There's a lot of good debate in this thread.
But almost every scenario regarding relocation assumes that Melnyk has some financial resources still available to him. I don't think those outside the market have fully grasped that their is a very real possibility that Melnyk is almost broke. I don't care what the scheme is, they all need some kind of financial foundation that Melnyk may very well not have anymore. Moving all the players, their families, re-hiring, re-branding, any league relocation costs, paying salaries while some revenue streams (ad deals, season tickets, etc) are being re-negotiated/sold, etc. etc. etc. There are hard costs in the tens of millions regardless of where he goes.
Wait, isn't Melnyk a billionaire? No, he's not. Not anymore. Not since he sold his 1b valued Biovail stock for 15o mil. Not since he lost 100 mil on his horses. Not since he gave 50% away (and pretty much all of his liquid assets not hidden in the Barbados) to his wife in divorce.
The rumors of his cost cutting rampages through the organization are well beyond where there's smoke, there is fire.
- Any big $ execs let go and replaced with cheap alternatives with little to no experience in sports management
- Any contract that is not 100% required is shipped out/waived, etc.
- Pro scout travel budget cut, now they rely solely on tape (wonder why we keep getting bent over in trades)
- Legend of a fight between EK and EM over an Uber bill
- Many, many stories from current employees about Melnyk coming in and questioning every costs...down to stationary use.
- Not willing to offer EK a front-loaded, bonus structured contract ala Tavares, because it would require paying out millions in advance of when revenues come in to cover the cost.
- Cannot cover the carrying costs of a loan to get the new arena built. Read that again, condo's will pay for the arena, but they might take 10-15 years to sell, so he has to be able to cover the loan for 10-15 years. 5-10 mil per year, so 100-200 mil for his new stadium. Team revenues if he wasn't hated could possibly even cover this...yet still he can't get it approved.
- Not able to hire a team capable of pulling off any major capital project (casino, soccer stadium, Lebreton, etc)
Team statements and debt increase show the team was losing around 10 mil per year until 2013-2014. Note this was not out of Melnyk's pocket...the team just accumulated more debt. The Nat TV deal and local TV deal increase revenues by 20-30 mil with no increase in costs. None of that additional money went into player budget, ops budget, stadium improvements, etc. Where did the money go?
Yes, Of course I could be wrong and maybe he still has a few hundred mil on Canadian or US soil that is liquid and can be used. But there is also a very real possibility that he is hanging on by a thread financially, living off the team and any additional credit that was created in the recent re-financing.
What about a minority owner? Would you buy into this...with this guy...at the overvalued price he wants...when he might drive the team into bankruptcy or move it to another market?
This is why he need a free stadium AND a piece of the larger development. Because he needs cash for the cash flow needed to run the organization.
He still has lots of options. But it very well be that in any scenario, whoever he partners with may have to cover all the immediate cash flow/costs, and offer a revenue stream on top of what the team would provide int he short-term. Good luck with that.