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Originally Posted by Strange Brew
I hadn't heard this but have no problem believing it.
NHL really needs to be careful on relos and franchise sales though. Can't charge $500 million and then let Quebec group buy the Hurricanes for $200 million. You can charge a relo fee but you need to protect that franchise value.
When all said and done, it could be no expansion team actually pays $500 million.
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That's probably the reason Bettman is dead set against relocations. If an investor can't buy a team and move it, his only choice is to pay a huge expansion fee for a new franchise. Also
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The figure is high because Bettman would have trouble selling the idea of expansion to owners who aren’t keen on sharing TV and other league revenues with new partners.
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http://montrealgazette.com/sports/ho...xpansion-hopes
Quebec City has put up the $10M to stay in it but with the Canadian Looney at a low, today it would cost them $653M Canadian.
Duhatschek says with a $500M expansion fee Quebec City won't work.
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But what if the buy-in for the Jets had been four times higher, as it would be for expansion teams? Could Winnipeg keep operating in the black if the cost of financing the Thrashers purchase was that high?
No.
And however well the Quebec City franchise does at the box office, in merchandise sales and local television revenue, the market could not spin off enough cash to make a $680-million (Canadian) buy-in work. That is the NHL’s concern, even though Quebecor, the prospective buyer, has deep pockets.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...ticle27653820/