Winnipeg owners in NYC tuesday to meet with NHL Exec. committee

[vivianmb]

From the article on NHL.com
The swift fan support will no doubt be a happy topic of discussion when prospective owners David Thomson and Mark Chipman, True North chairman, interview with the League's Executive Committee in New York this coming Tuesday in advance of the June 21 Board of Governors full meeting.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=564817

Click to read more...

 

[AugustBurnsRed*]

Interesting.. I wonder why.. haha.

 

[vivianmb]

probably to have a Pre-vote interview..i would imagine all prospective owners go through it. or maybe after this weeks season ticket drive,the Executive board will name them co-chairs!LOL

 

[Alex The Loyal]

I wonder what they're doing. Maybe showing some sort of presentation for Winnipeg to the executives just to make sure that the BoG approves the deal and relocation.

Maybe they're asking to use the Jets name and logo? Though you would think a quick E-Mail to Bettman or the guy in charge of that stuff would suffice

 

[kdb209]

probably to have a Pre-vote interview..i would imagine all prospective owners go through it. or maybe after this weeks season ticket drive,the Executive board will name them co-chairs!LOL

I wonder what they're doing. Maybe showing some sort of presentation for Winnipeg to the executives just to make sure that the BoG approves the deal and relocation.

Maybe they're asking to use the Jets name and logo? Though you would think a quick E-Mail to Bettman or the guy in charge of that stuff would suffice

This is standard procedure - an interview with the Executive Committee which then reports it's recommendation to the BoG prior to the official vote.

 

[Alex The Loyal]

Oh okay then. Thanks

 

[vivianmb]

so they are there to (hopefully ) Seal the Deal.

 

[ProdigalJet]

Maybe they're asking to use the Jets name and logo? Though you would think a quick E-Mail to Bettman or the guy in charge of that stuff would suffice

Bettman has already stated that the league would make "The Jets" available if it were desired by TNSE.

 

[Hollywood3]

Anybody who votes against the transfer should have a drug test taken.

 

[Confucius]

I think some of the BofG are looking for loans. Probably want to hit up DT for a couple hundred mill or so. Maybe just want to sell the whole league to him. Call it 5 billion and it's all yours DT.

 

[RandR]

Interesting.. I wonder why.. haha.

They will be asked to answer some questions. One will be:

"If we let you guys into the NHL, are you going to behave yourselves or are you going to act like Jim Balsillie?"

Correct answer: "Jim who?"

 

[manisback121]

More likely to discuss a huge revenue generator, there are teams that draw close to sellouts, but are in severe financial trouble (dallas). Hockey is not reliant and cam not be reliant solely on gate revenue. Broadcast rights must also be obtained at a price, would not be surprised if there were 1 or 2 more of these pow wows before the meeting.

It's not just the value of the looney. You have teams that have few sellouts in a season, but always turn a profit (nj for example) due to one word television.

 

[manisback121]

Additionally, the meeting is to figure out where exactly they are at reliance on gate revenue v. Licensing and to ensure they have transitioned from an AHL mindset (gate and licensing driven) to a NHL mindset.

Mr.Thompson did not get to be a billionaire by losing money in a business, he made money. If he can not make money, he will unload the big club (this will be a sticking point IMO) . The league wants to make sure the team is in a position, hence the scrutiny.

It seems like reality does not strike some here, I hope some can see the issues involved here.

 

[AugustBurnsRed*]

Additionally, the meeting is to figure out where exactly they are at reliance on gate revenue v. Licensing and to ensure they have transitioned from an AHL mindset (gate and licensing driven) to a NHL mindset.

Mr.Thompson did not get to be a billionaire by losing money in a business, he made money. If he can not make money, he will unload the big club (this will be a sticking point IMO) . The league wants to make sure the team is in a position, hence the scrutiny.

It seems like reality does not strike some here, I hope some can see the issues involved here.

Uhm, what reality?

 

[Seanconn*]

Bettman has already stated that the league would make "The Jets" available if it were desired by TNSE.

how Much does Bettman want for it?

 

[Kebekoi]

how Much does Bettman want for it?

0.00 USD

 

[Steve Passless*]

Figure that money from Jets merchandise is already being split 30 ways; rejuvenate it for 2011 and there will be even more money being split 30 ways. It's not exactly an altruistic throw-in.

 

[IceAce]

how Much does Bettman want for it?

ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MUUUHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!

