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Post by Vegas on Jan 10, 2016 3:35:20 GMT -5
With the Board of Governors not voting on expansion at the December meeting, that's going to make any expansion team starting play in the 2017-18 season a challenge. Vegas, do you think the community momentum will sustain if the team doesn't start playing until the 2018-19 season? Not sure, but I think expansion is being discussed by the NHL later this month in Nashville during All Star Weekend? I think the momentum will indeed sustain if Las Vegas is not immediately granted a team. I truly think Las Vegas is the biggest largely untapped domestic market by the 4 major professional sports. Although I really doubt this market could support a MLB team or probably even an NFL team, I do see it being successful along the lines of OKC and Salt Lake City where a city only has one major league sports team to support in terms of something along the lines of the NBA or NHL (plus the new arena is being built on the Strip and we get just a few more sports fan tourists than OKC and SLC.  ) |
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Post by Sinclair Promotions on Jan 12, 2016 2:52:28 GMT -5
Bettman was in Calgary today pushing the CalgaryNEXT program which is behind a push for a new CFL and NHL arena being built within the city.
From the Canadian Press:
CALGARY — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has told Calgary to get moving on a new arena for the Flames, but Mayor Naheed Nenshi says the city will not be hurried into a multi-million-dollar project.
Bettman told the city’s business community at a chamber of commerce event Monday there should be more urgency to get the project underway, particularly from city council.
The 20,000-seat arena and 30,000-seat football stadium, part of the proposed CalgaryNEXT project, will cost an estimated $890 million.
"I’m having trouble understanding why there hasn’t been further progress on CalgaryNEXT," Bettman said. "No matter what anyone thinks of the proposed CalgaryNEXT project or the cost of the project, the cost is never going to be lower than it is today.
"The longer it takes, the harder the task becomes. CalgaryNEXT needs to happen and as part of the broader project, the Flames need a new arena."
The Scotiabank Saddledome, built in 1983, will be the oldest NHL arena when Canada celebrates its 150th birthday in 2017, he said. Bettman played the Edmonton card by comparing the Saddledome to the Alberta capital’s new Rogers Place.
"When Canada celebrates the 150th anniversary of its confederation, the Battle of Alberta hockey will still be legendary, but the Battle of Alberta arenas won’t be close and that’s no joke," he said.
"The Oilers will have enjoyed their first full season at a transformational new arena."
Bettman’s concern is the Calgary project’s timeline. It will take between one and two years to decontaminate the proposed site on the downtown’s west side as it was once a creosote wood-treatment plant.
Add another three years for construction and the Flames won’t be in a new arena before 2021, Bettman said.
Bettman and Flames president Ken King are scheduled to meet Tuesday with Calgary’s city manager and a few city councillors, but not Nenshi.
"I believe that if this project is going to happen, the mayor needs to embrace it, the city needs to embrace it," Bettman said. "If he’s not prepared to embrace it, then people will have to deal with that."
The city approved a multi-phase analysis of the proposed project in November. A report isn’t expected until later this spring. If Bettman was trying to light a fire under him, Nenshi wasn’t feeling the heat.
"Perhaps in other cities that he has come to, the city councils have just written cheques based on back-of-a-napkin proposals without any consultation to the public or without any analysis," Nenshi said.
"That’s not how we operate here. We have a comprehensive framework in place. We’ll see what the numbers look like come spring and have a very big public discussion about it."
Nenshi understands it is Bettman’s job to lobby for new facilities for NHL teams. The NHL commissioner’s contention that the project is important for the future vibrancy of Calgary drew sarcasm from the city’s major.
"I know that Calgarians require very wealthy people from New York to come and tell us what we need to do in our community because they understand vibrancy better than we do," Nenshi said
The project is to be funded through a $250-million ticket tax, a $240-million community revitalization levy, $200 million from Calgary Flames Sports and Entertainment and $200 million from city taxpayers for a fieldhouse component.
Bettman insists the low Canadian dollar and Alberta’s slumping economy battered by low oil prices shouldn’t be an impediment to the project.
"You don’t do major legacy projects for a city based on one year," he said. "You have to look out 10, 20, 30 years to envision what you want the city to be like.
"Over time, we’ve seen the dollar rise and fall, we’ve seen the price of oil rise and fall just to name two factors. You don’t do this based on what’s happening in 2016. There has to be a vision for the future."
