I agree that it was mostly factual. The only quibble I have from that perspective is the headline: the use of the term "relevant" in this context is pretty subjective and basically immeasurable. Ticket sales can and have been affected by other factors, as mentioned in the article. Of course, the article writer isn't usually the headline writer (or so I've heard), so I can forgive him for that. The guy didn't inject opinions or make any unsubstantiated leaps. You could say that bringing up relocation insinuates that it might happen, fairly or not. But it is a rumor that has swirled from time to time, so it's not out of line to mention it in this kind of piece.
Basically, I thought it was a good read for people who haven't been paying attention over the last few years. It gets them up to speed on the team's fortunes (or lack thereof) since the Cup run. However, those are the only people who would have learned anything they didn't already know. There was no real news anywhere in the article.
Furthermore, the timing and manner in which it was published definitely represents a calculated move on the N&O's part. There was nothing in the article that could be considered front-page news; it was a report written by a business writer on how the facts and figures of the team have changed in the last 10 years. That kind of piece could have been published at any old time on page 6 of pretty much any section of the newspaper. Putting it on the front page during a big event celebrating past success was a deliberate jab; I'm just not sure what their angle is.
True. I suspect you are probably the exception and not the rule though for their subscription base (unfortunately), but even so, newpapers really can't afford to lose any subscriptions right now.
