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Globe: Second NHL Team for Toronto?

Balsillie expands website, adds corporate partners to NHL power play

By The Canadian Press

TORONTO - Jim Balsillie expanded his own personal NHL power play Friday, announcing a pair of corporate sponsors were on board for his bid to bring the Phoenix Coyotes to southern Ontario.

The BlackBerry boss unveiled his expanded www.makeitseven.ca website, bringing Labatt Breweries and Home Hardware into the fold as his first two "anchor corporate partners."

"What began as a grassroots movement to support bringing a seventh NHL club to Canada is now attaining critical mass, with these two iconic Canadian brands proudly joining the effort," Balsillie said in a statement.

Balsillie says more than 120,000 Canadians have logged onto his site to show their support for his bid to bring a seventh NHL franchise to Canada.

The co-CEO of Research In Motion has made a US$212.5-million bid for the financially ailing Phoenix Coyotes, an offer conditional on moving the franchise to southern Ontario.

A Phoenix bankruptcy judge will hear arguments Tuesday over who is currently in control of the Coyotes - majority owner Jerry Moyes, who favours the Balsillie bid, or the league, which argues Moyes signed over control to the NHL in exchange for money advanced to the franchise.

Outside the court, Balsillie now has a couple of corporate heavyweights on his side.

"Labatt has a long history of supporting grassroots hockey in Canada," Charlie Angelakos, vice-president of corporate affairs for Labatt Breweries of Canada, said in a statement issued by the Balsillie group.

"Like many Canadians, we love NHL hockey and we want more of it here. Let's get behind Make it Seven and let's make it happen."

"A new franchise will be a source of pride for all Canadians and we are excited by the possibility of creating more opportunities for Canada's best players to play on their home ice, in front of hometown fans," added Paul Straus, vice-president and CEO of Home Hardware Stores.

The website also features Make it Seven clothing for sale, with net proceeds donated to minor hockey programs.
 
How can Moyes sell the Coyotes, when the NHL pays the bills and controls the team?
The media vibe in southern Ontario around Jim Balsillie’s bid to airlift the National Hockey League’s Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton is, shall we say, positive. Make that overwhelmingly positive. No, hysterically positive. Even more accurate is a posting on an Arizona Web site, azcentral.com: “I hope that Bettman & Co. decide to put a couple of teams in Canada to give them what they want more than world peace.â€

Ontario hockey fans certainly seem to want a hockey franchise more than they endorse economic common sense and the pursuit of sound business practices by the NHL. The ink isn’t even dry on the backruptcy court documents but already Mr. Balsillie and the City of Hamilton are talking about the need for $80-million in government subsidies for a $120-million plan to bring the city’s low-rent Copps Coliseum up to NHL standards.

The phrase “NHL standards,†by the way, is a euphemism for the need to endow Copps with luxury boxes. Such frills are apparently essential to set up comfy nesting places where local corporate, legal and political fat-cats can spend more tax-subsidized dollars entertaining one another.

If Mr. Balsillie really wanted to revolutionize the way the NHL and other sports franchises do business, why not vow to end the senseless squandering of billions in taxpayer money to build money losing arenas and stadiums. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the new $1.5-billion Yankee Stadium, massively subsidized by New York taxpayers, looks like it could prove to be a financial dud. They even compared it with the Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, home of the departed Expos, but there was no mention of another baseball dog, Toronto’s $650-billion domed stadium.

When it comes to remaking hockey, unfortunately, Mr. Balsillie’s effort is limited to rewriting the corporate structure of the NHL and, it would seem, some of the legal agreements that bind the Phoenix Coyotes to the NHL and to Phoenix.

Bankruptcy law, corporate law, franchise law, anti-trust law, sports law — the Phoenix Coyotes tangle is deep in a messy swamp. FP Comment’s legal budget has been drastically cut back, making it difficult to put together an air-tight opinion on the validity of Mr. Balsillie’s bid or the likelihood he will succeed in his battle with the NHL and its commissioner, Gary Bettman.

From what has been filed so far, however, and based on the nature of sports franchise operations, especially the NHL, Mr. Moyes and Mr. Balsillie will have trouble pulling this off.

First off is the fact that Mr. Moyes, facing more calls on his money to keep funding the Coyotes last year, appears to have virtually given up his 91.8% ownership of the team. On Nov. 14, 2008, Mr. Moyes signed an “irrevocable proxy†in which he granted the NHL the rights to the club. It begins:

This irrevocable proxy ... is granted by the underesigned to the Commissioner of the National Hockey League in respect of its 91.79% ownership interest in Coyotes Hockey, LLC, which is the owner of the Phoenix Coyotes NHL franchise, to provide for the continued management, operation, ownership and financing of the Club and its affiliates in order, among other things, to preserve and protect the interests of the NHL and its member clubs.

