Atlanta Thrashers coming to Winnipeg?

wyly · May 14, 2010

Well, considering your expansive knowledge of the situation didn't even include Thomson's existence, I'm asking you very, very nicely to explain why they will stay.

I'm just thanking my lucky stars that they are staying (for now) in Glendale. I was disgusted by the whole scene in 1996 of little kids being encouraged to empty their piggy banks to keep the Jets. And I hate how big-league sports hold communities hostage for millions of dollars.

agreed...like the multi-millionaire owners of the Flames wanting Calgary taxpayers to put up a new building so they can make more millions :lol:

...raise my taxes so they can make more cash, sorry no...

fellowtraveller · May 19, 2010

Well, considering your expansive knowledge of the situation didn't even include Thomson's existence, I'm asking you very, very nicely to explain why they will stay.

???

Why would you think I did not know of the existence of Chipman or Thomson?

Their existence does not mean that Winnipeg gets an NHL franchise transferred from Winnipeg. Havinhg rich people does not mean you get a team. SW Ontario had this rich guy on tap with an NHL size arena in his pocket, he didn't get one either. His name is Balsillie, you may have heard of him.

Why does Glendale want the Coyotes to stay?

Because paying their losses is cheaper than paying the massive loan on their new building. A new building, by the way, that has no prospect of any major tenant other than the Coyotes. The NHL knows it. Everybody knows that now. Phoenix is one of the few places in North America where every sport team has an independent venue. Without a NHL team there, Glendale has to pay the mortgage entirtely on their own with little revenue. That gives them no leverage with buyers, and they know it and admitted it by guaranteeing $25 million in possible NHL losses there next year.

Why does the NHL stay there? Because they do not want the dual embarassment of surrending the market, and having nowhere except dead ends/failed locations like Winnipeg or Quebec to send the failed franchise. Both those are really risky moves for the league. There aren't any others in the USA except perhaps Las Vegas, which is unfortunately both in the middle of a brutal economic downturn and has no suitable building.

Meantime, they own the franchise now and also know they have Glendale by the short and curlies. That means the next owner has Glendale by the short and curlies too. That increases the value and saleability of the franchise, but only if it stays in Glendale. What the NHL wants too is to get out of Dodge with their $30 or $40 million in cash intact, which should not be too hard now.

Expect a sale soon, and probably to Reinsdorf.

Smallc · May 28, 2010

Why does the NHL stay there? Because they do not want the dual embarassment of surrending the market, and having nowhere except dead ends/failed locations like Winnipeg or Quebec to send the failed franchise.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2010/05/28/sp-bettman-address.html

maple_leafs182 · May 20, 2011

Well I guess I'll bring this thread back to life.

There is new speculation that Atlanta may be coming to Winnipeg.

BubberMiley · May 20, 2011

dead wrong about that, they will eventually seek a NEW franchise there, somebody will pay the NHL between $200 and $300 million for a NEWS franchise. That is why the NHL won't allow any TRANSFER to SW Ontario, they would then forego a monster chunk of cash.

Uh...no. They'll just charge a monster chunk of cash for a relocation fee, like they're doing with Winnipeg.

They say of the $170M TNSE is paying, Atlanta is only getting $80M.

Black Dog · May 26, 2011

You guys need a little time to apologize, edit your posts and/or pry your feet out of your mouths?

Glendale Arizona city council has agreed unanimously to pay any losses the NHL might incur owning the Coyotes, up to $25 million. That means they stay.

I'll explain why if you ask nicely.

In the meantime, renew those Moose season tickets.

So how about those Winnipeg Thrashers. :lol:

maple_leafs182 · May 31, 2011

Yes, officially announced. Thrashers coming to Winnipeg

Michael Hardner · May 31, 2011

Next, we need a team in Saskatchewan.

Shady · May 31, 2011

Next, we need a team in Saskatchewan.

Don't hold your breath.