NHL markets with new buildings will get priority over Calgary when it comes to choosing sites for the draft, all-star game and World Cup of Hockey, the commissioner said.
Once again Bettman is showing up and pushing his agenda forward. Basically what he is telling Calgary is that won't be in the running for All-Star game, hosting the draft or anything else UNTIL the city builds a new arena.
John Oliver had some interesting points on the topic of arena's getting built using public funds:
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Post by Vegas on Jan 27, 2016 8:24:49 GMT -5
Canada’s falling dollar could be raising hopes for a Seattle NHL expansion team
Inside sports business
It turns out the prediction of a January vote by Seattle City Council on a Sodo District arena was not only optimistic, but downright delusional.
City Hall sources now indicate a vote to cede Occidental Avenue South for Chris Hansen’s project won’t happen before late March, early April at best. It’s the final hurdle to approving an arena, but legal and political scheduling steps apparently are too complex for anything before spring.
So, that eliminates Seattle sneaking back into National Hockey League expansion discussions, right? Well, not exactly.
The good news is, the Canadian dollar just bought us more time. Maybe even the rest of this year.
Anyone not into cross-border shopping might have missed Canada’s dollar plummeting faster than the Seahawks’ Super Bowl hopes midway through the Carolina game.
It’s due mainly to plunging world oil markets. There is too much surplus oil, not enough demand.
Canada’s economy relies heavily on crude oil exports, so its dollar is getting pummeled.
In mid-May, the Canadian dollar was worth 83 cents U.S. It went into the weekend worth 70.68 cents — and only after a boost from the Bank of Canada not lowering interest rates.
Unsurprisingly, an NHL executive committee recently shelved expansion decisions until March, maybe April. No official reason was given, but don’t be surprised if the Canadian dollar’s precarious state further extends that time frame.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly insisted via email Saturday: “The value of the Canadian dollar is one of many factors that are taken into account when evaluating the existing expansion applications. But it’s not one ‘determining’ factor.’’
We’ve previously discussed the NHL wanting badly to be in Seattle as a factor that could delay expansion. There’s also buzz about overhauling the league’s expansion draft.
But I’ll go out on a limb and suggest the Canadian dollar hitting 12-year lows overrides all other factors combined. It’s lost a nickel against U.S. value since last month alone and could plunge another dime.
This is different from a few months back, when American-based NHL governors worried about Quebec City expansion simply because the Canadian dollar declined a tad below 80 cents U.S.
Those familiar with Canadian history and monetary policy realize 77 to 80 cents against the U.S. dollar isn’t rare and the country’s leadership typically avoids too strong a currency because it hurts export companies.
But those knowing NHL history understand how a now 70-cent dollar would prompt a slamming of expansion brakes. Especially after it touched 68 cents last week and respected investment bank Macquarie forecast a sub-60-cent bottoming out.
It’s never fallen below 61 cents.
So, the NHL’s immediate concern is figuring out where rock bottom actually is and assessing damage already done. Just as the NBA won’t expand until finalizing revenue sharing details in 2017 collective bargaining, the NHL likely won’t add teams until getting a better handle on how a crashing Canadian dollar impacts earnings this season and beyond.
Canadian teams earn revenue in Canadian dollars while paying salaries and most expenses in U.S. funds. So, it hurts when revenue, by early last week, had declined 10 percent in U.S. worth since October.
In baseball, they call that “a Toronto Blue Jays Problem” and in basketball it’s “a Toronto Raptors Problem.’’
But in the NHL, it’s everybody’s problem. Though only seven of 30 teams are in Canada, they account for a third of league revenue.
The NHL has a yearly salary cap based off overall revenue projections. When that incoming money target is missed, everybody loses.
Players have a percentage of earnings placed in an escrow account and when there’s a revenue shortfall, some of that withheld salary reverts to team owners. The owners get hurt because missed projections one season likely mean a lower salary cap the next. Owners already approaching cap limits might have to trade pricier players.
So, this isn’t only a Quebec City issue, despite concerns a $500 million expansion fee would now cost future team owner Quebecor $700 million in Canadian funds.
In the mid-1990s, with the Canadian dollar worth 70 cents U.S., Quebec City and Winnipeg franchises relocated to U.S. markets. In the early 2000s, a dollar averaging 65 cents imperiled Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa franchises.
