Drama in the Desert 5 – How the heck is this still going on?!? Edition

Very long time, no post.

In the months since the last SportVotes post… pretty much nothing has happened in Glendale.  I mean, sure… they had a solid playoff run and there was a controversial public financing plan and a threatened public referendum and a new potential owner is trying to gather the funds to finally buy the Coyotes, but really?  It’s just been long and dragged out beyond belief.

It’s honestly more depressing than anything, really.  That being said, it is somewhat amusing to go back and read through some of my own posts that more or less prognosticated the impending doom of the Yotes, only for it to get dragged on for another year (soon to be a second year) while the almost entirely ignored Thrashers up and moved to Winnipeg.

Is this the beginning of a new start at SportVotes?  Maybe.

2011 Forbes Franchise Valuations

Click to enlarge.

 

Drama in the Desert 4 – Hiatus Over

For past articles on the Phoenix Coyotes, please go HERE.

First of all, it’s great to finally be back.  My computer problems are still persisting, but thankfully I now have a loaner laptop in my possession that will allow me to return to updating SportVotes.

In the two weeks since my last update on the subject, the situation in Arizona between the NHL, the Glendale City Council, and prospective Coyotes-owner Matthew Hulsizer on one side and the Goldwater Institute, a conservative taxpayers advocacy group, on the other, has continued to deteriorate.  The Glendale City Council had previously threatened to sue Goldwater and a number of other individuals should their attempts to block the sale of municipal bonds lead to the relocation of the Coyotes, but that threat has appeared to be mere posturing as weeks have since past with no actual move on this front.  Since then, the Goldwater Institute has apparently dug their heels on the matter and continued their efforts to warn potential bonds buyers about the questionable legality of the deal.

These moves have so seriously threatened the sale of the bonds, integral to allowing a new ownership group being able to buy the team and keep them in Arizona without absorbing exorbitant amounts of debt, that Glendale and Hulsizer have come hat in hand offering additional millions of dollars in guarantees for taxpayers to make the offer more appealing.  However, Goldwater is still convinced that the basic arrangement behind the proposed deal violates the state constitution, so they are not backing down.  NHL and Glendale officials have been trying their best to downplay the severity of Goldwater’s continued actions and threat to sue, but they are desperately worried.  Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL, is on the verge of facing an outright owner’s revolt against him for failing to sell the Coyotes that has proved to be a massive burden on the league’s coffers, and Glendale has even gotten vocal support from powerful U.S. Senator John McCain to speak on their behalf to Goldwater.

And they have good reason to be worried.  The NHL’s and Hulsizer’s patience is limited, and at a certain point one or both will simply back out rather than continue to lose face.  Should that happen, there can be no denying that the Coyotes would be forced to relocate, likely as early as next season, a fact that has absolutely delighted Winnipeggers due to the likelihood that they are the prohibitive favorites to land the team in the event of a new ownership group buying the team and moving them elsewhere.  And, to date, there is no indication that Glendale is at all willing to drop their objections to the deal.

As per usual, more news on this as it becomes available.  And you’d better believe that it will be coming relatively soon.  The status quo cannot be sustained in the desert for long.

Drama in the Desert 3 – Glendale/Goldwater Lawsuit

Past articles on the Phoenix Coyotes and their “Drama in the Desert” can be found HERE.

Potentially as early as tomorrow, the city of Glendale will be filing suit against the Goldwater Institute for its repeated attempts to block the sale of municipal bonds meant to finance a deal that would keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Arizona.  Claiming that losing the franchise would result in a potential net loss of a half billion dollars in future revenue sources for the city, the Glendale City Council has instructed the city attorney to file suit against Goldwater Institute.  While it should come as no surprise that Glendale would bear its teeth at the conservative watchdog after their repeated questioning over the legality of the city’s attempts to push through the controversial bond issue, what should be viewed as a shocker is the potential scope of the lawsuit.  If Goldwater continues its opposition and subsequently forces the NHL to halt efforts to keep the team in Arizona, Glendale could be seeking damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars.  On top of that, Glendale will not only be suing  the Goldwater Institute for damages, but also individual members of its board of directors and even the wife of the owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks due to allegations that the baseball team has been supporting Goldwater so as to remove a major sports competitor from their market.

In my personal opinion, this is an absolute, last-ditch effort by Glendale to keep the franchise.  Grumblings from the NHL have been growing ever fiercer for months over their continued financial hardship in administering the deeply unprofitable franchise, and the other teams’ owners have all-but lost patience for continuing to fund the Coyotes while attempts to keep the team in Arizona under new ownership have floundered.  Additionally, prospective buyers have already popped up in Winnipeg that are willing to buy the franchise and pay off the debt in order to move the team and bring back the Jets.  While the NHL has obviously been interested in keeping the team in the Southern United States in the hopes of gaining a major American television contract, the prospect of the situation in Glendale dragging on has inexorably been pushing the league’s higher-ups for cutting ties in the desert and recouping their losses by selling off the franchise back to its original Manitoban roots even at the risk of losing a major media market in Arizona.

As a result of this, Glendale is firing directly at the bow of not only the Goldwater Institute, but at its directors and supporters in a single, vicious stroke.  They are going to try to scare Goldwater to withdraw their threat to block the bond issue with a lawsuit of their own and hit them in the pocketbook should Glendale lose the Coyotes.  And to my nose, this reeks of a desperation bully move.  Even if it is shown that Glendale did not break state law with the proposed massive bond issue, the prospect of facing a lawsuit could very likely delay the NHL’s sale of the franchise long enough that they simply give up on attempts to keep the team in Arizona and allow prospective owners from elsewhere to buy the team with the intention of immediately relocating as quickly as possible.

It will all come down to a blinking game.  If Glendale’s threat forces Goldwater down in the near-immediate future, the NHL’s sale of the franchise to an owner committed to keeping the team in Arizona will go through.  If Goldwater doesn’t back down and either keeps up their legal threats or even outright files a lawsuit against the city, then the NHL will blink and allow the team to be purchased by outside ownership groups, effectively killing the Coyotes.  This is going to be a battle that messily intertwines the sports world, the political world, and the business world before all is said and done.

3/9 UPDATE: Rather than making a new entry, I figured that I’d just add on some news here.

