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Posted Mar 30, 2010, 3:15 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 687
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More “Coyotes to Winnipeg” Rumours.
Written by Lyle Richardson Sunday, 28 March 2010 10:37
http://www.spectorshockey.net/index....&id=6&Itemid=3
"Despite the Phoenix Coyotes amazing improvement this season putting them amongst the top clubs in the Western Conference they remain the focus of relocation talk, with Winnipeg believed amongst the top destinations of choice.
The latest comes from Ken Campbell of The Hockey News, reporting of speculation the attempt by Ice Edge Holdings to purchase the Coyotes is now dead and there’s a deal in principle between the league and Canadian billionaire David Thomson to purchase the team and move it this summer back to Winnipeg.
Thomson’s name in connection with the NHL in Winnipeg is nothing new. He is a major investor in True North Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns and operates the 15,000-seat MTS Centre in Winnipeg. With a seating capacity of 15,015 for hockey, it would be the smallest building in the NHL and it would obviously have to have long-term plans to increase the capacity by at least 2,000.
Even if Winnipeg managed to sell out every game, it would rank 25th in NHL attendance. But the important distinction is that the vast majority of those seats would be paid, in comparison to many American markets where every ticket, including thousands of free and reduced-price tickets, is included in the attendance figure.
I’ve written several times, here and on my blog, why I don’t believe the city of Winnipeg can afford an NHL franchise so I’m not going to go into a detailed rehash of my arguments. I do however encourage those of you unfamiliar with my take on the subject to read them.
Furthermore, I want to reiterate I have nothing against the city of Winnipeg, the province of Manitoba or its hockey fans. If the Coyotes return to Winnipeg or another NHL franchise winds up there due to relocation or expansion I will certainly wish them and the good hockey fans of Winnipeg and Manitoba all the best.
I’m not however going to ignore the real problems such a franchise would face in Winnipeg. One shouldn’t assume the Coyotes in Winnipeg would be a cash cow to whoever might bring a franchise there.
As I said, I’m not going into a detailed rehash of my previous points but I will offer up a brief summary.
Supporters of moving a franchise back to Winnipeg, as Campbell noted above, claim they’ll sell out every game and earn a ton of money.
That’s assuming Winnipegers and Manitobans, who are amongst the lowest wage earners and most taxed people in Canada, won’t mind paying the average ticket price of $51.27 or the average fan cost index of just over $300.00 for an average family of four to attend a game. That’s not counting the cost of season tickets or corporate boxes.
Those prices are a considerable increase over what Winnipeg hockey fans currently pay to watch the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.
Even if the Coyotes were to keep their fan cost index around its current number, amongst the lowest in the NHL, it’s still a pricey $221.80 for a family of four, living in a province which last year paid the lowest average wage in Canada, to attend a game.
By moving to Winnipeg the Coyotes would be playing in the smallest, most isolated professional sports market in North America, meaning they’ll earn less than their Canadian cousins in broadcasting, advertising and corporate sponsorship revenue.
Those claiming an NHL franchise in Winnipeg would sell out every game overlook the fact that the Jets, in their final seven seasons in the old 15,565 seat Winnipeg Arena, never sold out, averaging just over 13,000.
Undoubtedly a new NHL team in Winnipeg might do well at the gate in their first couple of seasons of existence, given the novelty and nostalgia, particularly if the team is a decent one, but if the team should struggle as the Coyotes, Florida Panthers and Atlanta Thrashers have over the past decade, that devotion would be severely tested, just as it was during the Jets final years.
Since NHL ticket and concession prices are determined by what each market can bear, an NHL franchise in Winnipeg would probably have to keep those prices amongst the lowest in the league. That’ll make them a cost-conscious club, unable to keep pace with a rising NHL salary cap, currently stalled around $56 million but likely to increase significantly as the North American economy improves.
That means this is a team that will require savvy management, like that of the Nashville Predators, capable of icing a competitive roster on a shoestring budget, one that might be a perennial playoff contender but never deep enough to contend for a championship.
The league has expressed interest in perhaps returning to Winnipeg one day but as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman observed several years ago they want to ensure they’re not getting into a situation where they’ll be facing the same problems which could put that franchise in jeopardy down the road.
If the Coyotes are to move to Canada there are better markets (southern Ontario and – once their new arena is built - Quebec City) which would better accommodate an NHL franchise long term than Winnipeg.
The league’s brain trust of course might think otherwise if someone steps up with the cash willing to bring the Coyotes to Winnipeg. It wouldn’t be the first time they made a bad decision on where to put an NHL franchise. Sure, it’ll be a popular move, but the facts suggest it might not be a sound financial one.
I’m not writing this to be a dick or to rain on anyone’s parade. I’ve based my opinion upon considerable research.
If the league were to approve the move of the Coyotes, or any other NHL team, to Winnipeg, I will honestly wish them the best of luck and hope they’ll buck the odds and succeed.
I just won’t have my hopes up too high."
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