Balsillie, Bettman, the NHL and Coyotes

By some reports, Balsillie is done, the judge ruled against him, it's over. No team in Hamilton. Now, take a look at the MakeItSeven website. Well, that clears things up... right?

While I think a team in the Hamilton area would do well, it's hard to see Balsillie getting his way. Unfortunately, that means Bettman might get his way. I realize that Bettman has done some good things for the game as a business, but as a sport, he's probably done more to hurt it that any previous commissioner. The game is all about the money now. The NHL worries about the leagues finances and keeping teams happy. There seems to be much less caring for the fans. And if I hear Bettman say one more time that they don't run out on cities, I may hunt him down and beat him. Can you believe that ignorance?

Let's look at this a bit more objectively, if we can.

Hamilton, population 692,000 (metropolitan). Not a large city in comparsion to Phoenix's 4.2 million (metropolitan). But, now let's consider, as a comparison, southwestern ontario with arizona. Arizona's population is 6.5 million people. Southwestern Ontario? If you exclude Toronto, roughly 3.2 million. Add Toronto, and we are close to hitting 10 million (aka, 90% of Ontario's population). So, the markets are close to the same size when you consider that Southwestern Ontario would also include the Leafs (which, it must be said, sell an ungodly amount of tickets at expensive prices and have diehard fans... kind of like the Yankees, but less successful on the field of sport).

So population wise, it's pretty even... right? Except that Phoenix can't maintain the minimum numbers of ticket sales to allow for money from the rest of the NHL's teams. 6.5 million people can't fill an arena a few times over the year? Well, I guess part of the problem is playing ice hockey in the desert. It's not really a sport that fits the region's weather. Some mention that Buffalo also might be an impedement, but of the people in the area, most who go to Buffalo games from Canada are from the region right around Buffalo. I don't see that really changing that much, but it's hard to predict what would happen to the Sabres. I think the Sabres have far more to worry about than the Leafs in this regard.

Team wise? Losing $300 million (the number thrown around by current owner Moyes) in 10 years is pretty impressive... or ridiculous. Yes, I realize that the city of Glendale help build a city for the team and (apparently) has a lease for a ridiculous 25 years... but I'm almost wondering if the team still wouldn't make more moving to Hamilton and paying for the lease... and then sublease the arena to whomever they want.

So, there are some good arguments in bringing the team to Hamilton. Canada has always been a haven for ice hockey. Southwestern Ontario, I feel, could easily manage another team in the region.

Will it happen? I highly doubt it. Bettman is, if nothing else, a control freak. And I doubt he would like having someone like Balsillie, who's a bit of a maverick, in the leagues board of governers. However, I can't see why the league's owners wouldn't want a man with deep pockets ($2 billion+ net worth) and a passionate love of hockey, in their group.

Maybe it's because too many of the don't care about the sport, but just the business?

Gary Bettman and the NHL

I will be the first to admit that Gary Bettman has done some great things to help grow the NHL. The numbers sort of speak for themselves ($440 million in 1993 to $2.2 billion in 2007).

That said, I wish he would get lost.

While I would love to see another team come to Southwestern Ontario, I realize that as long as Bettman is there, it won't happen.

But my biggest complaint, by far, is the following line from Bettman:
“We generally try to avoid relocating franchises unless you absolutely have to,” he said. “We think when a franchise is in trouble, you try and fix the problems. That’s what we did in Pittsburgh and Ottawa and Buffalo prior to our work stoppage. That’s what we did when the perception was that five out of the six Canadian franchises around the turn of the century were in trouble. We fixed the problems. We don’t run out on cities.”

We don't run out on cities?

Would you like to tell that to the cities that have lost franchises since you became the comissioner? I'm willing to let Minnesota (1993) slide, since they were leaving when you got into the league and they now have a team back.

But what about Quebec City (1995)? Winnipeg (1996)? Hartford (1997)? Three great cities where hockey was appreciated. But I guess they don't fall into big business.

On top of that, let's take a look at the four franchises Bettman let into the NHL:

Nashville (1998): Barely alive, constantly looking for investors, can't sell out an arena.
Atlanta (1999): While more financially stable than Nashville, they haven't been able to convince anybody to want to play for them.
Columbus Blue Jackets (2000): Although it's in Columbus, it is doing okay as a team. Not super financially stable, but doing reasonably well in comparison to the last two.
Minnesota (2000): Oh look, hockey is back in a hockey town! After the last one was move for purely business reasons, this team is doing well, with great fans. Unfortunately, they have trouble convincing people to play in Minnesota.

And that's not even looking at where he relocated teams to. Carolina? Do they need a hockey team? Or what about the currently floundering Phoenix Coyotes? How many times does the rest of the league need to bail a team out (to the tune of $35 million dollars!) before they realize that they could move it to a better market?

But this is Bettman, he doesn't give up on cities... Unless you're a Canadian or Northern US team, that is.