Nashville Predators moving to Canada? NOPE! Sorry, Canucks (and KC!)...

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's the best scenario either, but at the same time it's not like the tax payers don't see any benifit at all. And if the the city maintains control of the building and its booking it can be a source of income that will help pay for it. But still I have a hard time listenting to billionaire owners bitch and complain about needing the tax payers to buy him a new arena to basically hand over to him.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

Oh, good. FIRST the taxpayers get to pay right out of the ass to BUILD the arena, THEN THEY HAVE A FUCKING OBLIGATION TO PAY ASTRONOMICAL TICKET PRICES FOR A SHITTY TEAM (which the Predators were for most of their first decade).

In other words, you have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for the right to pay hundreds of millions of MORE dollars for a mediocre product.

PROFESSIONAL SPORTS OWNERS ARE F$#$#KING BILLIONIAIRES. LET THEM PAY (every penny) THE CONSTRUCTION COSTS FOR THEIR OWN F$#KING FACILITIES.

Or get out of the fucking business. If you can't run your professional sports franchise in such a way to cover its own operational costs (which include the construction of new arenas), get out of the fucking business.

Pro sports franchise owners always piss and moan about how they're losing money, prove it.

Fold up a few franchises (BTW, it will never happen, because they're all making tons of money.)

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

If this is true, you think the BoG will really approve a sale to a guy that will throw the territorial fees, terrific threat to keep other teams from moving into areas that will affect their income, into mayhem?

The rumors are most aren't happy with how he's handled things already, and the only reason Balsillie is offering so much for the Preds is to raise the value of their franchises and keep them happy enough to approve the sale.

Does the BoG need a 2/3 majority to approve a sale, or is it just a simple majority?

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

Yup. And, as part of the team's agreement with the city, should an NHL team move to Hamilton, the Bulldogs must skip town.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

It's not a simple majority, however I believe it's greater than a 2/3 majority. I'm not 100% certain, but if I remember correctly, 24 of the 30 members would need approve a sale.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

You're right. The $64,000 question is whether the increased value of their franchises will put to one side whatever animosity they have.

Problem is, no one knows how many are pissed off.

Maybe most of them don't give a shit if the Preds move to Hamilton as long as they get their money.

The other thing you have to remember is that if they move to Hamilton, that will only give the other owners additional money. 40% of the NHL revenue from non-ticket sales comes from the 6 Canadian teams.

And I don't know whether it's 2/3. Probably but I don't know

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

But how much of that 40% is from the Leafs and Habs? My guess would be at least 60 percent of that 40 percent, and maybe more. To lump those two behemoths in with the other two is unfair. It's like lumping the Yankees and Red Sox with the rest of the AL East and claiming 40 percent of MLB apparel sales come from teams in that division, when almost all of it is the two big teams.

I've only heard second and third hand rumors about the BoG being unhappy, and it's always been "several." Plus for your big teams with no desire to sell, the franchise value thing may not be enough to get around the very forward approach Basillie is already taking.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

The idea that Balsillie's bid will raise the value of other franchises is the most ridiculous thing ever, and only the Canadian media -- which pops a collective woody at the prospect of another team moving to Canada -- buys into it.

Find me anybody else in the world willing to pay $220 million for an NHL franchise. Go ahead. I'll wait...

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

I wouldn't completely underestimate the value of the four other teams to that 40 per cent. Obviously the revenue from the Leafs and the Habs is likely overwhelming, but I remember reading somewhere that the Oilers third jersey is the best selling third jersey in the NHL, and the Flames broke sales records with their new red sweaters. Then you have to consider the growing fan base of the Canucks and the success of the Sens this year. There is still plenty of revenue coming out of the rest of Canada, likely moreso individually than the majority of American markets. It is far different than your AL East comparison - the rest actually do contribute greatly to that 40 per cent rather than being a drain on it.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

It's not ridiculous at all. It's business 101. And it's not just "the Canadian media" for heaven's sake, who are saying that.

And I don't know everybody else in the world but there's someone out there who probably would now pay $250,000,000 for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It's like real estate. That shitbox down the street that sold for $500,00 was about $100,000 over what everybody in the world thought it was worth. Thing is, the house that everyone thought was worth $500,00 is maybe now worth $650,000.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

Eh, not quite like real estate, especially in this case. The price going up depends on many people willing to pay for it (in the case of your example, the price rises over time because people raise their offers to compete). If no one but Basillie is willing to pay $220 million for the Preds, then it won't push the market value up.

There's not the same constant market for sports teams. In the big team sports in North America, maybe one team per league gets sold a year. When they get sold, the power is in the buyer's hands because the owner is often looking to sell and soliciting his team to potential buyers (as opposed to the real estate market where there are multiple potential buyers for every owner and they solicit the owners).

Plus Basillie will be seen as an outlier rather than the rule. It's not that every franchise's value went up - it's that someone was willing to pay more for a very special case. It's almost like an addition, in your real estate example. The Preds, because they would be easy to move, have a pool with a waterslide and a gazebo in the backyard all of a sudden as opposed to the rest of the houses on the block that don't.

 

Re: Nashville Predators moving to Canada? Sure seems like it...

Not necessarily. As has been proven over and over again, the so-called smart business people lose all sense of reality because their desire to be involved in professional sports outweigh any market realities. They overpay because they can.

The same line of thinking that allowed Basillie to overbid for the franchise also explains why the Boston Bruins a few years ago decided to give Martin Lapointe at five year $25,000,00 contract--for at best a third line winger--and Texas to pay Rodgriguez his $250,000,000 contract. It has nothing to do with "market forces"