|
Post by hawker14 on Jun 17, 2005 0:16:53 GMT -5
www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/E9A1EB3B7A03C77C862570220077DFBA?OpenDocument"Citing heavy financial losses and concerns about the future, St. Louis Blues owners Bill and Nancy Laurie have decided to sell the National Hockey League team and its long-term lease on the Savvis Center. An official announcement will be made Friday morning." wow, i'm shocked. i thought this new cba was what the owners were looking for. hard to figure this one out, perhaps the revenues that the blues will be forced to share are very significant. what a terrible time for an owner to sell his team. the company with the arena naming rights also cancelled their sponsorship agreement. weird developments. what does this mean for hockey in st.louis. is it possible that st.louis could relocate ? is this just the first in a long line of owners looking to dump their franchises ? very interesting development.
|
|
jon
Rookie Member
Posts: 10
|
Post by jon on Jun 17, 2005 0:44:09 GMT -5
a team that makes the playoffs every year isn't turning a profit
|
|
|
Post by hawker14 on Jun 17, 2005 0:46:49 GMT -5
apparently the team pays 12.6 % taxes on every ticket dollar, and the team is saddled with debt from laurie's original purchase of the team.
it will be interesting to see how this plays out, but i'm sure winnipeg will be leveraged by a new owner for tax concessions from their government.
|
|
|
Post by TytotheG on Jun 17, 2005 8:02:02 GMT -5
Lets bring em here! Welcome back Mr. Tkachuk.
|
|
|
Post by bigchris on Jun 17, 2005 8:20:14 GMT -5
The Blues aren't leaving St. Louis anytime soon. They have a strong fanbase and that will keep the team there regardless of who buys them. If Wild Bill Hunter couldn't get them out of St. Louis, nobody can.
|
|
|
Post by TytotheG on Jun 17, 2005 9:37:59 GMT -5
I remember that! Straight to Saskatoon!
BigChris hit me so hard, it made Regina, look like Saskatoon.
|
|
|
Post by joelzillmanwpg on Jun 17, 2005 10:41:42 GMT -5
The Blues aren't leaving St. Louis anytime soon. They have a strong fanbase and that will keep the team there regardless of who buys them. If Wild Bill Hunter couldn't get them out of St. Louis, nobody can. Wild Bill chose the wrong city to move the Blues to. While I personally would LOVE to see an NHL team in Saskatchewan, the NHL would never approve a move to a city with 220,000 people and an arena that seats under 12,000 (although I heard it could be expanded to seat 16,000). This is indeed a very shocking development. I wonder how this bodes for the Jets chances of returning...
|
|
|
Post by joelzillmanwpg on Jun 17, 2005 10:43:21 GMT -5
Lets bring em here! Welcome back Mr. Tkachuk. The "Winnipeg Blues".... I wonder if the MJHL Winnipeg South Blues would object to the name, or claim "copyright infringement". ;D
|
|
|
Post by Paul on Jun 17, 2005 11:50:11 GMT -5
Now you guys will understand that it isn't just any of the Sun Belt teams that have struggled under the last CBA... The Pittsburgh Penguins and now the St. Louis Blues have made this publicly known.
I've been trying to make that point for a while and now we're seeing this coming into focus.
|
|
|
Post by kansascity13 on Jun 17, 2005 11:50:18 GMT -5
Not to sure about this but I think the Blues where making -20 million a year
|
|
|
Post by Paul on Jun 17, 2005 12:00:51 GMT -5
UPDATED (June 19): According to the team, they've lost over $60 million in the last 2 years. At the same time, in Thursday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, it mentioned that Savvis, Inc. has bailed out of the arena naming right agreement. The Predators won't be keeping Gaylord Entertainment as a naming rights partner for Nashville's arena either. I've added more information that's currently online. Definitely check out the television sites. You can access interviews of Blues president Mark Sauer at the links that have red asterisks. NOTE: For these St. Louis Post-Dispatch articles, there were problems in posting the URLs here on this board. Copy and paste the entire URL, then adjust the following in your browser address window... 1. For Thursday's "Wise up, politicians, and help keep Blues", move the last character "m" left one space. 2. For Friday's "Selling the Blues: It's senseless, but it fits Laurie's sports profile" and "Durable fan base makes Blues an attractive purchase", move the last character "t" left one space. St. Louis Blues official press release (June 17): www.Go Jets Go.com/news/0405/050617.html "St. Louis Blues and Savvis Center to be sold" The Sports Network's (TSN) NHL page (June 17): www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=128173&hubName=nhl"St. Louis Blues up for sale" CBC Sports’ hockey page (June 17): www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2005/06/17/Sports/blues_sale050617.html"NHL's St. Louis Blues up for sale" ESPN's NHL page (June 17): sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2088049"Want a hockey team? Blues reportedly up for sale" FOX Sports’ NHL page (June 17): msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/3697972"Blues' sale not good news for NHL" St. Louis Post Dispatch's Blues Extra page(June 16): www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/blues/story/E882E2BB327CCC6E86257023001B8287?OpenDocument"Despite its myriad woes, the NHL has much upside" www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/berniemiklasz/story/3E51B50D2A6FF2C88625702300186CEA?OpenDocument"Wise up, politicians, and help keep Blues" (June 17): www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/blues/story/C6ACBD4FC12F994986257023001B83C7?OpenDocument"Lauries want out: team, arena lease on block" www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/blues/story/7377099FBF15C8BC8625702300193385?OpenDocument"St. Louis