September 06, 2009
NHL v. Balsillie: Haggling over the price
In the latest weirdness in the Phoenix Coyotes bankruptcy case, the NHL has filed papers saying that a "reasonable" relocation fee for moving the team to Hamilton would be between $101 million and $195 million dollars. Spurned would-be owner Jim Balsillie, who wants to do just that, insists that $11.2 million to $12.9 million would be more like it.
The NHL responded that "the notion that a team in Hamilton would be worth only $11.2 million to $12.9 million more than a team in Phoenix is patently absurd." To which New York Times hockey writer Jeff Z. Klein adds: "Which of course raises the question: Why have a team in Phoenix and not Hamilton?"
The NHL's response, presumably, would be that a Hamilton team would cannibalize revenues from Toronto and Buffalo, whereas Phoenix has sole possession of that hockey hotbed that is the Arizona desert. Still, it does make it seem like the NHL is cutting off its nose to spite Balsillie — or, at the very least, holding up a move that might increase overall league revenues just so the league can demand a cut in return.
Either way, you have to imagine that the San Francisco Giants and Bud Selig's Oakland A's stadium taskforce are closely watching how this plays out. How to determine territorial rights indemnification — not just how much money changes hands, but who the payees and payers are among the teams involved and the league — is likely to play a huge role in determining whether it's feasible for the A's to move to San Jose.
