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Hockeybuzz and Eklund are reporting that this is already a done deal.
Everybody knows that Basillie bailed on the Pitt deal when the NHL told him he couldn't move the team. That tells me that the Preds are packing it in after next year. If his intention was always to move a team to Ontario....
Sucks for Preds fans....
Last edited by CatchUp on Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
I don't see Bettman letting this one happen... (the move that is) because he's a proud Champion of his beloved "non-traditional" market teams. This is very different sitch than Pitt where the team needed a new facility. There is no need of a new facility in Nashville, so I'd guess he's hoping new ownership would just start the franchise. I think Buttman would only let one of the newer expansion clubs move or his dead body though.
Minstrel wrote:I don't see Bettman letting this one happen... (the move that is) because he's a proud Champion of his beloved "non-traditional" market teams. This is very different sitch than Pitt where the team needed a new facility. There is no need of a new facility in Nashville, so I'd guess he's hoping new ownership would just start the franchise. I think Buttman would only let one of the newer expansion clubs move or his dead body though.
I agree that Bettman would be miffed to move an expansion franchise - but I do think it's something we'll be looking at over the next 3-4 seasons. Nashville is a good candidate because they've been in that city for what - 6 years now? And they don't have much to show as far as fan support goes. Why do you think the current Preds owner is keen to sell? He's not making money and new ownership isn't going to turn that around. There aren't 14,000+ Tennesseans (??) who care enough about hockey to buy tickets on any given night in Nashville. The turnstiles are what fills the pockets of NHL teams - at least that's how it should be. If the league hadn't expanded before it was ready we wouldn't have a need for revenue sharing today.
IMO, there are other teams that should be moved before Nashville though- like say Florida or Carolina. Let's grow the game a bit through a solid TV broadcast deal (US cable?) before we start putting teams in markets that won't or can't support them.
I think that whoever gets the Preds...will be someone who is willing to take the team to anothre market that Bettman wants. Southern Ontario having a 2nd team, is not in Bett's plans.
Me thinks more like KC, or....hmmm.....Oklahoma City? Cause yeah, that will work. And for sure it will keep NBC from changing from a hockey game to a horse race or baccarat tournament.
YEah. I read on ESPN or something that, in the Predators team clause, if they don't average 14,000 or more fans this year, they are then allowed to relocate if they want to. And the fear is if Basillie does indeed buy the team, which it looks like he is going to, that he will eventaully move the team in the next 2-4 years. So if you are a Preds fan and live in Nashville you better as hell get 14,000 fans to go to every home game.
In my opinion, I hope Hamilton do get an NHL team. Having teams in places like Nashville, and some of the other US non-hockey markets, has not worked, and if Bettman has any sense he'll stop embarasing the game and relocate teams to Winnipeg, Quebec City and other such places. Sucks for for Preds fans though, I hope they at least get an AHL team in the near future. I'm betting that within the next ten years Gary Bettman will try a new experiment - expansion into Europe.
No way does Bettman want the NHL owners to approve the sale. No way, no how. But with a 93 cent Canadian $....this team is coming to Canada...and so may others in the near future. No reason not to
I heard that the (ick cannot believe I say this) Grizzlies, should they come back to Vancouver and have the same pay scale they had when they left in 1997, would now save $22 million US solely because the $ has gone from 68 cents to 93 cents. So it makes sense now for US teams to move to Canada, because
1. They will have fans to give em money.
2. The money the fans give em here is worth the same as the money the fans give em in Timbuktu USA. Heh...referring to a city as large as Miami as Timbuktu...but it is in the NHL
According to TSN, there should be other potential buyers for the Preds. Some would stay in Nashville, while others would go to Hamilton or Kansas City (after their failure to bring in the Pens).
Preds fans, you'd better go to see them as often as you can, because you'll maybe won't be able to see them anymore in a very short time
He seems to make a pretty good argument for Mr. Ballsy living up to his name and basically intentionally inserting himself into a situation where the NHL would have to deny him so he can field a legal challenge that would challenge the whole way the league does business. And if that's what it takes to finally oust Bettman? So be it.
Some Nashville guys want to buy the Preds? Are they nuts? Noone can make money or even keep this team afloat in a city that knows more about Jeff Gordon and Mandy Moore than hockey. Jesus
They need to make their mind up about who is gonna take over... and where there gonna move too???
I'm gettin confused...
Can someone tell me how many bidders are in, and where they will move to if they take over, all i know is this Balsillie guy will move to Hamilton and this Del Baggio guy will move to Kansas? Anyone else?
3 bidders. Guy from LA who is thinking about Kansas City, Balsillie, and this 30 person ownership group in Nashville, which the article I linked to above is about.
This is just another stupid NHL problem. Stupid NHL which leads to Stupid Poker having better ratings, and NHL not getting any exposure. Soon the NHL will be the National Lacrosse LEague in terms of presence. Anyone heard of that one?
batdad, I could not have said it any better myself. I totally agree with you 100% on your opinions and thoughts.
I hate that the NHL has no exposure on the TV anymore. Hell, they don't get exposure on anything. Atleast they don't here in the United States, I don't know about Canada. I suppose that you get moe coverage there with TSN and so forth. All I got here is Versus and that darn show sucks.
They do some good stuff here and there, but mostly all of it is stupid.
As for that NLL thing, I have seen it on ESPN more than I have the NHL. Kind of sad, but you are right about it being the same as the NHL on presence.
All I got here is Versus and that darn show sucks.
Yeah, but remember that "beggars can't be choosers."
Personally, I'll gladly put up with Versus' amateur abilities if it means the chance to watch hockey twice a week all season long(in addition to all the Flyers games).
I hate that the NHL has no exposure on the TV anymore. Hell, they don't get exposure on anything. Atleast they don't here in the United States, I don't know about Canada. I suppose that you get moe coverage there with TSN and so forth. All I got here is Versus and that darn show sucks.
Heh. In Canada hockey is 24/7 and always will be. When I speak of exposure I speak of the USA only.
And yeah, Versus is better than nothing...which is where it is heading in the USA
We're lucky in Boston in regards to exposure. The Bruins and the Red Sox co-own a cable network that broadcasts all the games except the ones that air nationally. They used to be aired on a local UHF channel (38 WSBK) and then they were split between that and the cable channel. When UPN bought WSBK, they slowly phased out the Bruins coverage. Now NESN (the cable network the Bruins part-own) shows all the games and WSBK is back to being an independent network (the local WB channel became the new CW and WSBK was on their own). NESN is part of the basic cable package on all the cable carriers in the area and they're also carried on the satellite packages.
Other than that though... exposure can be limited. The local papers cover the Bruins but not like they did in the 80's and 90's. The local news will give a quick recap of the last game but not really talk about them unless there is a big story. Sports talk radio is big here but they don't pay much attention to the Bruins. It's mostly Red Sox and Patriots talk. Even the Celtics are talked about more.
Leipold said his team has lost $70 million in 10 years of ownership.
That's one hell of a business outlook...
Yet the league still doesn't see that it's not a good market to have a pro team in? Give them an AHL franchise and let them see how that does. I honestly think it would've been smart for the league to put minor league franchises into all of these questionable expansion locations, let them see how hockey is received, and build up a fanbase before giving them an NHL team.
ahh yes... gotta love it. 
