Players own League - funded by former NY mayor Rudy Giuliani?

[CarlRacki]

The NHL is not hockey. Hockey is not the NHL. The NHL's brand of hockey may have performed poorly, but that doesn't mean the sport of hockey will always perform poorly.

Is there a brand of hockey other than the one played in the NHL? Is there somewhere they play with three per side, a spherical puck and elastic boards?
For all intents and purposes, the NHL is professional hockey in North America and nothing the sport has done in the past two decades seems to make it a wise investment. You'd be better off putting your money in a five-year CD.

 

[thinkwild]

I could just as easily see a proftiable Canadian league start up, with Leafs, Habs, Oilers, Sens, etc possibly joined by some northern american franchises. Canada is the country with a national tv deal. Canada is the country where hockey is the 1st sport. Canada was the country that donated the Stanley Cup.

Some people have got some very interesting plans already . See: Plans for CANHL

 

[CarlRacki]

I could just as easily see a proftiable Canadian league start up, with Leafs, Habs, Oilers, Sens, etc possibly joined by some northern american franchises. Canada is the country with a national tv deal. Canada is the country where hockey is the 1st sport. Canada was the country that donated the Stanley Cup.

Some people have got some very interesting plans already . See: Plans for CANHL

Canada is also a country in which most of its major cities (i.e. cities where teams would be located) could not compete with U.S. markets for ad and corporate revenues, meaning the could not compete for players.
There's a reason, after all, that the Quebec and Winnipeg franchises pulled up stakes and went to the States. And it wasn't because the fans down south are more passionate about the game.

 

[thinkwild]

I dont see why a new Canadian league with full revenue sharing couldnt compete with the remnant of a few American teams with no tv contract.


From the great vision: A future history of the birth of the CANHL

Gary and Bob, you can keep Nashville, Miami and Atlanta. We’ll just take a few of our things: the Stanley Cup, our six current NHL teams, the majority of the talent (both on the ice and off), the only revenue-generating broadcast deals, most of the sponsors and almost all of the most-dedicated fan base and start a league of our own. Good luck in Anaheim, though.
-from "A Future History of the CANHL"

 

[CarlRacki]

"the majority of the talent (both on the ice and off),"

Here's the problem and a major faulty assumption. If you haven't noticed, the majority of the talent will go where the majority of the money is. The majority if the money is in the states. I'm not sure how much TSN and Sportsnet pay for the NHL (can anyone fill in that blank?), but I'd be surprised it's enough to outweigh the other advantages most large cities in the States have when it comes to corporate revenues, ad revenues, etc.

 

[mr gib]

Um, you're not serious, right?

hey chuckles - no sense of humour - i bet you round up file calls to the hour

 

[me2]

Serious executives may check out our resumes at Bob'nBucky.com

It just keeps getting funnier.

 

[Hasbro]

It's been 20 years since a rival league made a dent in an established top 4. The last venture of this nature was an unmitigated failure. The XFL had the backing of a major network and a temporarily credible WWF and hemoraged money in its existance. They also had the advantage of not competing with the NFL season and having LA unaffiliated with the NFL. That's yeilded the footnote to history He Hate Me.

The spur to the era of rebel leagues was the reserve clause. Now players make to much, too many cities have teams and facilities have to be state of the art not just renting out dates at the Civic Center.

 

[mmbt]

"the majority of the talent (both on the ice and off),"

Here's the problem and a major faulty assumption. If you haven't noticed, the majority of the talent will go where the majority of the money is. The majority if the money is in the states. I'm not sure how much TSN and Sportsnet pay for the NHL (can anyone fill in that blank?), but I'd be surprised it's enough to outweigh the other advantages most large cities in the States have when it comes to corporate revenues, ad revenues, etc.

Not to mention, any rival league that attempts to play on with a smaller number of teams runs into a major problem ... it will have to abandon a large percentage of the current NHLPA members, who will then have all the incentive to go back to the NHL, and probably make higher salaries than they would in a new startup league anyway.

