Bettman meeting with Ryan Smith, owner of Utah Jazz and Real Salt Lake (upd: Smith asks NHL to open expansion process)

[GKJ]

@GKJ
Yes and?
Do you think that they have a clause like "If the majority doesn't like your ass, you are gonna get stripped of your team and you cannot do a thing about it!"?
or the "If we don't like you, we can force you to sell for any price we determine fit" clause.
They don't because why would anybody buy a team if there is the threat of people just taking it away.
And even if they decide to take it away, then they will have a court battle and that may threaten the NHL in general.

In the end Muerelo can demand what he seems fit for the franchise. He has the commodity and based on the laws of the free market he can determine for what price he wants to sell. If he even wants to sell the team.

So far we do not know that and they cannot force him to sell. And we don't even know if the yotes will relocate.
Maybe instead of speculating, we should calm down and wait.

I think that when a bunch of billionaires come together and decide they want something to happen, then it will happen. I don’t know exactly how, but if they decide the Coyotes are going to play in Utah next year, then the Coyotes are going to play in Utah next year. The money always wins.

 

[Osakahaus]

Why not both? The league is better with a stable Coyotes franchise and two new teams in Atlanta and SLC

but the league would also be better if we didn't dilute the talent pool and saw a viable way to make money. the NHL cannot keep expanding at this rate. its unsustainable.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

He's insane at this point. He makes more money from expansion than actual hockey games

Never been a fan of Bettman...in these parts he's known as ButtCrack Bettman cause he talks out his Ass like my MotherLaw

but the league would also be better if we didn't dilute the talent pool and saw a viable way to make money. the NHL cannot keep expanding at this rate. its unsustainable.

With and more Countries developing talent(USA) especially the talent level is going up I believe

 

[Yukon Joe]

31 other owners are sick of it, or just frustrated Canadian internet nationalists?

31 owners sick of it.

I don't think anyone is thinking Arizona is relocating to Canada. Quebec City is not ready, Toronto 2 is never happening, there's nobody for Hamilton., etc. No team is coming to Canada.

But I think the writing appears to be on the wall for Arizona. Now it's almost certainly going to be another US city - whether it's SLC, Atlanta, Houston, who knows - but Arisonza seems unlikely to survive.

Now - I say that knowing I've been wrong for 15+ years about Arizona/Phoenix! So I'm probably wrong now! But the signs don't look good for Arizona.

 

[hammer42]

That is why expansion comes around again which won't for at least five years or so & the what comes of the coyotes situation most like relocation where to who knows most likely Houston Because can't see the Rockets owner ponying up over 2 billion dollars for an NHL. expansion team he is going to want to get relocated Coyotes team on the cheap .

This is my opinion within the next 15 years or so the NHL , NFL , NBA , MLB & MLS will have 40 teams that is even 20 teams in each conference & here are the cities to choose from..

Quebec City
Hamilton
Kansas City
Portland
Salt Lake City
Houston
Atlanta
Hartford
San Diego
Milwaukee

I have not included relocation I just choose what cities are left for expansion.

 

[MNNumbers]

Well you have a billion dollars of expansion money (which goes to the owners) against a couple hundred million in play here.

And you have Atlanta knocking on the door.

Putting all market loyalties aside and looking at this from a pure business perspective..... Which way do you think the BoG would want to go??

Depends on two things…

Alex Meruelo willing to sell. And what value he puts the franchise at.

Because he has tens of millions invested out of his pocket on top of whatever debt took on.

May end up being cheaper for Smith to go the expansion route.

As to the first, @TheLegend , The news release specifically mentioned next year. That's not as likely, in my mind, of an expansion timeline as a relocation would be. Now, mind you, as always, I have no ill intent toward the Coyote fans or the market at all. I'm just trying to understand what is happening here.

 

[LadyStanley]

If Gary Bettman is smart, he uses this to pressure Arizona to get a new home before they get relocated. If he's stupid, he doubles down and makes a 34 team NHL

Listening to podcast this morning, speculation is that there's a 1/31 deadline to Arizona to have solid plan in place for future.