The proxy agreement would seem to leave no avenue of escape for Mr. Moyes. It continues:

The undersigned hereby irrevocably appoints, with immediate effect, the Commissioner of the NHL as its true and lawful attorney and proxy in respect of all of the undersigned’s interest and rights in the club, including without limitation a 91.79% ownership interest in, and all rights as managing member of, the Club (collectively referred herein as the “Coyotes Interestsâ€; the term Coyotes Interests shall be deemed to include, without limitation, all of the limited liability company interests, shares, membership interests or units issued by the club...

Since Mr. Moyes signed that agreement last November, the NHL has been paying for the Coyotes’ operation, running up millions in expenses. Since the NHL is picking up expenses at a company over which he gave up all control, it’s hard to see how Mr. Moyes could assume he had the authority to put the Coyotes into bankruptcy so as to facilitate Mr. Balsillie’s takeover offer. A bankruptcy judge will rule on this and other matters next week.

The NHL also has what looks to be rock-solid franchise claims over the future of the Coyotes. No sports league can hold together if individual owners can unilaterally move their franchise to what might be a more profitable location. If they could, the owners of the Ottawa Senators might rather be in Hamilton than Ottawa. Why can’t they get first dibs?

An odd but revealing bit about Mr. Moyes’s business strategy appeared yesterday in The Arizona Republic. In a letter to the editor, he said he expects to be down $200-million on his investment in the Coyotes, which had been seen as a big draw in the Glendale area, part of a complex development strategy involving the team, the arena and a giant mall, Westgate Center. “Unfortunately,†Mr. Moyes writes, “the arena leases and agreements were constructed so that, in some ways, they subsidized the development of Westgate.†Somehow, he says, that economics made sense when all three enterprises were combined, but not after the team became a separate entity.

Few people around professional sports expect to use a team to subsidize something else.

For his part, Mr. Balsillie seems to be covering all his corners. In response to the NHL on Thursday, he distanced himself from the ownership issue. “I made a generous good faith offer to by the Coyotes from Jerry Moyes, who I understand is the owner of the Coyotes†(emphasis added). Remarkably, he also added: “Who owns or controls the team is a distinction without a difference.†Tell that to the lawyers.

Then, again making it seem like ownership, laws, legal agreements and business principles don’t matter, he said that, “At the end of the day, this is about the passion Canadians feel for the game of hockey and a chance to provide those fans with the opportunity to support a seventh NHL team.†Canadians, in other words, want a new hockey team more than world peace. World peace may come first.
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Automation Gallery said:
It would be nice to see a new stadium and NHL team in Mississauga, i dont think that the Hershey Centre is big enough or even expandable to host a team. .
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I'd love a stadium in Mississauga City Centre. Near City Hall and the Living Arts Centre please! :D
 
First of all, the lease deal for Copps is only a 5 year deal right now at $2million/year. This will be renegotiated if/when an NHL team comes around (from my understanding).

Also, Balsillie is requesting government funds because essentially it is a public building that the city owns. He's doing the city and province a greater service by bringing in the team, and spending a hell of a lot of his own money on it. I'm sure he could do it with his own money, but he's doing a lot of good for Hamilton and southern ontario, so he's just asking if they would be willing to lend a hand. I don't get a sense that Balsillie is in the same boat as MLSE. MLSE's majority ownership is in the hands of the teachers pension fund, which has only one motivation and that's to make more money. Balsillie has never shown to be greedy and in it for the money in any of his endeavours. Look at the list of things he's poured money into without any sort of return.
 
The City of Hamilton and Balsillie signed an agreement for a 20-year lease with options to extend it a further three times, each for four more years, totalling 32 years. That includes Copps Coliseum, Convention Centre and Hamilton Place Theatre.
 
^ Thanks, do you have a link to an article for that agreement? I haven't been able to find it other than the agreement for the promised $5 million to upgrade Copps and the $2million/year to the city for the first 5 years. Also, is this 2*5 + $5million contingent on a team coming? What if Balsillie can't get the team?
 
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Bettman favoured Winnipeg: Moyes

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/article/635571

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman would rather the Phoenix Coyotes move back to Winnipeg, preferring Hamilton to get an expansion team, according to the latest documents filed in bankruptcy court.

