Post by sawchuk103 on Jan 21, 2006 17:04:28 GMT -5
sorry to burst your bubble....this comes from sport busness news.....
www.sportsbusinessnews.com/_news/news_339486.php
The future of the Pittsburgh Penguins, owned by a casino or moving to Houston
Saturday, January 21 2006
The sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins is it much to do about nothing or is Mario Lemieux serious about his intentions to sell the Penguins. If so what ramifications would the sale have on the teams’ future in Pittsburgh?
It should come as no surprise that Lemieux intends to sell the Penguins. Owed more then $32 million by former Penguins owner Howard Baldwin, Mario took control of the bankrupt National Hockey League franchise as his only means of recouping the tens of millions of dollars he was owed. Mario’s interest in owning an NHL franchise was lukewarm at best. If anything, the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement which guaranteed ownership cost certainly likely hastened Lemieux’s interest in selling the Penguins. For Mario Lemieux there will never be a better time to divest himself of the Penguins and get a decent return on his investment then right now. The NHL’s CBA increased the financial valuation of every NHL franchise.
The Pittsburgh Penguins future is tied directly into the team getting a new arena to replace the aging Mellon Arena. Built in 1961, the Mellon Arena is the oldest facility in the NHL and lacks most of the revenue generating amenities most current NHL buildings feature. It is well worth remembering one of the biggest mistakes Howard Baldwin made when he owned the Penguins was his decision to accept $18 million in taxpayer renovations to the Mellon Arena in 1992.
When Baldwin made his choice, the Steelers and the Pirates where fighting for new taxpayer driven stadiums, they weren’t interested in renovations to Three Rivers Stadium, their home at the time. Baldwin was told by city officials if he accepted the offer to renovate the Mellon Arena the door to any taxpayer built arena would be closed to him. That short sighted decision has led to the Penguins uncertain future in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins are one of four groups bidding for the one casino – slots license the State of Pennsylvania will award to one Pittsburgh based group. The team and gambling partner Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. have proposed replacing aging Mellon Arena and redeveloping the Pittsburgh’s lower Hill District without government help if they receive the slots license. A new owner would be locked into that arrangement if the team gets the slots license.
There are three other groups interested in the chance to build a casino in Pittsburgh. One is backed by Detroit casino operator Don Barden, the only African American casino operator in the United States; the other two groups have strong local ties and interesting partners. Both would partner with Las Vegas based casino operators, one with Mandalay Bay and the other with Harrah's.
The major difference between the Penguins bid and the other three bids, at least as to how the other three bids are currently being presented, the Penguins bid offers the community a new privately built state of the art $290 million arena that ensures the future of the National Hockey League in the city. The other three bids do not offer anything back to the city. Unless the other three bids step up and offer something substantial to the residents of Pittsburgh, the offer of the arena may tip the scales in favor of the Isle of Wright bid.
“It's not a tactic," Ken Sawyer, who is to be named the team's new chief executive officer Friday’s, said of the potential sale in The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. "It may be a consequence of our action, but it's not a tactic.
"We put on the table a no-brainer opportunity here. The community needs to get behind us. Many already have. ... We've done what we need to do. We've put this forward. We're very encouraged by the support we've had so far and look forward to [our project being approved]."
City Councilmen Jim Motznik and Bill Peduto, supporters of the Penguins proposal, told The Pittsburgh Post Gazette the sale of the team wouldn't change their position on the slots license.
"The [Hill District] property they put forward for the slots license, I don't think anyone else can beat that," he said in the Post Gazette report, noting the project could involve an investment of as much as $1 billion in the Lower Hill District.
For his part, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman Friday spoke with SportsTravel magazine, and offered these thoughts on the pending sale of the Penguins and the importance of the team securing a new arena in Pittsburgh.
“I wasn’t surprised,” said Bettman. “Mario has been a terrific owner. He saved the Penguins in Pittsburgh and he knows that there are some difficult issues ahead that are going to have to be dealt with by the franchise. I think he wants to ensure that the franchise is in the strongest possible hands from a financial standpoint.”
“What’s clear is that the Penguins desperately need a new facility,” said Bettman in the interview with SportsTravel. “In the absence of a new arena in Pittsburgh, I don’t think anyone sees how this franchise can be viable there. That’s a function of the fact that the Penguins have the oldest arena in the National Hockey League. And in the Pittsburgh market itself, the Penguins have to compete with a football and baseball team for suite revenue and marketing, sponsorship and signage dollars against teams that have had—at taxpayers’ expense—new stadiums built for them,” continued Bettman. “So the Penguins are even at a competitive disadvantage from a business standpoint within the Pittsburgh market.”
