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The Difference Between Phoenix & Atlanta |
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With Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final tonight, I retweeted a post this morning saying it was a great day for hockey and Mark W. commented on Facebook…
"Unfortunately it's not a great day for hockey if you are a hockey fan in Atlanta. Can't understand why the NHL worked so hard to save Phoenix, but threw us under the bus in two weeks."
This has been a sentiment that's been brought up numerous times the past few months and today I feel like chiming in.
There is a huge difference between what happened in Phoenix and what happened in Atlanta. Jim Balsillie was trying to circumvent the NHL's procedures to buy a franchise because he's burned so many bridges and wouldn't be approved if he followed standard protocol. The NHL stepped in because they didn't want to have an owner that worked the system and wasn't approved by the Board of Governors. The NHL then used the argument that they wanted to keep the team local and the Bankruptcy Court judge awarded the franchise to the NHL who had agreed to keep the team in Arizona for a year while it searched for a buyer who was willing to keep the team in Glendale.
Adding to the differences in the situations, the city of Glendale was willing to pitch their support behind the team as well and covered the team's losses up to $25 million and have re-upped on that deal for this coming season. The Coyotes have a potential new owner who wants to keep the team in Arizona and now they're just trying to come to an agreement on terms and who's paying for what and renegotiating the lease, etc.
The situation in Atlanta is an entirely different beast. You have one owner who is no longer interested in owning an NHL franchise (and one could argue never was) and another potential owner who desperately wanted one and was willing to go through the proper channels to get one…and did. Atlanta Spirit had been looking for an owner or investor for at least a year and no one who wanted to keep the team local stepped up to the plate. It's as simple as that.
While it can be argued that both franchises could have done better if ownership had made better business decisions (a more amenable lease in Phoenix and a better marketing plan in both cities that was more appropriate to their specific demographics), the situation in Phoenix was less about fighting against relocation and more about not having control over who owns a team and where that team plays and that's why the NHL stepped in. Had Glendale not approved the $25 million to cover the losses for another year, Phoenix's franchise would be on the move this summer as well.
That said…I feel terrible for the hockey fans in Atlanta and hope they will eventually hop on the Hurricanes or Predators or even Lightning bandwagon and still enjoy the game. We also can't forget that we have yet to fully see the impact the Thrashers had on the NHL's footprint. Check the some of the rosters in junior hockey and the NCAA and you're seeing more and more guys from Georgia. Guys who were 7 to 10 years old when the Thrashers came to town. I know the number of youth hockey programs has increased in the south and I'm sure we will continue to see more players coming from the south just as we've seen happen in California the past few years - a direct reflection of the impact of franchises in LA, Anaheim and San Jose on the NHL's footprint.
I'll be back later on with my thoughts on the Final!
Julie
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@JulieRobenhymer
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