NHL Contingency Schedule moves Phoenix to Winnipeg, Jets join NW division

[Wezil]

Do you mean me? I'm still here.

Of course.

I do think Pheonix could do OK.

This century or next?

[Wezil]

Personally I'd love to see them stay for at least another 10 years. A) My only interest in the NHL these days is to point and laugh , and B) it would prevent (maybe) people from arguing the Phoenix team wasn't given enough time.

Btw, "breaking even" /= "viable" when you are talking about an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. That's the equivalent of losing.

[notyoueither]

Btw, "breaking even" /= "viable" when you are talking about an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. That's the equivalent of losing.

From what I've read, there are significant tax advantages for owners of pro-sports teams in the US. Furthermore, many owners make their return from appreciation of the asset.

Finally, for many owners the goal is vanity more than anything else. Breaking even while your asset appreciates and you get to play golf with Gretzky is a very good thing and makes the franchise quite viable.

[Wezil]

Too bad Phoenix is having trouble getting someone to take advantage of the tax benefits. At least they're good enough to agree to keep paying the losses.

[notyoueither]

The situation with the previous owner(s) is a bit of a mess.

I'm not shocked that there is a shortage of interest when combined with the economy.

[Wezil]

How much longer do they need NYE to become profitable?

2 years? 5? 10?

At what point would you say locating a professional ice hockey team in the desert was a bad idea? Could you ever bring yourself to say it?

[notyoueither]

Why is hockey in Pheonix such an important issue to you?

What was compelling about LA? Dallas? St Louis? San Jose? There are franchises in all those places that do OK. In most 'non-traditional' markets it took time to develop, but once settled the franchises are solid.

Nashville went from losing money to breaking even in a single season after an ownership change. The new ownership are locals with connections everywhere in the market. The old owner had alienated local business communities.

The bit about Phoenix being in the desert may sound good in your mind, but it really is a bad argument. There are millions of Canadians living in and visiting that desert every winter. Is it a bad idea to have a hockey team in a community with a large number of Canadians?

I have no idea how long they need to be profitable. It depends how much damage was caused by the previous owners and the bankruptcy. The NHL made a commitment to the city that they would exhaust all efforts to find owners who would keep the team there. By their agreement the NHL could have moved the team this summer. It appears they and the city want to give it one more year. Why does that upset you so?

[Sparrowhawk]

Sorry to interupt/threadjack, but does anyone know when the regular season schedule will be released?

I hope to travel to LA/Anaheim in November/December and am eagerly looking forward to seeing a schedule in hopes of seeing at least one game while I am there but no idea when the schedule will be released.

Anyone know?

[action=Sparrowhawk][/action]

[notyoueither]

Last year it was mid July, I think.

[Wezil]

It doesn't upset me NYE. It's amusing as all hell.

You and I share the same desire - we both want the team to stay in Phoenix.

[Kitschum]

This talk about which cities are "viable" got me thinking that maybe you have too many teams altogether.

Throw some out and concentrate the talent, which leads to better more exciting hockey, leads to more fans, more income. Then if, much later, expansions are looking more viable again you can do that.

[Wezil]

That's not the objective Kitschum. The quality of the game declined decades ago.

Now the point is to bring that game to people that have no history with it and no interest in it. They don't know what they are missing and Bettman will make sure they get on board.

I think New Mexico needs an expansion team. Albuquerque Attack.

Why has Nevada been overlooked? Canadians vacation there in droves. Let's get a team going there too. Investment loss opportunities abound.

[notyoueither]

This talk about which cities are "viable" got me thinking that maybe you have too many teams altogether.

Throw some out and concentrate the talent, which leads to better more exciting hockey, leads to more fans, more income. Then if, much later, expansions are looking more viable again you can do that.

None of the owners want to see contraction. It would not be good for values of their clubs for the most part, and values of their clubs are very important to them.

Also, the candidates for moving or contraction are mostly in large American media markets. More viewers in more markets will lead to larger TV / internet broadcast revenue in the future.

Growth into non-traditional US markets and looking for broadcast (or cable) revenues have been the plan of the owners since before they hired Bettman.

[notyoueither]

If the US economy double-dips, then we may see contraction.

We are more likely to see refinement of the salary cap even if the economy tanks.

The players demanded a salary floor to go with the cap. After having to hand back large chunks of their paycheques due to escrow, they may now be willing to see a far lower floor (a larger gap between cap and floor) so that they would be more likely to get bonus cheques at the end of the year rather than handing salary back.

The governors would most likely be in favour of eliminating the floor if that would avoid contraction of some of the immature franchises.

[Asher]

Sorry to interupt/threadjack, but does anyone know when the regular season schedule will be released?

I hope to travel to LA/Anaheim in November/December and am eagerly looking forward to seeing a schedule in hopes of seeing at least one game while I am there but no idea when the schedule will be released.

Anyone know?

[action=Sparrowhawk][/action]

June 22nd it'll be announced. Bettman just said so.