Mavericks
June 4th, 2008 by Jason ChenJim Balsillie has surfaced again, most recently on TSN and OTR, but it wasn’t because he was bidding for a team, but rather having some choice words for Gary Bettman and the NHL. The “Research in Motion” billionaire entrepreneur has tried twice to buy an NHL team (Pittsburgh then Nashville) and attempt to move them to Hamilton, Ontario. Twice he has been foiled by Bettman and the other NHL owners. Meanwhile, Hollywood-based Oren Koules seems to have gotten on Bettman’s good side and is on the verge of becoming the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Koules has no intentions (that we know of) to move the franchise.
It’s not surprising that Bettman’s not a fan of Balsillie. When Bettman took over the reigns as commissioner in 1993, he was mainly hired to make the NHL game more appealing to the American market. As hockey mad as Canada is, to put it simply, the American market has more people, and more people means more money. Very few Canadian cities can afford a NHL franchise, given the cost of running a team as well as the high ticket prices that only a select population can afford - part of many reasons why franchises in Winnipeg and Quebec folded. Since expanding the league from 24 teams to 30, the NHL still really hasn’t grown. Some of its stagnant growth can be attributed to the lockout 04-05 year, but the fact of the matter is, the NHL really isn’t growing in the US at all. The NHL generated good revenues this year because of a strong Canadian dollar (and partly from low expectations of revenue, hence the rising salary cap), and the most profitable teams remain in Canada and the northern US. Teams in the south and California continue to struggle to put fans in the stands. TV deals with Vs. and OLN aren’t panning out.
Bettman hates Balsillie because he’s a potential maverick owner who thinks outside the box and will move a franchise (if and when he gets one) to Canada the first chance he gets. Balsillie strikes me as a person who won’t follow Bettman’s rules, and that’s what scares him the most. Mark Cuban has caused headaches for NBA commissioner David Stern (under whom Bettman worked for), and I’m sure Bettman is trying to avoid the same problem. However, maverick owners are what every league needs. These type of owners aren’t afraid to try something new, and in the process may sometimes may be able to spark a little excitement into the league (everyone loves rebels)inject a little more money, or perhaps revolutionize it.
Balsillie has a point - a team in a well-placed city in Canada will generate much more revenue than a franchise like Tampa Bay. The fanbase is much broader in Tampa, but unless the league can generate a grassroots or vested interested in fans (it hasn’t and probably can’t for the foreseeable future) it’s really a futile business venture. The metropolitan Tampa Area has around 2.7 million people - Kingston and Hamilton combined don’t even number a million. Bettman only sees numbers, not hockey fans. This is often misconstrued as Bettman being “anti-Canadian,” but rather I think it is a case of Bettman not being able to recognize where the real hockey fans are.
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4 Responses to “Mavericks”
By Troy on Jun 5, 2008
Heh, I just have to point out “maverick” owners and you listing Mark Cuban, who happens to own the “Mavericks”. I find that funny
Honestly, I couldn’t agree more. The reason Bettman hates Balsille is Bettman clearly knows Balsille’s intention’s with whatever team he tries to purchase. And Balsille’s targeting smaller hockey markets that are in the south. I can’t really think of any markets that have more fans than the Hamilton area has (although Carolina and Tampa Bay have sold their fans pretty well… this past season sucked for the Bolts and there were still a solid 19,000 per night at least).
Really, if you can find a better hockey market than Nashville, then do it. No disrespect all you Preds fans, but I’m sure your heavily outnumbered by the people of Hamilton.
It doesn’t matter… if Bettman keeps his current train of thought, it won’t matter. Balsille will never own a team, Hamilton will never have another team…
By Jason C on Jun 5, 2008
I was hoping someone would pick up the “Mavericks” joke… good on ya, Troy.
All things considered, Nashville is not be the worst American NHL franchise. Asides from the Titans, they don’t have a major pro sports team. While the state is dominated by music, the sports sector is still largely untapped. They’re an excellent organization and while a move to Canada would help, I really don’t have a problem with the Preds.
I think the teams that should consider a move are Atlanta and Florida. Rumours abound that about a half dozen NHL owners have approached Balsillie about buying their respective franchises, but you’re right, as long as Bettman is commissioner Balsillie won’t be in the NHL anytime soon.
By Troy on Jun 5, 2008
Your right with Florida and Atlanta. Two bad franchises. Two lousy fanbases. Bettman, as you said, wanted to grow the game in America because of the larger population. Huh? Canadians LOVE hockey. Miami, FL? Atlanta, GA? They’ve had 10-15 years of hockey. THEY DON’T CARE! It’s proven. Both are sucky fanbases in general. The Braves had 15 years of dominance in baseball, and in the last five years or so of that run, they couldn’t sell out PLAYOFF games. It’s a joke that Atlanta has a team and a market like Quebec City or Winnipeg or Hamilton or even Hartford are without one. Granted, everyone knows why those markets left. They couldn’t compete and they had dilapidated arenas. But the salary cap was put in to fix that.
Again, Bettman looks anti-Canadian, but he just can’t think right when it comes to this stuff. You honestly think some market like Miami would have more fans than a market like Hamilton? Wow, that’s ineptitude Bettman.