tony d
New poll series coming from me on June 3
I can't see them stopping them. In any event I think a new owner steps up in Ottawa and takes over the Sens' ownership.
I can't see them stopping them. In any event I think a new owner steps up in Ottawa and takes over the Sens' ownership.
Back in Boston after working Sunday night's game in Ottawa and THREE different Sens gameday employees told me the same thing - Sunday was possibly the last time the Bruins will play in Ottawa.
They all believe that Melnyk will bolt for Quebec City and the NHL can not stop him. Then once the team has relocated he can then sell part or all of the team to people based from QC.
Keep in mind that the BoG was powerless to stop the North Stars from moving to Dallas in 1993
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All I can report firsthand is there in genuine apathy in Ottawa concerning the Sens right now - mostly because of Melnyk. The owner of a popular diner on Elgin St told us the damage he has caused can not be repaired. The attendance for a late Sunday afternoon game with a divisional rival says it all
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This is a toxic situation and Melnyk avoiding the BoG meeting in Georgia last week didn't help.
The Sens have tried to appeal to the francophone suburbs of Ottawa but they are too far away from Kanata
What can't be overlooked is the January 15th deadline that was imposed by the National Capital Commission and possibly starting the bid process from scratch.
What if Melnyk is offered the arena rent-free in a deal similar to what the NBA Celtics have in Boston? Quebecor might consider that a better option than forking over at least $500 M USD to own a team. They could write into the lease they have first option to buy part or all of the team at a later date.
Centre Videotron has another problem to deal with after what happened in a boxing match last week that has people screaming the sport be banned in Quebec.
Editorial: It's time to knock out boxing
Jack Todd: Ban boxing? It's not possible
The owner of that diner is heavily wired into all things Ottawa and he thinks the damage can not fixed.
But there is no escaping that only 13,000 showed up on a Sunday afternoon game with Boston and it appeared that 40% of the crowd were Bruins supporters. Remember what Melnyk said a year ago.
Sens owner Melnyk's relocation talks puts chill on NHL 100 festivities | CBC Sports
Melnyk brought up the possibility of relocation, took a shot at fans and said a new downtown arena might never happen while speaking during the Senators' alumni game taking place at Parliament Hill Friday night. His comments came less than 24 hours before Ottawa hosts the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL 100 Classic.
Melnyk denied rumours the team was for sale, but did insinuate relocation could be considered.
"If it doesn't look good here, it could look very, very nice somewhere else, but I'm not suggesting that right now. All I'm saying is that I would never sell the team."
In the short term HRR would increase by a move to Quebec as tickets would be sold and TV revenue would be at least the same as the existing deal with Bell Media (TSN/RDS) would most likely move with team as both Ottawa and QC are in the same regional zone.
I don't want to see Ottawa lose its team but the situation there reminds me of the final years of the Expos in Montreal. The baseball fans in Montreal stopped going as their hearts were broken by the 1994 MLB strike and then the massive firesale of players and when Pedro Martinez was traded to Boston for a bag of balls that was the final straw. Loria took the blame but it was Claude Brochu who killed the team.
What can't be overlooked is the January 15th deadline that was imposed by the National Capital Commission and possibly starting the bid process from scratch.
What if Melnyk is offered the arena rent-free in a deal similar to what the NBA Celtics have in Boston? Quebecor might consider that a better option than forking over at least $500 M USD to own a team. They could write into the lease they have first option to buy part or all of the team at a later date.
Centre Videotron has another problem to deal with after what happened in a boxing match last week that has people screaming the sport be banned in Quebec.
Editorial: It's time to knock out boxing
Jack Todd: Ban boxing? It's not possible
The owner of that diner is heavily wired into all things Ottawa and he thinks the damage can not fixed.
But there is no escaping that only 13,000 showed up on a Sunday afternoon game with Boston and it appeared that 40% of the crowd were Bruins supporters. Remember what Melnyk said a year ago.
Sens owner Melnyk's relocation talks puts chill on NHL 100 festivities | CBC Sports
Melnyk brought up the possibility of relocation, took a shot at fans and said a new downtown arena might never happen while speaking during the Senators' alumni game taking place at Parliament Hill Friday night. His comments came less than 24 hours before Ottawa hosts the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL 100 Classic.
Melnyk denied rumours the team was for sale, but did insinuate relocation could be considered.
"If it doesn't look good here, it could look very, very nice somewhere else, but I'm not suggesting that right now. All I'm saying is that I would never sell the team."
In the short term HRR would increase by a move to Quebec as tickets would be sold and TV revenue would be at least the same as the existing deal with Bell Media (TSN/RDS) would most likely move with team as both Ottawa and QC are in the same regional zone.
I don't want to see Ottawa lose its team but the situation there reminds me of the final years of the Expos in Montreal. The baseball fans in Montreal stopped going as their hearts were broken by the 1994 MLB strike and then the massive firesale of players and when Pedro Martinez was traded to Boston for a bag of balls that was the final straw. Loria took the blame but it was Claude Brochu who killed the team.
The Sun also reported that Karlsson believed a sale was close with Alfie (who he’s very close with) being part of the ownership group days before he got traded, so I wouldn’t say Melnyk is NEVER going to sell the team.
I am optimistic that the Sens will stay in Ottawa and a new ownership group will rise from somewhere. It may even take Melnyk publicly talking about a move in order to get a civic nationalist to step up to the plate,
Back in Boston after working Sunday night's game in Ottawa and THREE different Sens gameday employees told me the same thing - Sunday was possibly the last time the Bruins will play in Ottawa.
