Thrashers were doomed from the start. If you look back at everything that went on from the original hires to today, there is very little that screams WINNER in there.
NHL move to Winnipeg 'a step back'
- Thread starter Melrose Munch
- Start date
- Status
edog37
Registered User
10 years, $2 billion is relatively little???? That is the most lucrative TV deal the NHL has ever received....the league got its deal, now it is time to stabilize these franchises by either moving them or locking them down in their current cities. Atlanta was a no-brainer, but other markets are probably worth keeping.
iamaranger
Registered User
Yes, it is. Hockey is now (way) behind cricket - cricket! - which sold rights for one tournament, one year for $2B.
$200M is pocket change in this biz...
For one single nation? Isn't this NHL TV contract we're talking about just for US rights?
This.
If league revenues go up with a healthy Canadian franchise, I don't think the other owners will give a damn about "stepping back".
No kidding! The CFL should immediately move the Saskatchewan Roughriders to Los Angeles. After all, there are so many more potential CFL fans there and the people in Saskatchewan can watch it on TV! Brilliant!
This.
If league revenues go up with a healthy Canadian franchise, I don't think the other owners will give a damn about "stepping back".
If they make one dollar profit, the NHL bottom line is up about $30 million. I'd call that a step forward.
Global. The NHL international rights aren't worth a snotty Kleenex. $500M or so for 90% of it's market, not to impressive.
cbcwpg
Registered User
I guess it depends what criteria is used to make the judgement of a step back...
If replacing a franchise that has been historically losing money with one that breaks even or makes money is a step back, I don't know what to say. If 10 years from now the franchise is losing money then, yes, people can say it was a step back and be correct. History will tell if this was a step back or not, not what happens in the immediate future.
If replacing a franchise that has been historically losing money with one that breaks even or makes money is a step back, I don't know what to say. If 10 years from now the franchise is losing money then, yes, people can say it was a step back and be correct. History will tell if this was a step back or not, not what happens in the immediate future.
TheMoreYouKnow
Registered User
Winnipeg isn't an optimal market for obvious reasons, but given the new wealth in the area, the strength of the Canadian Dollar vis a vis the U.S. Dollar (which given U.S. fiscal policy is unlikely to change soon) and the presence of a pretty committed local ownership group the market probably deserves another chance.
With regards to the TV rights, something tells me you'll have more eyes watching Jets or Moose or whatever games on a nightly basis than Thrashers games in spite of the huge size discrepancy. That doesn't necessarily mean Winnipeg is going to work but it shows that it's not as simple as some of the Sun Belt enthusiasts thought it would be back in the 90s.
It is definitely a step back if you bought into the fantasies of that era, that all you had to do to make the NHL a league with a national audience in the U.S. was put teams in cities across the Southern U.S. and all you had to do was sell the game hard and it would work like magic. A step back in the sense that you've been proven wrong.
With regards to the TV rights, something tells me you'll have more eyes watching Jets or Moose or whatever games on a nightly basis than Thrashers games in spite of the huge size discrepancy. That doesn't necessarily mean Winnipeg is going to work but it shows that it's not as simple as some of the Sun Belt enthusiasts thought it would be back in the 90s.
It is definitely a step back if you bought into the fantasies of that era, that all you had to do to make the NHL a league with a national audience in the U.S. was put teams in cities across the Southern U.S. and all you had to do was sell the game hard and it would work like magic. A step back in the sense that you've been proven wrong.
dronald
Registered User
Dude, people in Saskatchewan love the CFL, and people in LA couldn't care less about it... I dont see how that would... Oh! I see what you did there.
A step back is selling Grandmother's pearls and looking for loose change to save a flailing franchise such as Phoenix.
Selling a team to a competent owner who is confident in the market they are placing there team knowing the odds of success/failure is a step forward for the league. They might have attempted to vet past owners more diligently thus avoiding the plethora of teams sitting on the used car lot.
Selling a team to a competent owner who is confident in the market they are placing there team knowing the odds of success/failure is a step forward for the league. They might have attempted to vet past owners more diligently thus avoiding the plethora of teams sitting on the used car lot.
In the short term, this looks great. Over the long term, you are gambling that the same conditions that led to the relocation frenzy in the 90s won't happen again.
netminder17
Registered User
Dude, people in Saskatchewan love the CFL, and people in LA couldn't care less about it... I dont see how that would... Oh! I see what you did there.
And there is a large group of people who care about hockey in Atlanta, even if people want to pretend that we don't exist.
I think there are a lot more hockey fans in Atlanta than there are Thrasher fans. One thing that hurt the team was the difficulty they had winning people over, or holding onto them once they were in the fold.
netminder17
Registered User
Yep, this. ASG has sabotaged the market, and turned away alot of fans that would support the team. This is all about inept ownership, and Bettman trying to save his project in Phoenix, not about us being a bad hockey market.
Doc Scurlock
Registered User
- Nov 23, 2006
- 1,211
- 6
I don't mean to sound like an ass but define large group. I think hanging around HFBoards skews people's perception into thinking that there is a large number of people caring about certain teams due to the fact that pretty much diehard fans post here. It's the case of the vocal minority if you will.
Only two people are gambling financially that this move won't work - I am confident that they have spent the past 10 years that they began making the necessary arrangements to secure an NHL francise and are more than aware of the pitfalls that may be in front of them. Both have spent their careers developing successful corporations outside the hockey world, and it would be surprising to believe that they have not used the same intelligence in the pending purchase of the Thrashers.
Nah, man. It isn't on the level of NASCAR, or SEC football, but there are enough hockey fans to support an NHL team. This goes back to the days before HFBoards even existed. A large number of them were jacked into the team when they first started up, but were gradually turned off by the way the team conducted business. Just look at the quotes from Dan Bouchard recently, he has lived in the area for over 30 years. Blaming fans, ticket sales, etc, is a massive over-simplification of what went on w/ this team.
Sure, dude, but none of that is a guarantor of success for the indefinite future. Even those guys would tell you that much. It gives them confidence, but it doesn't lock it down.
netminder17
Registered User
I live in the area, and there are plenty of hockey fans here, the Gladiators have great attendance for the ECHL, and the Thrashers attendance was great for an expansion team up until ASG ran the team into the ground, and turned it's back on it's fans. Also minor/rec hockey are big things down here, and have been growing steadily since the Thrashers came. If we had a decent playoff run or two, our attendance would be similar to other southern hockey markets. We never had a chance to grow, do you really expect a team to gain much support in a city when the team doesn't win anything in their entire existence? When the ownership never cared about the hockey team, and intended to sell them after they acquired them, but couldn't because they were in litigation with each other, so they pretended to care about them until they could legally sell them 6 months ago? Give this city, this state a chance, and we can support hockey, but we never got that. And it's disgraceful that the league is letting this happen.
And yet after many years of analyzing the return of the NHL you believe they haven't considered this? This isn't a case of MH in Phoenix or the clown show that was the prior ownership in Tampa. They do not tweet, they do not show up selling hotdogs at the games, they do not ask the city of Winnipeg to fund the majority of the purchase.
- Status
