Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
My point is that it was NOT a choice, any more than Winnipeg was.
The billion dollars could not be split among the other teams, because the alternative was to leave Meruelo in charge and the Coyotes in Arizona. This was the only feasible way to make him leave without a lawsuit.
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Going in circles as that is the point I have made repeatedly. This decision is costing the owners a $1 billion they would have otherwise been able to receive. Of course it is a choice, perhaps an obvious one, but absent this choice the Coyotes continue limping along as they have for 28 years. Extricating themselves from Meruelo was worth $1B to the owners.
Smith might even have paid more for an expansion team that he could have marketed and planned for properly. Now maybe they prefer the Houston and Atlanta markets and think they can get more from those potential owners. We’ll see when that happens but Smith had his cheque book open and pen in his hand. He was getting a team.I don’t see any self imposed constraints from the NHL on how many times they can accept 10 figure payments from new owners.