Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinordi
Major corporations with billions on the table selling their one marketable asset with the public future/existence of their industry on the line don't arrive to decisions based on personal grudges. The NHL took the offer they thought returned to the most value to their shareholders now and into the future and that's all there is to read into it.
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It would be nice if things were that simple, but actually major corporations with billions at stake often do not behave as the frictionless surface of rational actor theory would like them to. Particularly in professional sports, which is a world ruled by passions and egos.
But even bracketing that point, Bettman said this was "not simply about money," then made some vague allusions to the fact that the NHL preferred the way Rogers "approached the bidding process," and the "professionalism" they demonstrated throughout.
I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that there is more at play here than maximizing return to shareholders because the commissioner himself said as much.