As of right now, despite Glendale’s initial intention to file suit as early as Monday, the city and the NHL are mostly stuck in a staring contest with the Goldwater Institute to see which one blinks first.  Both sides are threatening legal action and Commissioner Gary Bettman of the NHL is sounding exasperated over the continued speedbumps that have been thrown up at every step of the process in his attempts to sell the Coyotes.  Canadian media is getting positively giddy at the notion that the league’s patience could be on the verge of running out and that a return to Winnipeg could be coming sooner rather than later.  As soon as new information about the continued drama in the desert becomes  available, I will report on it here.  Until then, the Arizona standoff continues.

Phoenix Coyotes – Drama in the Desert 2

It took a while longer than I had anticipated, but we have more news regarding the continued troubles of the Phoenix Coyotes, arguably the most beleaguered franchise in major North American sports.  As I already covered previously, the Yotes have been experiencing setback after setback during their brief history in the Arizona desert.  Recently though, things appeared to finally be going in the right direction for the team, as they finally returned to the playoffs again last year, the franchise had reached an important refinancing deal that saw the city of Glendale assume a significant portion of the team’s debt, and the NHL was finally beginning to make a move on selling the team to an attractive ownership group headed up by Matthew Hulsizer, the head of a Chicago-based securities firm that has had a long interest in hockey.  The combination of Hulsizer’s deep pockets and Glendale’s willingness to not only adopt a $100 million bond issue to absorb most of the team’s debts, but also pay any potential buyer $197 million over six years to keep the team in Glendale, seemed to be a major turning point in keeping the Coyotes in Arizona.  For the first time, it would actually be financially possible for the team to turn a profit.

Could the Jets be coming back?

However, the Glendale bond issue proved to be immediately controversial amongst a significant segment of the local conservative population, as many area residents were opposed to using public funds to finance the team, especially as so many of them had been unwilling to even support the team at all during their years in the desert.  In response, the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute, an organization that has long derided the use of any public monies to fund private sports teams, has threatened to file suit against the bond issue by claiming that it actually broke state law.  This threat has effectively paralyzed the NHL’s negotiations with Hulsizer to the point where it is now actively feared that the continued opposition to the bond issue could cause him to pull out of the negotiations in the same fashion that Jerry Reinsdorf (owner of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls) did the previous year.  The mayor of Glendale, Elaine Scruggs, recently held a press conference in which she called for the Goldwater Institute to stop their legal threats and that their continued opposition could cause the entire deal to fall apart (which is exactly what the Goldwater Institute wants).

Or the Nordiques?

Or how about the Scouts?

Should the Goldwater Institute stick to its guns and keep up their opposition to the bond issue, the Coyotes troubles could very well continue to pile up.  Additionally, as the league has assumed ownership of the team, they are the ones hemorrhaging money.  The other 29 team owners are none-too-pleased at their continued flushing of money down the toilet in funding an unwanted team (especially an unwanted team that appears likely to reach the playoffs again), and their patience with the NHL’s actions have to be running thin at this point.  Canadian sports fans are undoubtedly giddy at the whole prospect of the Coyotes potentially moving out of Arizona, as several major Canadian offers have been publicly put forward to try to land an NHL team in Winnipeg, Hamilton, Quebec City, and even a second team in Toronto.  Despite the fact that the Maple Leafs would very likely block any attempt to add as second Toronto-based team, and the Leafs and the Sabres would unite to block a Hamilton-based team, the offers from Winnipeg and Quebec City would have to be viewed as extremely attractive alternatives to the NHL, especially by owners seeking to rid themselves of their shared burden in the desert.  Other American cities have likewise been lobbying for new teams, most notably Kansas City, meaning that there is plenty of interest in moving the Coyotes elsewhere from from even within the United States.

More on this undoubtedly at a later date.

Relocation Rumors – Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Thrashers

STORY UPDATE – The situation regarding the Sacramento Kings has since changed.  For more information on the Sacramento Kings request for a deadline extension, please go HERE.

—–

I was expecting to just sit back, relax, and enjoy a nice, long day of watching hockey today, but pretty much as soon as I woke up I noticed not one, but two relocation rumors circulating the web.  When it comes to any sports relocation rumors, you need to obviously take them with a grain of salt.  However, these are surrounding two teams that are oft-discussed as potential relocation candidates and the stories have been picked up by various major media outlets, including the New York Times, USA Today, and ESPN, so I think that the discussion of both teams is obviously worthwhile here on SportVotes.

The first rumor is surrounding the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association.  According to ESPN reporter Marc Stein, and seemingly confirmed by NBA commissioner David Stern, the Kings are in close negotiations with the city of Anaheim over the possibility of moving from the state capital to the Orange County for next season.  Any such relocation proposal would need to be submitted to the NBA by March 1st, so the Kings are really on the clock if they are actually considering this move.

Purple basketballs are in vogue in Sacramento.

For those that don’t know, the Kings are a team that have already relocated three times over the course of their long history, having existed previously as the Rochester Royals (1945–57), Cincinnati Royals (1957–72), and the Kansas City/Omaha Kings (1972–85) prior to finally moving to Sacramento.  No matter where they go however, the franchise just never seems to be able to find sustainable success and are currently experiencing what will soon become a six-decade championship drought.  In the quarter century they’ve spent in their current home, the Kings have appeared in the playoffs ten times (including an impressive eight-year streak from 1999-2006), but have only won their division twice.  They’ve been stuck out of the playoffs for the past four seasons and have been suffering from declining attendance during that time.  Couple that drop in attendance with the team’s belief that they play in an outdated facility, the ARCO Arena (set to be renamed to the Power Balance Pavillion on March 1st, oddly enough the exact same day as the already mentioned deadline to give notice to the NBA for a possible relocation for next season), and you have a classic recipe for relocation.

The Kings have been pushing for years for the construction of a new, state-of-the-art arena in downtown Sacramento.  They had planned on eliciting partial public support for the proposed-$600 million arena, but in 2006 voters overwhelmingly rejected a pair of ballot measures which would have created a 15-year quarter cent sales tax increase for the funding of the new arena.  With this avenue for revenue blocked, the Kings and the NBA approached the California state fairgrounds with a plan that would include a potential landswap and various other measures to allow for a new facility to be built on their grounds.  In 2010 though, this too was shot down, leaving the Kings with the firm belief that they had to consider the possibility of relocation.  Ever since then, the Kings have been in highly publicized and speculative meetings with various municipalities, including Las Vegas, San Jose, and Louisville, Kentucky on the possibility of moving the team.

