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troutman · 04-18-2011, 08:48 AM

Midas touch unnecessary for Winnipeg to get Coyotes
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle1987885/

Though Winnipeg is certainly not the preferred option of Bettman and the league's owners, all signs point to them finally moving on, acknowledging defeat, bidding adieu to Matthew Hulsizer and the Glendale municipal government, eating some crow, and heading back whence they came in those heady days when the NHL was outgrowing little Canadian markets.

Just to avoid confusion: the Coyotes won't be leaving because someone threatened to sue over a municipal bond issue which may or may not be legal under Arizona law. They will be leaving because of the single unassailable truth that has been lurking behind this entire exercise – there is no one on earth prepared to invest their own money to keep the team where it is because to do so would mean absorbing tens of millions of dollars in losses in perpetuity. And the reason that's the case is that there aren't enough people in the Phoenix area willing to spend enough money on big-league professional hockey as an entertainment option to make a franchise viable there.

In the end, grand strategies for NHL growth are irrelevant. So is the importance of Phoenix as a television market.

Somebody has to be willing to pay the bills. Nobody has, at least since Jerry Moyes took the Coyotes into bankruptcy. No one is willing in Kansas City, either, or in Las Vegas, or in any of those other fantasy destinations.

04-18-2011, 08:48 AM	#1102
troutman Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Crowsnest Pass Exp:	Midas touch unnecessary for Winnipeg to get Coyotes http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle1987885/ Though Winnipeg is certainly not the preferred option of Bettman and the league's owners, all signs point to them finally moving on, acknowledging defeat, bidding adieu to Matthew Hulsizer and the Glendale municipal government, eating some crow, and heading back whence they came in those heady days when the NHL was outgrowing little Canadian markets. Just to avoid confusion: the Coyotes won't be leaving because someone threatened to sue over a municipal bond issue which may or may not be legal under Arizona law. They will be leaving because of the single unassailable truth that has been lurking behind this entire exercise – there is no one on earth prepared to invest their own money to keep the team where it is because to do so would mean absorbing tens of millions of dollars in losses in perpetuity. And the reason that's the case is that there aren't enough people in the Phoenix area willing to spend enough money on big-league professional hockey as an entertainment option to make a franchise viable there. In the end, grand strategies for NHL growth are irrelevant. So is the importance of Phoenix as a television market. Somebody has to be willing to pay the bills. Nobody has, at least since Jerry Moyes took the Coyotes into bankruptcy. No one is willing in Kansas City, either, or in Las Vegas, or in any of those other fantasy destinations.