That said, a lower dollar doesn’t automatically doom Quebec City expansion. The guy fronting Quebecor’s bid, company chairman Brian Mulroney, is a former Canadian prime minister who knows his country’s dollar politics better than any NHL employee.
Under free-trade proponent Mulroney’s watch from 1984-1993, the Canadian dollar never surpassed 90 cents U.S. and plunged as low as 69 cents. So, Quebecor is undoubtedly prepared for a world where the Canadian dollar trades at 80 to 90 cents U.S. to keep cross-border exports booming. Even prepared for occasional declines below 80 cents.
But today’s Canadian dollar plunging so far, so fast is a game-changer for all. And that temporarily buys Seattle time to figure out the arena.
The Canadian dollar won’t stay this low forever.
Oil reserves will eventually burn off, prices will rise and Canada’s dollar could again hit 80 cents U.S. by next year.
By then, perhaps far sooner, the NHL should feel comfortable expanding. And when the league is ready, Quebec City will be.
The question is whether Seattle will be ready to jump back in to expansion discussions. With a shovel-ready arena and promise of generating revenues entirely in U.S. funds.
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Post by Sinclair Promotions on Jan 28, 2016 1:07:42 GMT -5
The Canadian Dollar has always been a concern for me when it comes to the NHL. Sadly it'll effect every team NOT named Montreal or Toronto. Especially if those other teams aren't competitive for a long time. Edmonton has a new arena on the horizon so that'll help them out for a few more years, but the Oilers HAVE to find a way to start getting better. Calgary needs to find a way to be consistent from year to year.
Ottawa is in the same boat as Calgary, they are a team that needs to learn how to be consistent year in and year out. Vancouver needs to either start the rebuild or bring in people to make a serious play off push.
Buffalo is another team effected by the lowering Canadian dollar. A vast section of their fans are border jumpers and with the dollar going down a lot of the fans I know who go have stopped going to games.
If a Quebec wins an expansion bid or a team relocates there that team will need to be competitive almost from day one for the franchise to have a chance with the dollar this low.
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Post by Vegas on Apr 1, 2016 4:09:34 GMT -5
Less than 1 week to go and I will be in T-Mobile Arena on opening night to see the Killers!
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Post by Sinclair Promotions on Apr 1, 2016 6:43:20 GMT -5
I'm expecting a ruling about Vegas to be made shortly after the playoffs. Should be interesting
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Post by guiltyparty on Apr 1, 2016 8:57:22 GMT -5
Bettman has said that an announcement regarding expansion for the 17-18 season will be made before the 2016 entry draft in June.
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Post by Vegas on Apr 1, 2016 11:04:41 GMT -5
Bettman has said that an announcement regarding expansion for the 17-18 season will be made before the 2016 entry draft in June. yeah, it sounds like that announcement might take place in June during the NHL's annual awards- which annually take place here in Las Vegas  |
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Post by Sinclair Promotions on Apr 6, 2016 1:06:40 GMT -5
Bettman has said that an announcement regarding expansion for the 17-18 season will be made before the 2016 entry draft in June. yeah, it sounds like that announcement might take place in June during the NHL's annual awards- which annually take place here in Las Vegas If the announcement isn't made at the awards ceremony the latest I would expect the announcement to come no later than the Draft. The earliest I could see an announcement coming would be when they do the "Lottery Selection" for the upcoming draft, especially if they are going to let Las Vegas be added into the draft this year. |
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Post by guiltyparty on Apr 7, 2016 12:03:00 GMT -5
Well, if you look at the last round of expansion, four teams were announced on June 25th, 1997: Columbus, Nashville, Atlanta, and the Twin Cities.
Out of the four cities, Nashville alone had a ready arena, much like Vegas. Nashville didn't start play until the 98-99 season, but the June 25th announcement was 4 days after the 1997 entry draft. Still, it feels unrealistic to award the franchise and then expect the team to be ready to participate in the draft less than a month later. They'd have to hire a GM, a scouting staff, coaching staff et al. So I think its much more likely to go something like the franchise is announced this June, then in early June of 2017 they have the expansion draft, then the entry draft in late June 2017, and play starting in October of 2017 for the 17-18 season. Quebec City can follow the same time line, because the Centre Videotron is ready to go too, just like the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas.
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