That (may or) may not include waiting years for land to be available.

 

[Edenjung]

I think that when a bunch of billionaires come together and decide they want something to happen, then it will happen. I don’t know exactly how, but if they decide the Coyotes are going to play in Utah next year, then the Coyotes are going to play in Utah next year. The money always wins.

Don't forget that Muerlo is also a billionair.
Whatever they decide, it doesn't mean jack shit if they get owned by a court.

 

[GKJ]

Don't forget that Muerlo is also a billionair.
Whatever they decide, it doesn't mean jack shit if they get owned by a court.

They won’t. They will make it work.

 

[dj4aces]

Alex Meruelo willing to sell. And what value he puts the franchise at.

That's a huge question mark, I think, with regards to the Coyotes if Mesa is a bust. For all anyone knows, Meruelo may have a contingency in place to move the team himself and simply remain the owner. After all, Karmanos moved the Whalers himself.

People forget, not all relocations require a sale.

(PLEASE NOTE, people, I am in no way supportive of the Coyotes being relocated, I'm simply stating a fact).

 

[Tilden Katz]

Maybe Salt Lake will choose Manchester, NH as a location for it's minor league affiliate?

Sorry, this one is just for the ECHL board folks.

 

[PCSPounder]

Did the NHL really accept Smith’s overtures favorably? This seems like getting loud about something BEFORE the NHL wants it to be loud.

But if they did, and an approving vote of owners think the Coyotes are hurting THEIR valuations, then there’s something to this. “If” carries some weight here.

 

[GKJ]

Did the NHL really accept Smith’s overtures favorably? This seems like getting loud about something BEFORE the NHL wants it to be loud.

But if they did, and an approving vote of owners think the Coyotes are hurting THEIR valuations, then there’s something to this. “If” carries some weight here.

 

[TheLegend]

This is a boys club. If you can get into the club, you can also get kicked out of it. If he plays ball, he can, and will, be in a stronger position later.



There’s 31 other owners that are sick of this shit though, but unlike before where they’ve managed to keep treading water (even though they’ve been a financial scourge). They don’t have good connections in the market and they’re now not even on an RSN, right? It might take a year to get the land for the building to say nothing of actually building it. Their current situation of playing in a college rink only becomes more impractical the more indefinite the timeline becomes. Yes, they’ve worked hard given this has been Bettman’s defining issue in his tenure, but at some point you can’t be in a state of growth in a market that’s destabilizing, especially given how much of a boon new markets have been.

Oh… so you’ve polled all the other owners and they’ve unanimously told you this?

Those 31 owners don’t want to face a lawsuit that could expose the hell out of them either.

 

[Edenjung]

They won’t. They will make it work.

How?
You cannot force someone.
If they even wanna force it.
You are assuming that they already wanna force Muerelo to sell and are ready to move.
But so far only thing that happened is that SLC wants an expansion, even though they have worked with the NHL for years up to this point.
So eighter they want it to speed up and want to force something. Or they wanna get public pressure on the NHL. And we all know that the NHL does not like if somebody tries to push them. Think about Balsillie. Wanted to buy three teams and move them to Hamilton. And everytime the NHL blocked it.
They even blocked the sale of the Yotes back then and back then they were in worse shape than today. And the announcement of the NHL doesn't mean anything. Its just a general announcement.

The announcement could even mean that they have inside information that the yotes have found a place to build their arena and thus want to get ahead of anybody that might want an expension team too.

Overall this does not mean anything without the propper information. All that is happening in here is speculation.

 

[TheLegend]

As to the first, @TheLegend , The news release specifically mentioned next year. That's not as likely, in my mind, of an expansion timeline as a relocation would be. Now, mind you, as always, I have no ill intent toward the Coyote fans or the market at all. I'm just trying to understand what is happening here.

It mentioned they could host a team as early as next year. It did NOT specify expansion or otherwise. This was actually nothing new because it was previously mentioned in other articles at the outset of this thread their desire was to have one ASAP.

