Is MSG proving me right?

[Drivefor5]

First let me say I am not a fan of quoting my self. With that said, as I read this new MSG news article (see below) it made me think back to a group of posts I had put on these boards. (see below)

While my prognostications from roughly 2 and a half years ago are not a spot on match for MSG's motive in the current round of attempts by MSG to take over the NVMC, (at least not yet anyway).

I think it is important to think about what those motives are and with Dolan's influence on Long Island did he go behind the scenes to sabatoge the Wang deals? The fact that Dolan originally wanted to buy the Islanders way back when and was forced in 1996 into an escalating fee on the cable deal till 2030 to avoid getting raked over the coals with the original cable deal terms which would have paid the Islanders 18.5% anual revenue of the FSNY-MSG merger.
The fact that Dolan had to pay an exorbident amount of money to air an inferor Islander team for 17 years maybe he feels this is payback. Maybe Dolan felt he was one up'ed on the Spano contract negotiations in 1996 and since then has subtly worked behind the scenes to get to where MSG is positioned today.

Certainly money drives business and from that standpoint acquiring NVMC for MSG makes good business but if you take out your arch rival in the process and right an old wrong (over payment of cable rights for a poor product), it makes it all the sweeter no?

Read the current article here:

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20130811/REAL_ESTATE/308119965

Read the old Times article and my past quotes in 2010 below and you be the judge, let me know what you guys think:

Taken from this thread:

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=854315

I found this article that can help the discussion:

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/11/s...al-lessens-isles-misery.html?ref=johnopickett

If you changed the date of the article to today and changed the names in the article from Pickett to Wang and Zigmund Palffy to John Tavares are we watching history repeat itself?

Another question:

Is there not a serious conflict of interest between Cablevision owning our TV rights, Owning Newsday, majorly influencing Long Island Business and Politics and owning the Rangers our Chief Rival on and off the Ice?
What would cablevision prefer to see? We get a shiny new arena and or revenue generating city or leave there market where they can absorb some of our fanbase?

Seriously Cablevision owns the Islanders if you think about it. Their 20 million dollars is what keeps this team afloat. I have to think in the long run Cablevision would prefer to see that contract go away as well as our team move away. If you were Cablevision would you prefer to see Islanders winning and filling a new arena while your Ranger team loses and maybe loses some profits as a resul of the Islanders success?

 

[SouthShore91]

I've always felt that Cablevision's involvement with the Islanders was a conflict of interests and you certainly make a good point. I can't really think of any other professional sports team who's media coverage is pretty much completely controlled by the owner's of it's chief rival.

 

[boredmale]

(I should point out I don't live in NYC but going from my knowledge from where everything is)

So how does having the Team move Closer to metro NY help the Rangers?

While they(the Rangers) may gain a few Long Island fans, I am guessing Islanders being closer to the heart of NYC will gain them people who might go see them because they close enough to see a game after work

 

[OlTimeHockey]

Dolan/NYR BENEFIT from a local rival. The Devs....no, look under enough rocks and you might spot a Devs fan but NYI fans, when the two teams are good, fuels a massive income generation that benefits Dolan greatly as he gets it on both ends.

The cable deal....I bet it gets renewed. Dolan and Co. make a nice chunk of change with NYI even when our team sucks. It's free money with advertisers anteing up annually for the rivalry and just for the LI exposure. Now with BK, the marketing is worth even more to Dolan as he has a much bigger target demographic for sponsors.

Dolan wants NYI here. It's good business.

Why does he want NVMC? To pay back the Isles for the cable deal he makes money on hand over fist? Nope.

He wants the Coliseum TO MAKE MONEY. And he or Ratner WILL make money. Maybe some paper losses will get people agitated, vindicate our CHEAP SOB owner, but make no mistake, two financially savvy billionaires want the Nassau County/LI entertainment venue to MAKE MONEY.

Sorry, I don't see a conspiracy or need for foil fedoras.

 

[Drivefor5]

Dolan/NYR BENEFIT from a local rival. The Devs....no, look under enough rocks and you might spot a Devs fan but NYI fans, when the two teams are good, fuels a massive income generation that benefits Dolan greatly as he gets it on both ends.

The cable deal....I bet it gets renewed. Dolan and Co. make a nice chunk of change with NYI even when our team sucks. It's free money with advertisers anteing up annually for the rivalry and just for the LI exposure. Now with BK, the marketing is worth even more to Dolan as he has a much bigger target demographic for sponsors.

Dolan wants NYI here. It's good business.

Why does he want NVMC? To pay back the Isles for the cable deal he makes money on hand over fist? Nope.

He wants the Coliseum TO MAKE MONEY. And he or Ratner WILL make money. Maybe some paper losses will get people agitated, vindicate our CHEAP SOB owner, but make no mistake, two financially savvy billionaires want the Nassau County/LI entertainment venue to MAKE MONEY.

Sorry, I don't see a conspiracy or need for foil fedoras.

I am not so sure Dolan makes 20-25 million dolars a year in advertising dollars during Islanders broadcasts, and that would just have him break even. Hand over fist would be something like 100% profit and in the tune of 40-50 million anually. So your argument is that Wang loses money every year on the team but that Dolan is making profits to the tune of 30-50+ million from advertisers? Not sure what you are smoking Even if that were true and true for exactly 17 years, I still do not understand how you could possibly believe that Dolan and Cablevision with there corporate headquarters like 8 miles away and ownership of the long island media (print and tv), had stayed quiet all this time. That they had no back end influence what so ever while Wang tried to patiently make his deals sounds a little naive on your part.

