two completely different beasts financially.

Its tough one. Are we supposed to give him our money and pretend everything is ok when it isn't? If you like Big Macs and they remove the 2nd patty and increase the price, are you going to keep buying it because they're the only fast food franchise in town with a clown?