Quote:
Originally Posted by Finger Cookin
What was it about those 70s and 80s sports teams owners? We're they really that much sleazier than modern owners? We're they just worse at hiding it?
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In 1970 the NHL was just expanding from 12 teams to 14, and there was no WHA. At one point in the seventies, the NHL and WHA had 32 teams between them.
The supply of reliable millionaires who wanted a pro hockey team as a toy was not as large as the supply of teams, so some unusually sleazy customers were able to buy teams they couldn't really afford to run. Similar things happened in other sports leagues that expanded rapidly (notably, I believe, the NFL/AFL), but not to the same extent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylvanfan
There was a wild rumor that Pocklington considered trading his entire team to Ballard for his team and like 25 million dollars. I think the league would have stopped that.
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I can't imagine Ballard going for that. He could have opened his wallet at any time to make the Maple Leafs a good team, but chose not to. Why would he pay $25 million to buy an even better team? He could sell out MLG every night even if the Leafs never won a game.