The_Admiral

Yeah, he even told the city council he didn't have enough money before they voted.

As usual when it comes to the NHL, I'm having some trouble wrapping my head around the Creative Math that would go into this. (Matt Hulsizer being gifted more money than it would take to buy the team but still not being able to afford that is the all-timer.) From what's trickled out over the last few years, the Coyotes have lost about $40 million a year, so minus the taxpayer subsidy that's about $15 million that the league loses on the team every year. The subsidy is going down, player payroll is possibly going up, and if Jamison doesn't have enough money to buy the team outright, how does he have the money to shoulder the annual losses? If this is supposed to be part of a payment plan, how does he afford to pay in installments? The only explanation I can come up with for this plan is that Jeremy Jacobs owns their concession contract.

Report today is that Jamison is anywhere from $100 to $120 million short of what he needs, and so the NHL will own the majority of the team in perpetuity. Boy, that sucks if true. Having an NHL team in Phoenix is officially the most important thing in the history of sports.

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/EJMontini/163935?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

An editorial whose thesis is basically "just because it's illegal doesn't mean you have to do anything about it." To wit:

The Goldwater Institute does not HAVE to sue. It?s like a police officer who issues a motorist a warning rather than a ticket. The institute has discretion.

Prosecutors use it. Teachers use it. Parents use it.

Shouldn?t a think tank?

Is a community best served when the letter of the law is followed to the harshest degree each and every time or when those in a position of authority take into consideration all of the pros and cons and then exercise a little common sense?

Wait.

I forgot.

This is Arizona.

Not only does he close it out with a TRIPLE-BARRELED Telander-Plaschke Douchebag One-Line Terminal Graph, oh my god, he completely undermines himself by admitting that the Goldwater Institute is correct and justified in their opposition to this bad deal, just that the deal should be allowed to stand because sports.

I'm curious to hear your reasoning why Tampa Bay and Carolina have "proven" themselves as productive hockey cities while Anaheim and NY Islanders are contraction fodder. Please elaborate.

teams their winned cusp!

http://www.chicagotr...8719,full.story

Keeps happening. Though hahaha did some Bridgeview city spokesman drop a "your guyses Cubs suck, go Sox" in here?

"Toyota Park has been the best thing to ever happen to Bridgeview. It's brought a new spirit and pride and regional attention," he said. "The Fire is a remarkable team, far better than the Tribune's properties. ..."

But yeah what a mess.

Via email, he said "fluid" negotiations led to a "cutting-edge private and public partnership."

RUN IN THE OTHER DIRECTION

Can someone explain to me why half of hfboards is convinced a 2 team expansion is going to be part of the new CBA? I mean such an act of insane stupidity only makes sense under OITGDNHL logic.

Yeah, it's mostly that one numbnuts who keeps saying "don't worry, Quebec, you'll get a team...in expansion! " or something and then craps out some idiotic 12-point plan for how Bettman will successfully knock 7% off the players' revenue in exchange for two new teams despite the fact there isn't enough ownership for 28 teams right now, let alone 32. Mainstream message boards remind us how good we have it in our dark dork corners. Our worst beat their best.

Yeah, what? They're not leaving the city alone at all. They got a judge to say that the vote can (and will) be struck down now that it's been passed.

Oh, and apparently most of the council members didn't read some important documents beforehand, as it was "in someone's email inbox" and they couldn't reach it. That's okay, though, because

sports-sports-sports-sports,

sports-sports-sports-sports,

sport-spor-spor sport sp-sporrrrts...

sports!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0edCAOkdXgU

Greg Jamison ponders investment opportunities. Currently self-immolating: the San Jose Sharks

If this finally breaks the right way, I swear I'll hitchhike to the Plains of Abraham just to party with the locals. I've been on this rollercoaster too long. Who's with me? Allons-y!

All things Nats should be a navy base with red trim and gold beveling. Any comparisons to the Braves, who have a pretty equal balance between navy and red, would be superficial at best.

Oh, and the DC hat, of course. No curly W. Curly W blows.

http://ktar.com/22/1...of-Coyotes-deal

"We said, 'Hey, do this in a couple of days when you've had a chance to finish these exhibits and get everything public and give taxpayers the chance to look at the documents and weigh in,'" said Rhoades. "And that is all we're asking for: that people have the chance to be heard. They rushed this thing to a vote without being ready."

