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Originally Posted by TorqueDog
You do realise this isn't 1996, right?
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The only variable significantly different in the Winnipeg situation from 1996 through to today is that the dollar is at par.
When the Jets played their last game in 1996, the dollar was about 73.5 cents. Now its about $1.04. That's a large boost on a sport where most significant costs are priced in American dollars.
The Jets received about $20 million in government subsidies in that last year in 1996, which their new arena now might cancel out if you're optimistic. The Jets, through most of their NHL history, played below capacity in a 13,300 seat arena.
Frankly, its inevitable the Jets would leave Winnipeg again, particularly if they're arriving only on the whim of a billionaire and the fan base is counting on him not getting bored.
The NHL has to know this.
Pragmatically, the only reason a backwater like Winnipeg might be considered an alternative to one of the larger television markets in the United States is that the prospective proprietor would be the only one willing to give the NHL its money back on its Coyotes purchase.
But they could probably secure that in Kansas City or even Houston too, particularly with that new TV deal.
If the Captain of Plan B's, Gary Bettman, hasn't other USA alternatives ahead of Winnipeg, I'll be very surprised.
I'll believe it when I see it. A Winnipeg move really makes no long term sense at all within the business model of the NHL. Mostly this looks like a frenzy created in the heads of Canadian media.
Cowperson