The Oak View Group. The official Trouble Shooter of the NHL

[Mightygoose]

If there is no one who wants to own a team in a place like Atlanta then it would be a pretty bad idea to make them a priority.

Sure give Ressler a call and beg him to take a team. Maybe give it to him at a deep discount just to get back in the door. Give him such a good deal that he'll sell it again at market where no one local will buy and make a quick buck while he's at it....3rd time's a charm right.

 

[Melrose Munch]

When you look at the top 10 TV markets Atlanta and Houston should be top priority over anywhere else. So sorry Toronto 2.0, Hamilton, QC, Waterloo (LOL) or whatever other nonsense, your time has passed. The NHL needs to solidify itself as a true major sports league or it will get passed by the MLS which would be ****ing disgusting.

If there is no one who wants to own a team in a place like Atlanta then it would be a pretty bad idea to make them a priority.

Sure give Ressler a call and beg him to take a team. Maybe give it to him at a deep discount just to get back in the door. Give him such a good deal that he'll sell it again at market where no one local will buy and make a quick buck while he's at it....3rd time's a charm right.

Atticus is right. The NHL is very close to being passed by the MLS. Another long lockout might do it. The league needs to prioritize Houston and Atlanta for this reason.

 

[Mightygoose]

Atticus is right. The NHL is very close to being passed by the MLS. Another long lockout might do it. The league needs to prioritize Houston and Atlanta for this reason.

I agree MLS is gaining speed and may pass the NHL in some markets. The NBA bypassed them too and the sun still rose the next day.

Putting teams in places they're not currently wanted (i. e. Atlanta) Houston seems OK, isn't going to stop it.

 

[Bixby Snyder]

Putting teams in places they're not currently wanted (i. e. Atlanta)

Wrong, Atlanta Thrashers drew very well until those ASG idiots took over and sabotaged the team. They eventually sold the Hawks also. If they had managed the Thrashers properly and kept them in Atlanta they could have sold them along with the Hawks and made a much bigger profit but they were f***ing idiots who probably learned business from Trump U.

 

[Mightygoose]

Wrong, Atlanta Thrashers drew very well until those ASG idiots took over and sabotaged the team. They eventually sold the Hawks also. If they had managed the Thrashers properly and kept them in Atlanta they could have sold them along with the Hawks and made a much bigger profit but they were ****ing idiots who probably learned business from Trump U.

How is it wrong that no one wants to own as team there?

Not denying they had some years of good attendance but at the end of the day, if ASG didn't want to own them, they shouldn't be forced to. They spoke to 24 different buyers and no one could complete a deal.

Considering, the new guys hasn't shown any interest (unlike Houston) and have made the building less habitable for lack of a better term for an NHL team to thrive...

Atlanta should be no where near the top of anyone's list. Considering, Jacobs doesn't mention them either, it seems like those who run the sees it this way too.

 

[Bixby Snyder]

How is it wrong that no one wants to own as team there?

Not denying they had some years of good attendance but at the end of the day, if ASG didn't want to own them, they shouldn't be forced to. They spoke to 24 different buyers and no one could complete a deal.

Considering, the new guys hasn't shown any interest (unlike Houston) and have made the building less habitable for lack of a better term for an NHL team to thrive...

Atlanta should be no where near the top of anyone's list. Considering, Jacobs doesn't mention them either, it seems like those who run the sees it this way too.

A few years ago no one wanted to own a team in Las Vegas or even Seattle. I'm just saying that the NHL has 2 big holes when it comes to top 10 TV markets and it should be a priority to fill them. It should have been a priority decades ago but the NHL had a very myopic view of what could be a hockey market. Of course, I don't know who it could be but there could be someone out there just like Bill Foley. Who had heard of him only a few years ago?

 

[Melrose Munch]

I agree MLS is gaining speed and may pass the NHL in some markets. The NBA bypassed them too and the sun still rose the next day.

Putting teams in places they're not currently wanted (i. e. Atlanta) Houston seems OK, isn't going to stop it.

No one has contacted the Hawks owner, we don't know this.