On February 19th however, during the All-Star Game festivities in Los Angeles, the relocation discussions appeared to have gone from speculative to probable, as NBA commissioner David Stern admitted that the Kings were currently in discussion with the city of Anaheim and that the team had inquired the NBA about the potential to relocate.  While the threat of moving a franchise has long been used as leverage to successfully gain public funding for new arena construction projects, these appear to be actual serious discussions.  Couple that with the short timetable between when the discussions became publicized with the notice deadline for any potential relocation, which stands at just a little over a week from now, and from all perspectives this appears to be a serious threat over a mere bargaining ploy.

If the discussions actually move to fruition, the Kings would likely play in the Honda Arena, home of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks.  An interesting name discussion might also arise if the relocation goes through, as the Los Angeles metropolitan area already has another franchised named the Kings, the Los Angeles-based NHL team, which plays a mere 30 miles to the northwest of their prospective home in Anaheim.  While there have been past examples of teams in the same area having the same name (such as the former examples of the St. Louis football and baseball Cardinals and the New York football and baseball Giants), it would be a unique rarity in sports today.  In fact, the Sacramento Kings also have a history of changing their name in acquiescence of another team, as the franchise became the Kings so as to not have the same name as the Kansas City Royals of the MLB when they relocated, despite the fact that the basketball team had existed in other cities long before baseball team had even been founded.

But, that would be a discussion for another day.

The next team that has been rumored recently is the long-troubled Atlanta Thrashers of the NHL.  While the rumors circulating around the Kings appear to be at least relatively substantive, the rumors about the Thrashers are much more speculative, albeit still significant.  The Thrashers have existed in Georgia since they were founded as an expansion franchise in 1999.  Since their foundation though, the Thrashers have been a troubled franchise, having only made it into the playoffs once in their time in the league.  Combined with attendance figures that have been near the bottom of the league for years with their very low franchise value, which has been ranked 121st out of 122 major professional sports teams in North American in both 2009 and 2010, and you can see why the Thrashers have long been rumored on the league’s chopping block for potential relocation.

Despite their on- and off-ice troubles, I've always liked the Thrashers logo.

Despite recent high profile moves by the team in adding to their roster to try to make it to the postseason this year, including signing assistant captain Dustin Byfuglien to a five-year, $26 million contract, recent news has also spread the flames of rumors surrounding the potential for relocation.  Court documents released in January have shown that the current ownership group has been hunting for potential investors and part-owners unsuccessfully for the past six years.  And, as recently reported on the NHL Network, the league is apparently getting involved in actively trying to get a new majority owner to buy the team in the next 6-8 weeks, indicating that, if a new ownership group is not found in that time frame, they might be willing to open the door for relocation talks to other cities.

While the NHL obviously does not want to give up on the ninth largest market in the United States, they also appear to not want to repeat the mistakes they’ve made (and are currently making) in Phoenix with the Coyotes.  The Thrashers are already hemorrhaging money and facing a distinct disinterest from local sports fans, almost a mirror image of what has already been happening in Arizona, and the league apparently does not want to be stuck holding the tab for yet another southern white elephant.

This, of course, has fed the flames of one of Canada’s favorite pastimes over the past decade, speculating over potentially adding another team up north.  Centered mostly around Winnipeg and Quebec City, both of which lost NHL franchises in the 1990’s, hopes for new Canadian teams have been fiercely stoked over the past couple years.  Most recently, hundreds of Quebec City residents traveled south to Long Island to attend a game between two of the most oft-discussed relocation candidates, the New York Islanders and the Thrashers.  Former-Nordiques fans rallied throughout the game to get their support for relocation heard by both teams, much to the resentment of Islanders fans in the arena.  Additionally, a primary reason for both Winnipeg and Quebec City losing their franchises in the first place, not having available up-to-date arenas, has mostly been solved in both municipalities, as Winnipeg already has the ultra-modern, though smallish, MTS Centre, and Quebec City recently approved partial municipal funding for an NHL-caliber arena, which is currently in the process of being designed.

Given the very short time table for both teams, we can definitely expect to hear much more on this in the coming days and weeks.  If you asked me to rank which one was more likely, I would have to go and say that the Kings relocating is definitely the more probable option, given the NBA’s already shown willingness to allow teams to relocate over stadium issues versus the NHL’s fierce defense of unprofitable teams.  However, if the rumors about the NHL not wanting to face another Phoenix situation are true, then the impetus to search for an ownership group to move the team elsewhere could very have have legs of its own as well.

2010 Team Valuations

As promised yesterday, here are the Forbes Magazine team valuations from 2010.  There were a few big winners and a few big, big losers, but let’s just list ’em all and see what we’ve got, shall we?

