Post by scottie65 on Jun 6, 2009 12:58:03 GMT -5
Paul Waldie
Globe and Mail Update, Saturday, Jun. 06, 2009 01:37PM EDT
The owners of the CFL's Toronto Argonauts have expressed an interest in buying the Phoenix Coyotes and keeping the team in Phoenix, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a court filing.
Bettman said the league has received a “preliminary background application” from four potential buyers for the Coyotes including Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon, co-owners of the Argonauts. The others applications have come from Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls, as well as current Coyotes co-owner John Breslow and another unidentified Phoenix businessman.
Bettman said each group has “indicated an interest in operating the franchise in Phoenix.”
Bettman did not provide details of the proposals, citing confidentiality issues, and said the league is reviewing each application.
An offer from Sokolowski and Cynamon would compete with a current bid from Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie who wants to buy the club for $212.5-million and move it to Hamilton.
Globe Hockey RoundtableEric Duhtaschek, Roy MacGregor and James Mirtle on all things puck
Download (.mp3)
In his filing last night, Balsillie said putting an NHL team in Hamilton would be a major contribution to Canada. Balsillie said that he has been convinced for “several years that one of the most important contributions I can make to my country and my community is to bring a seventh NHL franchise to the greatest under-served hockey market in the world and locate it in Hamilton”.
The NHL and city officials in Glendale, Az, where the club plays, have opposed his proposal saying it violates league rules. It will be up to Judge Redfield T. Baum to decide on whether the team can be sold to Balsillie and moved.
In his court filing, Balsillie said he grew up dreaming about playing in the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup.
“While that dream of playing for the Stanley Cup will never come true, I am in the privileged position of having the resources to compete for one as a potential owner of an NHL franchise on behalf of Canadian hockey fans everywhere, and particularly those in southern Ontario….I care deeply about Canada and southern Ontario.”
He also addressed criticism from The NHL that he has not abided by league rules and won't submit to league scrutiny. He insisted he abided by NHL rules and is now submitting to scrutiny to not only the league but also the court and Coyotes' creditors.
Balsillie and current majority owner Jerry Moyes have also argued that the NHL is violating anti-trust laws by blocking the move. They allege the league is acting like an illegal cartel.
To back up those arguments the group submitted an affidavit from Andrew Zimbalist a noted sports economics professor at Smith College in Northampton, Mass who said in an affidavit that he believes the “NHL acts like a cartel”.
In league filings, Bettman outlined how the league operates and said that “the fundamental essences of the NHL venture is who the members are and where the teams play.”
Bettman also said that Balsilllie's $212.5-million offer is far less than a new franchise in southern Ontario would fetch.
"I believe that (Balsillie's) $212.5-million bid would pale in comparison to hypothetical rival bids that could be generated to relocate the Coyotes to Hamilton were the Board (of Governors) inclined to approve such a relocation," he said in court filings. Bettman also questioned the true value of Balsillie's bid saying that once various payments are excluded it is really worth $165-million.
He added that relocating the Coyotes “may make other cities skeptical (and potentially resistant) to hosting an NHL team in the future.” And he questioned why the Coyotes have to leave, noting that they have a state of the art arena. “I believe that the Coyotes could succeed under new ownership in its current home market,” he said.
Moyes and Balsillie have said the club has never made money and is not viable. But Bettman pointed to several potential offers for the team that were made just before Moyes put the Coyotes into Chapter 11 on May 5.
www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/argo-owners-interested-in-buying-coyotes/article1172250/
Globe and Mail Update, Saturday, Jun. 06, 2009 01:37PM EDT
The owners of the CFL's Toronto Argonauts have expressed an interest in buying the Phoenix Coyotes and keeping the team in Phoenix, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a court filing.
Bettman said the league has received a “preliminary background application” from four potential buyers for the Coyotes including Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon, co-owners of the Argonauts. The others applications have come from Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls, as well as current Coyotes co-owner John Breslow and another unidentified Phoenix businessman.
Bettman said each group has “indicated an interest in operating the franchise in Phoenix.”
Bettman did not provide details of the proposals, citing confidentiality issues, and said the league is reviewing each application.
An offer from Sokolowski and Cynamon would compete with a current bid from Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie who wants to buy the club for $212.5-million and move it to Hamilton.
Globe Hockey RoundtableEric Duhtaschek, Roy MacGregor and James Mirtle on all things puck
Download (.mp3)
In his filing last night, Balsillie said putting an NHL team in Hamilton would be a major contribution to Canada. Balsillie said that he has been convinced for “several years that one of the most important contributions I can make to my country and my community is to bring a seventh NHL franchise to the greatest under-served hockey market in the world and locate it in Hamilton”.
The NHL and city officials in Glendale, Az, where the club plays, have opposed his proposal saying it violates league rules. It will be up to Judge Redfield T. Baum to decide on whether the team can be sold to Balsillie and moved.
In his court filing, Balsillie said he grew up dreaming about playing in the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup.
“While that dream of playing for the Stanley Cup will never come true, I am in the privileged position of having the resources to compete for one as a potential owner of an NHL franchise on behalf of Canadian hockey fans everywhere, and particularly those in southern Ontario….I care deeply about Canada and southern Ontario.”
He also addressed criticism from The NHL that he has not abided by league rules and won't submit to league scrutiny. He insisted he abided by NHL rules and is now submitting to scrutiny to not only the league but also the court and Coyotes' creditors.
Balsillie and current majority owner Jerry Moyes have also argued that the NHL is violating anti-trust laws by blocking the move. They allege the league is acting like an illegal cartel.
To back up those arguments the group submitted an affidavit from Andrew Zimbalist a noted sports economics professor at Smith College in Northampton, Mass who said in an affidavit that he believes the “NHL acts like a cartel”.
In league filings, Bettman outlined how the league operates and said that “the fundamental essences of the NHL venture is who the members are and where the teams play.”
Bettman also said that Balsilllie's $212.5-million offer is far less than a new franchise in southern Ontario would fetch.
"I believe that (Balsillie's) $212.5-million bid would pale in comparison to hypothetical rival bids that could be generated to relocate the Coyotes to Hamilton were the Board (of Governors) inclined to approve such a relocation," he said in court filings. Bettman also questioned the true value of Balsillie's bid saying that once various payments are excluded it is really worth $165-million.
He added that relocating the Coyotes “may make other cities skeptical (and potentially resistant) to hosting an NHL team in the future.” And he questioned why the Coyotes have to leave, noting that they have a state of the art arena. “I believe that the Coyotes could succeed under new ownership in its current home market,” he said.
Moyes and Balsillie have said the club has never made money and is not viable. But Bettman pointed to several potential offers for the team that were made just before Moyes put the Coyotes into Chapter 11 on May 5.
www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/argo-owners-interested-in-buying-coyotes/article1172250/