 

[Mightygoose]

Ressler took over the Hawks 3 months before the NHL started the 2015 expansion process so yes he would have been contacted. If Ressler is interested then the full NHL configuration would have stayed intact with the renovations.

Considering Fertitta showed interest in far less time after taking over the Rockets is a good indicator of the level of interest in each market.

 

[Melrose Munch]

Ressler took over the Hawks 3 months before the NHL started the 2015 expansion process so yes he would have been contacted. If Ressler is interested then the full NHL configuration would have stayed intact with the renovations.

Considering Fertitta showed interest in far less time after taking over the Rockets is a good indicator of the level of interest in each market.

The place still has the ice plant according to @nhlfan79. Remember, we're asssuming there is no interest.

 

[aqib]

Atticus is right. The NHL is very close to being passed by the MLS. Another long lockout might do it. The league needs to prioritize Houston and Atlanta for this reason.

They are going back to Atlanta. Only you and a couple of others on this board thinks that is a good idea.

 

[Melrose Munch]

They are going back to Atlanta. Only you and a couple of others on this board thinks that is a good idea.

Apparantly it's not just us as it keeps popping up over the internet every few months right @Atticus Finch ? And the league publically wants houston as well.

 

[nhlfan79]

How is it wrong that no one wants to own as team there?

Not denying they had some years of good attendance but at the end of the day, if ASG didn't want to own them, they shouldn't be forced to. They spoke to 24 different buyers and no one could complete a deal.

ASG never wanted to own a hockey team at all, much less one in Atlanta, but they HAD to take it to get the Hawks and arena in an eleventh-hour sweetheart deal. It's not like ASG tried and failed. They never tried. Period. They tried to evict them from Day One. And, at the end, no sane prospective buyer would buy just the team without a cut of the arena, too. You really think ASG would sell the team to someone who would turn around and have to negotiate a lease from them, given their litigious track record and their plainly obvious desire to get the team out of their building?

Finally, you're wrong in saying that no one wanted to own the team here. David McDavid did, but ASG swooped in and quite literally stole the Thrashers/Hawks/arena package from him. He sued and won hundreds of millions of dollars. Google it. Had he become the owner, who knows how history would've changed...

 

[tony d]

The NHL's not going to 34 teams. If anything it sticks with 32 teams once Seattle gets their team. Arizona probably moves to Houston and Quebec City gets any East team that needs to relocate.

 

[edog37]

Atticus is right. The NHL is very close to being passed by the MLS. Another long lockout might do it. The league needs to prioritize Houston and Atlanta for this reason.

the annual "soccer is going to be king in the US someday" comment once again. Same crap I've been hearing for close to 40 years now. Along the same lines as the "metrification of America" nonsense....

 

[Melrose Munch]

the annual "soccer is going to be king in the US someday" comment once again. Same crap I've been hearing for close to 40 years now. Along the same lines as the "metrification of America" nonsense....

Bet you didn't believe the NBA would pass the MLB but here we are. What has hockey done to diversify it's fanbase? And like @Atticus Finch said, 2 missing top ten markets. And more people like soccer now then hockey. If you don't believe they can get a better TV contract, you're out to lunch.

The NHL's not going to 34 teams. If anything it sticks with 32 teams once Seattle gets their team. Arizona probably moves to Houston and Quebec City gets any East team that needs to relocate.

It will be 34, the NHL doesn't want to move Arizona.

 

[Mightygoose]

ASG never wanted to own a hockey team at all, much less one in Atlanta, but they HAD to take it to get the Hawks and arena in an eleventh-hour sweetheart deal. It's not like ASG tried and failed. They never tried. Period. They tried to evict them from Day One. And, at the end, no sane prospective buyer would buy just the team without a cut of the arena, too. You really think ASG would sell the team to someone who would turn around and have to negotiate a lease from them, given their litigious track record and their plainly obvious desire to get the team out of their building?

Finally, you're wrong in saying that no one wanted to own the team here. David McDavid did, but ASG swooped in and quite literally stole the Thrashers/Hawks/arena package from him. He sued and won hundreds of millions of dollars. Google it. Had he become the owner, who knows how history would've changed...