Following as it does on the heels of musings by Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie's camp they are willing to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix for one more season, the final onslaught of documents supporting the team's bankruptcy gives some insight into the backroom deals that are far from public posturing.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said moving the team to Winnipeg was considered only if there were no other options.

"In the event there turned out to be no options in Phoenix – and only in that event – we thought it was worth exploring what might be available in Winnipeg," Daly said in an email in reaction to the latest documents.

Balsillie issued a press release yesterday, saying the offer to stay in Glendale was only to make life easier for NHL schedule makers.

"If bringing an NHL team to Hamilton means needing to remove a scheduling impediment to my bid to purchase the Coyotes franchise, I am willing to do what is necessary to assist the NHL in order to get us to our ultimate goal," said the statement. "That is why I have indicated to the bankruptcy court, in reply to the NHL's argument, that if beginning NHL play in Hamilton this fall truly creates a scheduling impediment, I am willing to remove that impediment and leave the team in Phoenix for one additional season."

As the clock ticks on the legal case that could have an NHL team in Hamilton next season, Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes had his turn to respond to the accusations that have been flying all week from the NHL and the city of Glendale.

His legal team portrayed Moyes as an upstanding businessman who stands to lose $300 million (all figures U.S.) if the NHL gets its way, and who "unlike the NHL, comes to this court with clean hands."

And tucked away in the declaration of Earl Scudder, one of Moyes' lawyers, were the contents of a key conversation with Bettman.

On April 3 – well before the bankruptcy filing – Scudder said he revealed to Bettman a "purchaser from Canada who wanted to move the team to southern Ontario." The date is important because it suggests Moyes, through Scudder, was controlling the team, in direct contrast to league assertions it had been doing so since November.

"Bettman responded that there would be no approval to relocate the Coyotes to Hamilton because the arena they would play in is over 30 years old; if the team did return to Canada, it would be Winnipeg; for a team to move into southern Ontario, it would only be an expansion team."

The Moyes camp's arguments went to great lengths to discredit NHL assertions it was running the team and accusations Moyes had secretly altered documents in April to make it seem as if he had more authority than he did.

It's clear the biggest question that needs to be answered is: Who controls the team? Moyes' camp went to great lengths to show it was business as usual for the Coyotes after Moyes signed proxies over to the NHL. But the affidavit of former Coyotes CEO Jeff Shumway did include mixed messages the league may seize upon. In it, he admits he was uncomfortable with the power the NHL would get with the proxy, and was frustrated on Nov.3 when the league took over negotiations with the city of Glendale.

"I understand that the NHL now asserts that at this meeting Mr. Bettman stated the league had assumed operation and managerial control of the Phoenix Coyotes because Mr. Moyes was no longer able to fund the Coyotes. This is not true," writes Shumway, adding that Bettman sounded as if he was only doing the Coyotes a favour "because he had good experiences in the past negotiating with cities."

A hearing is set for Tuesday.
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Bettman beware: Winning battle may turn sour

http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/635572

The greatest danger for Gary Bettman may not lie in losing to Jim Balsillie in bankruptcy court.

It may lie in winning.

If Bettman is able to successfully block Balsillie's attempt to move the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton, you see, he'll be stuck with Phoenix.

He, and the league, will be marrying the Arizona money pit for at least another decade.

He won't just be able to turn around and relocate the Coyotes to Las Vegas or Kansas City two or three years down the line because he would then be revealed to be all that Balsillie has accused him of being, namely a spiteful executive stubbornly dedicated to blocking another NHL team in Canada and running interference for the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment at all costs rather than acting in the best interests of the game.

People – Canadians – would forget, sure, but it would take a while.

See, Bettman has positioned himself as the protector of franchises and league rules, which is fine. He says it's not about Balsillie or Hamilton.

But that doesn't leave him much wiggle room if the Coyotes, a gigantic money-losing proposition in recent years, still can't cut it in Phoenix even after Balsillie is chased off.

The hockey business atmosphere in Phoenix, let's face it, has been terribly injured by the destructive relationship that has evolved between the NHL and the former (current?) owner of the Coyotes, Jerry Moyes.

People correctly question why the NHL would want to do business with Balsillie who, by his own admission, has found a "side door" to try and get a team in Hamilton.

Well, given the nasty falling out between Moyes and the NHL, there might be a few in Phoenix wondering why anyone would want to do business with Bettman.