1. Dallas Cowboys – $1,805 million – NFL
2. New York Yankees – $1,600 million – MLB
3. Washington Redskins – $1,550 million – NFL
4. New England Patriots – $1,367 million – NFL
5. New York Giants – $1,182 million – NFL
6. Houston Texans – $1,171 million – NFL
7. New York Jets – $1,144 million – NFL
8. Philadelphia Eagles – $1,119 million – NFL
9. Baltimore Ravens – $1,073 million – NFL
10. Chicago Bears – $1,067 million – NFL
11. Denver Broncos – $1,049 million – NFL
12. Indianapolis Colts – $1,040 million – NFL
13. Carolina Panthers – $1,037 million – NFL
14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $1,032 million – NFL
15. Green Bay Packers – $1,018 million – NFL
16. Cleveland Browns – $1,015 million – NFL
17. Miami Dolphins – $1,011 million – NFL
18. Pittsburgh Steelers – $996 million – NFL
19. Tennessee Titans – $994 million – NFL
20. Seattle Seahawks – $989 million – NFL
21. Kansas City Chiefs – $965 million – NFL
22. New Orleans Saints – $955 million – NFL
23. San Francisco 49ers – $925 million – NFL
24. Arizona Cardinals – $919 million – NFL
25. San Diego Chargers – $907 million – NFL
26. Cincinnati Bengals – $905 million – NFL
27. Boston Red Sox – $870 million – MLB
28. New York Mets – $858 million – MLB
29. Atlanta Falcons – $831 million – NFL
30. Detroit Lions – $817 million – NFL
31. Buffalo Bills – $799 million – NFL
32. St. Louis Rams – $779 million – NFL
33. Minnesota Vikings – $774 million – NFL
34. Oakland Raiders – $758 million – NFL
35. Los Angeles Dodgers – $727 million – MLB
36. Chicago Cubs – $726 million – MLB
37. Jacksonville Jaguars – $725 million – NFL
38. New York Knicks – $655 million – NBA
39. Los Angeles Lakers – $643 million – NBA
40. Philadelphia Phillies – $537 million – MLB
41. Los Angeles Angels – $521 million – MLB
42. Chicago Bulls – $511 million – NBA
43. Toronto Maple Leafs – $505 million – NHL
44. St. Louis Cardinals – $488 million – MLB
45. San Francisco Giants – $482 million – MLB
46. Chicago White Sox – $466 million – MLB
47. New York Rangers – $461 million – NHL
48. Houston Astros – $453 million – MLB
49. Boston Celtics – $452 million – NBA
50. Texas Rangers – $451 million – MLB
51. Atlanta Braves – $451 million – MLB
52. Houston Rockets – $443 million – NBA
53. Seattle Mariners – $439 million – MLB
54. Dallas Mavericks – $438 million – NBA
55. Miami Heat – $425 million – NBA
56. Phoenix Suns – $411 million – NBA
57. San Diego Padres – $408 million – MLB
58. Montreal Canadiens – $408 million – NHL
59. Minnesota Twins – $405 million – MLB
60. San Antonio Spurs – $404 million – NBA
61. Toronto Raptors – $399 million – NBA
62. Cleveland Indians – $391 million – MLB
63, Washington Nationals – $387 million – MLB
64. Orlando Magic – $385 million – NBA
65. Colorado Rockies – $384 million – MLB
66. Arizona Diamondbacks – $379 million – MLB
67. Baltimore Orioles – $376 million – MLB
68. Detroit Tigers – $375 million – MLB
69. Golden State Warriors – $363 million – NBA
70. Detroit Pistons – $360 million – NBA
71. Portland Trail Blazers – $356 million – NBA
72. Cleveland Cavaliers – $355 million – NBA
73. Milwaukee Brewers – $351 million – MLB
74. Utah Jazz – $343 million – NBA
75. Kansas City Royals – $341 million – MLB
76. Cincinnati Reds – $331 million – MLB
77. Philadelphia 76ers – $330 million – NBA
78. Oklahoma City Thunder – $329 million – NBA
79. Toronto Blue Jays – $326 million – MLB
80. Washington Wizards – $322 million – NBA
81. Florida Marlins – $317 million – MLB
82. Tampa Bay Rays – $316 million – MLB
83. Denver Nuggets – $316 million – NBA
84. Detroit Red Wings – $315 million – NHL
85. New Jersey Nets – $312 million – NBA
86. Los Angeles Clippers – $305 million – NBA
87. Boston Bruins – $302 million – NHL
88. Philadelphia Flyers – $301 million – NHL
89. Chicago Blackhawks – $300 million – NHL
90. Oakland Athletics – $295 million – MLB
91. Atlanta Hawks – $295 million – NBA
92. Sacramento Kings – $293 million – NBA
93. Pittsburgh Pirates – $289 million – MLB
94. Charlotte Bobcats – $281 million – NBA
95. New Orleans Hornets – $280 million – NBA
96. Indiana Pacers – $269 million – NBA
97. Memphis Grizzlies – $266 million – NBA
98. Minnesota Timberwolves – $264 million – NBA
99. Vancouver Canucks – $262 million – NHL
100. Milwaukee Bucks – $258 million – NBA
101. Pittsburgh Penguins – $235 million – NHL
102. Dallas Stars – $227 million – NHL
103. New Jersey Devils – $218 million – NHL
104. Los Angeles Kings – $ 215 million – NHL
105. Calgary Flames – $206 million – NHL
106. Minnesota Wild – $202 million – NHL
107. Colorado Avalanche – $198 million – NHL
108. Washington Capitals – $197 million – NHL
109. Ottawa Senators – $196 million – NHL
110. San Jose Sharks – $194 million – NHL
111. Anaheim Ducks – $188 million – NHL
112. Edmonton Oilers – $183 million – NHL
113. Buffalo Sabres – $169 million – NHL
114. Florida Panthers – $168 million – NHL
115. St. Louis Blues – $165 million – NHL
116. Carolina Hurricanes – $162 million – NHL
117. Columbus Blue Jackets – $153 million – NHL
118. New York Islanders – $151 million – NHL
119. Nashville Predators – $148 million – NHL
120. Tampa Bay Lightning – $145 million – NHL
121. Atlanta Thrashers – $135 million – NHL
122. Phoenix Coyotes – $134 million – NHL

Overall NFL franchise value – $32,718 million
Overall MLB franchise value – $14,741 million
Overall NBA franchise value – $11,063 million
Overall NHL franchise value – $6,843 million
Overall Big 4 franchise value – $65,365 million

Average (mean) NFL franchise value – $1,022 million
Average (mean) MLB franchise value – $491 million
Average (mean) NBA franchise value – $369 million
Average (mean) NHL franchise value – $228 million

Most average (mean) NFL franchise – Green Bay Packers (-4 million below mean)
Most average (mean) MLB franchise – St. Louis Cardinals (-3 million below mean)
Most average (mean) NBA franchise – Golden State Warriors (-6 million below mean)
Most average (mean) NHL franchise – Dallas Stars (-1 million below mean)

Highest/Mean (high = unbalanced)
MLB – 325.20%
NHL – $221.49%
NBA – 177.51%
NFL – 176.14%

Lowest/Mean (low = unbalanced)
NHL – 58.77%
MLB – 58.94%
NBA – 69.92%
NFL – 70.94%

Highest/Lowest (high = unbalanced)
MLB – 551.72%
NHL – 376.87%
NBA – 253.88%
NFL – 248.97%

As with yesterday’s post, a lot of information can be gleaned from all of this, so let’s go through a few things that I noticed right away.

