Ultimately, the sale of a hockey team in a Southern market, where one probably shouldn’t have been in the first place, is not anything particularly worth of note to the general sporting world at large. But the sale of the Nashville Predators to billionaire Jim Balsillie (he made his money as the CEO of Research in Motion; in short, BlackBerry billions) may mark the end of part of Gary Bettman’s peculiar experiment and fascination with the American South.
The sale of the Predators, Nashville’s first major league sporting franchise, was apparently discussed today in New York at a meeting of the National Hockey League’s Board of Governors. It is believed as of now that the team will remain in Nashville for the foreseeable future.
There is a way out, however. Because average game attendance for the season recently ended was below 14,000, the team has 60 days from its final hockey game to exercise an exit clause. That move, which would have to happen by mid-June, would trigger a one-year cure period in which the city must bring ticket sales up to 14,000 per game. Otherwise, after the year, the team could leave.
This is the sticking point, and the sole indication that we have (albeit a good one) that Balsillie would like to move the franchise is that he took his name out of consideration for buying the Penguins when the league said they would insist on the franchise staying in Pittsburgh. The NHL would have to sign off of the deal, and there’s no guarantee that Bettman and the owners would blanch at attaching the same requirement of keeping the team in the market like they did with the Pens. Is Bettman willing to admit that the Southern Strategy has been less than successful? It’s given us a couple of Cup winners in Carolina and Tampa Bay, but nothing in the line of sustained excitement, and the lockout killed any possible momentum — ironically, the reason the owners were so hard-line about the lockout was to help teams like Nashville.
Earlier this year, I wrote a post for If I Ran on running the NHL, and I’m still of the belief that at least two or three of the current teams need to move back north of the border, if they are not contracted outright. We may have one if Nashville’s fanbase continues to dwindle. However, as noted by Eric McErlain, will Balsillie keep a competitive product on the ice at the risk of exceeding the attendance numbers for an opt-out scenario? I’d like to believe so, but I don’t think it will make enough of a dent. Where would I like to see the Preds go? Well, head back to Quebec City and revive the Nordiques, although Balsillie, being an Ontario native, is more likely to move them to a city there that not many in the U.S. has heard of (Hamilton or Kitchener.)
Preds Sold to RIM Founder [Off Wing Opinion]
Sources: PREDS SOLD [Nashville Post]
Filed under: NHL, front office
I never understood this franchise from go; the only ice the mainstream knows in TN is Natural Ice (no offense diehard Pred fans.) What about northern US cities; Portland and KC (new arenas)? I got peoples in Winnipeg who would love the NHL back.
The minor league Birmingham Bulls had a devoted native following in the ’70s, but hockey in the South is for Yankees and Canucks. Move it all to Canada or states that have blizzards in May, move all the coverage to Vs. and let us forget about this sport. After all, it’s only three months until the start of football season. There’s much to discuss.
Hamilton (a large city in Ontario) already has an NHL sized hockey rink, Copps Coliseum. So moving there would make sense.
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/north_america/canada/ontario/hamilton_copps.shtml
If the NHL really wants to grab the attention of fans, they may consider a big renovation project to move Toronto back into the old Maple Leafs Garden and put a second team in Toronto (in the Air Canada Centre) to create an intra-city rivalry. It would likely be impractical, but it certainly would grab my attention.
Attention WWL: bring back the NHL! I’m sick of replays of the World Series of Poker!
Commish: Winnipeg would like it back, I bet, but could they financially support it? It requires more than a fanbase alone.
Hack: not going all the way with you there. I’m more than happy to have hockey teams in CA, and Dallas has supported the Stars well since plucking them from Minnesota (the Stars helped by establishing community infrastructure.)
Mike: Yes please. Either Bettman goes back to the WWL on his knees or starts bitching out Versus to put more money and resources into developing its NHL coverage.
I would love to see a team back in Winnipeg.
A true hockey city.
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