The last time they did that, wasn't it the Atlanta Flames to the Calgary Flames...
Winnipeg Thrashers... How does that sound?
If this happens, what a ****ing joke the League is. Fight tooth and nail to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix, and then go and move the Thrashers themselves. Atlanta is the team that they should fight to keep. If the NHL loses the Thrashers, you can say good-bye forever to Atlanta as an NHL city... two teams relocated.
The timing issue doesn't work to say that Atlanta Spirit is desperate to sell. They've just come out and said they know they couldn't get investors because of the lawsuit and now it has opened up for suitors.
Again, The Hawks have HORRIBLE attendance (24th in the NBA! at 14,139) even though they're a playoff team and have improved every year for the past five!
The Thrashers have HORRIBLE attendance too (27th in the NHL at 12,746). If they make the playoffs this year, expect The Atlanta Thrashers to outdraw the Hawks, easily. Lately, they have been! No time to be selling The Thrashers, unless you want to sell everything (Hawks and the Arena).
This has always been the main issue. Not whether or not Atlanta should survive. The NHL will do what it takes to create the best partnership with Thomson. If it means The Thrashers die in Atlanta, the NHL will take the hit. I think they'd let it happen to NYI too, or even NJ. But the fact is Atlanta has the best management and young players in place of the vulnerable teams. If I wanted to buy a franchise and move it, it would 100% be the Thrashers.
The timing issue doesn't work to say that Atlanta Spirit is desperate to sell. They've just come out and said they know they couldn't get investors because of the lawsuit and now it has opened up for suitors.
Again, The Hawks have HORRIBLE attendance (24th in the NBA! at 14,139) even though they're a playoff team and have improved every year for the past five!
The Thrashers have HORRIBLE attendance too (27th in the NHL at 12,746). If they make the playoffs this year, expect The Atlanta Thrashers to outdraw the Hawks, easily. Lately, they have been! No time to be selling The Thrashers, unless you want to sell everything (Hawks and the Arena).
What did we learn from the Moyes-Balsillie attempted transaction and Coyotes bankruptcy case, Jeffrey? That Moyes owned the right to an NHL franchise in the Phoenix market place only; that Moyes could not sell the Coyotes for relocation to another market without NHL approval; that the NHL considers other markets to be the NHL`s opportunities.
It is similar with Atlanta. The Thrashers ownership owns the rights to an NHL franchise in the Atlanta market place. The Thrashers are not likely worth that much in the Atlanta market place. Can the Atlanta Spirit Group turn around and sell the team for relocation anywhere? Perhaps not. They own the rights to an NHL franchise in Atlanta. Hence, the NHL could buy the Thrashers from Atlanta Spirit for the going market rate in Atlanta and sell the team for relocation and make a profit on the flip. By doing so, the NHL would underline to all owners that the NHL`s collective ownership controls and profits from relocation of NHL franchises, not the individual owners.
GHOST
It would be awesome but I'll believe it when I see it.
It's sportsnet.. they are not good at reporting well any sport outside MMA and Baseball (due to the fact that they have sources from the US).Look, they have Doug Mclean and Nick Kypreos... nuff said.
See what I wrote above. If there is any truth to this rumour, I would think the reason for the flip would be twofold: a) so that the NHL can profit from the difference between the current value of a franchise in Atlanta and the amount TNSE is willing to pay for a franchise in Winnipeg (say $130 MM in Atlanta and $170 MM in Winnipeg: NHL nets $50 MM) and b) to underscore what the NHL fought for in the Phoenix bankruptcy case: that the NHL`s franchises are granted for specific territories only; that any new territories are the exclusive market opportunity of the NHL; that existing owners can not sell their teams for relocation to other territories without the NHL`s approval; that the NHL as a whole should benefit from the difference between the value of a franchise in an existing territory vs. a relocation territory.
GHOST
Quit bringing logic and facts into this gossip session on a abstract rumor!
I doubt they would be called the Winnipeg Thrashers as a Thrasher is the state bird for Georgia.
