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Nashville Owner Goes Silent
by Paul on 06/15/07 at 07:20 AM ET
Comments (6)
from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail,
As for Leipold, considering that the Predators have fewer than 9,000 season-ticket holders in Nashville, perhaps he was shocked into silence by the fact Hamilton sold almost as many tickets (7,200) in less than a day.
However, a fellow can’t help but wonder why Leipold isn’t making a lot of noise about the reticence of the league’s head office to move this sale along.
If the opposition to Balsillie’s bid is as broad as several NHL sources indicated this week, then Leipold has a lot to lose — somewhere in the range of $48-million (U.S.).
As part of his strategy to convince the NHL owners to accept him in terms they understand — greed — Balsillie agreed to pay Leipold upward of $238-million for the franchise, well above the going rate.
This instantly gave the league’s owners the prospect of seeing the value of their own franchises climb.
added 8:00am, from Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star,
But behind the scenes at Elgin Theatre there was much melodrama in the ever-developing plot about a possible seventh Canadian franchise.
Commissioner Gary Bettman was said to be livid with Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie for flaunting the idea of moving the Nashville Predators to Hamilton during the Stanley Cup final, and putting the rights to purchase season tickets on sale the day the league was holding its gala to honour its best.
“They’re stealing the show,” said one NHL governor from the East.
“He’s going about it all wrong,” a Western Conference governor said of Balsillie’s moves.
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Comments
It doesn’t surprise me at all. Balsillie probably figures that he played by the league’s rules in his bid for the Penguins, and that got him exactly nowhere. Why do the same thing again when a different tack may give him better results? This is certainly a far more interesting story to follow than most business stories.
The number of ticket deposits put down on a team that doesn’t even exist there yet and with such short notice is very impressive.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/15/07 at 07:53 AM ET
Indeed, and that’s why I believe Balsillie did it, to further bolster his case for moving the club to Hamilton. If the league indeed tries to block it and perhaps shift him to Kansas City as I read this morning, all he has to do is point to how many people in the “Golden Horseshoe” were willing to plunk down season-ticket deposits on a possibility of a franchise landing in Hamilton. I’ll bet if that were tried in Kansas City it would take months to achieve the same results.
Balsillie’s playing to win and he’s refusing to play by the league’s country club rules, and what’s ruffling those feathers is the fact he has a great chance of getting his way. The league isn’t used to that.
Posted by Spector from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada on 06/15/07 at 07:59 AM ET
Okay. So, when the Preds move to Hamilton, they will be in the eastern conference… am I assuming right?
Posted by cementslinger from Midland MI on 06/15/07 at 08:39 AM ET
So, when the Preds move to Hamilton, they will be in the eastern conference… am I assuming right?
Don’t know. If they stay in the “Western Conference” it would mean that the hockey fans in the area would get to see Vancouver, Edmonton, Detroit, Calgary, Anaheim, Chicago, etc. which is not the case with the Toronto Maple Leaves, so they might leave the teams as they are aligned for now. (At least until some other teams relocate or expansion franchises are awarded.)
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/15/07 at 09:04 AM ET
Bettman has every right to be pi$$ed at Balsillie over the way the last few days have gone. The Commish held his “State of the League” press conference at the start of the finals, and clearly said that when asked about relocating the Preds, Balsillie had assured him that he had no plans to do so. The events of the last few days prove otherwise (the ticket deposits go FAR beyond mere contingency planning).
The natural question, of course, is who was lying - Bettman to the press or Balsillie to Bettman?
Posted by The Forechecker from Nashville on 06/15/07 at 12:48 PM ET
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I believe the reason Balsillie’s acting this way is because he knows he’s got the league right where he wants them. They can’t reject the sale of the team to Balsillie at this late date, and I think Leipold’s silence on the matter speaks volumes. He just wants to be rid of the franchise and could care less what Balsillie does with it. Bettman and the other owners are blustering far too much, which tells me that they know Balsillie has the whip hand in this, and I don’t believe they’re going to screw over Leipold, who was front and centre in the owners fight for the salary cap.
They’re just pissed because there’s little they can do to stop Balsillie, and quite frankly, given the tap dancing that was done by the league regarding his attempt to buy the Pens, who can blame him?
And why should Bettman be upset? Surely to Buddha he knew what Balsillie was like from the latter’s attempts to purchase the Pens. Poor Gary’s probably ticked off because he’s not used to a maverick like Balsillie calling the shots.
Posted by Spector from Charlottetown, PEI, Canada on 06/15/07 at 07:27 AM ET