Tribe Fire Sale – Sooner Rather Than Later?
June 3, 2009Desperate To Sell Tickets, Indians Join Forces…With The Browns
June 3, 2009As we’ve continued documenting the fallout of the Blue Jackets’ announcement of the loss of $80 million over the previous seven years—as well as the death of their proposed “sin tax” amendment—one of the underlying currents has been the prospect of the team having to be sold and subsequently relocated out of Columbus to another market.
One of the markets in question has always been Kansas City, who has built a brand new arena (The Spirit Center) and has openly pined for an NHL franchise. Well, The Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline contacted the Anschutz Entertainment Group, who is the group that owns The Spirit Center, and he relayed an interesting part of the equation I was unaware of.
Talked to the Anschutz Entertainment Group today. That’s the group which owns the Sprint Center in Kansas City … a sparkling, new arena that sits in wait for an NHL franchise. Michael Roth, VP of communications for AEG, said the group has no interest in talking to the Blue Jackets about moving to Kansas City. To be clear, AEG owns the Los Angeles Kings, so they could not buy the Blue Jackets. That’s against NHL rules.
I find that last part very intriguing (emphasis was mine).
Obviously, it’s doubtful that Roth would have said, “Yes, we want to move your team here pronto!” It wouldn’t be prudent PR to do so. But, what I did NOT know is that the group that owns the arena in Kansas City already owns and NHL team, and thus could not actually BUY the Jackets to move them. There’s obviously a few shades of gray, though:
They could, of course, try to persuade an owner to move to KC. A couple of years back, the group offered the Pittsburgh Penguins a rent-free agreement if they moved to Missouri and played in the Sprint Center.
So, since the issue for Columbus is their building lease, it’s not outside the realm of possibility for them to lure the Jackets—either under their current ownership, or another completely different ownership group—to Kansas City with the promise of no rent. But, Roth could have stopped there in his assessment of the CBJ’s situation. He did not:
That’s not happening with the Blue Jackets, either, Roth said. “We would not have any discussions with a team that currently has a lease,” Roth said. “That wouldn’t be right. That hockey club (Columbus) is under a long-term lease. It would not be appropriate for us to talk about or with a club that has a long-term agreement in place.”
In other words, Roth won’t publicly admit to tampering, hehehe. In all seriousness, the more and more prominent players in this “Columbus might move” drama that come out on the record, the more and more it looks like the NHL isn’t going to let Columbus move unless it becomes a necessity of last resort.
And, given that the lease with Nationwide seems to be the straw that stirs all drinks in the discussion (both that it’s the root of the problem, but also something that might keep other groups/arenas/potential owners from “tampering” with the Jackets), and given that it would be staunchly against Nationwide’s financial best interests, if I had to levy a percentage that the Jackets will stay in Columbus long-term (yesterday, I guessed maybe 50/50) based on what I keep reading and hearing, I would say today that it’s closer to 75%.
It just seems that “the usual suspects” that Jackets fans hear about in terms of people who might swoop in and try to move the team have all come forward and are saying that nothing is going to happen on their own fronts. No word if Keyser Soze has contacted the Jackets or the NHL.
Make no mistake: the Jackets are still in a big puddle of financial mess. But, to keep hearing that the people who might want to buy our team have no apparent interest or plans to do so at the present helps to soften the panic, at least in the short-term.
7 Comments
While I recognize that I’m biased about this issue because I’m a fan of the Blue Jackets and I live in Columbus, I think the odds of the team moving in the short term (5-10 years) is minimal. This is mostly because there are at least a handful of teams in worse situations (Phoenix, Atlanta, Tampa Bay) that would likely be more eager, and therefore easier to move. If the Jackets don’t get back to making money in a few years, either by renegotiation their lease or through other means, they could potentially have to move, but the city of Columbus is pretty eager to keep Nationwide Arena’s sole tenant from leaving. I expect something will be worked out before the Jackets even threaten to leave.
There is another component to this as well, does the NHL want to give up the Columbus/Ohio market? Looking at the TV ratings of NHL playoff games (especially the Stanley Cup) Columbus has been in the top 5 excluding the cities involved (Detroit, Pittsburg). Given that the NHL is starving for TV ratings and a better TV deal, does ripping a team out of a market that is providing decent rating really a good business decision?
FYI, it’s the Sprint Center, not the Spirit Center.
the only way they are going to get public funding for this is if the economy turns around.
morph, of course columbus and ohio has been in the top 5 for this stanley cup… its between DETROIT and PITTSBURGH. if it was san jose and anaheim i guarantee you that wouldn’t be the case
um…it couldn’t be between san jose and anaheim. And so what if it is between Detroit and Pittsburgh? Do you really think that if Columbus did not have a team there would be that much interest to drive TV ratings that high?
Uh, yeah the talk has never been that AEG was going to buy a team and move it to Kansas City. AEG is working with prospective owners to buy a team and move it here. Remember who AEG is…one of the most powerful sports and entertainment companies in the world who own the Staples Center, Sprint Center, O2 in London, and the Prudential Center in Newark. Tim Leiweke is the President of AEG and the Los Angeles Kings and sits on the NHL Board of Governors and is one of the most well respected executives in hockey so he’s “in the tent”. What AEG wants AEG will get, they are losing money by not having an anchor tenant in the Sprint Center and have stated that they want an NHL team for the anchor tenant. See they don’t just want any NHL team, they are being very selective about what NHL team they pick, it has to be the right franchise. I suspect that if AEG feels that the Blue Jackets are the right franchise then they will make a run at them, but remember, it won’t be AEG, it will be an ownership group that AEG picks.