Hockey-Town Contradiction
Two of the major sports news stories this week come from the Montreal Canadiens being sold and the Phoenix Coyotes holding their fort.
La Presse in Montreal reported the sale price is well over $500 million, which would include Gillett’s 80.1-per cent interest in the team and 100 per cent stake in the Bell Centre and event promotion company Gillett Entertainment Group.
Obviously there are millions of habs fans globally, and to them, this doesn’t change their historical, often bittersweet, and glorified perspective of the team, however there is an interesting contradiction between this transaction, and the transaction that occurred between Blackberry God, Jim Balsillie this May, which ultimately concluded this week.
The story as found on the wikipedia website states: On May 5, 2009, Balsillie made an offer of $212.5 million to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes following the team’s filing for bankruptcy protection inArizona. In a press release from Toronto, Ontario,[14] the offer to purchase is conditional on relocation to Southern Ontario. At the request of the current owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, Jim Balsillie agreed to post debtor-in-possession financing of $17.0 million U.S. dollars to allow the Phoenix Coyotes to operate in advance of a restructuring or a sale. A few hours later, the NHL removed Coyotes owner, Jerry Moyes, from all decision making regarding the future of the Phoenix Coyotes, as the NHL has had control over the team and all holdings since Moyes signed a proxy agreement. This is to be disputed in court on May 19, 2009 in Phoenix Bankruptcy Court.[15]
The strange thing about the two deals is that in the end, the bottom line comes to the fact that hockey teams are in the market for selling to hockey fans. Simple as that. Is a team, in the 2nd largest hockey market in canada, really worth “well over 500 million” when one guy can make a bid to buy a team, to stick it right in the middle of the largest hockey market in canada, for under 300 million?
I guess what I’m saying is, if you’re searching for a lambourghini at bargain annie’s third-hand junk store, don’t quit your day job. And don’t play tricks on the die-hard hockey fans, right in the heart of Leaf country dangling some Gretzky meat along with it. Thanks, Balsillie, for nothin’.
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- Rare Bootlegs
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