It's unrealistic to expect that an entity that loses tens of millions of dollars every year can continue to do so indefinitely. I don't know what you mean by situation arises, he'll own the team till it's clear that he can't make money off them, or they turn it around. Not me nor anyone else has any idea of what his long term plan is. I feel better from this because at least it's evident that for now he hasn't planned any relocation.
Absolutely, thats why both of the last 2 owners sold the team, they were tired of continually losing money. By "situation arises", I meant as that could be several different things...the county refuses to give them anything they are asking and it becomes obvious that the team will continue to lose money, an ownership group/individual approaches him offering to purchase the team at a premium and that group/individual intends to relocate, or he gets an offer from another location that makes more financial sense to relocate on his own. You're right that we dont know his long term plans but I dont think even he knows his long term plans quite yet. It seems like he's waiting to see what happens with the on-ice product as well as the county and then he will probably start making plans.
I'm not worried one iota about the team leaving. Most of the people on this forum, especially in the BOH section pining for relocation have absolutely NO CLUE as to how the business of sports works. The reality is we have a favorable lease with our arena and there is no way in hell Broward County is going to allow it to become a white elephant. Plus, the league NEEDS major media markets like South Florida in order attain the best possible US TV contract it can get. No offense to the good people in Hamilton, Saskatoon, or Quebec City, but those markets do absolutely NOTHING in getting that maximum US TV deal, and the US is where all the money is.
Even with a favorable lease with the arena, they are losing money and a lot of it. The fact that the county commissioners have hired a consultant to analyze what they would be losing if the team relocated, suggests they dont trust what the franchise is telling them and want to know what they really would be losing. We really dont know what the county is willing/not willing for the situation to become at this point.
As far as the league goes and the US TV contract, who says the team isn't relocated to a US market? The latest rumor is that Vegas has shown interest in having a team. In addition, previously there was interest from Seattle which is a major market. There's no reason that the league would stop a relocation if it becomes apparent due to a US TV contract if its moving to another US location. If anything, the latest Canadian TV contract shows you how much money could be added to the league and the US TV contract may not be as important as we hope.
No doubt this is a PR ploy with double-sided intentions.
1) Try and put to rest the "rumors" so (casual) fans don't think they're going to leave. If people here think the Panthers will leave, then why come to the games this season? The timing of the letter is proof of that. Training camp starts tomorrow. They want fans to be excited about the upcoming season, not worried about off-ice stuff.
but at the same time:
2) it puts pressure on the county and make them look like the bad guys if/when they don't give into the demands
You are absolutely right that this is definitely more of a PR ploy that anything else. Its a way to try to reassure a customer base while putting the onus on the county to keep the team here by giving in to the requests. I still dont see the county giving in though based on their actions to investigate the result of losing the team due to relocation and that there will be elections soon that commissioners won't want to have their names attached to something that would not help them get re-elected. As you said, its probably not a ploy that will work with the county anyway.
that being said, actions speak louder than words. didn't viola just buy an airline that is based in South Florida? Didn't he live his entire life in NY and move down here as well?
i find it hard to believe Bettman would allow them to move the team. it makes no sense from a league perspective.
the way the Viner-to-Viola sale occured, I get the feeling Viola guaranteed Bettman he would keep the team down here.
The sale happened too quickly. The team was for sale less than a month and Viola was the first (and only) bidder. Moving Florida to Quebec or some smaller US market makes absolutely zero sense from a league perspective. N-O-N-E. There's no way
Yes he invested in the relaunch of Eastern Airlines (which has yet to earn their FAA licenses but they will eventually) but that has little bearing on the situation at hand. He's a board member and its not uncommon for board members to fly in from other locations.
Based on this recent article, he still has not sold his NY home which I assume means he has yet to fully move to South Florida either. And he's had to reduce his ridiculous asking price too on his home from $114M to $98M (which he still won't get). That's on top of the IPO for his company being scrapped due to the investigations into the HFT companies as well. Until he's purchased a home down here, I wouldn't be so sure about some of the things you're saying.
http://www.mynextfone.co.uk/news/it...-trader-vincent-viola-s-best-year-h29993.html
It only makes no sense from the league perspective if they are going to lose something significant. If the league (and its other teams) continue having to contribute revenue sharing money to keeping certain teams afloat, they won't hesitate to allow teams to relocate eventually. Most people expect that the Arizona team will be relocated sooner rather than later, especially with the out-clause they have now.
As far as the sale of the team goes, it was not something that happened quickly at all. I know from 1st hand knowledge that the team was potentially available for the entire previous season to when it was sold (was mostly looking for additional investors) and it was decided towards the end of that season that it was something that was available and the team contacted Bettman who knew of someone in Viola who already showed interest in owning a team. It only went quickly because of the aspect that Bettman found someone for Viner to sell to after he decided it was available.
It only makes sense to the league for the team to relocate if there is a better situation for the league to do so. It all comes down to economics and regardless of population sizes, etc thats the only thing that will matter, the bottom line. None of us know whether this location or Quebec or another US market would be better in that aspect right now. If the losses keep mounting, another market could provide better support for a franchise via a more favorable lease deal.
Assuming Bettman wants to keep the team in Florida, which his actions in Phoenix prove he likely does, why wouldn't he exhaust his options with different owners that were more dedicated to this market?
Viola moved his family here. (alot of team owners own teams and live in different cities). He bought/started a ****ing airline here.
Here's the thing though, the actions by Bettman were to prevent a team from going into bankruptcy and thus affect the value of ALL the other teams in the league. What he did in Phoenix was attempt to retain value in a franchise for the rest of the teams. The desire to keep it in that area was a side product really and it may be for nothing if that out-clause is invoked.
As far as the Panthers, he just tried to find a suitable buyer for the FL franchise when it became available. Its not like he was looking for a local buyer either or you would've heard more publicity about the team being for sale and being shopped (like what happened when Huzienga sold the team). There's nothing in the sale to Viola that suggests Bettman is totally committed to this area. He sure would like to keep it down here but the reasoning you are giving really the truth.
Actually, I dont believe he has moved down here yet. I'm sure that will have to wait until he sells his NYC home and that still has not happened. Maybe Travis has moved down here but I dont think anyone saw Vinnie in the arena but 3-4 times last season. As far as "started/bought" an airline, no he didn't. The airline was actually bought in 2011 by a group that wanted to relaunch the brand. They had a round of investment that Viola contributed to and will be a board member as a major stock holder. Thats not the same thing as "buying" the airline, he's just investing in it. And there's no reason to think that will have anything to do with the situation with the Panthers. Board meetings of companies only usually happen quarterly so he would only need to be here 4 times per year to fulfill those obligations so he could do that living anywhere.