Specifically, as Moyes alleges in his latest filings to the Arizona bankruptcy court, the NHL's claim that it took control of the Coyotes last November after advancing $6 million (U.S.) in shared league revenues was "concocted in a transparent attempt to avoid legitimate bankruptcy filings."

Moyes accuses the Bettman administration of "deception" and "misleading acts," while the former chief executive officer of the Coyotes, Jeff Shumway, said in a sworn declaration the NHL "did not run, manage, operate, control or direct" the Coyotes from 2006 to the day he departed the organization in January, 2009.

Shumway backs up his contentions with emails and correspondence between the Coyotes and NHL headquarters, all of which leaves the NHL with some explaining to do.

For months it said publicly it hadn't taken control of the Coyotes, and only asserted it had after the team was plunged into bankruptcy.

This, of course, is what Tuesday's hearing in Phoenix will be largely about – namely whether the NHL or Moyes controlled the team at the time bankruptcy was filed and Balsillie was revealed to be the "stalking horse" bidder for the team.

Moyes may be a dreadful sports owner, but he did have lots of dough and he did pump it into the franchise. And now that he's trying to sell the team and cut his losses, he contends the NHL is making up stories about him to make him look like some crazy uncle up in the attic.

This isn't exactly laying the groundwork for an orderly succession of ownership in Phoenix. Instead, it probably is the ugliest fight between the NHL and an owner in league history since the days when Barry Van Gerbig led the 53-man ownership team of the California Seals, tried to move the Seals to Vancouver and then sued when the league got in his way.

Various people, including Charlie O. Finley, later tried to operate the Seals, who were eventually sold to the league in 1974 for $6.75 million.

That's sort of where we are now, right? And Clarence Campbell sure couldn't make that team work in Oakland.

Bettman, then, might find winning this battle is a lot like losing.
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They'll be a rally to support an NHL team to Hamilton...............

Saturday May 30 2009
1:00 pm to 4:00pm
Copps Coliseum
 
Overwhelming support for moving Coyotes to Hamilton: new poll shows
Majority confident Balsillie can bring the team to Canada

TORONTO, May 18 /CNW/ - The bid for a seventh Canadian NHL franchise continues to gather momentum, with a new survey showing overwhelming support across Canada for the proposal to re-locate the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton.

A nationally representative survey of 1,009 Canadians commissioned by PSE Sports & Entertainment (PSE) found a whopping 87% of respondents agree that Canada deserves another NHL team because Canadians are the best hockey fans and fully 72% support the bid by Jim Balsillie and PSE to buy the bankrupt Phoenix NHL franchise and move the club to Hamilton.

Further, the survey shows that support for the Balsillie bid to move the Coyotes to Hamilton is deep across the country including 86% in Atlantic Canada and Ontario, 83% in British Columbia and 70% in the Prairies. While familiarity with the bid is low in Quebec, where 29% say they have no opinion, a majority (54%) still support the bid.

From coast to coast, increasingly Canadians believe the bid will be successful. A majority of respondents (53%) expressed confidence in Balsillie's ability to move the Phoenix Coyotes to Canada.

"This shows, in quantifiable terms, the phenomenal degree of support for bringing a seventh NHL team to Canada," said Bill Walker, spokesperson for Balsillie's PSE Sports and Entertainment, which is mounting the bid. "Further it demonstrates that the support is nationwide to bring a team to southern Ontario - the biggest un-served hockey market in North America."

Elsewhere, the poll also found:

- 78% agree that the move would benefit the rest of the NHL, since a team in southern Ontario would be more successful than the Coyotes have been during their time in Phoenix. Only nine per cent disagreed.

- Similarly, 77% disagreed with the suggestion that the team should stay in Phoenix to help the NHL build popularity in the U.S.

The survey was conducted by leading public opinion research firm POLLARA Inc. The research was conducted among a nationally representative random sample by telephone between May 11-14, 2009. Results are accurate to within plus or minus 3.1%, nineteen times out of twenty.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2009/18/c4916.html
 
They really needed a poll to determine that the majority of Canadians would prefer a 7th NHL team in Canada over a team in Phoenix?

I wonder, however, if they included in the question that their tax dollars would pay for the arena improvements....would 86% of Atlantic Canadians still support this?
 
I really hope the Coyotes don't move to the Toronto area. There are already too many sports teams here, already too many homophobic meatheads here.
 
doady said:
I really hope the Coyotes don't move to the Toronto area. There are already too many sports teams here, already too many homophobic meatheads here.
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Ladies and Gentlemen.... I give you.... the dumbest f*cking post ever!!!


Really dude, is your head up your ass?
 
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