BubberMiley · May 31, 2011

You guys need a little time to apologize, edit your posts and/or pry your feet out of your mouths?

I'll give you all the time you want to apologize, edit your posts and pry your feet out of your mouth. :lol:

maple_leafs182 · June 4, 2011

Lots of people were saying we could not support a team. over 7,000 of 13,000 season tickets have been sold already and they haven't even started selling them to the general public. That is only from corporate sponsors and people who held Manitoba Moose season tickets.

BubberMiley · June 4, 2011

And for the season after that and after that. The top-level seats require a 5-year commitment and rumour has it they're already all gone. I was reluctant to see the NHL come back because I thought the team would lose money and the government would be paying losses. But I've never seen such a buzz for tickets to anything before. I guess the 15,000 seat arena wasn't such a bad idea after all. Scarcity makes people want it more.

BubberMiley · June 4, 2011

There is not enough money in Winnipeg to have an NHL team, period.

Last night I went to the Oilers Game(an excellent one too for a change, a friend gave me his ciorpoarte tickets.

They were $235 each, with parking and drink/burger call it $500 for the pair. One game. Season ticket cost, over $20k for the year excluding preseason and playoffs.

I guess the moral to that story is just because you don't make much money and can't afford tickets, doesn't mean other people don't have money.

Sir Bandelot · June 4, 2011

This will be very good for Winnipeg, because it means there is actually a reason to live there. I hope they will have learned something, you dn't know what you've got till it's gone.

What will be the name of this team, has it been decided yet? There should be some kind of raffle amongst Winnipegers. Suggest something that reflects the uniqueness and culture of the region- bugs and floods, and muddy basements.

kimmy · June 4, 2011

And for the season after that and after that. The top-level seats require a 5-year commitment and rumour has it they're already all gone. I was reluctant to see the NHL come back because I thought the team would lose money and the government would be paying losses. But I've never seen such a buzz for tickets to anything before. I guess the 15,000 seat arena wasn't such a bad idea after all. Scarcity makes people want it more.

I have little doubt that within a few years there will be much debate in Winnipeg over a new arena. The Oilers' building is always full too (16,800), but they say they need more seats and more skyboxes and so on.

(By the way, what was the rationale for a 15,000 seat arena? It seems ridiculous to me that somebody leading the charge on a civic arena project would deliberately choose a size that was 20% smaller than a typical major-league sports arena, unless they had already decided they didn't want major-league sports to be in that arena. Does anybody know the history of that? Was it perhaps decided by the Manitoba Moose owners? One group with a vested interest in making sure the NHL never came back to Winnipeg would be the owners of the AHL franchise...)

Nonetheless, they can probably do very well even without a new arena. Having 15,000 paying customers is better than quite a few NHL teams. A lot of teams pump up their attendance figures by selling ultra-cheap packages of tickets, or giving away huge numbers of tickets through promotions. 15,000 real paying fans will be enough to keep the NHL in Winnipeg.

I'm very excited, actually. I can hardly wait to watch the first home game on Hockey Night In Canada. I think it will be one of those events that gives you chills. I hope they use the name Jets. The old uniforms are beautiful and there are a lot of fans who've never given them up... the idea of seeing them back on the ice again is awesome.

Winnipeg is also getting a team with some very promising players. Andrew Ladd, Evander Kane, Tobias Enstrom, and Dustin Byfuglien are pretty good. They're closer to making the playoffs than our sad-sack Oilers at least.

-k

BubberMiley · June 4, 2011

(By the way, what was the rationale for a 15,000 seat arena? It seems ridiculous to me that somebody leading the charge on a civic arena project would deliberately choose a size that was 20% smaller than a typical major-league sports arena, unless they had already decided they didn't want major-league sports to be in that arena. Does anybody know the history of that? Was it perhaps decided by the Manitoba Moose owners? One group with a vested interest in making sure the NHL never came back to Winnipeg would be the owners of the AHL franchise...)