They all believe that Melnyk will bolt for Quebec City and the NHL can not stop him. Then once the team has relocated he can then sell part or all of the team to people based from QC.
Keep in mind that the BoG was powerless to stop the North Stars from moving to Dallas in 1993
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The League shall have exclusive control of the playing of hockey games by Member Clubs in the home territory of each member, subject to the rights hereinafter granted to members. The members shall have the right to and agree to operate professional hockey clubs and play the League schedule in their respective cities or boroughs as indicated opposite their signatures hereto. No member shall transfer its club and franchise to a different city or borough. No additional cities or boroughs shall be added to the League circuit without the consent of three-fourths of all the members of the League. Any admission of new members with franchises to operate in any additional cities or boroughs shall be subject to the provisions of section 4.3
Was NHL constitution different at the time?
Today:
For sure any owner can challenge this in court but I can't imagine BoG would go down without a fight unless they were happy with the move. Canadian Competiton bureau had no issues with NHL rules restricting relocation back when Balsillie attempted. Albeit scope was mostly territorial restrictions.
Competition Bureau Concludes Examination into National Hockey League Franchise Ownership Transfer and Relocation Policies - Competition Bureau Canada
The Al Davis moving the raiders lawsuit win vs the NFL says other wise. Legal based on that case the NHL can't do anything about it. Balsillie tried to buy the coyotes through bankruptcy court though and bypass the NHL to move them to Hamilton. A different matter than the previous owner trying to move the team himself.
The Al Davis moving the raiders lawsuit win vs the NFL says other wise. Legal based on that case the NHL can't do anything about it. Balsillie tried to buy the coyotes through bankruptcy court though and bypass the NHL to move them to Hamilton. A different matter than the previous owner trying to move the team himself.
In the short term HRR would increase by a move to Quebec as tickets would be sold and TV revenue would be at least the same as the existing deal with Bell Media (TSN/RDS) would most likely move with team as both Ottawa and QC are in the same region.
With all due respect I don’t have much faith in your sources OP.
Aside from all the problems with the Quebec market that have already been brought up, any hypothetical rests on the idea that Melnyk can cooperate and play nice with partners in Quebec. It’s particularly important if Boston has supposedly played its last game in Ottawa. For a relocation to happen in time for the team to hit the ice in 2019-2020 Melnyk would have to work very closely with a multitude of people.
He’s shown very little ability to do this. It’s just not happening. Certainly not in time for next season and probably not ever.
As long as Quebecor control the arena the Sens are one of the few team in bad shape that I don't see moving to Qc. The TV contract just does not work out. Now if that change, if the city and Quebecor agree one day to end their partnership that would be a big indicator that something is cooking. Now to be fair TVA Sports does have some Sens games as part of their national French package. Could we see a situation where they suck it up for the rest of the current TV contract knowing that they can eventually kick BCE out anyway.
Now if were speculating the big screw you to the league from Melnyk would be Hamilton.
Melnyk could look at Hamilton but the arena today is no longer suitable to be a NHL facility as it needs serious renovations. Then you have to pay the Leafs and most likely the Sabres an indemnification fee. QC as a territory is free and clear.
The TV contract in Ottawa is excellent but Bell would jump at the chance to give RDS more inventory and cripple TVAS.
WOW! Ottawa Senators TV deal worth up to $400M
The joker in this is the owner of Centre Videotron - Ville de Québec
The city could go to Quebecor and say we now have another option to get a NHL team and we are canceling your contract. Quebecor could consider legal action but can they risk being perceived by the public of preventing a team in Quebec because they don't own it? They can't afford a PR hit like that.
The city then gives the keys to the arena to Melnyk. Of course, it is a deal with the devil but doing everything the right way hasn't paid off for the city and they are tired of waiting.
I think the NHL would rather have the bigger market of Ottawa, and get the Bell TV dollars, while still collecting TVA revenues. Thing is the arena needs to be central. It has worked everywhere else in Canada. No one wants to deal with Melnyk. He can try the same thing that Moyes did, but the NHL controls where its markets are. The only way to get through that is lawsuit threats like ASG had. I don't think Melnyk can make it work. He has become a maverick and a polarizing owner. My guess is he is forced out of the club, and the NHL finds someone to work with in Ottawa. Quebec for its part, while it has the arena, faces the threat of economic instability, based on arm's length crown corporations being a main source of corporate revenue, and their equity is always at the mercy of a federal government that controls transfer payments.
Ottawa is the bigger city but is it the bigger market? The francophone TV universe changes the equation.
The Senators have tried to cultivate the francophone market but with little success and the team being in Ontario might be the reason. No matter what the NHL still has the national French TV rights with TVA for the duration of the deal with Rogers.
Nordiques would have access to regions that Ottawa doesn't, mainly the Saguenay, and certainly rallies Quebec as the anti-Montreal team. It would be a kick in the nuts for Bell to lose another market they overpaid for regional rights. TVA, through the Nordiques, would have a far greater reach into the province of Quebec and the francophone Maritimes. Habs would likely take over everything the Sens lose, in terms of media, so it's an interesting trade off. It would amaze me if some kind of indemnity would have to be paid to Bell for their loss however, on top of the franchise cost. I don't think Melnyk is past giving the screw to Ottawa, but he wouldn't be allowed to own the team he moved. He'd have to take his payout. Either way I think Melnyk is out. Just don't know where Ottawa fits. I think the NHL likes Ottawa as a market. Just not its owner.