NHL for sale.

[mjh89]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=116886

[Lauren '06]

Interesting.  That would be horrible for a team like the Senators, whose owner was responsible for bringing them up out of the basement.

[TCHL8842]

Well, I would not necessarily say it is for sale.  A group made a bid for them, and it sounded like there was no chance of the NHL being bought, but since it was a 3 billion dollar proposal they felt obligated to here out there proposal.  Anyways, I dont see teams like Colorado, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Toronto approving of this buy out even it is for real, so I would give it a 0.000001% chance of happening

[nyc94]

Didn't Disney just sell the Ducks?  I thought I saw that on the news ticker last weekend - and terms were undisclosed.

[TCHL8842]

Yeah they did, that was known for several years that they have been trying to sell the team.  The finally found a buyer, maybe the buyer got it cheap since they are in a lockout.

[calgARI '07]

I would hardly say the NHL is for sale.  This is just a ploy by the NHL in this whole process.  I can't even believe Bettman and Daly let those people through the door.  My interpretation of the whole thing is that if it did happen (which I really couldn't see in a million years), the league would turn into something comparable to a circus.

[ugarte]

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:

 I would hardly say the NHL is for sale.  This is just a ploy by the NHL in this whole process.  I can't even believe Bettman and Daly let those people through the door.  My interpretation of the whole thing is that if it did happen (which I really couldn't see in a million years), the league would turn into something comparable to a circus.[/q]Or MLS. You say tomato...

[dss28]

Paging Quo Vadimus...

[Facetimer]

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:

 I would hardly say the NHL is for sale.  This is just a ploy by the NHL in this whole process.  I can't even believe Bettman and Daly let those people through the door.  My interpretation of the whole thing is that if it did happen (which I really couldn't see in a million years), the league would turn into something comparable to a circus.[/q]

A circus?

I support the idea, in fact, Bain Capital has done wonders for struggling companies such as Domino's Pizza, KB Toys, etc.  Further, Bain's founder Mitt Romney has gone on to turn around the Olympics in Salt Lake City, amidst controversy and is now governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and poised to become the next Repulican candidate for President.  If anyone can get the NHL to be profitable and run smoothly it will be Bain Capital.

Certainly Romney and his company will do a better job than that clown Bettman has done. ::demented::

[Chairman Mao]

Do you think this would be good for the NHL?  I mean if they own the whole enterprise (before selling off teams and other bits to pay off debt) they could conceivably make the NHL into something akin to the WWE, which might raise revenue and increase popularity but isn't exactly good for the sport.  

[atb9]

[Q]ugarte Wrote:
Or MLS. You say tomato...[/q]

Cheap shot to us soccer fans.  The NHL started with 5 (or 4) teams in 1917 and expanded to six teams by 1925.  MLS was founded in 1996 with 10 teams and expanded to 12 by 1998.  In 8 seasons, the MLS already has audiences comparable to that of the NHL (.2 on ESPN2 and 16,600 avg attendance for NHL vs .18 on ESPN2 and 15,000 avg attendance for MLS).  In addition, the USA mens team is now a regular in the top 10 FIFA rankings and you can blame that on the MLS.  I'd put the first 8 years of MLS up against the first 8 years of the NHL any day.

So while there is a feel of socialism in the MLS, a touch is felt across all American sports (the weak of a league don't get punished by being relegated to a lower division) and the rest found in the MLS stems from investors seeing through the development of infrastructure (soccer specific stadiums and youth teams) necessary for a self-sustaining, successful league down the road.  Columbus, OH and LA have their stadiums, NY, Dallas, Chicago, and Salt Lake are in the process of building their stadiums.  If it weren't for a few billionaires running the entire league, the MLS would have died a long time ago and American soccer, beaming with talent and potential, would have remained in a ditch.

I'm sorry for getting defensive about a little tongue in cheek comment but like Cornell on the USCHO boards ::twak:: , I think soccer gets a real bum deal in America.  

[CUlater 89]

Some more info:

A company that has been involved in financing multiple sales of NHL franchises was part of a pitch at the league's board of governors meeting this week to buy the league outright. Sources confirm that GamePlan LLC, which helped facilitate the sale of the Senators to Eugene Melnyk in 2003, along with Bain Capital, made a 20-minute purchase presentation, offering just more than $100-million a team, for a total of more than $3-billion for the entire league. Under the proposed plan, the NHL would be operated as one company with franchise outlets, much like those in the retail industry.
-- Globe and Mail

In theory, such a structure would allow the league to get around one of the biggest hurdles in creating a new economic order: the vast discrepancies in revenue from market to market and the steadfast refusal of the wealthy clubs to share significant amounts with those near the bottom of the ladder. It would also allow the league to write its financial landscape from scratch, potentially paving the way to end the six-month-old lockout of members of the NHLPA.
-- Globe and Mail

"They told us they had a formula to compensate each owner based on the revenue and assets and size of market of each team," said one owner who attended the meeting. "I'm not sure how serious you can take the offer because it's an all-or-nothing deal. You need all 30 owners on board to make it work."
-- Toronto Star

[ugarte]

[Q]atb9 Wrote:

 [Q2]ugarte Wrote:
Or MLS. You say tomato...[/Q]
Cheap shot to us soccer fans.  [/q]I have nothing against soccer and regularly set my alarm at 5AM to watch the World Cup in Korea. And I wasn't trying to cheap shot the league; your points about the relative current popularity with the NHL are well taken. (Your comparison of a massive launch like MLS to the fledgling NHL, not so much.)  I take back my "circus" comment.

MLS is owned by the league. This structure allows for better wealth distribution and cost control (single-entity ownership gets around a lot of tricky antitrust restrictions), which is what I imagine the investor group is thinking.

But since I firmly believe that the majority of team owners are crying "Wolf" I don't figure that they will take the offer seriously.

[mjh89]

Let me explain that I am well aware that nobody will be buying the entire NHL and that it hasn't been offered for sale. I just thought it was a catchy title and that people would see the half-heartedness of it. Apparently, I was wrong.

[puff]

[Q]atb9 Wrote:

 ... I think soccer gets a real bum deal in America.[/q]


Very possibly it stems from coaches i had in high school. For the 4 years i was there i heard nothing but about how soccer was the devils own sport from my football coach. He really was just protecting his job, had soccer moved into my school, we would have had a hard time fielding both teams, especially with any quality.

Not until i was down in Costa Rica for a few weeks and i hit up one of thier big rivalry games of the time (Saprissa and Alajuelense) with some locals did i really develop an appreciation for the game. Small towns with old histories of the "traditional" american sports (basketball, baseball and football), until the last few years have pretty much left soccer off the radar, and its a shame.