Quote:
Originally Posted by Bleeding Red
The Balsillie affair had far more to do with ego and Bettman's US TV footprint than it did with cash.
IIRC, Balsillie ruffled as many feathers as he could in trying to do an end run around the NHL BoG in dealing directly with a couple of team owners (ARZ & PIT, I think) and trying to get an out deal from the town of Glendale. It became an issue of power not money. What Bettman wants, Bettman gets.
So, if I have the hypothetical scenario of the thread right, An ownership group with $5 billion in cash is ready to go ahead with building an arena in the GTA with no taxpayer dollars, happy to pay the NHL $600 million for a franchise, happy to pay the TM an exorbitant amount for a 99 year rights waiver (which would be 0 is MLSE owned it.), happy to pay BUF a reasonable amount for their rights waiver, happy to start a season ticket holder campaign with ticket prices less than what TML charges. This team would automatically become the second most valuable NHL franchise, topping $1 billion, and likely a top 10 profit driver in the NHL. It would be a media darling and increase viewership exponentially. All because Toronto has 3 million hockey fans. Other cities don't come close to matching the amount of hockey fans (Seattle has less than a third of the GTA population). That is the gist of what I am getting.
It hasn't happened yet. What am I missing? Is it just that TML don't want another franchise in their backyard? NHL owners don't like money?
I don't think it is that cut and dried. I think the NHL has done their homework and knows something we do not.
A second GTA team is a pipe dream.
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You have said a whole lot that is either not true (eg. what other posters have said would be the outcome) or complete speculation (Bettmans "real" motivation for opposing Balsillie, as opposed to what he actually said) and what other NHL owners know.
What is accurate is that:
a. There is a exclusivity term for the TML anbd that's what Bettman cited;
b. The other posters have said another GTA team likely would be profitable.
I think the Maple leafs are the stumbling block and their objection is not based on ticket sales, it's based on merchandise.