Faceoff Factor

Lacing Up with Ash and Stoosh - 11.10.08

Ashley Gallant | National Hockey League

Nov 10, 04:59 PM | Hype this story!

Lacing Up is a weekly column taken from an email conversation between Ashley Gallant and CJ. “Stoosh” Jiuliante. Stoosh is a former Faceoff Factor staff writer and a long-time hockey fan.

Stoosh: A couple of weeks ago, it was revealed by some major Canadian news outlets that some NHL governors have had what may best be described as preliminary talks about adding a second team to the Toronto area. In interviews conducted with the Pittsburgh media during the arena negotiations in 2006 and early 2007, Sports Illustrated hockey writer Michael Farber alluded several times to Gary Bettman’s desire to eventually expand the league to 32 teams, perhaps sometime within the next ten years. Given the relative success at the gate of the last two expansion teams – Minnesota and Columbus – there also seems to be a groundswell of sentiment to bring the game back north and restore the game to markets like Winnipeg.

Yet this talk comes in the midst of some well-publicized stability issues with the Nashville franchise and also images of games being played to half-empty arenas in places like New Jersey, Atlanta, Florida and Phoenix.

Should the NHL consider expanding by two teams? If so, where is the best place to put two new teams?

Ash: Expansion? You’d have to be a whole lotta stupid to think that it’s a good idea to add two more teams to the NHL when there are a number of franchises that can barely turn a profit. Nothing will be solved by adding more teams to the mix. The problems will still be there in New Jersey, Florida, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Nashville, AND they would manage to dilute the talent pool at the same time.

I believe the Canadian media quoted an unidentifiable NHL governor as saying that expansion would make the NHL the laughingstock of major professional sports. I tend to believe that we already ARE the laughingstock of pro sports because some people think that this is a good idea.

So, to answer your question, no I do not believe that the NHL should consider expanding by two teams, BUT I do believe that they should relocate a couple of teams. From a business point of view it just makes sense to move a couple of teams North (whether it be northern States or in Canada) where the market is stronger. The Greater Toronto Area (including Kitchener/Waterloo or Hamilton) would be a good home for a troubled franchise, as would Winnipeg or Quebec City.

I know that I sound like a broken record on this issue, so I think I’ll stop right there…for now.

Stoosh: So how do you really feel about the idea of an NHL expansion?

Just kidding. I complete agree, though. At first, the idea of going to four eight-team divisions was a little bit intriguing, but I watch these game recaps on NHL On the Fly (NHL Network) and I see games being played between rival teams in half-empty arenas and it’s just another short-sighted idea from the mind of Gary Bettman.

In fact, I’d like to hope that Bettman realizes the fans aren’t dumb enough to think that the main reason he’s contemplating expansion is to somehow realize this master plan of four eight-team divisions. If four divisions and an interdivisional playoff format was so important, he never would’ve switched to the current three-division format in the first place.

Bettman wants expansion because expansion generates instant revenue by virtue of the expansion fees charged to the ownerships of the new teams. They can charge a few hundred million dollars for each of the new clubs and 30 teams get an equal share of the pie, and that becomes a nice little Band-Aid that can be used to mask the thousands of empty seats that some teams are playing in front of every night. Plus, it gives Bettman another chance to go on television and talk about the great shape the league is in.

I would hope that there are at least some of the owners willing to take into account some common sense and your mention of the unnamed NHL governor’s concern over expansion turning the league into an even bigger laughingstock is encouraging. The league is going to have to take a serious look at itself over the next few years and determine whether it can really continue to exist in some of these markets. On November 2, the Thrashers hosted the Panthers – an interdivisional matchup – and played the game to a paid attendance of 10,584 fans, not even 60% the capacity of Phillips Arena. Jim Nill, the assisitant manager of the Detroit Red Wings, said after this past season that some teams have maxed out most of their revenue streams and can’t afford to raise ticket prices anymore without running the risk of turning even more fans away, so it’s unlikely that the salary cap is going to continue to go up; this might be a good thing for some of these teams.

Bringing two more teams into the mix isn’t going help and this is why I think the NHL needs to take a serious look at relocating some of these teams as well. After a while, it becomes apparent that the experiment has failed in some of these areas and teams are doing nothing but treading financial water at best. There aren’t enough alternate revenue streams to compensate when a team can’t put 11,000 a night in its building for a weeknight game against a division rival. In his most recent column, John Buccigross wondered aloud how long the Phoenix Coyotes can continue to lose gobs of money. How can a team lose money in this new economic system, especially when that system is just a few years removed from its inception? By the numbers showing at www.nhlscap.com, the Coyotes are $9 million UNDER the cap, yet they still may be LOSING money. That’s a problem.

As I said, maybe it’s time to admit that the Great Southern Expansion Experiment just didn’t work in some areas. The relocations and expansions in the mid-1990s were driven by hopes for a television network deal that never happened, thanks in part to Bettman allowing the game to become bogged down, stale and boring before the lockout. These teams rely on gate receipts as primary revenue streams and they just don’t have the roots put down in their respective locales to make it work. We’re beginning to approach the 15-year mark for some of these franchise in this areas, and things are not getting better. Maybe it’s time to put the league back into more traditional markets.

Judging by the fact that barely 15,000 a game (sometimes much less, actually) are showing up in places like Atlanta, Nashville and Phoenix, you have to wonder if most of the people there probably would even notice.

Ash: Just the fact that the economy is turned upside down and inside out is enough of a reason to put the expansion plans in the trash. A couple of expansion teams would definitely bring in several hundred million dollars, but the NHL would be worse off in the long run. Besides, it’s not like we need any more sportscasters to point and laugh at the NHL...it’s bad enough as it is.

There’s something I wanted to add to the idea of relocation. I know that I am very vocal when it comes to my opinion that several southern teams – Atlanta, Nashville, Phoenix, etc – should pick up and move to Canada, and I thought I’d say why.

It baffles me to see those teams play to half-empty arenas and give away their tickets for next to nothing. I remember hearing about a deal in Atlanta where you could get 4 tickets, food, and parking for about $50. It would cost me more than $60 to get 4 tickets (no food or parking) to see the Moncton Wildcats (a junior team) play a game.

I decided to check the Leafs’ website to see how much tickets cost. For a Leafs-Thrashers game on Tuesday, November 25th, ONE ticket in the upper section of the lower bowl (not the platinum seats) would set me back over $400.00. On a Tuesday…and it’s not even against a ‘popular’ team.

(Sorry, Thrasher fans)

I heard that the waiting list to get Leafs season tickets is 2-3 years long, and so many people in that area are fed up with how Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment treats their fans.

I know that many fans would be upset if their team headed North, but doesn’t the NHL have a responsibility to make sure that the league is financially stable? If the “Hamilton Predators” experiment was any indication of the level of interest in Southern Ontario, why not explore that option?

To me, it just makes sense.

UPDATE

Ash: I just read on TSN.ca that a recent report in the Globe and Mail stated that a second team in Toronto/Southern Ontario could be worth upwards of $600 million and would instantly make it the third most valuable team in the NHL, all because of the fan base in that area.

Hamilton Predators, anyone?