First of all, this past year had several big winners and several big losers.  While the Cowboys and Yankees saw very noticeable, $100 million boosts to their overall franchise values, there were other teams that were the even bigger winners, some of whom you might not expect.  In baseball, the Rangers and the Twins saw large boosts to their value, thanks in no small part to their successful regular seasons and subsequent postseason appearances (not to mention the Twins’ new ballpark, Target Field).  The Marlins also benefited greatly, jumping an impressive 15% in franchise value, thanks primarily to the opening of their new stadium looming ever larger on the horizon.  In the NBA, teams that made splashes in the free agent market saw impressive increases, with the Knicks and especially the Heat greatly increasing their overall franchise value.  Additionally, the Warriors and the Nets saw big jumps thanks to new ownership that have expressed an actual willingness to spend some money.  Finally, in the NHL, we saw a bunch of teams benefit in what was one of the strongest hockey seasons in recent memory, with the Rangers, Blackhawks, Canucks, Bruins, Oilers, and especially the Canadiens all showing incredibly strong growths in their overall value.

But, where there are winners, there have to be losers, and there were a lot of losers in the world of professional sports in 2010.  In the NFL, three of the most discussed candidates for relocation all saw major drops in value, with the Bills, Rams, and Jaguars all dropping by double digit percentiles.  In baseball, there were no real losers per se, but there was a lot of stagnancy as a great deal of the league saw only tiny increases or small to mid drops in value.  The NHL saw several teams lose value, but no more than the Tampa Bay Lightning, which saw their value drop by an astonishing 24%.  It’s been said that the Tampa Bay area has been hit especially hard by the recent recession, and it looks like the Bolts were the main team to feel the cut as a result of it.  But when we’re talking about big losers this past year, look no further than the NBA, which saw two teams take a bath.  The Pistons lost fully 1/4 of their overall value in a single year, due to questions over their ownership and difficulty in selling the team and the fact that they’re competing in a busy market against the Wings and Lions.  But it was the Cleveland Cavaliers that saw the biggest nosedive in franchise value, losing 26% of their overall worth in 2010 thanks to losing LeBron James and their subsequent… um… let’s just say less than stellar season so far.

Remember when Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavaliers, was practically foaming about the mouth when LeBron James left?  I think you would too if you figured that your overall worth was going to drop significantly as a result of the decision, and especially when you figure that it’d be by $122 million!

Finally, we have to look a bit past the individual teams and see how the leagues fared this past season.  At first glance, it appears as if MLB and NHL are the winners as their overall franchise worth increased while the NFL and NBA were the losers as they saw their values drop.  And you’d definitely have an argument for this.  The NBA is in pretty bad shape, with the profitability of a number of teams in question and the likelihood of a lockout increasing every day.  The NFL, despite a strong year and great ratings (especially for the Super Bowl, which might have been the most watched program in American television history), is facing uncertainty over their labor situation as well.

But if you dig down a bit, you’ll see that the NHL’s situation is at best a wash.  While the league saw several big winners, it also saw it devolve into a league of haves and have-nots.  While Major League Baseball remains the most top-heavy league in professional sports thanks to the New York Yankees, the NHL actually surpassed the MLB as the most bottom-heavy league, with the bottom quarter of the league either showing drops or inconsequential gains.

More analysis might come later, but as it is now I think that’s more than enough!  If you notice anything else, please say so in the comments.

Pittsburgh Penguins	235
Dallas Stars	227
New Jersey Devils	218
Los Angeles Kings	215
Calgary Flames	206
Minnesota Wild	202
Colorado Avalanche	198
Washington Capitals	197
Ottawa Senators	196
San Jose Sharks	194
Anaheim Ducks	188
Edmonton Oilers	183
Buffalo Sabres	169
Florida Panthers	168
St. Louis Blues	165
Carolina Hurricanes	162
Columbus Blue Jackets	153
New York Islanders	151
Nashville Predators	148
Tampa Bay Lightning	145
Atlanta Thrashers	135
Phoenix Coyotes	134

2009 Team Valuations

Reading back on my first real entry, and some of the cut material from my second entry, I realized that I should probably give a breakdown on some of the information on how much the teams in the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA are worth.  All information below is courtesy of Forbes Magazine, which annually releases information about the valuations of all major sports teams in North America.  All I’ve done is sort the information and do some math on how the teams in each league average against one another.

I had previously compiled information from 2009, but not 2010.  In the meantime, I’ll put together the team valuations from 2010 and put that information up sometime tomorrow so as to compare which teams have gone up and which teams have gone down in the span of a single year.

Without further ado, here are the franchise values of all professional sports teams in the United States and Canada from 2009, sorted by overall value (be forewarned though, this is going to be a bit dry….):