I would add that it might be a timing issue. If the Atlanta owners are desperate to sell, and the TNSE group want to prepare earlier than the end of the season, then it makes sense for the NHL to make the initial purchase, maintain some plausible deniability that the team is relocating for the rest of this season, and then complete the sales transaction after the season.
I can't see it happening, at least not right now.
It's only been a week since the NHL has been legally able to sell the Coyotes to TNSE. Until that situation is resolved, I don't think rumors of any other team moving to Winnipeg hold much merit.
This has always been the main issue. Not whether or not Atlanta should survive. The NHL will do what it takes to create the best partnership with Thomson. If it means The Thrashers die in Atlanta, the NHL will take the hit. I think they'd let it happen to NYI too, or even NJ. But the fact is Atlanta has the best management and young players in place of the vulnerable teams. If I wanted to buy a franchise and move it, it would 100% be the Thrashers.
If TNSE brought the Thrashers to Winnipeg then Detroit would play in the Eastern Conference.
Your overall analysis of the situation is right on, but I don't think the value of the thrashers in atlanta is anywhere near $130 million. I'd say the real value is less than zero. The thrashers macro numbers are similar to phoenix, in that they lose about $20- 25 million per year. This includes the $14- 15 million annual welfare payment also known as revenue sharing. Without the artificial revenue sharing component, the thrashers lose about $40 million per year, every year. Why would anyone want to invest in this business model? The answer is that nobody does. Also, revenue sharing is relatively new. Who's to say it's going to continue? The annual $25 million loss could balloon to $40 million in a hurry. Do you think that Donald Fehr is in favor of this bettman revenue sharing business model which subsidizes money losing teams, and has the effect of keeping overall nhl revenue down (and therefore overall players salaries), when there are multiple Canadian cities chomping at the bit that can actually make money, thereby raising overall nhl revenue and thus raising player salaries?
Getting back to the thrashers being worth zero, there are 2 recent examples that show nhl teams being worth zero, or less than zero. The great florida giveaway by cohen in miami, where he threw the keys on the table and simply handed over his majority stake in the panthers free of charge to his minority shareholders shows the true value of the panthers. ZILCH. How much longer can they keep passing the buck like this in miami? Probably not much longer.
The 2nd example is of course our beloved phoenix situation, in which $197 million in subsidies is required for a $150 million purchase price. Net value of coyotes in phoenix is -47 million dollars.
If we generously value the thrashers at zero, and bettman can
get $170 mil from winnipeg, then theres a potential $170 million profit for the nhl. I'm not saying that bettman will get the thrashers for zero, at least not publicly, as that wouldn't look good. What would likely happen is that behind bettmans famous closed door, he will get the thrashers for a very cheap price, but then proceed to fudge the numbers and use smoke and mirrors to make it look like he paid a decent price for the thrashers before flipping them to winnipeg.
if we go back to the rumours from a year ago, it is possible that the owners of atlanta wanted out then but the timing may not have been right.
its possible that last year the NHL wanted TNSE as as a fall back for the coyotes situation, so the deal was brokered between the league and atlanta spirit instead of directly between the two owners to buy time.
this set up would allow the league to make guarantees that they could not otherwise....atlanta can proceed knowing their team is sold, winnipeg can proceed knowing they will get their team.....while allowing each player time to get their houses in order.....
by getting the extra year, glendale has time to find a buyer, atlanta has time to end their court case and winnipeg has time to prepare for the team.
it is very logical....this might be why the NHL allowed glendale the extra year to find an owner....they had purchased a year of coverage anyways between the other two partners in the transaction....glendale gets worked out...no longer being needed as insurance for the NHL, TNSE is officially allowed to take atlanta.
its quite possible that having this guarantee to purchase atlanta provided the impetus for their ownership resolution....the timing is curious.
That would be great but the lawsuit in Atlanta has been going on for years and predicting when a lawsuit would actually end is like predicting what crazy thing Mark Cuban will do or when the islanders are going to win.
Atlanta will not be going anywhere. They do not need government subsidies to keep going, their market area is several times larger than any of the other markets mentioned and I do not think that the NHL will abandon one of the largest markets in the US if they wouldn't abandon the little town of glendale.