Thursday's report that the Columbus Blue Jackets are losing $12 million a year is the latest illustration that the National Hockey League is really made up of two leagues.There are flourishing franchises, the ones that print money or are at least in position to make big dough. Among those on this list are the big market American teams in Manhattan, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington. Also thriving, naturally, are the six Canadian franchises.
While many NHL executives, players and fans live in denial, there are teams like the Blue Jackets battling league and their own economics just to stay in existence. To this list add Atlanta, Florida, Nashville, the Islanders, Phoenix, Tampa Bay. There are several more hurting franchises that haven't yet found the guts to finally say, "Enough is enough" like Columbus did on Thursday.
"Public partnership in arenas and stadiums has been a critical element to ensuring healthy, competitive sports franchises in markets across the country," said Blue Jackets President Mike Priest. "Our priority continues to be to secure long-term financial viability in this great city." Priest said his team's economic model has "significant disadvantages."
What's alarming about the Columbus saga is that the Blue Jackets opened the privately-funded Nationwide Arena in September 2000. The arena is one of the finest in the United States and bars, restaurants, a team store and the hockey team's state-of-the-art practice facility are adjacent. On the outside and the inside, the Nationwide complex -- funded by Nationwide in a deal struck by Blue Jackets founder John H. McConnell, who passed away a year ago -- is the envy of most NHL teams. The city's Arena District has become an NHL version of what Camden Yards meant for Baltimore. The Blue Jackets built it, and people have come from all over Ohio.
Yet the team is still losing huge dollars, which must send shivers down the spines of the owners of the NHL's B-list franchises. True, the dire situation in Columbus differs from the circumstances in Phoenix, Nashville, Atlanta and on Long Island. Dare I say it, but the economic plight of many NHL teams is not unlike what we saw this decade in the Arena Football League. In the AFL, commissioner David Baker and franchise owners worked and worked for years to stabilize operations until the league shut down last year.
No one is saying the NHL would ever fold, not with powerhouse franchises thriving -- in some cases, for generations -- in major American and Canadian cities. For the struggling organizations, commissioner Gary Bettman has maintained his dedication to keep teams where they are and find ways to help them be successful.
The NHL also affords all of its teams a chance to contend for championships. While fans of the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday might have watched the Yankees win another World Series and had every reason to wonder if their team ever has a chance, the NHL has passed the Stanley Cup in recent years to teams in Carolina, Tampa Bay and, well, Pittsburgh.
The challenge is to make sure those Cup banners stay in their cities. The challenge is make sure the fans supporting building teams like the Blue Jackets, Coyotes and Islanders don't endure the same fate of their brethren in Hartford and Quebec City.
Comments (Page 1 of 3)
The six Canadian franchises aren't thriving, "naturally". Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Quebec City say this is an inane statement in an otherwise decent article. Being in Canada doesn't make it a good market. Being in the sunbelt of the U.S. doesn't make it a struggling market. It would be nice to see some analysis of why some places are working, and why some aren't, with at least SOME historical perspective.
Columbus loves Buckeyes Football and not much else. The NFL would give them a Professional Football Team but then Cleveland and Cincinati would want one to.
Wha? Lets do this slowly. The teams in Canada are...
Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Good luck getting an expensive ticket to any game. The NHL should separate Canada and the US. The sunbelt expansion is Bettman's joke. He ruined the NBA and now the NHL. Keep the Rangers, Bruins and Detroit scrap the rest!
Come on Mr Botta, attempt to at least recall the history and what's been reported in the past.
It's documented the Rangers lost 25m-40m for years before the lockout by the Washington Times, NY Post, Daily News and Arthur Levitt and the Caps lost huge money to a point they had to unload Jagr and most of their veterans in a new building that struggled to draw fans for years.
Boston played in front of thousands of empty seats with the Jacobs family crying over money as they unloaded Thornton, Los Angeles in a new building even had a skeptical fan who doubted them auditing their books and eventually agreed with them about their losses. Chicago was a candidate for revenue sharing after the lockout and how many times did Wings management when the seats were not empty for playoff games say if the team did not make the finals would lost money?
At various times in the last decade how many times was Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver struggling so badly they almost went out of business.
If Columbus has all of those things going for them, how are they losing 12 million a year?
Bettman who has good intentions needs to get the NHL back on a major network like ESPN and needs to come up with a major deal that benefits every team. The NHL still does a brutal job at marketing their players. Now with guys like Nash, Tavares, Doan, Kovalchuk, Stamkos, Booth..
There are plenty of good young players in those markets that should be household names.
Wake up NHL. Hire a new management team.
why are they losing 12M per year and what is different from the other teams that you mentioned?
does the league have revenue sharing? They really need to find away to share in the success and I agree they should do a better job of marketing the sport. Let's get the Isles to Queens with a friendly building arrangement and we should be ok....
Whoever knew that your new digs would mean I can get the same awesome coverage of my 2nd favorite team. I am glad someone finally pointed out what a success for the city the Arena district has been. I great thing about the state of the art practice facility is, youth teams get to compete on the same ice the Jackets practice on. You can even skate there on a off day for a couple bucks for rental skates. I sure hope my 2 favorite teams get things stabilized. I think CBJ will solve the problem sooner than NYI. I think NYI will improve sooner than the shovel hits the ground. Thanks for the great work as always.
Numbers65 in Ohio!
