Month: February 2012

My executive summary on the Seattle Arena news

Here is my exec summary of the news over the last couple weeks:

  • Sacramento looks close to coming up with a finance deal for a new arena. The tax payers are probably going to get fleeced since it isn’t going to a vote. There are so many hidden $ in these deals it is hard to know what is really going on.
    • Memphis, New Orleans and possibly Charlotte would be next in line but probably not happening this year.
  • Coyotes appear to be close to a deal with the Jamison group to purchase the club and keep it in Glendale.There is an activist group in AZ (Goldwater Institute) that usually threatens a civic lawsuit every time they get close to a deal and usually scares potential owners away. In other words this still has some hurdles. How in the world the Coyotes turn a profit or at least sustain themselves in the desert is beyond me.
    • Coyotes have been drawing well at the gate lately but the Average ticket price for the Phoenix Coyotes in 2010-11 season was $36…avg for Canucks $68
    • The Islanders are still my dark horse to relocate. Seems crazy with the history, fan base and population but they have no arena plan and dwindling support. (Nassau County Stadium is a dump if you’ve never been there).
  • Seattle has been a great leverage play for both leagues. Whether it is intentional I don’t know but the timing of the Seattle plan seems a little suspect as both the Kings and the Coyotes were marching toward a March 1st deadline to get a new arena or new owners respectfully.
  • This deal looks less and less likely to happen anytime soon. I said a week ago, it happens in the next three weeks or it happens in 3+ years. (I am not an expert here just my prediction & I just want it to happen).

In other news…go out and support the various local Seattle hockey teams and players playing in the RMHC Hockey Challenge this weekend…great event and great cause. http://www.rmhcseattle.org/content/hockey-challenge

Could the Islanders be the team destined for Seattle?

First off, this is just my theory but I will explain my logic:

  • Islanders are nowhere close to an arena deal
  • Ownership group recently said that they are no longer just looking at the NY area.
  • The Islanders are the 2nd lowest valued team in the league and by moving the team to a new arena.
  • Value of the team could jump by 10 to 20 Million. (Winnipeg/ATL jumped 30 million in their move…but this isn’t Canada)

What I don’t have a good read on is if Wang moves the team or sells the team to a potential Seattle ownership group. I hope the later. News, rumors and buzz on a Seattle NHL ownership group has been very quiet. Levine from Chicago doesn’t seem to be the frontrunner and last summer there was a separate “Bellevue” rumored to be interested.

The next two weeks will be the most intriguing two weeks of the saga. The Kings arena plan and the Coyotes ownership issues should both play out in the coming weeks.