1. Dallas Cowboys – $1,650 million – NFL
2. Washington Redskins – $1,550 million – NFL
3. New York Yankees – $1,500 million – MLB
4. New England Patriots – $1,361 million – NFL
5. New York Giants – $1,183 million – NFL
6. New York Jets – $1,170 million – NFL
7. Houston Texans – $1,150 million – NFL
8. Philadelphia Eagles – $1,123 million – NFL
9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $1,085 million – NFL
10. Chicago Bears – $1,082 million – NFL
11. Denver Broncos – $1,081 million – NFL
12. Baltimore Ravens – $1,079 million – NFL
13. Carolina Panthers – $1,049 million – NFL
14. Cleveland Browns – $1,032 million – NFL
15. Kansas City Chiefs – $1,027 million – NFL
16. Indianapolis Colts – $1,025 million – NFL
17. Pittsburgh Steelers – $1,020 million – NFL
18. Green Bay Packers – $1,019 million – NFL
19. Miami Dolphins – $1,015 million – NFL
20. Tennessee Titans – $1,000 million – NFL
21. Seattle Seahawks – $994 million – NFL
22. Cincinnati Bengals – $953 million – NFL
23. New Orleans Saints – $942 million – NFL
24. Arizona Cardinals – $935 million – NFL
25. San Diego Chargers – $917 million – NFL
26. St. Louis Rams – $913 million – NFL
27. New York Mets – $912 million – MLB
28. Buffalo Bills – $909 million – NFL
29. San Francisco 49ers – $875 million – NFL
30. Detroit Lions – $872 million – NFL
T-31. Jacksonville Jaguars – $866 million – NFL
T-31. Atlanta Falcons – $866 million – NFL
33. Minnesota Vikings – $835 million – NFL
34. Boston Red Sox – $833 million – MLB
35. Oakland Raiders – $797 million – NFL
36. Los Angeles Dodgers – $722 million – MLB
37. Chicago Cubs – $700 million – MLB
38. New York Knicks – $613 million – NBA
39. Los Angeles Lakers – $584 million – NBA
40. Los Angeles Angels – $509 million – MLB
41. Chicago Bulls – $504 million – NBA
42. Philadelphia Phillies – $496 million – MLB
43. St. Louis Cardinals – $486 million – MLB
44. Detroit Pistons – $480 million – NBA
45. Cleveland Cavaliers – $477 million – NBA – expect this to drop without LeBron!
46. San Francisco Giants – $471 million – MLB
47. Toronto Maple Leafs – $470 million – NHL
48. Houston Rockets – $469 million – NBA
49. Dallas Mavericks – $466 million – NBA
50. Phoenix Suns – $452 million – NBA
51. Chicago White Sox – $450 million – MLB
52. Boston Celtics – $447 million – NBA
53. Atlanta Braves – $446 million – MLB
54. Houston Astros – $445 million – MLB
55. Seattle Mariners – $426 million – MLB
56. New York Rangers – $416 million – NHL
57. San Antonio Spurts – $415 million – NBA
58. Washington Nationals – $406 million – MLB
59. Texas Rangers – $405 million – MLB
60. San Diego Padres – $401 million – MLB
T-61. Baltimore Orioles – $400 million – MLB
t-61. Toronto Raptors – $400 million – NBA
T-63. Cleveland Indians – $399 million – MLB
T-63. Arizona Diamondbacks – $399 million – MLB
65. Miami Heat – $393 million – NBA – expect this to go up with LeBron!
66. Colorado Rockies – $373 million – MLB
67. Detroit Tigers – $371 million – MLB
68. Philadelphia 76ers – $360 million – NBA
69. Utah Jazz – $358 million – NBA
70. Minnesota Twins – $356 million – MLB
T-71. Toronto Blue Jays – $353 million – MLB
T-71. Washington Wizards – $353 million – NBA
73. Sacramento Kings – $350 million – NBA
74. Orlando Magic – $349 million – NBA
75. Milwaukee Brewers – $347 million – MLB
76. Cincinnati Reds – $342 million – MLB
77. Montreal Canadiens – $339 million – NHL
78. Detroit Red Wings – $337 million – NHL
79. Golden State Warriors – $335 million – NBA
80. Denver Nuggets – $329 million – NBA
81. Tampa Bay Rays – $320 million – MLB
82. Oakland Athletics – $319 million – MLB
83. Kansas City Royals – $314 million – MLB
84. Portland Trail Blazers – $307 million – NBA
85. Atlanta Hawks – $306 million – NBA
86. Indiana Pacers – $303 million – NBA
87. Minnesota Timberwolves – $301 million – NBA
88. Oklahoma City Thunder – $300 million – NBA
89. Los Angeles Clippers – $297 million – NBA
90. New Jersey Nets – $295 million – NBA
91. Memphis Grizzlies – $294 million – NBA
92. Pittsburgh Pirates –  $288 million – MLB
93. New Orleans Hornets – $285 million – NBA
94. Charlotte Bobcats – $284 million – NBA
95. Milwaukee Bucks – $278 million – NBA
96. Florida Marlins – $277 million – MLB
97. Philadelphia Flyers – $273 million – NHL
98. Boston Bruins – $271 million – NHL
99. Chicago Blackhawks – $258 million – NHL
100. Dallas Stars – $246 million – NHL
101. Vancouver Canucks – $239 million – NHL
102. New Jersey Devils – $223 million – NHL
103. Pittsburgh Penguins – $222 million – NHL
104. Minnesota Wild – $210 million – NHL
105. Los Angeles Kings – $208 million – NHL
106. Anaheim Ducks – $206 million – NHL
107. Colorado Avalanche – $205 million – NHL
108. Calgary Flames – $200 million – NHL
109. Ottawa Senators – $197 million – NHL
110. Tampa Bay Lightning – $191 million – NHL
111. San Jose Sharks – $184 million – NHL
112. Washington Capitals – $183 million – NHL
113. Carolina Hurricanes – $177 million – NHL
114. St. Louis Blues – $176 million – NHL
115. Buffalo Sabres – $170 million – NHL
116. Edmonton Oilers – $166 million – NHL
117. Coumbus Blue Jackets – $165 million – NHL
118. Florida Panthers – $159 million – NHL
119. Nashville Predators – $156 million – NHL
120. New York Islanders – $149 million – NHL
121. Atlanta Thrashers – $143 million – NHL
122. Phoenix Coyotes – $138 million – NHL

Overall NFL franchise value – $33,795 million
Overall MLB franchise value – $14,466 million
Overall NBA franchise value – $11,384 million
Overall NHL franchise value – $6,677 million
Overall Big 4 franchise value – $65,902 million

Average (mean) NFL franchise value – $1,043 million
Average (mean) MLB franchise value – $482 million
Average (mean) NBA franchise value – $379 million
Average (mean) NHL franchise value – $223 million

Most average (mean) NFL franchise – Carolina Panthers (+6 million over mean)
Most average (mean) MLB franchise – St. Louis Cardinals (+5 million over mean)
Most average (mean) NBA franchise – Miami Heat (+15 million over mean)
Most average (mean) NHL franchise – New Jersey Devils (exactly at mean)

From all of this, a few things should really pop out.

First of all, it should be readily apparent that the NFL is the king.  9 out of the top 10 highest valued franchises are in the NFL, 19 of the 20 franchise worth over $1 billion are in the NFL, 28 out of the top 30 franchises are in the NFL, and the lowest valued franchise in the NFL is still worth more than all but 3 of the 30 MLB teams, all 30 NBA teams, and all 30 NHL teams.  On top of all that, the combined value of the entire NFL is worth than a billion dollars more than the combined value of the entire MLB, NBA, and NHL ($32,527 million)

Second, there can be no possible denial of the fact that the NHL is the runt of the Big Four professional sports in North America.  Only 1 of the top 50 highest valued franchises are in the NHL, only 7 of the top 100 franchises are in the NHL, and the 26 lowest valued franchises are all in the NHL.  On top of all that, the average (mean) NFL franchise value is worth more than double the average MLB value, more than 2.75 times the average NBA value, and well more than four times the value of the average NHL team.

Third, if you do the math, you’ll see that Major League Baseball is, by far, the most unbalanced league in all of professional sports by three credible indicators.  I have compared the highest valued franchise in each sport and compared it to the average (mean), the lowest valued franchise in each sport to the average (mean), and the highest valued franchise to the lowest valued franchise in each sport.  Here are the results.

