washington will lose money with a 25 million dollar payroll

[Mothra]

those numbers for ottawa should be qualified that the sens played in a 10,000 seat arena their first few seasons.

Thats a very good point...I remember that now and to be honest was shocked at those numbers....because as I said earlier, expansion teams usually draw well because they are all the rage in the new town.

This is an example of someone (me) not living in that area and not being in tune with the arena situation...or recalling it from 10 years ago....JUST like some of the posters in this thread (and the starter) who are clueless to the arena situation in DC. As has already been pointed out in this thread......much of the losses are due to not having a favorable deal in the arena.....which will soon be owned by Leonsis

The Capitals will never be the number one game in town....but a competitive team will draw people in, and they will be in the middle of the pack in terms of attendance....the notion that only cities that do great at the gate win or lose deserve a team is ignorant

 

[HockeyCritter]

leonsis' claim that the caps will lose money under the new cba with a $ 25 million payroll will likely be creative accounting for the I.R.S.

not to get into an accounting debate, but i'm pretty certain the caps' revenues will exceed their expenses. whether their books show up like that is another story.

Again ---- Caps receive NO revenue from MCI center itself ..... their revenue is generated from ticket sales and advertising.

 

[DINO22CICCARELLI]

Leonsis said the team will continue to lose money, even with a $25 million payroll[/QUOTE]

Man since all the revenue from te caps goes to washington sports entertainment the caps will show a paper loss. Leonsis owns 49% of that corp s he is not losing money.

Know what you are talking about before you post.

 

[octopi]

move the team

give them ahl


instead of making there loyal fans suffer




http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/hockey/bal-caps08,1,4247205.story?coll=bal-sports-headlines


Leonsis said the team will continue to lose money, even with a $25 million payroll

Geez, and with revenue sharing too? Wow.

 

[HockeyCritter]

Guess you didn't bother to read the thread either?

 

[HockeyCritter]

leonsis' claim that the caps will lose money under the new cba with a $ 25 million payroll will likely be creative accounting for the I.R.S.

not to get into an accounting debate, but i'm pretty certain the caps' revenues will exceed their expenses. whether their books show up like that is another story.

That’s only partially true.

Leonsis owns about 40% controlling interesting in WSE (which includes the Wizards, Ticketmaster, Mystics, MCI Center and a few other businesses). So while the Caps may lose money (mostly because they do not receive box, concession, and parking money - that goes to the building debt) Leonsis and the rest of Lincoln Holdings will make money.

Honestly, even if the Caps had a low payroll and a long playoff run they won't turn a profit until Leonsis has majority ownership in WSE - or at the very least in MCI.

 

[HockeyEh]

The more interesting question is WHY Ted Leonsis seems to feel compelled to tell the world that the Caps are money losers on a $25M payroll. Then again, he made his fortune at AOL, and that company (in its current incarnation as Time Warner) just agreed to settle a shareholder lawsuit for accounting fraud for more than US$3 BILLION. So maybe managing the books isn't Mr. Leonsis' strong suit.

 

[NJD Jester]

The problem is that the Caps tried to play the big money franchise game with Jagr and a few other players. It won a conference title, and lost millions of dollars in the process. Now the team is being gutted financially, perhaps with the hope of buying a few names next off-season.

More likely, this team is going to hover around $25-$30 mil. next season as well. Which is a shame, because the hockey fans who go to see the Caps are every bit as educated and dedicated as those in any city in the Northeast. (As opposed to the ones who used to fill the upper deck at the Cap Centre, who were basically Redskins fans from Bowie looking for a chance to work on their spitting skills for when the Eagles fans came to RFK.)

 

[HockeyCritter]

I think it’s safe to say that the majority of Capital fans understand where the ownership group is coming from when it comes to the low payroll. I think it’s also fair to say that Leonsis et al aren’t keeping the payroll low for the sake of keeping it low or out of “cheapness†but rather as a reflection of where the team is. The Caps are in year ONE of a rebuild. They are going to ice a very young and inexperience team, most in the first year of their contracts. There will be a few mid-level free agents thrown in to round out the roster. As such, the payroll is bound to be low. I’m fine with that as it gives the Caps flexibility to make trades as well as sign their own players down the road (and because I thought this should have happened three seasons ago).

 

[stanleycaps18]

The problem is that the Caps tried to play the big money franchise game with Jagr and a few other players. It won a conference title, and lost millions of dollars in the process. Now the team is being gutted financially, perhaps with the hope of buying a few names next off-season.

Actually, the Conference Championship team was prior to the signing of Jagr and Lang. In reality, the gut job taking place now should have taken place two years after their Stanley Cap run (2000). Instead, Leonsis tried to extend that aging nucleus by bring Jagr and then Lang in. The Caps will be one of the worst teams in the league this year, and possibly next. However, the beleif is that as this core matures, it will be "younger and faster" and with AO, Fehr and Semin, a highly skilled team.

 

[NJD Jester]

Actually, the Conference Championship team was prior to the signing of Jagr and Lang.

Sorry for the confusion on that. I actually meant that the team's willingness to bring in high-priced talent resulted in that conference title -- with players like Oates, Housley and Tikkanen -- and that mindset continued with Jagr and Lang down the road.

 

[stanleycaps18]

Oates came in a trade with Boston. Tik and Housley were hardly high-priced talent. The caps at that point were at the end of a 15 year run of decent pail and bucket teams that made the playoffs but were never quite good enough to get over the hump. Leonsis thought that bringing in Jagr and others would put the blue collar crew over the top. Instead, it exposed other weaknesses as the core aged. The implosion should have been in 2000 rather than 2004.

 

[Prince Mercury]

so...to me its pretty clear Ottawa didnt start "supporting" thier team until they became one of the elite teams.....even during the expansion time when teams always get a break because people expect them to be bad and its the new game in town....one year they didnt crack 5 figures in avg attendance

so...you were saying?

Yeah they sold little more than 10,000 playing at a rink in the basement of a football stadium. Not sure what you want here.