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Globe: Second NHL Team for Toronto?

Kiwi said:
BlackBerry Balsillie Coliseum?
RIM boss has Copps naming rights

June 04, 2009
Ken Peters
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/577234

If Jim Balsillie wants to rip the name 'Copps' from the front of Hamilton's Bay Street ice palace he has the power to do so.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger comfirmed yesterday that as part of Balsillie's lease pact for Copps Coliseum, the Waterloo billionaire owns the naming rights to the city-owned 24-year facility that honours former city mayor Victor K. Copps.

Eisenberger said the only proviso is that the Copps' name must be reflected somewhere inside the arena.

The mayor said a similar clause was in the 2007 Copps lease that was approved for Balsillie's unsuccessful bid to bring the Nashville Predators to the city.

"He could take the name 'Copps' off the front of the building," Eisenberger confirmed adding he had heard through media reports that Copps' daughter Sheila was not adverse to the move if it facilitated an NHL team locating there, fullfilling her father's dream to secure such a franchise for the city.

But there is also the possibility Balsillie could sell the naming rights to a sponsor, such as Labatt's Brewery, which has come on board as a corporate sponsor for Balsillie's NHL bid.

But Eisenberger said he would hope Balsillie would involve the community in a consultative process before settling on a new name for the facility.

Balsillie confirmed in his application to relocate the Phoenix Coyotes to Hamilton that he indeed owned the naming rights to the complex.

And in a series of artist drawings completed to show the arena in the wake of a proposed $150-million renovation, the Copps name is nowhere to be found.

Basillie spokesman Bill Walker said yesterday his client has given no consideration at this point to selling the naming rights of Copps Coliseum.

A Phoenix bankruptcy court will convene Tuesday to determine whether the bankrupt Coyotes' franchise can indeed be relocated to Hamilton. The NHL is fighting the possible releocation.
Click to expand...


So, are we ready to see Jim for what he is yet? Not a bad thing but he is an opportunistic businessman who sees the potential for profit in a sports ownership.

Renovate your building for $150million....I will contribute $30 million....the taxpayer contributes $120 million....you own the arena (ie. if it loses money too bad that's your problem).....I get a management contract that pays me to run it and allows me to book other acts and if I can make it turn a profit we share in the profit....oh, yeah, since I am taking all the "risk" I get the naming rights....which I will turn around and sell for, conservatively, $10 million a year over 10 years....oops, I just made $70 million day one......nice!!!!!

This is precisely the sort of deal that MLSE did with the city of Toronto at BMO Field (which was not "BMO" Field until after the deal) and yet they were described as corportate welfare bums that were profiting off the back of taxpayer (paraphrasing the Star and other media outlets there) yet JB is seen as some saviour of the national sporting identity.....mmmm interesting indeed.

I am not anti JB nor particurlary anti NHL in Hamilton...just fascinated how he is treated in the media and in public discussions relative to the folks at MLSE.
 
Currently the City owns Copps, Hamilton Place and the Convention Centre (HECFI), which is a $5 million expense each year. So the City would be saving $5 million each year plus get $2 million in rent from Jim Balsillie. So the City would profit $7 million each year.
 
Kiwi said:
Currently the City owns Copps, Hamilton Place and the Convention Centre (HECFI), which is a $5 million expense each year. So the City would be saving $5 million each year plus get $2 million in rent from Jim Balsillie. So the City would profit $7 million each year.
Click to expand...

Those aren't quite the numbers I heard....but I will take them as fine ...but a 17 year payback (assuming no interest owed on the $120 million of public funds invested) so that a private business owner can immediately make a $70million (estimate based on my previous post about naming rights) profit is very much like the MLSE/Toronto/BMO Field deal!!.....no?

Again, I have no real problem with the whole deal (either JB in Hamilton or MLSE @ BMO) but I find it interesting how two similar deals with two different groups/cities and one of them is a hero and the other a much maligned corporate entity.
 
I personally don't really care about the public financing Copps's renovation. It would be nice to see some taxpayer’s money flowing to Hamilton's civic infrastructure when compared to BMO Field, Skydome, Bell Festival Centre, Royal Ontario Museum, Four Seasons Centre, etc.
 
Group has plan for 2nd NHL team in GTA

http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/645491

Kevin McGran
SPORTS REPORTER

A new group has emerged with a plan to put a second National Hockey League team in the Greater Toronto Area.

This group – which claims to have $1 billion in financing and would donate a portion of the team's profits to charity – will announce details of its vision for an NHL expansion franchise tomorrow in Toronto.

The trio speaking at that event include Herbert Carnegie, 89, an Order of Canada recipient and described in a biography on the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame Web site as "one of the best ever players to never play pro-league hockey."

The three will unveil how the team will honour "Canadian heroes while supporting cancer research, national scholarships and children's charities." Appearing with Carnegie tomorrow will be Paul Pelligrini of the Sussex Strategy Government Relations, an aide to former Toronto mayor and Liberal cabinet minister Art Eggleton; and Andrew Lopez of Toronto Legacy Group.

None would be owners and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said today he has not talked to the group.

"It will take two to three years at minimum to build an arena," Lopez said in an interview. "The earliest we would look at an expansion franchise is 2012."