Highest/Mean (high = unbalanced)
MLB – 311.20%
NHL – 210.76%
NBA – 161.74%
NFL – 158.20%

Lowest/Mean (low = unbalanced)
MLB – 57.47%
NHL – 61.88%
NBA – 73.35%
NFL – 76.14%

Highest/Lowest (high = unbalanced)
MLB – 541.42%
NHL – 340.58%
NBA – 220.50%
NFL – 207.03%

All of this clearly indicates that Major League Baseball is the most unbalanced major professional sport in terms of franchise worth, not only from the top to the bottom and the top to the average (mean), but from the average to the bottom as well.  Simply put, no team is so completely out of whack in regards to high value versus the rest of its league as the New York Yankees, and no team is so completely as lowly valued when compared to the rest of its league as the Florida Marlins.

Finally, all of that shows (at least in my honest opinion) the strength of the NFL’s current revenue sharing agreement.  It is by far not only the most valuable league in North America, but it is also the most well-balanced from top to middle to bottom as well.

Grade school level math FTW.

NFL Team	Value (millions)	MLB Team	Value (millions)	NBA Team	Value (millions)	NHL Team	Value (millions)	Combined (millions)
Dallas Cowboys	1,650	New York Yankees	1,500	New York Knicks	613	Toronto Maple Leafs	470
Washington Redskins	1,550	New York Mets	912	Los Angeles Lakers	584	New York Rangers	416
New England Patriots	1,361	Boston Red Sox	833	Chicago Bulls	504	Montreal Canadiens	339
New York Giants	1,183	Los Angeles Dodgers	722	Detroit Pistons	480	Detroit Red Wings	337
New York Jets	1,170	Chicago Cubs	700	Cleveland Cavaliers	477	Philadelphia Flyers	273
Houston Texans	1,150	Los Angeles Angels	509	Houston Rockets	469	Boston Bruins	271
Philadelphia Eagles	1,123	Philadelphia Phillies	496	Dallas Mavericks	466	Chicago Blackhawks	258
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1,085	St. Louis Cardinals	486	Phoenix Suns	452	Dallas Stars	246
Chicago Bears	1,082	San Francisco Giants	471	Boston Celtics	447	Vancouver Canucks	239
Denver Broncos	1,081	Chicago White Sox	450	San Antonio Spurs	415	New Jersey Devils	223
Baltimore Ravens	1,079	Atlanta Braves	446	Toronto Raptors	400	Pittsburgh Penguins	222
Carolina Panthers	1,049	Houston Astros	445	Miami Heat	393	Minnesota Wild	210
Cleveland Browns	1,032	Seattle Mariners	426	Philadelphia 76ers	360	Los Angeles Kings	208
Kansas City Chiefs	1,027	Washington Nationals	406	Utah Jazz	358	Anaheim Ducks	206
Indianapolis Colts	1,025	Texas Rangers	405	Washington Wizards	353	Colorado Avalanche	205
Pittsburgh Steelers	1,020	San Diego Padres	401	Sacramento Kings	350	Calgary Flames	200
Green Bay Packers	1,019	Baltimore Orioles	400	Orlando Magic	349	Ottawa Senators	197
Miami Dolphins	1,015	Cleveland Indians	399	Golden State Warriors	335	Tampa Bay Lightning	191
Tennessee Titans	1,000	Arizona Diamondbacks	399	Denver Nuggets	329	San Jose Sharks	184
Seattle Seahawks	994	Colorado Rockies	373	Portland Trail Blazers	307	Washington Capitals	183
Cincinnati Bengals	953	Detroit Tigers	371	Atlanta Hawks	306	Carolina Hurricanes	177
New Orleans Saints	942	Minnesota Twins	356	Indiana Pacers	303	St. Louis Blues	176
Arizona Cardinals	935	Toronto Blue Jays	353	Minnesota Timberwolves	301	Buffalo Sabres	170
San Diego Chargers	917	Milwaukee Brewers	347	Oklahoma City Thunder	300	Edmonton Oilers	166
St. Louis Rams	913	Cincinnati Reds	342	Los Angeles Clippers	297	Columbus Blue Jackets	165
Buffalo Bills	909	Tampa Bay Rays	320	New Jersey Nets	295	Florida Panthers	159
San Francisco 49ers	875	Oakland Athletics	319	Memphis Grizzlies	294	Nashville Predators	156
Detroit Lions	872	Kansas City Royals	314	New Orleans Hornets	285	New York Islanders	149
Jacksonville Jaguars	866	Pittsburgh Pirates	288	Charlotte Bobcats	284	Atlanta Thrashers	143
Atlanta Falcons	866	Florida Marlins	277	Milwaukee Bucks	278	Phoenix Coyotes	138
Minnesota Vikings	835

Phoenix Coyotes – Drama in the Desert

Had I begun this blog a mere year ago, I undoubtedly would have already created dozens of individual posts about the continuing drama surrounding this team.  For those that don’t know the history of this NHL franchise, I’ll give a “brief” history below:

The Coyotes began their existence far away from the sun-baked deserts of Glendale in the frozen tundra of Winnipeg, Canada.  Founded in 1972 as the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association (WHA), the future-Coyotes entered the world of professional hockey at a crucial crossroads of the sport’s history.  The NHL had only just recently expanded for the first time in decades, literally doubling almost overnight from six franchises to twelve in 1967. While this expansion allowed the league to bargain for lucrative American television contracts and brought professional hockey to markets that were starving for a chance to host NHL teams, namely Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area, it was also a highly controversial decision. By doubling in size immediately, rather than instigating gradual growths as Major League Baseball was slowly implementing, the overall talent pool of professional hockey was watered down significantly.  Questions over the legitimacy of the St. Louis franchise, seemingly only founded so as to allow the very powerful owner of the Chicago Blackhawks to sell off an arena that he owned in St. Louis (the St. Louis Arena, home of the Blues for the first quarter century of the team’s existence), were raised by many hockey observers.  And, most importantly, the NHL did not add any more teams in Canada, meaning that despite the fact that the vast majority of the players were Canadian and Canadians as a whole were much more rabid followers of hockey than Americans, the 1967-68 season would feature only two Canadian teams and ten American teams.  To potential fans across Canada, and especially in Vancouver (which many assumed was a shoe-in to receive an expansion franchise in 1967), this was a complete travesty.

