Here is my e-mail to Mr. Branch...
I have been a season ticket holder of the London Knights for 16 seasons. I wanted to share with you my concerns over the potential sale of the Windsor Spitfires. It is my belief and the belief of many that this sale would not only be damaging for the Spitfires, but to the entire league. The OHL is slowly recovering from the ownership interference displayed in Flint, but now it has started again with more intensity in Windsor, even before the new owner has been announced. The drafting of unranked Isa Parekh in the 5th round of Saturday's draft was very obviously the result of the potential new owner imposing his will on the franchise in order to have a place for his son to play. Add in the drafting of Aydin Parekh 5th overall in yesterdays U18 draft and you have the recipe for disaster.
This season the Spitfires saw their attendance decrease by 12.3% over last season, and it's down 16.1% from the season before. The events of the last few days are not going to install any confidence back into the Windsor fan base. The league owners should be very concerned about the stability of this franchise. We have already seen the parent of one player display their concerns on twitter
Windsor Spitfires 2019 Offseason Thread
I have been one of the few (if not only) people who have stood up for you in the past. I understand the OHL is a business and I appreciate the decisions that need to be made. I don't buy into the comments that you are "Anti-one team" or "Pro-one team" as fans from all around the league suggest (I'm sure you've seen the comments). As a Knights fan I have a vested interest to see the Spitfires fail on the ice, but not this way. This situation is not good for the league at all and it's already making the league look bad. Yes we have seen sons of owners get drafted before, but this situation pales in comparison to those.
I think part of the issue I have with this is the potential for a free ride to University for a couple of kids who have not earned it, and their family can obviously afford to send them to any school they wish. Perhaps it's time to exclude family of ownership from the education package.
I am asking you to please scrutinize this deal with the Board of Governors. My hope is that this deal does not go through, but if it does safeguards are put into place to prevent any further ownership interference.
Thank you for your time,
