NY Islanders Sale Talk ONLY Part IV **Post 400, Isles SOLD**

[Mikkel]

I think that Trottier said that he'd come back should Wanger sell.

(the poster, not the explayer)

Let's see if Mr. Sarcasm surfaces....

Will I4Ever, Killer, and Law come back as well?

Trottier did just post in the Al Arbour-thread. Hopefully he'll post in more happy circumstances soon also.

Fun trivia: Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky is his niece.

Go #TeamLedecky2016

No seriously, this is pretty cool. She must be the odds-on favorite to win at least one more Olympic gold in Rio, and she could be something of a superstar by then. There should be some way that the Islanders can use that connection to their advantage during the months following the next Olympics.

Wow $548 million. Who on God's green earth would have thought the Isles would sell for that??

I knew Brooklyn would raise our value a bit, but you have to wonder if the inflated price of the Clippers sale certainly played into the sale price here.

There has been a lot of Wang-thrashing on these boards, and most of it might have been deserved, but you really have to applaud him for holding out for a sale of this size. Most of us would have recommended him (not just wished for him, but actually recommended it from a financial point of view also) to sell years ago for 250m less.

 

[Mikkel]

And wasn't there a rumor last week that "the other bidder" was involved in apparel?

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/business/18cnd-retail.html?_r=0

 

[michaelrc51]

the arena isn't properly fitted to host hockey, I'm still concerned about JT's knee and everyone else should be as well until we see him back in usual JT form and in what world did snow pull off good trades?

I am concerned for the arena situation as well.
Don't worry about JTs knee, he is already fine.

 

[InformTheMasses]

Wonderful news, fire capuano and his staff and it would complete one of the greatest off seasons this franchise has ever seen.

 

[carparkno1]

Don't fret about the arena. They have people looking at this I am sure. They will ensure it serves all purposes equally. The guys that own and run it are too professional.

Be interesting to see if a pre season game there changes the layout vs last season.

I think the more they start to focus on it being a long term hockey arena the bigger the changes will be.

 

[scott99]

Yeah, was going to say the same thing, Garth is lucky Wang is still a majority owner for the next two years. He's got an opportunity to show what he can do before his job is reevaluated.

What do you think would happen if the Islander's went through another 10-12 game swoon in November, do you think the new owners would pressure Wang to make a GM/Coaching move ? We really can't afford to have a losing team going into Brooklyn.

I think there will be more presure not just on the GM/Coach and staff, but I bet the players will feel the pressure to perform well this season for the new owners. I think we will have a winning team this year, at least make the playoffs. Only weakness is defense, but the team did play better team defense the last 20 games of the season, and the addition of Reinhart, who will obviously have SOME rookie struggles, will help a lot.

 

[scott99]

Wonderful news, fire capuano and his staff and it would complete one of the greatest off seasons this franchise has ever seen.

That won't happen until 2016.

 

[periferal]

I don't think I ever been happier as an Islander fan.

I think a lot of us express this sentiment and this is the true indication how much wang has beat us all down. We feel like we've been in jail for 14 years and we're just released. Now just seeing the sunrise is wonderful, food tastes better, etc.

No day should ever be happier than watching the Isles hoist a Stanley Cup, but since we all know that was never happening under wang, the freedom we feel coming out of his jail and hope we feel now that new owner might lead us to the promised land is true joy, but don't overlook immense relief as well.

 

[periferal]

Lets just hope some other sports franchise doesn't get sold for like $3 billion before the papers are signed.

Wonder how the players feel about this. Must be good knowing your ownership is going to stabalize very soon. Tempering my enthusiasm somewhat but this could be a perfect storm of an up-and-coming young team with some deep pocketed owners who seem to actually want to improve the hockey product. We shall see. Good day to be an Isles fan, though.

If any islander can play through the last decade of the circus, they can play through a season of saying good bye to the Coliseum and then the opening year at Barclays...All under the knowledge that the cavalry is coming right after.

My friends... This will be the time when you see Islanders players MORE excited about playing for the team than in over a decade. I promise you that.

Two years will go by pretty quickly...

 

[enigmatic]

i wish i could have been a fly on the wall when JT found out....as happy as we are, he must be even more so.....i know this is somewhat of a ridiculous statement, and somewhat irrational.....but i would say the chances of him becoming a lifelong islander just doubled, at least

 

[13th Floor]

I wish I knew how the next 3 years will go. The official signing and approval of the deal, the 2 years of Wang and the first year of the new owners. My gut says that everything will be fine, that Wang has no reason to mess with the team, and that the owners will be committed to a winning product. My Isles heart tends to be more cautious.

Any way you slice it, this has been good day.

 

[carparkno1]

When you think back to November and where we are now it's night and day huh

 

[SI90]

i wish i could have been a fly on the wall when JT found out....as happy as we are, he must be even more so.....i know this is somewhat of a ridiculous statement, and somewhat irrational.....but i would say the chances of him becoming a lifelong islander just doubled, at least

The crazy thing is, most players rave about how great the organization(Wang) treats them and their families. Obviously we as fans suffer but the player seem to actually like the guy.

You would think if they felt otherwise they would not say anything at all.

 

[enigmatic]

The crazy thing is, most players rave about how great the organization(Wang) treats them and their families. Obviously we as fans suffer but the player seem to actually like the guy.

You would think if they felt otherwise they would not say anything at all.

understood, and im sure they are treated well as wang is a loyal guy.....but im sure theyd rather WIN

 

[scott99]

The crazy thing is, most players rave about how great the organization(Wang) treats them and their families. Obviously we as fans suffer but the player seem to actually like the guy.

You would think if they felt otherwise they would not say anything at all.