Wang's failed deals and anouncement to move to Barclays are about 9 months old. And here comes Dolan looking to take over the Coliseum.

It took all of about 10 minutes to find these news article gems. If you care to take the time to read with an open mind or even just take pause and harken back to your memory of numerous news reports that paint the picture of a ruthless businessman that does not always play by the rules then I can't see why you could dismiss Dolan and MSG as having pristine motives.

The microphone courtside eavesdropping and Jeremy Lin story were personal favorites so I put them at the top.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...s-dolan-betrayed-deceived-161820611--nba.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/s...-flatter-the-knicks.html?ref=jamesldolan&_r=0
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports....er-james-dolan-wanted-to-trade-iman-shumpert/
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/n...es-been-escorted-outside.html?ref=jamesldolan
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/s...has-its-roots-at-the-top.html?ref=jamesldolan

 

[Section311]

I def don't see Dolan as trying to screw wang..I believe they are actually pretty good friends. Also the Rangers from what I understand had to approve the move to Brooklyn and if they didn't the Islanders would habe quite possibly be moving out of state

 

[Drivefor5]

Some more interesting reading material.

http://observer.com/2004/04/our-beloved-alfonse-is-back-lobbying-to-block-stadium/
http://www.commoncause.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=1691439&ct=271542

Dolan's hired Al D'Amato as a lobbyist to defeat the West Side Stadium for the Jets. They paid him and spent a pretty penny on other lobbyists to stop that project.

Something else quite interesting I found out was that Al D'Amato Started in Nassau Politicts and Worked with a gentleman by the name of Norm Murray. Check out this excerpt from this article:

http://laxmagazine.com/blogs/author/mclaughlin/06.27.2013_at_12.27_p.m._by_Corey_McLaughlin

(In Referrence to Norm Murray)
For 10 years, he worked as a hospital risk manager at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y., until 1987. From 1987 to 2009 he supervised the Town of Hempstead's self-insurance system, where he monitored a system he helped start in 1980 under then-Town of Hempstead Supervisor (and future senator) Al D'Amato. Murray's daughter, Kate, is the current supervisor of Hempstead.

Gee was'nt Kate The Final Death Knell to the Light House Project?

I'm sure it was all just coincidence

 

[SouthShore91]

I def don't see Dolan as trying to screw wang..I believe they are actually pretty good friends. Also the Rangers from what I understand had to approve the move to Brooklyn and if they didn't the Islanders would habe quite possibly be moving out of state

Rangers didn't have to approve anything. Islanders owned the rights to move anywhere on geographic LI including Queens and Brooklyn as per an addendum to the territorial rights deal made in, I believe, 1985.

 

[CREW99AW]

I am not so sure Dolan makes 20-25 million dolars a year in advertising dollars during Islanders broadcasts, and that would just have him break even. Hand over fist would be something like 100% profit and in the tune of 40-50 million anually. So your argument is that Wang loses money every year on the team but that Dolan is making profits to the tune of 30-50+ million from advertisers? Not sure what you are smoking Even if that were true and true for exactly 17 years, I still do not understand how you could possibly believe that Dolan and Cablevision with there corporate headquarters like 8 miles away and ownership of the long island media (print and tv), had stayed quiet all this time. That they had no back end influence what so ever while Wang tried to patiently make his deals sounds a little naive on your part.

Wang's failed deals and anouncement to move to Barclays are about 9 months old. And here comes Dolan looking to take over the Coliseum.

It took all of about 10 minutes to find these news article gems. If you care to take the time to read with an open mind or even just take pause and harken back to your memory of numerous news reports that paint the picture of a ruthless businessman that does not always play by the rules then I can't see why you could dismiss Dolan and MSG as having pristine motives.

The microphone courtside eavesdropping and Jeremy Lin story were personal favorites so I put them at the top.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...s-dolan-betrayed-deceived-161820611--nba.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/s...-flatter-the-knicks.html?ref=jamesldolan&_r=0
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports....er-james-dolan-wanted-to-trade-iman-shumpert/
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/n...es-been-escorted-outside.html?ref=jamesldolan
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/s...has-its-roots-at-the-top.html?ref=jamesldolan

The Examiner reported that Dolan holds onto the extremely lucrative LI cable licenses because he holds the rights to News 12 broadcast and NYI broadcast.
Imo if the isles cable deal expired tomorrow, Time Warner and Comcast would be offering Wang huge bucks for the NYI broadcast rights.

 

[Section311]

Rangers didn't have to approve anything. Islanders owned the rights to move anywhere on geographic LI including Queens and Brooklyn as per an addendum to the territorial rights deal made in, I believe, 1985.

I did a google search of this because I remember reading it somewhere and it's actually in a lot of articles...the rangers did have to approve the move to Brooklyn. They did say however if the Rangers didn't approve the move it would have been a pr nightmare for them because it would have meant most likely the islanders would have left the state.

 

[Strummergas]

I did a google search of this because I remember reading it somewhere and it's actually in a lot of articles...the rangers did have to approve the move to Brooklyn. They did say however if the Rangers didn't approve the move it would have been a pr nightmare for them because it would have meant most likely the islanders would have left the state.

No, they did not. Even certain media outlets thought the Rangers had to approve the move, but were sorely mistaken. As SouthShore noted, the Isles were free to move anywhere on geographical Long Island without any kind of approval for some time now.

 

[OlTimeHockey]

The Examiner reported that Dolan holds onto the extremely lucrative LI cable licenses because he holds the rights to News 12 broadcast and NYI broadcast.
Imo if the isles cable deal expired tomorrow, Time Warner and Comcast would be offering Wang huge bucks for the NYI broadcast rights.

bingo.