Tomorrow, the group will talk about its financing, donations, an economic impact review and also unveil the name of a team, arena, jersey, site plan and architect renderings.

The biography of Carnegie says the son of Jamaican immigrants to Canada starred in Quebec senior hockey leagues in the 1940s and '50s where he was MVP for three consecutive years.

He went on to establish the Future Aces Hockey School for kids aged 12-14. The hockey school led to the Future Aces Foundation which provides 25 annual bursaries to young people, enabling them to pursue post-secondary education.

In 2003, he was named a Member, Order of Canada and in 2005 North York Centennial Arena was renamed the Herbert H. Carnegie Centennial Centre in honour of his community activities.

It was not immediately clear whether this group had any links to a group fronted by former Toronto Maple Leaf Kevin Maguire, who recently met with the NHL to discuss his group's plans in placing a team in Vaughan.

Billionaire Jim Balsillie is pursuing the Phoenix Coyotes in a U.S. bankruptcy court, hoping to move them to Hamilton.
 
Kiwi said:
I personally don't really care about the public financing Copps's renovation. It would be nice to see some taxpayer’s money flowing to Hamilton's civic infrastructure when compared to BMO Field, Skydome, Bell Festival Centre, Royal Ontario Museum, Four Seasons Centre, etc.
Click to expand...

Again...it is not the deal that I question....nor the JB ownership....nor the fact that public money is being used to invest in sporting/municipal infrastructure.....those are common things.

I am just, frankly, amazed that JB is doing this and being hailed (almost universally) as some maple-caped national hero.....when MLSE do the same deal (essentially) down the QEW they are viewed as thieves and scoundrels! ah well.
 
TOareaFan said:
Again...it is not the deal that I question....nor the JB ownership....nor the fact that public money is being used to invest in sporting/municipal infrastructure.....those are common things.

I am just, frankly, amazed that JB is doing this and being hailed (almost universally) as some maple-caped national hero.....when MLSE do the same deal (essentially) down the QEW they are viewed as thieves and scoundrels! ah well.
Click to expand...

MLSE never brought a former Canadian team back to Canada from the US though.
 
Also, just because he has the naming rights doesn't mean he'll take "Copps" away from the title. Even if he did do it, I wouldn't be surprised if "Copps" was memorialized in another way. Biggest difference between Balsillie and MLSE is that Balsillie is one person whereas MLSE is a bunch of different backers with majority ownership held by a pension fund whose only mandate is to make money. Balsillie seems to have this idea that he can leave a legacy in this province. That's why he's done so much for Waterloo and the greater southern ontario region. Just because someone is successful doesn't mean they're greedy. Most things I've read suggest that If Balsillie was after money he would have moved RIM to the US a while ago and been 5 times richer instead of setting up shop in Waterloo.
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
MLSE never brought a former Canadian team back to Canada from the US though.
Click to expand...

No but they gave us a team in a league/sport where we had no presence and no one else with any money was willing to gamble on it. (keeping with the comparing the BMO deal between Toronto and MLSE to the Copps deal between Hamilton and JB).
 
jn_12 said:
Also, just because he has the naming rights doesn't mean he'll take "Copps" away from the title. Even if he did do it, I wouldn't be surprised if "Copps" was memorialized in another way. Biggest difference between Balsillie and MLSE is that Balsillie is one person whereas MLSE is a bunch of different backers with majority ownership held by a pension fund whose only mandate is to make money. Balsillie seems to have this idea that he can leave a legacy in this province. That's why he's done so much for Waterloo and the greater southern ontario region. Just because someone is successful doesn't mean they're greedy. Most things I've read suggest that If Balsillie was after money he would have moved RIM to the US a while ago and been 5 times richer instead of setting up shop in Waterloo.
Click to expand...

I was(am) really trying to isolate this discussion to the comparison of the two deals....they are very similar....even if the arena becomes the Labatts Copps Coliseum...JB will get over $10 mill a year for that over, at least, 10 years....so he will collect (in my estimation) over $100 million from the naming rights for investing $30 million in the arena........a very attractive profit relative to the investment.

This is extremely similar to the MLSE/BMO/Toronto deal.
 
Automation Gallery said:
Interesting article

Maple Leafs are real power behind farcical war over Coyotes

The fight is about bringing a hockey franchise, any franchise Balsillie can get his hands on, into arguably the most underserved but lucrative market in North America, one that just happens to be the backyard of the Toronto Maple Leafs, one of the most profitable enterprises in all of sport.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jim_kelley/06/04/balsillie.coyotes.battle/?eref=sircrc
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call it an article as much as an opinion piece! All he has is a source (un named) who says the leafs don't want another team in their market (shocking, huh?) and that they migh sue.

then a bunch of slanderous inuendo. ah well, journalism used to be a noble profession!
 
I can see MLSE increasingly smooching up to Balsillie's bid.

What would do more damage to MLSE?....

NHL team outside of the GTA at an already built Copps Coliseum; or
A brand new team in the GTA with a brand new arena?

MLSE will try to do everything to avoid another big venue that could chip away concerts and events at ACC in the GTA.
 
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