Globe and Mail reports that NHL may be loaning money to Phoenix Coyotes

Awesome. Truly awesome.

 

On this holiday afternoon, I'm wondering if Phoenix is the only team the league is subsidizing.

It would not surprise me if the league was floating loans to the Islanders, Predators, Thrashers and Panthers.

 

Even better

 

Well, as long as it keeps out an owner with actual money and an interest in hockey while continuing to welcome fraud artists into the ranks (Bruce McNall, John Spano, John Rigas, Sanjay Kumar, Henry Samueli, Boots DoucheBaggio) and encouraging others to play shell games with franchises (the Gunds, Craig Leopold), the NHL will not achieve what Gary Bettman most wishes for - legitimacy and mass public acceptance south of the border.

 

Remember: People don't kill hockey franchises, Gunds do.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens to this franchise. I like watching the Coyotes on Center Ice as they are getting better and may make the playoffs this year. My parents live in the area and I'll be in attendance on Saturday night when they play the Kings.

The location of the arena certainly hurts them on two fronts. First, much of the wealthier population lives on the other end of town on the east/northeast side. Second, there aren't tons of jobs in the area. That means that for a Tuesday night game, people have leave work, get in the car and fight traffic to get there. While downtown Phoenix is somewhat of a ghost town after 7 p.m. (though it's getting better), the Suns and D-Backs benefit from a significant number of people who work downtown or just north of downtown in the Central/Camelback area.

The sad part about it is that the building is very good for hockey. Good sight llines, lots of modern convieniences, bars right near the arena. I think that once people get there, they have a good time.

Attendance isn't good, but right now the Coyotes are averaging more fans/game than Atlanta, Nashville, Columbus and the Islanders. In terms of percentage of capacity, they are ahead of all of those along with the Kings, Hurricanes and Panthers.

When you look at percentage of capacity, it's very interesting. There are 17 of 30 teams that are at 94 percent or better. Then there are nine teams in the 80s and four teams in the 70s. Nobody is worse than Columbus' 76.9 percent. In my estimation, that's really not that bad for a sport with 41 home games a year. The NBA, by comparison, has five teams at 70.6 percent or lower and Philly and Memphis are both at 69 percent.

The two leagues are, frankly, pretty close. About half of the league has good attendance and tickets are tough. The rest struggle. It probably isn't all that different from MLB either.

Now if you want to look at potential markets, where would you go?

The Canadian markets seem simple: You could have the Waterloo-Kitchner Blackberrys. Or you add a second team in T.O. I don't see the league going back to Winnipeg because of arena issues. Buffalo would fight like crazy to keep a team out of Hamilton. Is there really anywhere else?

So what about the U.S.: Kansas City seems to be the natural choice as a new arena is ready to go. Beyond that? Everybody says Vegas, but there aren't exactly great arena options there. I wouldn't be stunned if the NHL goes to Seattle and fills the void left by the Sonics leaving. The biggest metro area without a NHL team is Houston (6th largest metro area). Dallas has had more success financially than any of the southern cities, could the NHL go there?

After that, I just don't see anything.

 

I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe.

 

Kansas City?

Please.

I'd love to see it -- being a native of that area but the economic infrastructure just won't support it. KC is in that 'tweener' position...large enough for two major league franchises but not enough for a third, especially a winter sport.

Especially troubling is that the population is not large enough but there are also not enough people moving to KC from "hockey" markets as it is. I just don't see a large market for people willing to spend $50 on a ticket.

Also, outside of Sprint which, granted, is a giant, KC also lacks those industry giants (banks, for example) that are critical to helping back a franchise in a smaller market.

 

From Larry Brook's Sunday column in the NY Post:

Can anyone say Montreal Expos?

 

Additionally,

 

http://www.mtscentre.ca/arena/index.php

Wouldn't 15,000 in Winnipeg be better than flies in Phoenix — and taking a chance in Vegas and KC?

 

Not that anyone wants to hear me go through this again... but no. Nobody went to the Jets games. That's why they left. The team had no fan support, and from everything I've seen there still isn't the corporate support in Winnipeg to think the situation would be any better. The Coyotes' worst average attendance in Glendale is still better than they ever did in Winnipeg.

The Coyotes chief problem at the moment isn't the way the team is losing money, because that situation is actually improving. The immediate issue is that the owner has no money because his primary business is trucking. He didn't have particularly deep pockets to begin with, and when gas prices soared he lost his ass.

The Coyotes have a lot of problems, but if the league can somehow find an owner that wants to keep them in place they can probably survive long-term. It worked in Pittsburgh and Ottawa. Phoenix is still a more viable market than Vegas or KC, and it's still a lot better than Winnipeg.