Rhoades said the deal was rushed by the NHL and rumors that Jamison's investors are faltering.

You missed the money quote:

"The judge said, 'I don't have the legal authority to block them from voting today, but I agree with you, Goldwater Institute, that they are violating open meetings law,'" said Rhoades. "'They are violating public records law and they are in violation of court orders to provide documents to the public and if you come back to me, after they've passed this deal, I will strike it down.'"

Glendale annoyed the courts last year by dragging their feet hard on the Matt Hulsizer Magical Parking Lot documents. It could be that they're tired of the city's crap.

City approved the subsidy 4-2 after a parade of people complaining that they couldn't afford to give the team all that money, along with some defenders who said sports. Dissenting votes were the mayor and the guy who wants them to go bye-bye; the woman who has actual common-sense reasons for not doing this is in the hospital or something. Now Goldwater is going to sue the city. Still nothing certain yet, and Bettman even told the council that Jamison hasn't raised enough money yet. God, this will NEVER END.

Oh and hey, somewhere in this big mess it came out that Nashville subsidizes the Predators with a $12 million "arena management fee," after which the team still loses money, so they're running the same scam the Coyotes are trying to run, just on a 40% smaller scale. "With hard work and time, hockey succeeded in Nashville!" No, with generous taxpayer bailouts, it still kinda squeaks along at best. Derp.

Oh crap, I was out most of the afternoon and now I'm sifting through the HFboards liveblog of the council meeting, trying to piece together what the hell this was today. There are no words, just

Tomorrow morning the City of Glendale plans to consider what is estimated to be a $425 million arena management deal for Jobing.com Arena. Arizona?s Open Meetings Law and multiple court orders require the city to make public all documents related to the proposed contract at least 24 hours before a Council vote is taken, which it has not done. The 100-page deal released on Monday refers to a number of exhibits that are central to analyzing the impact of the deal on Glendale?s finances, which the city must make public. Per respecting Open Meetings Law requirements, the Goldwater Institute will be requesting a temporary restraining order to prevent the Glendale City Council from voting on the contract Friday morning.

Go go Goldwater.

HE DOESN'T HAVE THE MONEY ANYWAY GUYS

Moving to the Western Conference would kind of suck for the Jets, as they'd go from playing for Fake Third Place to getting stuck in a big mess, particularly behind teams that won't give up the ghost and politely go to the back of the line (Sharks, Flames, arguably Ducks).

Some reporter out of Quebec said there's an alternate schedule with Quebec City (no elaboration as to if it also includes Colorado in the Pacific and Winnipeg in the Northwest, placing QC in the NASCAR Division Parking Lot till realignment), and that Peladeau can turn on a dime if need be, so I guess there's no guarantee that they're in Phoenix next year.

If the season gets cancelled, they get a million free passes to prove their hockey worth, because the NHL won't exist anymore.

The City also is giving the arena manager parking rights. In the previous proposed deal with Matthew Hulsizer, the City valued parking rights at approximately $100 million over a specified period, and used those estimates to issue bonds. The Council should be informed of the value of the parking rights that are being transferred and the basis of that value, as part of the assessment of whether the agreement includes an illegal subsidy and is fair to taxpayers.

"You said you had to buy that parking lot [from yourself] for $100 million. Now that you had it all along, you're just giving $100 million away?"

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

This is interesting:

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/2012/06/05/20120605big-time-market-feeling-bit-small.html

Phoenix native Phil Motta has a marketing firm and a background in sports. He said the "use of 'Arizona' as a bland, imprecise compromised alternative to the urban, big-league name 'Phoenix' contributes to a diminished sense of urban patriotism." He believes this contributes to the small-market behavior too often prevalent in these parts, one born from a small-market self-perception.

It's also partly why he moved his business to Los Angeles.

"I hated doing that," Motta said. "But things like the Cardinals dumping Phoenix as its identity -- and thus telling the country and the world that the place called 'Phoenix' wasn't really a major-league city like Chicago or Seattle or LA -- badly hurt the place's image and affected its suitability as a headquarters location for firms like mine, which solicit clients all over the country and the world."

See, I told you guys naming teams for states was stupid.

Yet even with a stake in the game, Kendrick said he'd resist changing his team's name to the Phoenix Diamondbacks. Alas, once you use the state name as a moniker, you can't go back without appearing small.