Sure the Arena District is nice....for the bars. Losing 12 mil a year is losing 12 mil a year regardless of the situation or type of fans, surroundings, etc. It sucks because the city is indeed pleasant, but its also one of the cheaper places to live (you pay less rent there easily than you would Virginia), and thats whats killing the team, i suppose. No inflation to match the monetary demands. My heart has grown strongly attached to the Blue Jax over the years, and id like them whether they were in C-bus or not, but id rather they stay there. Raise taxes on something other cigarettes, guys, you know what im talking about.
CB, this is very illustrative and it certainly indicates the presence of haves and have-nots in the NHL.
The problem I have however is what does someone like Charles Wang say to a critic who brings up your article and argues based on it that a new/refurbished arena and/or massive Lighthouse project won't prevent his $20 million/year losses? Does he continue to run the Islanders for a loss while making off with big bucks off other parts of the Lighthouse?
Every team in the 'have-nots' has unique problems; are the Blue Jackets losses so unique that it's comparing apples and oranges or is there something deeper at work on why so many teams, some in ostensibly major markets, are still losing money hand over fist?
This story helps display why Wang is so adamant upon the entire lighthouse project and not just the arena. Speaking of which I'm sure you will have a story coming up regarding the state of the arena, or lack there of for that matter, in the near future. It will be hard to see the Islanders move but I hope they can stay close.
Not to fear. If the ISLANDERS do move it will not be far. The Bloomberg organization, the Borough of Queens and the NY METS have made it known to Charles Wang that the property on the opposite corner is available for a new arena for them. NYC will move on it immediately if the ISLANDERS give them the green light. But I dont think the ISLANDERS are going to move. Little known tidbit..Wang has been buying up all the properties surrounding the COLISEUM for some time. If he had to sell he would lose almost everything.
anyone know how much of this has to do with the salary cap MINIMUMS? forcing owners to be 'competitive' is better granted than what mlb does but when you're losing 10-15 mil, cutting that salary down would be a saving grace...
i know as an isles fan, Wang would certainly love to shave off much more salary if it were possible (they have the team UNDER the cap due to incentive bonus loopholes)
the pirates and orioles are two very high PROFITING teams in MLB -- i know, go figure!
combined they spent 55% of what the yankees spent, (about 110mil) and get profit sharing to boot... so why would they ever become competitive if they are making money hand over fist currently ???
the more teams these leagues let in, the more salaries escalate, the wider the gap between the haves and havenots and the
Maybe hockey just isn't meant to be viable in certain cities. No offense to above-mentioned cities, but it's just not economically viable in Columbus, Phoenix, The Sunbelt etc. As a hockey fan, I'd much rather see a franchise in Winnipeg than any of those cities, and I live in NY. I'm sure they have great fans, but those cities just arent synonymous with hockey.
The Isles COULD BE viable if they 1) got out of that KILLER lease with SMG which operates Nassau Coliseum and 2) they started winning some games again. Prior to Crosby & Co., Pittsburgh was in the same boat, and now they've revitalized that fan-base. I believe the Isles are on their way to doing that since they have some talent in place, once their area-situation gets settled.
Being a Columbus resident and fan I have a perspective on this that the rest of you might not. I have personally gone to over 100 games and can attest that even when our team was at its worst, Nationwide arena was always close to full. I would say that I have never seen less than 12,000 people in the building for any game, and most are sold out. So the question I have is WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? People pay to see the team. And they pay an average of $50 per ticket. So how in the world are they losing millions every year? It has nothing to do with the fan base. I think the numbers are being "cooked" to get public funding. Why pay out of your pocket when most other teams are getting bailed out by the municipalites must be what they are thinking. I have never personally heard of the "Columbus Chamber" (the group that put this "report" together) in my life. I would bet it is a think-tank of paid consultants that the teams executives put together to panhandle for money. This story makes no sense at all. If a sold out arena causes them to lose $12 million a year, what was their business plan? Let us not forget that this is the same group that said that the brand new $120 million arena was only worth $60 million when it came time to pay the property taxes. They said it was a "loss leader"! Really? You spent $120 million to build a $60 million arena? Sure, that makes sense. Either that or you were cooking the books then to dodge your tax bill...just like you are cooking them now to get a hand-out.
Make all pro sports teams provide the stadium to play their overpriced game like Columbus. What other business does the state government provide the building for a private business? Why are these UNION member players not paid in pay ranges like other unions? Why do all you union haters LOVE pro sports?
it's no surprise, the NHL has been on the decline for years. To many small markets to be successful.
rofl No one cares about hockey.
IF no one cares about hockey, what the h-e-double hockey sticks are you doing on a hockey board? I don't get that....
I have been a Kings fan since the 70's. I enjoyed watching games on tv, and going to the games at the forum. Since they moved to the Staples Center, prices have gone through the roof. I took my son 2 years ago to a game. 4 hot dogs, 2 large sodas, 2 beers, 40.00. With the price of the tickets, this night went over 100.
How can working families afford this? If a family
of 4 went, $200. That's a week of food for a family. I know they have "Family Packs", but they normally happen during the week.
I now live in Atlanta, and still follow the Kings, and want to go to a game, but the cost here is the same.
Lower ticket prices, and people will come.
Hockey is just too regionalized to catch on. If you don't live in an area that has snow and ice, the kids just don't look at hockey the same way they do at sports they actually play in the area while growing up. Columbus rarely sees snow, and it a mix of people from all over the Country. No natural fan base.