He may treat them well, BUT, he's done NOTHING to try to make the players around them better by adding key pieces to the puzzle. He may not nickle and dime the players he currently has, but he wasn't willing to spend on the team for years, and was willing to accept mediocrity for years.

 

[OlTimeHockey]

Isn't it ironic that Jonathan Ledecky is on the board of Forbes and there are some posters here that blindly swear by their valuations of sports franchises and said no way Wang would get anywhere near 300 million for the Islanders?

I hope this puts an end to the discussion about the accuracy of Forbes valuations.

What's the franchise WORTH?

Now add in the BST, the cable deal, the NHL revenue sharing, the Marriott, etc.

But I guess what you're saying is that since clearly all you've said all along is that milk was worth more than $3.49/gal, your grocery receipt proves it. {just ignore the frozen burgers, butter and vegetables}

Did they overpay? I'd bet they did.

 

[MatthewBarnabysTears]

Thinking about it more, I really don't think half a billion dollars is an unreasonable price. The single biggest upward driver of sports franchise values are the current spate of incredibly owner-favoring CBA agreements in basically every professional sport except for baseball. These CBA agreements increased total owner revenues over the life of the agreements by literally billions. It's way more lucrative to be a sports owner now than it was 20, 10, or even 5 years ago.

For a point of reference — although it's admittedly apples and oranges — the rumored Isles sale price is about the same as the sale price of the Milwaukee Bucks last year, following the new NBA CBA. Given that basketball is considerably more profitable than hockey, it kind of makes sense that a low-tier, small-market NBA franchise would be worth the same as a Brooklyn-based NHL team. Look at the Clippers sale for an example of how little peripheral concerns — history of dysfunction; being a tenant in someone elses building — actually matter to potential owners.

 

[Hershey Hockey]

So here's my question. We now have two VERY wealthy people with some actual hockey background at the helm of this team. How does this change the Barclay's arena situation now? Specifically the seating.

I would expect that unlike Wang, these two guys are gonna have a lot of pride and care about all aspects of this team. With how much money they have, is it possible we see some moves made and even them throwing in financial support for changes to the Barclay's seating to make it a real hockey setup?

I can't imagine they will be at all happy with the mess that is the weird/obstructed view seating at the short end of the building when the ice is down. And of course more seats, and good ones, leads to more revenue. If these guys are here for the long haul, it would make sense and be in their best interests to invest time and money into making some improvements on that front, right? I suppose this will be something addressed when they begin to publicly discuss their new ownership of the team.

 

[JKP]

TV. Sports is the only thing left that people watch live and don't DVR through the commercials (or download with no commercials).

That is why sports franchises are exploding in value.

82 games x ~4hrs (pre, game, post) = 328 hrs of live event programming a year. Throw in playoffs...

That's why the valuations are going through the roof. Especially in a big TV market like NY.

What's the next NYI cable deal look like if they are firmly entrenched in Brooklyn? It will be huge.

 

[doublechili]

So here's my question. We now have two VERY wealthy people with some actual hockey background at the helm of this team. How does this change the Barclay's arena situation now? Specifically the seating.

I would expect that unlike Wang, these two guys are gonna have a lot of pride and care about all aspects of this team. With how much money they have, is it possible we see some moves made and even them throwing in financial support for changes to the Barclay's seating to make it a real hockey setup?

I can't imagine they will be at all happy with the mess that is the weird/obstructed view seating at the short end of the building when the ice is down. And of course more seats, and good ones, leads to more revenue. If these guys are here for the long haul, it would make sense and be in their best interests to invest time and money into making some improvements on that front, right? I suppose this will be something addressed when they begin to publicly discuss their new ownership of the team.

But they don't control the real estate - they can just work with the landlord. Two "buts" though. It's in Barclay's interest to maximize revenues. And FWIW, Malkin and his family have enough NY real estate, which is apparently on the market, BTW, that he could probably eventually BUY the arena and surrounding real estate (and maybe NVMC development rights too - and he could put in one of his "luxury shopping villages"). TOH would like the "village" part since it fits the bucolic countryside vibe they're trying to maintain on Hempstead Turnpike.

 

[MatthewBarnabysTears]

But they don't control the real estate - they can just work with the landlord. Two "buts" though. It's in Barclay's interest to maximize revenues. And FWIW, Malkin and his family have enough NY real estate, which is apparently on the market, BTW, that he could probably eventually BUY the arena and surrounding real estate (and maybe NVMC development rights too - and he could put in one of his "luxury shopping villages"). TOH would like the "village" part since it fits the bucolic countryside vibe they're trying to maintain on Hempstead Turnpike.

I was also wondering if this could end with the new ownership group buying at least a stake in the Barclays Center (and the accompanying properties). That sort of infusion of cash into the Barclays group could definitely make a major renovation more viable.

TV. Sports is the only thing left that people watch live and don't DVR through the commercials (or download with no commercials).

That is why sports franchises are exploding in value.

This is definitely a big part of the equation, and is the necessary background to the CBA-based explanation I mentioned earlier — what the new CBA primarily does is increase the owners' share of exploding cable revenues.

 

[Seph]

This sums up what I assume we all feel about Wang being out as majoity owner: http://i.giflike.com/q1zraWw.gif

 

[BMC]

Bruins fan coming in peace.

Just wanted to congratulate you guys on getting rid of Wang.

Now hopefully the new owners will get your team back on track.

 

[scott99]

Bruins fan coming in peace.

Just wanted to congratulate you guys on getting rid of Wang.

Now hopefully the new owners will get your team back on track.

Thanks ! Hopefully we can join the Bruins as one of the model franchises in the NHL.

 

[CaptDenisPotvin]

This sums up what I assume we all feel about Wang being out as majoity owner: http://i.giflike.com/q1zraWw.gif

Awesome!