"I think we feel a responsibility to be the state's baseball team," he said. "And as much as I love Phoenix, I think Arizona is more representative of who we are and what we want to be."

Marlins just did it! So too can Phoenix and Denver's teams.

Forbes says he doesn't have the money yet.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2012/06/06/jamison-still-trying-to-raise-money-to-purchase-coyotes/

Although the Glendale City Council votes this Friday on new 20-year lease (located at the bottom of this post) at Jobing.com Arena for Greg Jamison, the prospective buyer of the Phoenix Coyotes, sources familiar with the matter say the former CEO of the San Jose Sharks still has not raised enough money to buy the National Hockey League team.

According to these sources Jamison is having trouble raising the money to make the $170 million purchase because investors believe that even with a $15 million a year taxpayer subsidy over the course of the new lease the Coyotes will have difficulty turning a profit. The Coyotes, bought by the NHL while in bankruptcy in 2009 for $140 million, have been losing money even though they have been getting a $25 million a year subsidy from Glendale.

. . .

Don't be shocked if the NHL lowers its asking price well below $170 million or the deal with Jamison falls through, just like the previous negotiations to sell the team to Jerry Reinsdorf and Matthew Hulsizer fell apart. In November we valued the Coyotes at $134 million, last in the 30-team league.

Oh and they're ramrodding the vote through on a Friday morning when no one can address City Council.

Seems like the Arizona Republic is slowly turning on the team. They'd been kind of a booster all along.

A proposed 20-year agreement with a likely Phoenix Coyotes buyer may cost Glendale more than $45 per resident each year over the life of the deal.

The city appears poised to pay a group led by former San Jose Sharks chief executive Greg Jamison nearly $325 million over 20 years to operate and make improvements to the city-owned Jobing.com Arena.

An Arizona Republic analysis of a draft released Monday by the city showed Glendale expects to collect less than half that amount via ticket surcharges, rent, sales tax and other team fees during the same period.

hmm.

A Republic analysis revealed that even if the Coyotes went to the Stanley Cup Finals for the next 20 seasons and the arena booked 30 sold-out concerts each year for the next 20 years, Glendale could still expect to lose about $9 million annually.

That figure does not include the city's annual arena debt payments, which will average about $12.6 million a year over the next 20 years.

Longtime Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs, who has said next year's budgeted $17 million arena management fee is too steep, said Monday she cannot support the deal.

The current deal allows Jamison to keep all revenues to offset expenses and anything left over from the city's arena fee of $10 million to $20 million a year will help run the hockey team, Scruggs said.

even if the Coyotes went to the Stanley Cup Finals for the next 20 seasons and the arena booked 30 sold-out concerts each year for the next 20 years, Glendale could still expect to lose about $9 million annually.

You idiots!

Far be it from ME of all people to grouse about a thread going off topic, but this one's my baby, and I won't shed no tears if Major-Junior Roll Call were to find itself spun off.

But yeah, I don't think this is the slam dunk that the Arizona people make it out to be. Between the huge arena management fees (paying $300 million for them to pay you $10 million? pear), the handing over of the very same parking lots that Glendale claimed it had to buy from Fax Hulsizer, and the surrendering of various ancillary revenue streams, it shouts illegal subsidy. All that plus no one's sure the guy has enough money.

Yeah, and Barclays may not fit a hockey rink, but it doesn't slough asbestos and its roof doesn't leak, so six of one, half-dozen of the other.

I'm going to take that a step further and say I liked this Mets jersey when it was used for BP

At least there's no black.

Actually, the person wearing it is black. Maybe you should've thought about that before you made your post.

Jamison still doesn't have the money and the city doesn't have the money to pay billionaires $20 million a year. What a bunch of crap from crappy people.

Yeah, I feel like kelly green or forest green with brown would've been an awesome neo-retro color scheme for a North Stars team that stuck around for the neo-retro design era. Green and cream sweaters/socks, pseudo-leather brown shorts. Would've been nice and old-timey, and appropriately earthy for Minnesota. Someone should try brown with sea foam or mint green, too. More contrast that way.

Brown and light blue is terrific and the Memphis Grizzlies should be using it: brown for both grizzly bears and the river, it's too perfect! Brown and red would look awesome for the Indians, giving a distinct Rust Belt look to a team that can get lost in the navy/red shuffle.

So it's a good color and should be used more. Just don't paint-bucket the swooshy Padres logos with brown, because that doesn't work.