He is, but the salary floor is also higher than virtually every team in the league could afford in 1996. There are, however, a lot of other things that have changed in Winnipeg - new arena with better revenue generating capability, new revenue sharing plans, proliferation of regional sports networks that will see more games broadcast, therefore more broadcast revenue, TV deals in Canada and the US are significantly more valuable...
And yet, the viability of Winnipeg is still very much a question. And for good reason.
That all being said, Bouw and Arrow is certainly locked in a mode of hopeful delusion. I think he's incorrectly predicted this would all be over over 100 times now. The fact that Bettman himself said less than 36 hours ago that the market on the bonds has "collapsed" thanks to Goldwater tells me that Bouw's claim the bonds have buyers is nothing more than wishful thinking.
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