Which means NHL games start being played again, they go back to their arenas, and the rival league immediately faced with direct competition while being relegated to 2nd and 3rd rate venues. Young draftees are more likely to sign with the teams paying bigger salaries, and don't expect players in the new league to stick around for long when they see that NHL players make more money.

 

[jamiebez]

"the majority of the talent (both on the ice and off),"

Here's the problem and a major faulty assumption. If you haven't noticed, the majority of the talent will go where the majority of the money is. The majority if the money is in the states. I'm not sure how much TSN and Sportsnet pay for the NHL (can anyone fill in that blank?), but I'd be surprised it's enough to outweigh the other advantages most large cities in the States have when it comes to corporate revenues, ad revenues, etc.

Exactly. Best case scenario, a rival league will be somewhere in quality between the NHL and AHL - a lot like the former WHA, actually. You'll be able to attract the older stars for more money than they can make in the NHL and a few 4th line/6th defensemen types, and round it out with a bunch of career minor leaguers.

And really, where are teams going to play? There are few NHL cities with second facilities suitable for hockey - even fewer with the ability to support 2 teams. This leaves you in Winnipeg, Quebec, Hamilton, Seattle, Portland, Vegas, Houston, etc. Again - a lot like the old WHA.

Then, where's the money going to come from? You don't have enough of a geographical presence to get a national TV deal in either country. If you're in an NHL market, you have to undercut the NHL on ticket prices. You're in smaller cities, so there's less corporate and ad revenue coming in.

What does this leave you with? A slightly better version of the AHL, with a few big names, some bigger markets and no affiliations (so at least your roster stays intact for a year if you're lucky).

People talk about starting up a league like it's so easy. There's a reason its only been done once if the last 75 years or so - and even that one only lasted 7 years.

 

[Hasbro]

The NHL now has 30 franchises, in the 1st year of the WHA, both leagues had a combined 28. The NHL has the holes pretty much covered.

 

[SENSible1*]

The author of the Toronto Star article (Rick Westhead) that started this whole discussion was interviewed on Sportsnet and having read the entire proposal rated the plausibility of the league as a 1 out of 10.

That pretty much says it all.

 

[Schlep Rock]

You are wrong. It is impossible. Not many companies have that amount of liquid assets sitting around doing nothing.

While I am loather to quote any pro-player hardliner, I laughed at Nick Kypreos' quote today:

"When cows fly".

Who the heck said liquid assets are required to fund something like this?

Bad VC deals?

How about the 90% (estimating) of dot com's that got VC funding and then crashed and burned? In speaking with VC's lately they gave me an estimate, 1 in 10 are successful, 3 in 10 fail, 6 out of 10 break even and are a waste for VC's. Some companies raised over $150 million in a year before filing for bankruptcy the following year.

 

[Schlep Rock]

And again... I think it's a long shot but to dismiss it simply on "can't even get one investor interested" isn't the best arguement.

 

[Schlep Rock]

Plans officially scrapped

http://www.nwherald.com/SportsSection/pro/288499932202460.php

"The proposal also calls for a partnership with a gambling company that would enable investors in the league to benefit from wagering on games."

Possibly the most idiotic thing I've ever read.

 

[Chili]

Group scraps plan for rival hockey league

Shocker!

 

[dawgbone]

garbage in... garbage out...

Now wasn't that a fun waste of time folks?

 

[GSC2k2*]

http://www.nwherald.com/SportsSection/pro/288499932202460.php

"The proposal also calls for a partnership with a gambling company that would enable investors in the league to benefit from wagering on games."

Possibly the most idiotic thing I've ever read.

While I disagreed with you earlier, I am with you on this. I would call up the laughing icon to insert in this post, but I don't think it accurately conveys te mirth that this article brought to me. Perhaps an icon of a man having a near heart attack from laughing might do it.

And the best part of all - Massager actually bought it. "Power move" indeed. Oh, here I go again into more spasms of laughter ...

 

[Jarqui]

"The proposal also calls for a partnership with a gambling company that would enable investors in the league to benefit from wagering on games."

I agree with you (though I don't mind Messenger's alternate points of view). A surreal "power move".

