NHL Anti-Thread: Bad Business Decision Aggregator

[TheOldRoman]

Admiral, I wouldn't be surprised if the NHL has actually done its due diligence (I know, shocking) and the Coyotes are shipped out this summer. They kept the Coyotes in the desert as long as Glendale was subsidizing losses, but now that they won't give more money and there is no chance at all of finding a for-real owner because of it, I'm thinking the NHL will pull the damn plug as soon as they can. The Quebec ownership group has known for a while that they may or may not be getting a team soon, so I'm sure they have everything in order. I wouldn't be surprised if everything is set up with QC other than signatures, even while the NHL had its fingers crossed that the Kings end up in Seattle so they could send the Coyotes there. In fact, I think the only way the Coyotes stay next year is if the Kings do move to Seattle and they still need time to put together an ownership group. Maybe I'm giving the NHL too much credit here.

And I will shed a solitary tear when the Coyotes finally do move. These threads have been lots of fun. I suggest our next mega-thread follows the Marlins cluster- . It's kinda after the fact, but there is certainly a lot to talk about with the horrible stadium fleecing that will cost the city $2 billion and the fact that Loria re-destroyed the team a mere four months after its supposed renaissance.

[Kramerica Industries]

If we're talking about previous iterations of this thread, then I'm left to wonder why they were burned off in the first place.

All I can think of is that these threads get broken off like we break off seasonal threads. You know, like the 2009-10 buffoonery of Glendale, then the 2010-11 buffoonery, and the beat goes on.

[walby2]

Speaking personally, I am annoyed that this embarrassing chitshow is coming to an end just as I have planned a trip to Phoenix for the first time this fall, thereby depriving me of the chance to at least get dirt cheap tickets to a NHL game next season.

Screw you, Coyotes.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

I'll be sad to see them go. Nice identity overall, especially the original set. I've still got the original white jersey tucked away somewhere.

[The_Admiral]

Well, Glenfail just authorized $6,000,000/yr in "arena management fees" for the next five years, so they're probably not going anywhere.

[Magnus]

Funny, how I'm reading the article, they are seeking a non-Coyotes consultant to run the arena, which would indicate to me that that money would not be going to the hockey team itself, but to these new consultants, whomever they would be.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/glendale/articles/20130410glendale-pursuing-jobing-arena-management-deal.html

[bosrs1]

Funny, how I'm reading the article, they are seeking a non-Coyotes consultant to run the arena, which would indicate to me that that money would not be going to the hockey team itself, but to these new consultants, whomever they would be.

http://www.azcentral...ement-deal.html

Exactly. They're prepping for life without the Coyotes. And with the Coyotes not getting the "management fee" kickback the numbers won't even come close to penciling out for any would be Arizona based owners. This all but guarantees they're gone either this off season or next.

[JackieMoon]

It's been almost 20 years, and it's been proven to be a huge mistake. Time for the team to be renamed the Quebec Nordiques.

[NJTank]

Well, Glenfail just authorized $6,000,000/yr in "arena management fees" for the next five years, so they're probably not going anywhere.

Picture of Glendale's Mayor

[The_Admiral]

Actually the mayor is one of those crusty old gun nuts. I believe he redecorated the mayor's office with deer antlers and associated varmints.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Well, Glenfail just authorized $6,000,000/yr in "arena management fees" for the next five years, so they're probably not going anywhere.

Picture of Glendale's Mayor

POTD

[Sport]

Actually the mayor is one of those crusty old gun nuts. I believe he redecorated the mayor's office with deer antlers and associated varmints.

Rich Texan Arizonan

[FiddySicks]

Well, Glenfail just authorized $6,000,000/yr in "arena management fees" for the next five years, so they're probably not going anywhere.

Picture of Glendale's Mayor

POTD

No

[RyanMcD29]

Not the Coyotes, but still ARIZONA HOCKEY FEVER!!1! http://deadspin.com/when-minor-league-hockey-promotions-go-wrong-480995305

[HedleyLamarr]

Possible last Coyotes game in Glendale tonight?

I think we'll hear some concrete news soon about their future. Bettman has his faults, but he knows better than to have a team announce relocation plans while said team still has home dates left on the schedule. After tonight, that domino falls.

