I am trying to figure out why the NHL owners do not want Jim Balsille the Canadian billionaire to take over the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes and would prefer to accept a bid of $75 million less from Baseball and Basketball owners Jerry Reinsdorf of the White Sox and NBA's Bulls?
Balsille's plans make sense when it comes to moving the Coyotes out of Phoenix to Hamilton, Ontario. Phoenix cannot draw excitement with Wayne Gretzky the man who made Hockey in southern California and the Ducks can thank for winning their Stanley Cup. Phoenix appears to be a big write off.
Phoenix is one of the worse conceived plans for NHL Hockey. First of all the northern game played on ice is sitting there in an empty stadium in the desert. Not many Phoenicians grow up on hockey and those that move in from Chicago, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota and other states are loyal to the their hometown teams. The original Coyotes played in the old America West Arena is downtown Phoenix which is centrally located with a large population surrounding the stadium. Today the updated US Airways Arena is an even better location in downtown Phoenix due to the light rail system which can bring in fans from further out. The current Coyote facility at jobing.com stadium is a joke. It's located on the outskirts of Glendale. Sure the NFL Cardinals can draw fans there since they are the reigning NFC champs and football only hosts 8 games where fans can fill up the hotels but hockey is different.
Hockey has 41 home games and it's a regular event from October to April and fans cannot afford to stay in hotels every night. The hockey facility is located better than 25 miles from Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert and the other outlying areas that would be a good target for potential Coyote fans. Also the Coyote fans that want to go out have a good time and drink a few have to be very wary of the "cowboy lawmen" who come equipped with needles to test blood alcohol content in any suspected driver. And the "cowboy lawmen" are very aggressive when it comes to suspecting. I have to give the whole Phoenix experiment two thumbs down for planning to move an NHL franchise and not even Jerry Reinsdorf nor George Steinbrenner could make the Coyotes successful in Phoenix.
Meanwhile in Canada where hockey is religion makes Hamilton an ideal place not only immediately but in the future. The growing population of Toronto especially to the south makes for a natural rivalry at least for the Maple Leaf games which Phoenix has nothing comparable being 300 plus miles from the Ducks in Anaheim. In Toronto the Maple Leafs regularly sell out so fans to the south of Toronto that want to watch hockey can make the short trip for the games. As for the future many of the youth move out of Hamilton for the big city and can still maintain an allegiance to the Hamilton franchise in the future heightening the natural geographical rivalry and still being able to attend games in Hamilton.
Meanwhile to the southest of Hamilton about 90km is Buffalo. Another natural geographical rivalry. If nothing else the travel cost for these games would be minimal compared to what the current Coyotes are dishing out to visit local rivals in Anaheim and Los Angeles.
The NHL's big complaint is Jim Balsille himself. Many claim he is trying to come in through the side door to the league and the league owners expect him to come through the front door. Well the league owners are not letting him in the front door so Mr. Balsille's only option is the side door if he wants into the league.
Just over 20 years ago a very wealthy oilman from Arkansas wanted to get into the NFL. He wasn't greeted with the most open of arms. He has often been chastised by other owners in the NFL. Since he came into the NFL he has been one of the most successful owners in the NFL despite ridding the great Dallas Cowboy franchise of iconic personalities such as Hall of Fame Head Coach Tom Landry and President Tex Schramm. Jerry Jones was a new blood in the NFL and he brought great new marketing ideas which has benefitted all of the owners in the league.
Jerry Jones came into the league in a non-traditional manner much like Jim Balsille would with the NHL and the NFL is a model for how all team sports leagues should be run and the NHL is lagging behind the other sports so maybe it is time for a Jim Balsille to enter into the league!
It's most definatly time for hockey to leave Phoenix, which is not worthy of an NHL team!
It's time for a smart move to Hamilton for the NHL that will make three franchises more prosperous. As for Toronto and Buffalo losing a fan base, what they lose in fans they will make up in future television revenues as the facilities will be full and more games per year will be far more exciting.
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It seems like the NHL is still living in a fantasy-land where ice hockey is going to be a huge success in the Southwest and south in general. The Florida teams can't draw fans either, even when they have good teams.
ReplyDeleteGary Bettman's fantasy land. The California teams work because you have a large population base and Gretzky did his job 20 years ago. San Jose also works because you have a massive population base in the Bay area and last but not least Colorado. Denver is just a great sports town. Phoenix has a great history of supporting the Suns. They Diamondbacks rarely sell out and the Cardinals well it took them twenty years to get a winner.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you think the Florida teams should relocate? Milwaukee? Windsor? Seattle?