Not "la la la", just saying that there definitely
can be benefits for the club's new ownership connected to the club's participation in the KHL, compared to its staying in the provincial Slovak league where those benefits would not exist.
It goes without saying that the prospects of closing lucrative sponsorship deals would be far better for a club playing on the international scene, in the world's second-best hockey league, than for a club just playing in Slovakia. That's like saying 2 + 2 = 4. So
@TheWhiskeyThief,
@Barclay Donaldson and others in this thread should not pretend as if nothing but downsides and catastrophic losses are connected to Slovan's potentially re-joining the KHL.
Again, take the Bratislava Capitals example with EBEL. I suppose that in a traditional analysis of pluses and minuses, you would come up with a net loss, but I believe the club's owner when he says in interviews that in the final analysis, when you consider the advertising costs
he would have to invest elsewhere, if it hadn't been for the club playing in EBEL, he will consider it a profitable undertaking.
I'm not saying that the same can be accomplished on a much larger scale with Slovan and the KHL, but there would definitely be
some distinct benefits for Slovan if it rejoins the KHL that would not exist if it stays where it is today – stuck in the provincial league.
Plus, consider that the Bratislava Capitals owner's eye clinics only operate in Slovakia, Austria, etc. (that is, in Central Europe), whereas Mr. Hrubý's original business with the ESET/Nod antivirus software is established around the world. So, you have the necessary difference in scale right there. The Bratislava Capitals owner compared to the Slovan owner is like EBEL compared to the KHL. Both owners are millionaires, but there's a difference in scale. Just like the Bratislava Capitals owner manages to pull off the club's participation in EBEL financially, Mr. Hrubý might be capable of doing the same for Slovan with the KHL. Not saying he will, but he
might. Claiming, without evidence, that it's downright impossible, is "la la la" from you.
And, as mentioned earlier, the new owner, Mr. Hrubý, appears to be wealthy enough (reportedly six times wealthier than the previous owner) to be able to absorb some
moderate losses. Not
total losses with zero benefits season after season, but moderate losses that go along with supporting a costly "hobby" like this. Plus, him not being an oligarch means he does business in a completely different way (
responsible way) compared to the previous owner – and that may be a crucial difference compared to Jokerit, too, which (so I heard) is in Russian hands.