me2 said:
Much more than 6. There are probably 6 profit making teams. That means 24 teams are losing money, 6 some more than the 18 other losers. If you believe the NHL those 18 lost about $100m between them. There is about $50m difference between the NHLPA and the NHL which is probably the profit made by the money making clubs. Maybe the NHLPA is write and those 18 clubs only lost $50m. Doesn't matter at least 18 clubs are losing enough money to be serious, probably closer to 24.
6 teams are losing 75% of the losses. For non hockey salary related reasons but ownership structuring decisions.
6 teams are making healthy profits.
18 teams losing 3mil a year. One average free agent on their roster.
Massive CBA changes arent needed. Shareholder revolt perhaps, but not a salary restructuring.
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RichPanther said:
Apparently, sources say that the FL Panthers are one of the 6 teams losing money (approx. $60 million in the last 3 yrs). I can't say I'm surprised at all but the article below talks about contraction as a non-option (though it says 30 teams, which doesn't rule out relocation). So I would think that an option would be to move those 6 teams losing all that money to a more profitable area, in addition to getting the CBA worked out. I just find it interesting that the league wanted a luxury tax & revenue sharing back in 94...if they get a better proposal from the players along those lines, they should take it (if the tax is dollar for dollar and shared proportionately).
Source:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...ep11,0,348738.story?coll=sfla-sports-panthers
Thanks for the link. Interesting.
I guess it makes sense that Florida could have lost this money over the last few years. It probably hasnt been easy on them lately. But, they have been rebuilding beautifully with low priced youth and you can clearly see the potential makings of a championship team in their stable of prospects. You can clearly the see potential for their core to grow into a top payroll team. If you have the patience.
There is absolutely no good reason for the Panthers to be going out on the free agent market trying to acquire expensive core players. That would be ridiculous. You have prospects to develop. Dont throw away that ice time on some veteran. To see that young team make the playoffs the first time, is going to be real exciting for Panther fans. And its going to happen very soon.
And now you have Keenan and Jacques Martin. Makes me think even more of Ottawa. When we first came into the league, we were playing in our junior teams arena that seats 10,000. And the owner had apparently even borrowed the $50mil franchise fee. Tickets were cheap when we look back now. Back then todays ticket prices would have been absolutely inconceivable. Payroll in the bottom of the league. Attendance flagging.
And then several years later we had to build a brand new arena privately. Needless to say, the owner had been accumulating huge debts in his start up costs, and the interest was compounding annually. We could scarcely conceive of a $35 mil payroll. 30% of the teams revenue was going into debt repayment. We lost Yashin over money. Doom was in the air. By the end of our first owners reign, the team was in debt for an amount 3-400% more than its value. He went bankrupt. Most Sens fans thought the teams was destined to be in Portland or Fargo the next year.
But at least 3 known bidders tried to buy it. And our new owner got it in an amazing circumstances fire sale although an incredibly complex deal he said he signed thousands and thousands of documents while a court trustee was running the team. And all of a sudden the same, team, the same market, the same CBA, Sens fans see everything quite differntly. Winning a little changes everything. It wasnt the fault of the salaries, it was the owners financial structuring. It wasnt a systemic problem, it was an owners boardroom problem.
I remember the rats. Dont tell me there is no hockey market there. When Ottawa was at Floridas stage of development, our attendance was suffering too. If the city cant do it, then just as if it were an NFL team, they will move somehwere they think they can. But I think the Panther fans are there. Some very rich men have bet hundreds of millions they are there too. If they cant, well stuff happens, you cant expect to ask the players to lower salaries so a non-market can stay in the league.