Well, the Balls-Silly saga (at least this round) is officially over. TSN (via the AP) is reporting that Nashville Preds' owner Craig Leipold has signed a letter of intent to sell the team to a group who will keep it in Nashville. For a reported $180 mill.So Balls-Silly offers $220 mill, and the team is sold for $180 mill. I'm no mathematician, but I think 180 is less than 220. This can only mean one thing - lawsuit! The Four Lawyers of the Apocalypse, aka the FHF, are salivating.
Cheer up Hamilton! I am sure the Panthers, the Thrashers, maybe the Hurricans and the Coyotes will all be available for sale, er..., available for Bettman to screw you and block your bid to purchase those teams very soon.
4 comments:
hmmm. NHL turns down 40 mill. nothing fishy there
I'm pretty sure the over-expansion of the NHL to such hockey hotbeds as Phoenix and Nashville were all due to Gary Bettman's pipe dream that the NHL could snag a lucrative broadcasting deal with one of the major networks, if not ESPN. But before that could happen, hockey had to have nationwide coverage, in the only place that apparently counts: the USA.
In essence, Bettman went with the "if-you-build-it-they-will-come" philosophy. If the NHL built franchises, then the fans would come -- followed closely by the networks and their Brinks trucks.
So I'm assuming that he's holding on to that pipe dream, and figures that $40M is a drop in the bucket compared to the wealth that could be generated by a network contract.
This is also probably the reason why the CBC got the short end of the stick during this last set of playoffs, while Vs. (or whatever the hell they're called) got it's pick of games, even though their contract paid much less than the CBC's.
Bettman figures that Canadians will always be hockey fans, so he can screw with them at will. But he wants to develop the American market, and will bend over (you figure which direction) at any opportunity to build that market.
Of course, I could be full of it too. I prone to conspiracies at the highest levels.
kazmojo, you are so NOT full of it it's scary. seems pretty dead on to me
Well, I think it's fair to say that Kazmojo is clearly celebrating "Hit the Nail Right on the Head" Day.
Please come back often to post your excellent comments.
Post a Comment