 

[futurcorerock]

So another living legend and hero to many wishes to disgrace their name on an ill-fated league?

Next, please.

 

[Lanny MacDonald*]

What??? You mean these guys were blowing smoke??? Noooooooo!!! Say it isn't so!!!

I was looking so forward to another Bring Back Bucky thread reporting from the ice surface of the "rival" league. Another massive hole blown in the credibility of the PA side of things.

 

[StevenintheATL]

It's been 20 years since a rival league made a dent in an established top 4.

Ah yes, the USFL. Won the anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL and was awarded a whopping $3 (Was $1, but since it was an anti-trust judge, the judgement was tripled). The USFL sought a judgement of $567 million ($1.7 billion when tripled), and the only NFL owner not named in the lawsuit was Al Davis, who testified on the USFL's behalf . That lawsuit pretty much killed the possibility of a renegade league taking on one of the big 4. The USFL probably would still be around if they didn't file this anti-trust lawsuit so they could go head to head with the NFL. They got a little over ambitious by the success the league was having (Playing in the spring and summer worked, because there are football fans that crave football year round.)

Perhaps a rival to the NHL could start up, but instead of directly competing during the NHL season, play their season from say June to October, when the NHL is winding down and starting up their seasons. Start the season around the time the Stanley Cups finals are finishing up and crown the champ around the time the NHL is finishing their exhibition games. The summer months are the slowest months for many arenas, so it might be possible for teams to play in arenas that also host NHL teams (Several WHA teams played at the same arenas their NHL counterparts did) or host minor league teams.

 

[Chili]

Ah yes, the USFL. Won the anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL and was awarded a whopping $3 (Was $1, but since it was an anti-trust judge, the judgement was tripled). The USFL sought a judgement of $567 million ($1.7 billion when tripled), and the only NFL owner not named in the lawsuit was Al Davis, who testified on the USFL's behalf . That lawsuit pretty much killed the possibility of a renegade league taking on one of the big 4. The USFL probably would still be around if they didn't file this anti-trust lawsuit so they could go head to head with the NFL. They got a little over ambitious by the success the league was having (Playing in the spring and summer worked, because there are football fans that crave football year round.)

Perhaps a rival to the NHL could start up, but instead of directly competing during the NHL season, play their season from say June to October, when the NHL is winding down and starting up their seasons. Start the season around the time the Stanley Cups finals are finishing up and crown the champ around the time the NHL is finishing their exhibition games. The summer months are the slowest months for many arenas, so it might be possible for teams to play in arenas that also host NHL teams (Several WHA teams played at the same arenas their NHL counterparts did) or host minor league teams.

The off season logic sounds right but the NHL has the longest season of any of the major leagues (assuming that it is one). With the June draft, the July free agent period and September exhibition season they have the calendar covered.

I also think most people in this part of the world enjoy being outside (i.e. at the beach, a ballgame, festivals, golfing, etc.) this time of year. Personally I'd like to see the NHL season over by early May.

 

[GSC2k2*]

So another living legend and hero to many wishes to disgrace their name on an ill-fated league?

Next, please.

Now, now, Gary Davidson is doing the best he can ... oh, wait ...

 

[RangerBoy]

While Rudy Giuliani and Canadian diplomat Maurice Strong might be the two most politically powerful men to make the attempt, hardly anybody in hockey circles is expecting them to succeed where so many before have failed so miserably: in starting up a hockey league that could rival or supplant the locked-out National Hockey League.
That is especially true since the Daily News has learned that the plan already has been abandoned, with its principals refocusing their energies on working to improve the NHL when it restarts.

The Toronto Star reported in its Wednesday editions on a months-old proposal fronted by the former mayor of New York and the undersecretary of the United Nations seeking investors to finance a new professional hockey league. But while Giuliani and Strong might have brought considerable clout to the endeavor, it never gained traction with the leadership of the NHL Players Association.

Reached yesterday at his Edmonton office, Rich Winter, the longtime agent who spearheaded the entire proposal and presented it to Giuliani and Strong, said: "The story is completely untrue and inaccurate."

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/315461p-269855c.html

Oops