It was the Moose owners who bought the Thrashers. I think when they built it in 2004, they had more modest expectations and didn't want to be stuck with a bunch of empty seats. I think in terms of the NHL, they realized that the additional 3,000 or so seats would be nosebleeds and wouldn't pay off anyway. It's better to have a full building of 15,000 than 16,000 in a building that holds 20,000. Limiting access also means increased demand. As a result, the "cheap" seats are among the priciest in the league.

It appears the strategy worked. Once tickets were open to the general public today, it sold out in 17 minutes. They also required deposits of between $500 and $1000 as commitments to continue to buy for terms of between 3 and 5 years. True North appear to be very, very smart businesspeople.

They even stalled the announcement that the name won't be the Jets until after everyone has committed. :lol:

I wouldn't be surprised if there is soon talk of a larger or expanded arena. I'm certain they could have sold 20,000 season tickets today (because rumour has it, the waiting list is already that long---can you believe it?). Looking at the message boards, there were a lot of people ready to go right at noon who were shut out. If I were the NHL, Florida, Columbus, Phoenix, and Nashville would be starting to smell bad. They would be wise to make them Quebec, Saskatchewan, Seattle, and Hamilton ASAP.

Edited June 4, 2011 by BubberMiley

Bryan · June 4, 2011

20,000 on the waiting list. Damn. They could have built a 35,000 seater and still had trouble keeping up with demand.

BubberMiley · June 4, 2011

20,000 on the waiting list. Damn. They could have built a 35,000 seater and still had trouble keeping up with demand.

The just reported they capped the waiting list at 8,000. It costs, I understand, $50 to get on it and then $100 a year thereafter. Non-refundable. I guess taking more than 8,000 would be taking advantage of the desperate.

maple_leafs182 · June 4, 2011

They will not build a new arena, the MTS center is 7 years old. They were talking about doing some renovations to add more seats but I doubt they will.

They will only have 600 general admission tickets available per game, I am going to try to be there for game 1.

As for the name they said they are going to wait till after they have secured the franchise before they announce the name. I don't know if that means after the 13,000 tickets were sold or after the June 21 board of governors meeting to approve the relocation. When Don Cherry asked Mark Chipman if they will be calling the team the jets on hockey night and canada, the expression on Chipman's face made it seem like they will not be called the Jets. I heard someone say that they are going to be calling them the Ice Bears, not a fan of the name if it's true.

Smallc · June 5, 2011

(By the way, what was the rationale for a 15,000 seat arena?

It's because if where they put it. It's hard to make it bigger, there, although apparently they can if necessary.

Sir Bandelot · June 5, 2011

For the utmost in fan loyalty, they should call them Winnipeg Jets! And bring back Teemu Selanne

maple_leafs182 · June 5, 2011

For the utmost in fan loyalty, they should call them Winnipeg Jets! And bring back Teemu Selanne

I hope he plays one last season in Winnipeg.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/06/05/true-north-purchases-whiteout-trademark

6282980 Manitoba Limited Partnership, the numbered company True North Sports and Entertainment is using to purchase the Atlanta Thrashers, registered the word “whiteout” as a trademark with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office last month. Filed on May 4, the request was formalized on May 9.
Additionally, winnipegwhiteout.ca was registered by someone on Friday via popular web domain registrar Go Daddy. The registrant’s name won’t be known for a few weeks...

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/06/05/true-north-purchases-whiteout-trademark

Maybe Winnipeg Whiteout?

BubberMiley · June 5, 2011

Maybe Winnipeg Whiteout?

I prefer Liquid Paper.

fellowtraveller · June 22, 2011

Let's see how things are going in a few years when the salary cap is $80 million and rising, two tickets to watch a meaningless Nashville vs Jets snoozefest in February are $300, and a plastic cup of flat Molsons is $12.

Winnipeg will struggle again to support an NHL team because their market is too small and the economy too weak. Again. Nothing has changed except the cost of operating a team.