Balsillie's Back

[jds 20]

There's a few stories circulating about Jim Balsillie looking at buying the Predators again with some columnists here in Canada weighing in about him possibly moving the team to Hamilton. Wonder what the chances are this time?

From The Canadian Press:

An NHL source believes Jim Balsillie might be making a play for William (Boots) Del Biaggio's minority share in the Nashville Predators.

The share is said to be worth US$23.5-million, and Balsillie will likely have competition from the Predators ownership group headed by majority owner David Freeman, who has also shown interest.

Del Biaggio lost control of his 27 per cent share of the team when he filed for bankruptcy last June. He has been accused of fraud by several lenders and is facing a multitude of lawsuits seeking upward of $170 million.

Balsillie, the co-founder of Canadian-based Research In Motion Ltd, tried to purchase the Predators outright in 2007, but was rejected as a potential owner by the NHL because he made no secret about his plans to move the Predators to Hamilton.

Here's a column from Globe and Mail columnist Stephen Brunt (who happens to live in Hamilton)with some interesting opinions

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto.../TPStory/Sports

Balsillie's lawyer, Richard Rodier, declined to comment. A Predators spokesman said Freeman also has no comment.

[Chadd 916]

I can't see any way the NHL approves him as a partial owner.

[slaw 1]

Chadd, I totally agree with you. As long as the NHL claims to have 30 'healthy' markets they aren't going to move a franchise. That would make there 'healthy' claims look stupid. Plus, it's no secret that Balsillie and Bettman aren't exactly the best of friends.

[Chadd 916]

Chadd, I totally agree with you. As long as the NHL claims to have 30 'healthy' markets they aren't going to move a franchise. That would make there 'healthy' claims look stupid. Plus, it's no secret that Balsillie and Bettman aren't exactly the best of friends.

There are obviously struggling markets, I think Nashville will be fine in a few years. I really think that enough people in the area get it. Phoenix and Miami are the two markets that I would be most concerned about.

[mrusse01 0]

Chadd, I totally agree with you. As long as the NHL claims to have 30 'healthy' markets they aren't going to move a franchise. That would make there 'healthy' claims look stupid. Plus, it's no secret that Balsillie and Bettman aren't exactly the best of friends.

The NHL move a franchise under Gary Bettman's watch?!?! Certainly he would never allow such a travesty to occur.

To pry the tradition-laden Nashville Predators away from their die-hard fanbase would be cruel. Just ask the citizens of Winnipeg, St. Paul, Hartford, or Quebec City.

[Chadd 916]

Chadd, I totally agree with you. As long as the NHL claims to have 30 'healthy' markets they aren't going to move a franchise. That would make there 'healthy' claims look stupid. Plus, it's no secret that Balsillie and Bettman aren't exactly the best of friends.

The NHL move a franchise under Gary Bettman's watch?!?! Certainly he would never allow such a travesty to occur.

To pry the tradition-laden Nashville Predators away from their die-hard fanbase would be cruel. Just ask the citizens of Winnipeg, St. Paul, Hartford, or Quebec City.

I'm all for moving franchises from cities that have problems supporting teams, I just think Nashville is the wrong team to move. The Canadian dollar is also down 6% against the dollar over the last few months and it has been acknowledged that even getting to a 10% disparity will have a major impact on canadian teams.

[chippa13 1844]

Chadd, I totally agree with you. As long as the NHL claims to have 30 'healthy' markets they aren't going to move a franchise. That would make there 'healthy' claims look stupid. Plus, it's no secret that Balsillie and Bettman aren't exactly the best of friends.

There are obviously struggling markets, I think Nashville will be fine in a few years. I really think that enough people in the area get it. Phoenix and Miami are the two markets that I would be most concerned about.

With the transplanted northerners in Phoenix and the Lauderdale area, Florida plays closer to there than Miami, a little success should pack those houses.

[Chanimal 0]

Right, and that's why the FLA papers are saying they will not cover ANY Panthers games this season. Even Philly papers said the NHL is irrelevant. IN PHILLY?!?!? I don't know whether Nashville is "healthy" or not, but given the shady owners the NHL has, and the way Bettman runs the league, a newcomer like Ballsallie with a legit bank account, and I mean a huge bank account that doesn't need leveraging or loans to help make him a owner, is a good thing for the league.

[Chadd 916]

Right, and that's why the FLA papers are saying they will not cover ANY Panthers games this season. Even Philly papers said the NHL is irrelevant. IN PHILLY?!?!? I don't know whether Nashville is "healthy" or not, but given the shady owners the NHL has, and the way Bettman runs the league, a newcomer like Ballsallie with a legit bank account, and I mean a huge bank account that doesn't need leveraging or loans to help make him a owner, is a good thing for the league.