 

[manisback121]

Uhm, what reality?

True North is dealing with a different animal in the NHL, where gate revenue does not make the lion's share, and a small tv market where broadcasting revenue is going to be a fight. If any of these things goes wrong, try want to scrutinize that he won't unload the team to cut his losses.

There are a ton of jokes about DT being a billionaire, but the 13k is one portion of it. The 13k is going to ensure the mts centre is maintained and staff is paid. Owning a sports team in a new market is much like sitting at a roulette table and a gamble.

If the team starts bleeding money, then the same trouble as in 96 will happen again under the current ownership. There are certain issues that concern me as a fan of hockey overall. All I am saying is that I am happy there's a fanbase willing to pay (though they could have and should have charged more if the demand was that great).

The current economics makes it difficult for small market teams to survive, let along turn a profit due to the fact that broadcast revenue is a big portion. It is alarming that these guys don't have this set up, network partnership or anything out there. Will advertising and broadcasting contracts extend into manitoba and possibly into other provinces? Is there a guarantee for hockey night in canada to be broadcast from games in winnipeg (could pay 1-2 players' salary for that week)?

What type of radio/internet broadcast will there be? Who is a major sponsor? New ads
Around mts.

These are the questions being asked, the "moneyball" questions. Consequently the same signs you should be looking for. Manitoba telecom has the naming rights to the arena, but the naming rights to each section are important like here in nj belvedere owns the rights to the ice lounge along with local business groups. These are the true signs of security in a market.

 

[saskganesh]

in the NHL, where gate revenue does not make the lion's share

I am not sure what the lion is eating or how much, but gate $ remains the largest single source of revenue for most of the healthy NHL teams.

 

[badinsults]

I can guarantee you the TV and radio rights to Winnipeg are higher than for Phoenix or Atlanta. I honestly don't know why this argument is brought up. Phoenix and Atlanta, despite being huge cities, have their sports viewership split up in far more ways than the Winnipeg and surrounding region (especially considering they have an NBA season going concurrently with the NHL season). I bet that the media market for the Winnipeg team (which will likely include northern Ontario, Saskatchewan and possibly some of the bordering states) will draw more viewers/listeners per game than 10 Phoenix or Atlanta games.

 

[Koss]

There are a ton of jokes about DT being a billionaire, but the 13k is one portion of it. The 13k is going to ensure the mts centre is maintained and staff is paid.

That 13k is $88,478,000CAN + Suite revenue a year not counting playoff games. I think that's a bit more than they need to maintain the rink and pay the staff.

 

[Gump Hasek]

The theories floated in this thread by one specific poster with regard to the reasoning behind this specific meeting are incredibly naive in my view. The NHL are taking on a new partner. They've surely made all requirements of the partner explicitly known throughout the ongoing process. A simple meet and greet and as well a progress update with regard to those requirements does not equate to expressing tacit concerns about the specific potential partner.

For all anyone knows here, the reasoning behind this meeting could be that it is a precursor meet ahead of a snap overall approval BOG vote to be held ahead of the scheduled June 21 meeting - so TNSE may be able to have their own man in place at the GM meetings to be held later this week.

 

[PitbulI]

So, if MH and COG had finalized a sale, why does it seem that MH wouldn't have had to go through this same thing? Emergency BOG vote. This is something that probably goes on for normal sales, not the hush hush ones MH/NHL tried to do.

I do fear that even though TNSE has displayed a mature attitude, jumped through all the NHL hoops and even sold the season ticket drive very quickly, the NHL could throw a swerve and deny this sale because some guy in Atlanta who has a 20 dollar bill in his wallet wants to keep the team in Atlanta.

 

[Positive]

In 2008, the MTS Centre sold 385,427 tickets. These ticket sales included only non-sporting events and did not include hockey games. With the tickets sales the MTS Centre placed as the 19th busiest arena in the world. The arena sat as 11th busiest among facilities in North America, its highest ranking ever, and it remained in the 3rd spot in Canada, after the Bell Centre in Montreal (sixth worldwide) and the Air Canada Centre in Toronto (fifth worldwide). For the year of 2009 it ranked as the 39the busiest arena in the world, and 26th busiest in North America.

The MTS centre will maintain itself fine, it's not going to eat up the $$$ from 13k of NHL season tickets. Also remember AHL games have been hosted here for years. It's not like we suddenly start putting diamonds in the ice and start using gold zambonis.