When pressed on the issue of whether the NHL is in favor of relocating the Penguins, Bettman responded, “I think everybody understands what the Penguins situation is and what the options will have to be if there’s no arena. It’s quite simple,” said Bettman. “If there’s a new arena, the Penguins will be in Pittsburgh and if there isn’t, then the club is going to have to look at options.”
What isn’t clear from Sawyer or Bettman is who would be an acceptable suitor for the Penguins that would ensure the teams future in Pittsburgh. The National Hockey League has accepted the Isle of Wright Casino as the Penguins would-be arena partner.
Having crossed that mythical line between gambling and professional sports partnerships, would the NHL consider Isle or Wright as a buyer for the Penguins if as an ends to a means that ensured the teams’ future and stability in Pittsburgh? The NHL accepted the building of a $290 million arena with taxpayer money wasn’t going to be an easy sale in Pittsburgh and embraced a proposal that marries an NHL franchise to a gambling organization. That may not be something the NBA, NFL and MLB would ever consider, but the options an NHL franchise has aren’t the same as those of the other three leagues. In an era of increasing reluctance of the part of politicians to commit public dollars to build sports facilities, the interesting synergy between a casino and a major league professional sports franchise may be a first, but may indeed be a trend to watch for in the years ahead.
And what if the Penguins and Isle of Wright do not secure that one precious Pittsburgh casino license, what then for Mario’s Penguins? Despite suggestions the City of Pittsburgh would look for alternative funding for an arena, it’s a safe bet that local politicians aren’t about to commit political suicide by agreeing to a plan that includes taxpayer dollars being directed towards building a hockey arena. If the license goes to any of the three other groups the Penguins will leave Pittsburgh.
Dismiss Mark Chipman, the chairman of True North Sports & Entertainment and governor of the Manitoba Moose and the City of Winnipeg. Chipman is part of a group that operates Winnipeg’s MTS Centre a new building that seats just over 15,000 and has enough suites and club seats to make it a workable NHL facility. Chipman is penning his hopes on building a consortium to buy an NHL franchise and moving it to Winnipeg. That may work in the long term for Winnipeg but in the time frame Mario will be working with, if he doesn’t secure the casino license, it won’t afford Chipman the time he needs to put together a group with the $100 to $125 million needed to buy the Penguins.
Kansas City is building a state-of-the-art 18,500 seat arena. The building will be called the Sprint Center and the buildings suites have all been sold and the building lacks a tenant. The arena is being managed by Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group, which put up $50 million towards construction and is on the hook for any cost overruns. However the Anschutz Entertainment Group may be interested in the Penguins but the group already owns and operates the Los Angeles Kings. NHL by-laws prevent any one person or company from owning more then one NHL franchise. Given that Mario wants out of the NHL ownership game that eliminates Kansas City.
Mario has made it clear he wants to sell the Penguins. If the team fails in their bid to secure the casino license the Penguins, the team will be sold to Les Alexander the owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets who also operates Houston’s Toyota Center.
Alexander visited NHL commissioner Gary Bettman several months back with the expressed purpose of ‘announcing’ his interest in securing an NHL franchise for America’s fourth largest city. Bettman made it clear to Alexander the NHL has no plans to expand, leaving Alexander with the option of buying an NHL franchise and moving it to Houston. Alexander tried to buy the Edmonton Oilers a decade ago with the expressed purpose of moving that team to Houston. He failed once, he won’t fail a second time.
"I am trying to get a team. I am trying," Alexander said to The Houston Chronicle. "I went to see the commissioner. I told him about my interest. I can't disclose teams, but I've been talking to people (in the NHL) and to investment bankers.
"I had conversations a month ago with an investment banking firm. I'm looking to buy a team. So people know my interest. You hear from time to time that teams might be for sale, then it changes or something else happens. But my interest is out there."
While Houston would represent the NHL moving a franchise to a non traditional hockey market, the size of the market, the opportunity to build a Hispanic NHL fan base and the potential for a strong rivalry with Dallas, make Alexander and the Houston the logical move for the Penguins if indeed they are forced to leave Pittsburgh. Consider the Penguins are building their franchise around Sidney Crosby, could yield Mario close to $125 million if he where to sell the franchise to Alexander. The right place, the right time and the right franchise.
The future of the Pittsburgh Penguins staying in Pittsburgh is a partnership with a casino and possibly owned by a gambling company or moving to Houston and being owned by Les Alexander. Either possibility offers a great deal of intrigue in the coming months.