He's not going to be a good thing for the league if he can't even follow their policies and procedures BEFORE he buys a team. It seems like his goal is to make it as difficult as possible for this franchise to gain traction so he can buy it cheap and move it. Having an owner that hates league management as much as he does is a recipe for disaster.

[chippa13 1844]

Right, and that's why the FLA papers are saying they will not cover ANY Panthers games this season. Even Philly papers said the NHL is irrelevant. IN PHILLY?!?!? I don't know whether Nashville is "healthy" or not, but given the shady owners the NHL has, and the way Bettman runs the league, a newcomer like Ballsallie with a legit bank account, and I mean a huge bank account that doesn't need leveraging or loans to help make him a owner, is a good thing for the league.

I'd be interested to see a direct quote on that one.

And yet Balsillie keeps getting rebuffed in his attempts to purchase teams.

[Chanimal 0]

Here you go http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_dadd...?urn=nhl,111634

As for an owner not getting along with management, why is that a bad thing if the management is clearly incompetent, and only look after a small group of owner's interests? Who puts a regular season opener in London? Of all places in Europe, London? Only because the Ducks' owner has a stadium there. And oh yeah, he got himself a sweetheart deal when he negotiated a clause in his new deal that 2/3 of the owners have to vote in favor of any changes. Where does that ever happen? It's always 50% plus one. Now, as long as he pleases 1/3 plus one owners, he can get his way.

By the way, Nashville has to sell 27% (maybe 29%) of the team because it's an order from the bankruptcy courts, meaning it goes to the highest bidder, and Bettman and the rest of the league has no say in who can bid on it. On top of that in the next 18 months, if the team doesn't reach certain performance milestones, the new partner has the right to buy the rest of the team out right. Again, Bettman won't be able to stop that.

[chippa13 1844]

And Brian Biggane, the Florida Panthers writer for the Palm Beach Post, has been taken off the beat and the paper will "discontinue staff coverage" of the team.

That doesn't say FLA papers but rather a Florida paper, and not a major one at that. Perspective, my Nashua paper doesn't have a beat writer for any of the Boston pro sports teams. That little snippit about the Palm Beach Post means absolutely nothing.

I also noticed that you decided to ignore this little tidbit from the same blog.

Cohen is, of course, painfully misinformed. Hockey will never be irrelevant in Philadelphia.

[troy 12]

Hockey as whole in most of the USA is irrelevant, I that's what the guy from the Inquirer was saying. You are correct that in Philadelphia the Flyers will never be an afterthought but the Eagles dominate most everything here.

[Chadd 916]

By the way, Nashville has to sell 27% (maybe 29%) of the team because it's an order from the bankruptcy courts, meaning it goes to the highest bidder, and Bettman and the rest of the league has no say in who can bid on it. On top of that in the next 18 months, if the team doesn't reach certain performance milestones, the new partner has the right to buy the rest of the team out right. Again, Bettman won't be able to stop that.

The NHL has the right to approve or reject any new ownership, regardless of how the person buys their share. The NHL flat out told several groups that Mario's group was the only one that would be approved when the Penguins were in bankruptcy.

Hockey as whole in most of the USA is irrelevant, I that's what the guy from the Inquirer was saying. You are correct that in Philadelphia the Flyers will never be an afterthought but the Eagles dominate most everything here.

Hockey is so irrelevant that ESPN has significantly increased their online NHL coverage over the last couple years. Year after year the NHL finishes at the top in terms of the income and education levels of their fans.

[troy 12]

But the people with greater income levels that are more highly educated are also a minority, this doesn't make the sport significant on a national level. ESPN may have increased their online coverage of the NHL, but any significant NHL coverage on either network is rare. I think it's been pretty well substantiated that for the average person, hockey does not rate very high.

[Chanimal 0]

See this article about the choice of ownership - http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/510136

And this is the quote - "If another outsider bidder, such as Balsillie, tried to purchase a stake in the team, Freeman has said his group could reject the potential owner. However, that could end up in court since it is up to the bankruptcy trustee to select a purchaser."

As for NHL fans finishing at the top of the list in terms of income and education, that doesn't make it more popular, or relevant. Those with higher education and higher income does not make up the bulk/median of the public audience. The NHL ranks high there because these are the ones who can afford hockey. Generally, those with high incomes have higher level of education. And yes, that's a general statement. The NHL, well, hockey as a whole, has always suffered from a sort of barrier of entry because ice time, and gear are expensive (we gear-whores should know). Imagine putting 3-4 kids through hockey? Compare to putthing them through basketball, soccer, or football camps.....

ESPN's increase of coverage ONLINE maybe a step in the right direction, but again, though the online audience is growing everyday, it's still not TV, or newspaper. The NHL has no major TV deals, well, they have VERSUS and NBC (without much leverage) to an extent. And I know hockey is healthy in Canada, so I am not going to bother talking about the CBC, TSN, RDS and the lot.