Blues: ownership timeline" www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/jeffgordon/story/D84E14DEA224467E86257023005373CC?OpenDocument"Selling the Blues: It's senseless, but it fits Laurie's sports profile" www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/jeffgordon/story/B772DE7A889CFF69862570230067D250?OpenDocument"Durable fan base makes Blues an attractive purchase" www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/blues/story/B3DDFE488943F64486257024001B59AF?OpenDocument"Blues fans air their concerns over sale" www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/blues/story/D3572128D0C8607086257024001B595C?OpenDocument"Announcement Blues are for sale takes team by surprise" (June 18): www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/blues/story/0A538B65EA9DA26E8625702400563F81?OpenDocument"Sale of the St. Louis Blues" www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/blues/story/E24EECAEE2ADF8578625702400132450?OpenDocument"Shanahan Jr. is interested in Blues" www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/blues/story/C99B00C607CAAEF9862570240018B953?OpenDocument"City will focus on keeping Blues downtown" KSDK-TV (St. Louis)(June 16): www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=80722"Savvis ends deal to name Savvis Center" (June 17): *www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=80742"St. Louis Blues for sale: Lauries want buyer to keep team in town" www.ksdk.com/sports/sports_article.aspx?storyid=80752"Poll shows area split on whether losing Blues would be upsetting" (June 18): www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=80781"Blues vs. Cards: Fewer fans passionate about hockey" KMOV-TV (St. Louis)(June 17): *www.kmov.com/topstories/stories/061605cccakmovblues.185ce651.html"Lauries announce plans to sell Blues" The Globe and Mail's hockey page (June 18): www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050618/BLUES18/TPSports/Hockey"Franchise sale needs labour peace"
|
|
|
Post by JETStender on Jun 17, 2005 14:43:58 GMT -5
We'll take the Blues, but they have to get rid of Tkachuk
|
|
|
Post by bigchris on Jun 17, 2005 14:52:24 GMT -5
I'd get rid of Larry Pleau, Doug Weight and Tkacancer and keep Pronger, (assuming he ever gets healthy,) and rebuild this failed project through the draft.
|
|
|
Post by Luke on Jun 17, 2005 23:12:47 GMT -5
I like your idea bigchris
|
|
|
Post by captaintkachuk on Jun 18, 2005 12:40:24 GMT -5
I'm a great Jets fan.. But currently a big Blues fan.. I'd love to see Tkachuk back in the Peg.. Not sure about what others may think.... I think it'd be amazing to have the Blues in WPG!!!
|
|
|
Post by Paul on Jun 19, 2005 3:07:52 GMT -5
Unless there is a huge turn of events in the city of St. Louis failing to negotiate with the future owner of the Blues on tax breaks with the arena lease and property the building sits on, I wouldn't get your hopes up... despite the bitterness some fans there have for the NHL lockout, it's a much more established franchise than ones such as Carolina.
I've added some new links to my previous post. Very good stuff!
|
|
|
Post by hawker14 on Jun 19, 2005 6:12:31 GMT -5
i just have this feeling, after reading the statements by the blues president, that the financial situation of the team is indeed in terrible shape. presuming the team's only debt is the $ 67 million in arena bonds, the service charge on them has been reported to jump to $7-8 million/year this year. for full control of the revenues of a 21,000 seat arena ( www.savviscenter.net/content/press.html ) in a city of 2.5 million, this is still a relatively good deal (actually it's a great deal if the arena is full like it's been). the ticket tax amounts to $4-5 million per season. with the new cba a realistic payroll would be $ 29 million (the luxury tax threshold as reported by the globe and mail) and adding $ 15 million for administration, marketing, and scouting ... the team expenses would be around $ 55-57 million/year. in '03-'04 the nhl league revenues were $ 2.1 billion, and it's not unrealistic to expect league revenues to return to this level after a few seasons. this is an average of $ 70 million per team. st.louis, as a mid market city, could easily expect profits in the neighbourhood of $ 13-15 million/year. i know these numbers are very arbitrary, but in just about everyone's opinion i've talked to, with a $ 67 million debt, the Blues will be a profitable franchise. what concerns me is, with what i predict will be the forthcoming knowledge of massive debt for the blues, the laurie's will walk away and basically bankrupt the franchise. it will cost them virtually nothing, and leave the city/bondholders/banks on the hook. i hope i'm wrong, but i just can't understand an owner jumping ship at this time if he is actually underwriting the losses. however, this is surely just the beginning of owners bailing on their franchises. (hello, mr. kamanos, mr. cohen !!!)
|
|
|
Post by HartfordWhalers on Jun 20, 2005 9:46:04 GMT -5
I think the actual possibility of the Blues leaving St. Louis is about slim to none.
|
|
|
Post by joelzillmanwpg on Jun 20, 2005 10:20:45 GMT -5
I think the actual possibility of the Blues leaving St. Louis is about slim to none. That's what they said about the NFL Cardinals in 1988.
|
|
|
Post by USApegger on Jun 20, 2005 14:27:29 GMT -5
I think the actual possibility of the Blues leaving St. Louis is about slim to none. That's what they said about the NFL Cardinals in 1988. But they got the Rams and won a Super Bowl. If I read this right, if you buy the Blues you are also buying the lease at the arena, I don't think anyone that buys them will move them under those circumstances, of course bankruptcy is always a possibility and then they could move or fold
|
|