For SportsBusinessNews.com this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited in this report: Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Winnipeg Sun, and the Houston Chronicle
www.sportsbusinessnews.com/_news/news_339486.php
The future of the Pittsburgh Penguins, owned by a casino or moving to Houston
Saturday, January 21 2006
The sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins is it much to do about nothing or is Mario Lemieux serious about his intentions to sell the Penguins. If so what ramifications would the sale have on the teams’ future in Pittsburgh?
It should come as no surprise that Lemieux intends to sell the Penguins. Owed more then $32 million by former Penguins owner Howard Baldwin, Mario took control of the bankrupt National Hockey League franchise as his only means of recouping the tens of millions of dollars he was owed. Mario’s interest in owning an NHL franchise was lukewarm at best. If anything, the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement which guaranteed ownership cost certainly likely hastened Lemieux’s interest in selling the Penguins. For Mario Lemieux there will never be a better time to divest himself of the Penguins and get a decent return on his investment then right now. The NHL’s CBA increased the financial valuation of every NHL franchise.
The Pittsburgh Penguins future is tied directly into the team getting a new arena to replace the aging Mellon Arena. Built in 1961, the Mellon Arena is the oldest facility in the NHL and lacks most of the revenue generating amenities most current NHL buildings feature. It is well worth remembering one of the biggest mistakes Howard Baldwin made when he owned the Penguins was his decision to accept $18 million in taxpayer renovations to the Mellon Arena in 1992.
When Baldwin made his choice, the Steelers and the Pirates where fighting for new taxpayer driven stadiums, they weren’t interested in renovations to Three Rivers Stadium, their home at the time. Baldwin was told by city officials if he accepted the offer to renovate the Mellon Arena the door to any taxpayer built arena would be closed to him. That short sighted decision has led to the Penguins uncertain future in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins are one of four groups bidding for the one casino – slots license the State of Pennsylvania will award to one Pittsburgh based group. The team and gambling partner Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. have proposed replacing aging Mellon Arena and redeveloping the Pittsburgh’s lower Hill District without government help if they receive the slots license. A new owner would be locked into that arrangement if the team gets the slots license.
There are three other groups interested in the chance to build a casino in Pittsburgh. One is backed by Detroit casino operator Don Barden, the only African American casino operator in the United States; the other two groups have strong local ties and interesting partners. Both would partner with Las Vegas based casino operators, one with Mandalay Bay and the other with Harrah's.
The major difference between the Penguins bid and the other three bids, at least as to how the other three bids are currently being presented, the Penguins bid offers the community a new privately built state of the art $290 million arena that ensures the future of the National Hockey League in the city. The other three bids do not offer anything back to the city. Unless the other three bids step up and offer something substantial to the residents of Pittsburgh, the offer of the arena may tip the scales in favor of the Isle of Wright bid.
“It's not a tactic," Ken Sawyer, who is to be named the team's new chief executive officer Friday’s, said of the potential sale in The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. "It may be a consequence of our action, but it's not a tactic.
"We put on the table a no-brainer opportunity here. The community needs to get behind us. Many already have. ... We've done what we need to do. We've put this forward. We're very encouraged by the support we've had so far and look forward to [our project being approved]."
City Councilmen Jim Motznik and Bill Peduto, supporters of the Penguins proposal, told The Pittsburgh Post Gazette the sale of the team wouldn't change their position on the slots license.
"The [Hill District] property they put forward for the slots license, I don't think anyone else can beat that," he said in the Post Gazette report, noting the project could involve an investment of as much as $1 billion in the Lower Hill District.
For his part, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman Friday spoke with SportsTravel magazine, and offered these thoughts on the pending sale of the Penguins and the importance of the team securing a new arena in Pittsburgh.
“I wasn’t surprised,” said Bettman. “Mario has been a terrific owner. He saved the Penguins in Pittsburgh and he knows that there are some difficult issues ahead that are going to have to be dealt with by the franchise. I think he wants to ensure that the franchise is in the strongest possible hands from a financial standpoint.”
“What’s clear is that the Penguins desperately need a new facility,” said Bettman in the interview with SportsTravel. “In the absence of a new arena in Pittsburgh, I don’t think anyone sees how this franchise can be viable there. That’s a function of the fact that the Penguins have the oldest arena in the National Hockey League. And in the Pittsburgh market itself, the Penguins have to compete with a football and baseball team for suite revenue and marketing, sponsorship and signage dollars against teams that have had—at taxpayers’ expense—new stadiums built for them,” continued Bettman. “So the Penguins are even at a competitive disadvantage from a business standpoint within the Pittsburgh market.”
