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December 19, 2006
D-Day for Penguins
"Wednesday will be a turning point in the franchise's future." That was Pittsburgh Penguins owner Mario Lemieux, intoning darkly about the importance of tomorrow's casino-license vote, which will determine whether Isle of Capri, which has promised to build a new hockey arena if it wins, gets the right to run Pittsburgh's first slots casino.
Until last week, Lemieux was the franchise's "outgoing owner." But all that changed on Friday, when BlackBerry king Jim Balsillie abruptly backed out of his $175 million purchase of the Pens, reportedly because the NHL refused to give him permission to move the team if the arena deal fell through. Balsillie, a Canadian, had previously denied rumors that he was looking to move the club to the Kitchener-Waterloo area of southern Ontario.
Lemieux was so steamed at Balsillie's sudden change of heart that he announced publicly that the businessman wouldn't get his security deposit back. Not that that stopped Lemieux from picking up the move-threat banner himself. "Right now, we own the franchise," declared the one-time savior of the Penguins. "We decide the fate of the franchise. After Wednesday, we will sit down and evaluate all of our options."
Well I say bring the Pittsburg Light Orchestra back to the Igloo !!!!
I was told by my father, a sport nut, that Mark Cuban the owner of the Dallas Mavericks is interested in buying the Pengiuns and keeping them in Pittsburg.
Could Mark Cuban be on a Noahs ARK mission to save teams named after exotic animals?? Stay tuned to the Field of Schemes channel.
paul
Posted by paul on December 20, 2006 11:50 AM
Inexplicably, the Pennsylvania Gamming Control Board preferred to risk losing the Penguins and putting the citizens of the region and state on the hook for the cost of a new arena to the Isle of Capri and its casino bid: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06354/747581-100.stm
This award will likely take its place alongside the deal that built PNC (�best park, worst owners�), Heinz Field and renovated an underused convention center.
perhaps this is a sign that pittsburg citizens dont want a NHL hockey team despite having the hottest player in the league with a great career ahead of him . The casino was really a gun held to the heads of ordinary citizens. Too bad because I can see this team ending up in Kansas city, Oklahoma or some other city with a Modern Arena to have a tennant in. With the exception of Lambeau Field, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium this must be the oldest major sport venue in north america.
Mario Has certainly taken his licks as a former superstar player who got roped into ownership because monies owned to him by the former owners.
Has Mario been Paid Back Steve??? The man should have been allowed to cash out with the RIM chairmans offer but the NHL prevented that.
Perhaps if the NHL feels so strongly about Pittsburg they should put up the arena themselves.
This is a new twist of sport team extortion trend.
paul
Posted by paul on December 20, 2006 05:39 PM
Re: Paul:
Most local elected officials and most Pittsburghers who voiced an opinion on the matter backed the IOC bid. More important still is the fact that Pen fans have supported the team through its many troubles. There can be no doubt that the citizens and most elected politicians here supported the team.
The new arena problem has been and remains to this day a political one. Thus key state and local politicians created their Plan B initiative only after the Pens signed an agreement with the IOC and the agreement included $290 M for a new arena. They were forced to make this move because they would be held responsible for the loss of the team if the IOC plan failed and an alternative did not exist.
Lemieux will recover his money one way or another. Indeed, he may even make more money from the sale if he sells to a bidder who wants to move the team elsewhere. The IOC deal, on the other hand, was about keeping the team in Pittsburgh and about his attempting to work within the rules of the local political game. That did not get him anywhere at all...
Sorry about that stephen I thought it was a vote by the people via a plebisite. Seeing the story of how a board of gaming determined that isle of capri would not get the licence is bad for the taxpayers of course.
The problem I would think is that stadia have been provided to the steelers and pirates. Pittsburg once had an NBA team way back and who knows they may loss the PENs. Ashame because I know the fans certainly have supported the team over the decades. At some point businesses have to cash in
their investment and mario certainly has an investment there.
You never can tell the team could end up in las vegas for that matter. Unless there is a new arena
I cant see how pittsburg or the NHL can keep the team profitable or alive with the present situation.
IOC had a carrot for the gaming board but they didnt see it as in their interests GO FIGURE.
paul again sorry for the ignorance to who were the parties voting against IOC.
Posted by paul on December 21, 2006 02:50 PM