Glad to hear Mr. McDavid sued and got his hundreds of millions of dollars out of it.

So the question is what is doing with it? Has he approached the board about bringing the NHL back to the market. Has need made a pitch to a North suburban community to make a business case on building a new arena to try a get a team back?

It's been 7 years since the Thrashers left and no one is yet to come forward with a plan despite one expansion process opening up and Fertitta is not waiting for another to throw his hat in the ring.

I stand by my comment that no one wants to own a team there...at this time so they should not be part of the discussion on future markets.

 

[nhlfan79]

I stand by my comment that no one wants to own a team there...at this time so they should not be part of the discussion on future markets.

I'm not disagreeing with you. Currently, no one wants to own an NHL team here, and there's no current groundswell in the market to find such an owner.* That's the enduring legacy of ASG and Bettman for their salting the earth here.

* Atlanta United has more than filled that void, with the same demographic fanbase that used to support the Thrashers. Thrashers jerseys at United games are not uncommon, and even shouting KNIGHTS (Thrashers/Atlanta Knights hockey tradition dating back to the early 1990s) during the national anthem has carried over.

 

[cutchemist42]

Caring about a sport leagues position in a pecking order is just pointless to me.

 

[cowboy82nd]

How is it wrong that no one wants to own as team there?

Not denying they had some years of good attendance but at the end of the day, if ASG didn't want to own them, they shouldn't be forced to. They spoke to 24 different buyers and no one could complete a deal.

Considering, the new guys hasn't shown any interest (unlike Houston) and have made the building less habitable for lack of a better term for an NHL team to thrive...

Atlanta should be no where near the top of anyone's list. Considering, Jacobs doesn't mention them either, it seems like those who run the sees it this way too.

A local ownership group wanted to buy the Thrashers, but they got more money from Winnipeg. That ownership group consisted of Tom Glavine ( who was drafted by the L.A. Kings).

 

[powerstuck]

But we aren't talking about a 650m US dollar fee though. I'm talking way way more than that in terms of even a billion dollars more like 1.3 1.4b.

Just cause someone took care of the arena doesn't mean there is someone actually willing to pay over a billion in Canadian dollars for said team.

If the investor thinks he can make money on something he is to spend 1.3 or 1.4 billions on, well yes that investor (or investors) will spend that kind of money. Look at Steve Ballmer. I mean who would have thought that Clippers were worth 2 billions ?

 

[gstommylee]

If the investor thinks he can make money on something he is to spend 1.3 or 1.4 billions on, well yes that investor (or investors) will spend that kind of money. Look at Steve Ballmer. I mean who would have thought that Clippers were worth 2 billions ?

A NBA team will always be way way worth more than a NHL team.

A 2nd TOR team group said 500m was too much 2 years ago? Now its even higher you think that's suddenly going to change.

 

[powerstuck]

A NBA team will always be way way worth more than a NHL team.

A 2nd TOR team group said 500m was too much 2 years ago? Now its even higher you think that's suddenly going to change.

Just like Hansen didn't have contracts to find NHL investors in Seattle right ?
It's not because one group doesn't have the bacon that no one has.

 

[gstommylee]

Just like Hansen didn't have contracts to find NHL investors in Seattle right ?
It's not because one group doesn't have the bacon that no one has.

Hansen wasn't willing to put any of the money to built it for a non NBA team and even then Hansen would have control of the revenue. The NHL would been a 2nd fiddle to Sodo arena.

 

[aqib]

Apparantly it's not just us as it keeps popping up over the internet every few months right @Atticus Finch ? And the league publically wants houston as well.

Ohhhhhhhhhh it pops up on the internet! Why didn't you say so?! Then it has to be legit, I mean if its on the internet and all.

 

[Melrose Munch]

Ohhhhhhhhhh it pops up on the internet! Why didn't you say so?! Then it has to be legit, I mean if its on the internet and all.

Who cares man, I think there should be a team there and so do other people. I'm not changing my opinion.