Quote:
Originally Posted by Caged Great
Actually, I was correct.
After the 2012 season, the only teams that lost more money were the Coyotes, Islanders and Blue Jackets (They lost 13.1 million according to Forbes).
They might have high attendance but if they aren't selling the tickets for enough money or getting revenue in other ways, then they are still not being productive.
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Much like with the Panthers, the Lightning have a very favorable and profitable long term lease for their arena that's predicated on there being a hockey team as the anchor tenant.
The team itself may be structured to look like it's losing money, but the overall enterprise is profitable because of what they earn from getting essentially free reign over a publicly owned arena that is one of the top 5 busiest in the country. In fact, Lightning ownership just spent $40M of their own money to upgrade the facilities in 2011 to make the arena even more profitable.