Bill Foley thought the same thing and I provided the article where he realized the process was more involved than he thought it would be.

 

[GKJ]

Oh… so you’ve polled all the other owners and they’ve unanimously told you this?

Those 31 owners don’t want to face a lawsuit that could expose the hell out of them either.

They would piss on whatever lawsuit they’d get in about 15 seconds. The NBA and NFL managed to kick people out of the club they didn’t want in it anymore, the same can - and will- happen here if they want it to. Of course the simplest thing to do would be to simply buy the team away or allow him to retain a minority interest while placing him at the front of the line for expansion.

 

[MNNumbers]

It mentioned they could host a team as early as next year. It did NOT specify expansion or otherwise. This was actually nothing new because it was previously mentioned in other articles at the outset of this thread their desire was to have one ASAP.

Bill Foley thought the same thing and I provided the article where he realized the process was more involved than he thought it would be.

For the sake of conversation only, @TheLegend , because I don't know to argue. Here's a question......

When the news broke of Smith's move this morning, did you have any feeling inside yourself that this was related to the Coyotes?

I'm not saying it should have, I'm just asking if it did?

 

[TheLegend]

That's a huge question mark, I think, with regards to the Coyotes if Mesa is a bust. For all anyone knows, Meruelo may have a contingency in place to move the team himself and simply remain the owner. After all, Karmanos moved the Whalers himself.

People forget, not all relocations require a sale.

(PLEASE NOTE, people, I am in no way supportive of the Coyotes being relocated, I'm simply stating a fact).

No slight taken here. I’m not ruling anything out at the moment in spite of what I know some people here might think.

But to make a small correction, they aren’t looking at Mesa. It’s a site in NE Phoenix that could or could not be part of the state land trust.

 

[TheLegend]

They would piss on whatever lawsuit they’d get in about 15 seconds. The NBA and NFL managed to kick people out of the club they didn’t want in it anymore, the same can - and will- happen here if they want it to. Of course the simplest thing to do would be to simply buy the team away or allow him to retain a minority interest while placing him at the front of the line for expansion.

Yeah….. right.

You recall they tried to sue Jerry Moyes after he used the Coyotes as collateral and broke far more league bylaws than you could imagine and Moyes came out on top.

 

[GKJ]

Yeah….. right.

You recall they tried to sue Jerry Moyes after he used the Coyotes as collateral and broke far more league bylaws than you could imagine and Moyes came out on top.

That’s not at all the same thing.

 

[StreetHawk]

It mentioned they could host a team as early as next year. It did NOT specify expansion or otherwise. This was actually nothing new because it was previously mentioned in other articles at the outset of this thread their desire was to have one ASAP.

Bill Foley thought the same thing and I provided the article where he realized the process was more involved than he thought it would be.

The Delta Center is like the Footprint Arena in AZ before and after the renovation. Can't hold NHL hockey of 17K fans. It's closer to around 13K unobstructed seats. So, it can be a temporary home for a relocation, but Unlike AZ, the NHL probably should make sure a new one is rubber stamped and not needing years to get it approved. The past 6 expansion teams, they needed a new arena operational before a team plays their first game, unlike Ott, TB, SJ, FLA.

 

[TheLegend]

That’s not at all the same thing.

Oh?

I don’t think so.

In the BK the league was forced to show what the value of a team in Hamilton would be worth along with a few other things I’m sure they didn’t want the general public to know.

The tried suing Moyes in New York and quickly got it kicked out and shipped back to Arizona where they got their asses handed to them. So much for the leagues bylaws over how individual owners handle their franchises.

If I learned annything from this whole saga it’s never underestimate what a court case can (or can’t) do.

 

[GrumpyKoala]

Arizona could be back to back champion, have a new 20k stadium and I bet we still gonna talk about relocation.

Its not you, its me....
Nahh its definetly you!

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

Must have been a slow news day, otherwise why else would the NHL choose to post this today?