[The_Admiral]

Reports that the Potential New Owners have been SIGHTED in the owner's box. You know, like Ice Edge, Hulsizer, and Jamison were. So it'll be another summer of this, won't it. This league is really good at letting people pretend to own the team.

[rvrdgsfn]

Reports that the Potential New Owners have been SIGHTED in the owner's box. You know, like Ice Edge, Hulsizer, and Jamison were. So it'll be another summer of this, won't it. This league is really good at letting people pretend to own the team.

Ah so Pierre Karl Péladeau & friends decided to make the trip to Glendale eh?

[kiwi_canadian]

The more and more I see this entire crap hole that is the never ending saga of the Phoenix Coyotes, the more I get the idea there is something that Gary isn't telling the public. Why is it that he is so persistent keeping a team in a place that is not a hockey market? Something just does not seem right in all of this. Why is it that Bettman didn't sell the team to True North instead of Atlanta?

Is it just me reading too much into this or do some other people see this?

[The_Admiral]

The Thrashers were sold to True North because they were in direr straits than the Coyotes, believe it or not. While the Coyotes are indeed a black hole, their existence could still be perpetuated by the NHL continuing to own the team, with or without tax subsidies from Glendale (but preferably with). The Thrashers, on the other hand, were straight-up evicted from Philips Arena by their ownership group, who wanted to allocate the Thrashers' arena dates toward more lucrative events and not run an ice plant all year. If the Thrashers had been kicked out and not sold to True North, it really would have hit the fan. They probably would have had to fold altogether.

True North was in talks to buy the Coyotes. They were also in talks to buy the Thrashers, and the Predators, and some may even have you believe the Penguins. Chipman has gone on to say that the Thrashers were the prime target all along (which jibes with some reports circa 2010 to that effect, most of which were dismissed out of hand because how could Winnipeg buy a troubled team other than the ex-Jets?), with the Coyotes coming into play only when Bettman needed leverage to extort bailouts out of Glendale and get them to write up ridiculous handouts for new owners.

Bettman ended up playing everyone against each other really well, as he ran a second shakedown on Glendale Clown College for another $25 million with the threat of selling to Winnipeg, while no one at Glendale had done their due diligence regarding the Atlanta situation. Had they known that the Thrashers were about to get kicked to the curb and would have to be dealt with immediately, they could have said no to the subsidy and made the NHL run the team on their own dime with nowhere else to put it. Quebec City wouldn't be ready for another year and a half or so, Hamilton is a big no, and no one else seemed willing or able.

As for why they're still here with the Atlanta situation taken care of, my suspicion is that they're waiting out a decision on Seattle or hoping that Glendale will once again furnish a lavish subsidy to a willing buyer who comes into City Hall and mumbles something about how "this is a real hockey town." If Quebec City is still in play, they could be trying to burn off years of Colisee usage. My real suspicion for years, which was finally addressed in the lockout talks, is that the Coyotes (among other teams) are an intentionally leaky roof designed to hedge against revenues in larger markets so as not to ratchet up the salary floor for everyone. With the new CBA, not only is it advantageous to keep dragging down everyone's averages, but the mere existence of a team that acts only to drag down the average is helped along by more generous HRR splits and revenue sharing. If they're willing to give the team away, there's no reason someone can't keep this thing running on fumes for a few years, but at the same time they're strangely unwilling to give the team away.

This answered nothing.

EDIT: oh, here it is, it was in The Instigator re: the Coyotes as a manipulator, following a breakdown of escrow and revenue sharing

The union feels the [revenue] split is unjust because the league can effectively manipulate escrow by keeping a money-losing team like the Coyotes in Phoenix, rather than moving them to a place like Quebec City where they would turn a profit and add $30 million to $40 million more a season to overall revenues. (By some estimates, Phoenix alone is responsible for 70 percent of the [escrow] clawback in recent years.) So it's not just that the players aren't getting the face value of their contracts, the money they are refunding to the owners is being used to prop up the same sick and lame franchises that are costing them the cash in the first place.

Devious. OITGDNHL

[charger77]

So are the Coyotes finally dead, or is the NHL going to do this again?