When pressed on the issue of whether the NHL is in favor of relocating the Penguins, Bettman responded, “I think everybody understands what the Penguins situation is and what the options will have to be if there’s no arena. It’s quite simple,” said Bettman. “If there’s a new arena, the Penguins will be in Pittsburgh and if there isn’t, then the club is going to have to look at options.”
What isn’t clear from Sawyer or Bettman is who would be an acceptable suitor for the Penguins that would ensure the teams future in Pittsburgh. The National Hockey League has accepted the Isle of Wright Casino as the Penguins would-be arena partner.
Having crossed that mythical line between gambling and professional sports partnerships, would the NHL consider Isle or Wright as a buyer for the Penguins if as an ends to a means that ensured the teams’ future and stability in Pittsburgh? The NHL accepted the building of a $290 million arena with taxpayer money wasn’t going to be an easy sale in Pittsburgh and embraced a proposal that marries an NHL franchise to a gambling organization. That may not be something the NBA, NFL and MLB would ever consider, but the options an NHL franchise has aren’t the same as those of the other three leagues. In an era of increasing reluctance of the part of politicians to commit public dollars to build sports facilities, the interesting synergy between a casino and a major league professional sports franchise may be a first, but may indeed be a trend to watch for in the years ahead.
And what if the Penguins and Isle of Wright do not secure that one precious Pittsburgh casino license, what then for Mario’s Penguins? Despite suggestions the City of Pittsburgh would look for alternative funding for an arena, it’s a safe bet that local politicians aren’t about to commit political suicide by agreeing to a plan that includes taxpayer dollars being directed towards building a hockey arena. If the license goes to any of the three other groups the Penguins will leave Pittsburgh.
Dismiss Mark Chipman, the chairman of True North Sports & Entertainment and governor of the Manitoba Moose and the City of Winnipeg. Chipman is part of a group that operates Winnipeg’s MTS Centre a new building that seats just over 15,000 and has enough suites and club seats to make it a workable NHL facility. Chipman is penning his hopes on building a consortium to buy an NHL franchise and moving it to Winnipeg. That may work in the long term for Winnipeg but in the time frame Mario will be working with, if he doesn’t secure the casino license, it won’t afford Chipman the time he needs to put together a group with the $100 to $125 million needed to buy the Penguins.
Kansas City is building a state-of-the-art 18,500 seat arena. The building will be called the Sprint Center and the buildings suites have all been sold and the building lacks a tenant. The arena is being managed by Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group, which put up $50 million towards construction and is on the hook for any cost overruns. However the Anschutz Entertainment Group may be interested in the Penguins but the group already owns and operates the Los Angeles Kings. NHL by-laws prevent any one person or company from owning more then one NHL franchise. Given that Mario wants out of the NHL ownership game that eliminates Kansas City.
Mario has made it clear he wants to sell the Penguins. If the team fails in their bid to secure the casino license the Penguins, the team will be sold to Les Alexander the owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets who also operates Houston’s Toyota Center.
Alexander visited NHL commissioner Gary Bettman several months back with the expressed purpose of ‘announcing’ his interest in securing an NHL franchise for America’s fourth largest city. Bettman made it clear to Alexander the NHL has no plans to expand, leaving Alexander with the option of buying an NHL franchise and moving it to Houston. Alexander tried to buy the Edmonton Oilers a decade ago with the expressed purpose of moving that team to Houston. He failed once, he won’t fail a second time.
"I am trying to get a team. I am trying," Alexander said to The Houston Chronicle. "I went to see the commissioner. I told him about my interest. I can't disclose teams, but I've been talking to people (in the NHL) and to investment bankers.
"I had conversations a month ago with an investment banking firm. I'm looking to buy a team. So people know my interest. You hear from time to time that teams might be for sale, then it changes or something else happens. But my interest is out there."
While Houston would represent the NHL moving a franchise to a non traditional hockey market, the size of the market, the opportunity to build a Hispanic NHL fan base and the potential for a strong rivalry with Dallas, make Alexander and the Houston the logical move for the Penguins if indeed they are forced to leave Pittsburgh. Consider the Penguins are building their franchise around Sidney Crosby, could yield Mario close to $125 million if he where to sell the franchise to Alexander. The right place, the right time and the right franchise.
The future of the Pittsburgh Penguins staying in Pittsburgh is a partnership with a casino and possibly owned by a gambling company or moving to Houston and being owned by Les Alexander. Either possibility offers a great deal of intrigue in the coming months.
For SportsBusinessNews.com this is Howard Bloom. Sources cited in this report: Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Winnipeg Sun, and the Houston Chronicle