My point all along is not saying ALL papers in FLA are not going to cover the Panthers, or that hockey is irrelevant in Philly, but it is about the bigger picture. The fact that a local franchise is losing interest of a local paper (demonstrated by the paper not sending a writer to cover the team), or that an assignment editor has a view that hockey is irrelevant, is not a positive development. Dollars and cents drive everything about the game, from the pro shops that JR and peers worked in to the concession at rinks. My opinion is that Bettman's track record has certainly not made strides for the games as a whole in terms of garnering a bigger market share, but it certainly has made a few of the owners very rich, and as long has he has these small number of owners in his back pocket, he can continue to do as he pleases. I think the big test is to see how this current period of economic uncertainty is going to affect the league and the game. We see how Detroit, the region and the team, has suffered. Not all the owners are Mike Illich, who is independently wealthy. A lot of them leveraged to the tilt to become an owner.

[Chadd 916]

But the people with greater income levels that are more highly educated are also a minority, this doesn't make the sport significant on a national level. ESPN may have increased their online coverage of the NHL, but any significant NHL coverage on either network is rare. I think it's been pretty well substantiated that for the average person, hockey does not rate very high.

Even the ESPN ombudsman has said they have treated the league unfairly, no doubt about that. The NBA is completely off the radar for as many people as the NHL is, but you don' hear stories about that every day. In the markets where there are NHL teams, there is significant interest. In markets where there isn't hockey, there isn't as much interest, just like a lot of other sports. Given how the NHL has been mocked by some media sources, you would think the league is damn near out of business. In reality, attendance has been very good almost across the board.

As for newspapers cutting coverage, most hockey people don't bother with newspapers anymore. If they do, it's via the paper's website. Hockey fans go online for coverage and information more than for any other sport. ESPN and TSN websites are recording record traffic on their hockey pages.

See this article about the choice of ownership - http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/510136

And this is the quote - "If another outsider bidder, such as Balsillie, tried to purchase a stake in the team, Freeman has said his group could reject the potential owner. However, that could end up in court since it is up to the bankruptcy trustee to select a purchaser."

It can end up in court, doesn't mean that Balsillie would win. It just means that he could/would sue. It also fails to address the NHL's ability to reject anyone who wants to be an owner.

My point all along is not saying ALL papers in FLA are not going to cover the Panthers, or that hockey is irrelevant in Philly, but it is about the bigger picture. The fact that a local franchise is losing interest of a local paper (demonstrated by the paper not sending a writer to cover the team), or that an assignment editor has a view that hockey is irrelevant, is not a positive development.

Newspapers are a declining industry, it's just a matter of time before they are all gone. I fully believe it will be within my lifetime.

[chippa13 1844]

And the discussion starts its way down the usual rat hole of the state of hockey in the US.

[Chadd 916]

And the discussion starts its way down the usual rat hole of the state of hockey in the US.

Almost always started by people living north of the border

[troy 12]

Chadd, I think we agree on this. A clearer version of the point I'm trying to make is for the foreseeable future hockey is a niche sport in American markets without an NHL franchise.

[Chadd 916]

Chadd, I think we agree on this. A clearer version of the point I'm trying to make is for the foreseeable future hockey is a niche sport in American markets without an NHL franchise.

AHL and ECHL franchises help spread love for the sport as well. Unlike other sports though, there are areas without hockey. Until those areas are exposed to the sport, it's crazy to expect them to have any passion for the sport.

[troy 12]

So you would rather see a grassroots introduction to hockey in the non-traditional markets eventually escalating into an NHL franchise as opposed to the opposite?

[Chadd 916]

So you would rather see a grassroots introduction to hockey in the non-traditional markets eventually escalating into an NHL franchise as opposed to the opposite?

A team in Hamilton would kill the Sabres. I would much rather see an existing small market franchise with so much history and a new market that has some amazingly passionate NEW fans continue to exist. I'm all for putting another team in Toronto or any other area that can support it without killing another US franchise. I'm against Balsillie being in the NHL though, he's out for himself and himself only and the NHL already has too many of those guys.

[DarkStar50 679]

The NHL has different types of fans. There are two main categories: the individual family fan and the corporate fan. The corporate fan is the company buying the luxury box at the arena. The family fan buys season tickets on different game plans, buys walk up tickets day of the game, or chooses to buy a certain game only. In Nashville, the owners need the corporate/company fans. It is my understanding that the luxury boxes in Nashville are not selling. Nashville and any NHL city can have great family fans but without corporate/company fans buying those boxes, the NHL is in a lot of trouble. Now, add in today's economy and corporate/company fans will be the first to abandon the NHL luxury boxes. The NHL is in for some very tough sledding this year and the future to fill the buildings. The traditional cities like Montreal and Toronto will continue to sell-out but the bottom 10 teams in attendance are only going to get worse with today's ticket prices and economy.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Is Balisillie buying the Habs...and more importantly...are they even for sale?

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=255052&lid...s=topStory_main