As a result, over the span of the next decade, the NHL began to undertake a series of haphazard expansions that instigated a phase of intense growing pains that would haunt the league for years to come.  Over the next decade, the NHL would add franchises in Vancouver, Buffalo, Atlanta, a second team in New York, Kansas City, and Washington D.C.  With the floodgates open and the expansions continuing, a rising discontent grew in municipalities angered over the fact that they were not receiving franchises from the NHL.  In response, a second professional league, the Western Hockey Association (WHA) was formed to challenge the monopoly that the NHL held on professional hockey in North America, founding franchises across Canada and the United States.  While this league proved to be nowhere near as stable as the elder NHL, the war between these two leagues lead to rapidly escalating player salaries, increased cost overhead, and decreased profits and available talent. By 1979, both leagues were at their breaking point.  The WHA was nearing fiscal insolvency and several NHL franchises were either on the verge of outright collapse and/or strongly considering relocation to other cities in hopes of a brighter future.

After prolonged and intense negotiations, the WHA agreed to merge with the NHL, bringing the Winnipeg Jets and three other franchises into the NHL. While the now 21-team league stood as the sole major professional hockey league in North America, it had been incredibly bloodied by its feud with the WHA. The California Golden Seals had been forced to relocate to Cleveland before eventually merging with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978 in order to keep that team alive.  The Kansas City Scouts barely lasted two years before moving to Denver in 1976 to become the Colorado Rockies (the later MLB team would take their name from this hockey team) before being forced to relocate again to New Jersey to become the Devils in 1982.  The Atlanta Flames, the league’s first real attempt to expand into the American South, failed miserably and moved to Calgary in 1980.  And to make matters even worse, in a vindictive fashion the NHL stripped most of the talent from the four former-WHA franchises in order to placate the hardline owners of teams already in the NHL.

Despite this, the former teams of the WHA, the Jets, Quebec Nordiques, Hartford Whalers, and Edmonton Oilers, initially thrived in their new surroundings. The Oilers would go on to put together one of the most impressive dynasties in all of professional sports history, winning the Stanley Cup an astonishing five times in the span of seven years from 1984 to 1990.  The Nordiqes built a strong and passionate rivalry with their fellow French-speaking Canadian rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Whalers built a loyal fanbase in Connecticut while competing strongly with more established rivals in nearby New York and Boston.  Finally, the Jets became the pride and joy of the city of Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

As the 1990s approached though, the situation for these (and other) franchises worsened considerably.  The economy across North America grew weak as both Canada and the United States sunk into recession, and the Canadian dollar fell to all-time lows, drastically hurting teams across the league, especially the newer franchises in Quebec City, Hartford, and Winnipeg.  All three teams would seek greener pastures to the south in response to fiscal uncertainty.  The Whalers would abandon Connecticut for the Carolinas in 1997 to become the Hurricanes.  The Nordiques left for Denver to become the Avalanche in 1995, where they proceeded to win two Stanley Cups in their first six years in their new city.  And the Jets, in a move viewed as most peculiar of all, moved to the deserts of Arizona to become the Coyotes in 1996.

The story of this franchise could easily have ended there, but drama would continue to follow the Coyotes in their new environs.  Despite starting out strong, making the playoffs in five of their first six years in Arizona, the Coyotes continued to be marred by difficulties. The first arena they played in, the American West Arena, was completely inadequate for hockey purposes.  Almost immediately, the team attempted to gain local support in the construction of a new arena, only to face challenges at every step of the way.  Over the next several years, the Coyotes changed ownership twice and began to suffer on the ice despite bringing in all-time great hockey player Wayne Gretzky to coach the team, proving the old standard that great players don’t always make for great coaches.

But, after long legal wranglings and attempts to woo popular support for the construction of a new arena, the Coyotes were finally successful in building the Jobing.com Arena.  Despite its very odd name (which I personally believe to be the worst named arena in all of professional sports, and the second worst named facility after only the 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre, an outdoor concert facility in Tampa, Florida), the team finally got a venue that they could be proud of…. at a very high cost.  As a result of the years of demands and requests for public funding for the new arena from the team, the construction of the Jobing.com Arena left the Coyotes tens of millions of dollars in debt and had alienated a large portion of their fanbase.  During the first decade of the 21st Century, the team slid into deeper and deeper mediocrity and debt.  The team’s average attendance sunk to the near bottom of the league and they failed to reach the playoffs for six straight seasons.

This all came to a head in 2009, when the Coyotes filed for bankruptcy after they had lost over $50 million in 2008 alone, forcing the league to step in and take over ownership of the team.  In that same year, Forbes magazine released their annual valuations of every single NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL franchise.  Out of 122 teams, the Phoenix Coyotes were ranked dead last, 122nd place, as the lowest valued major sports franchise in North America.

Despite oddly making it into the playoffs that season, thanks in large part to the league’s willingness to spend money on the team’s payroll and to hire competent coaching in order to raise the potential selling price of the team to prospective buyers, the Coyotes continued to muddle around.  Despite attracting several potential high profile buyers, notably Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls, every major potential investor balked at the league’s demands that they promise to keep the team in Arizona.  What’s more, whenever the team’s record books were made available to potential investors, the sight of all the red ink seemed to have scare off everybody that the league was willing to sell the team to.  Only Jim Balsillie, an eccentric Canadian billionaire who has repeatedly attempted to purchase NHL teams with the expressed intention of moving them to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, remained willing to buy the franchise from the NHL, much to the NHL’s increasingly costly chagrin.

In 2010, the NHL seemed to finally score a major victory by getting the Glendale city council to agree to a $100 million bond issue on Jobing.com Arena, thereby seemingly eliminating a great deal of the team’s debt and opening the door to for a potential sale to people other than Balsillie.  While the NHL quickly trumpeted this achievement and began moving ahead with plans to sell the franchise to another group of prospective investors, it proved to be very controversial, as many Glendale residents were unwilling to financially support a professional sports team with public funding, especially one that many seemingly had no interest in supporting even as fans.

And all that brings up to the current situation, with the conservative Goldwater Institute seemingly on the verge of filing a lawsuit to block the bond issue, and subsequently any potential sale that the NHL is planning.  A lot is expected to happen regarding the Coyotes saga in the next week or two, so a lengthy background was needed before I could potentially go into any additional news on the franchise.  Drastically different outcomes could arise in the next several days, ranging from the NHL using the safeguard established by Glendale’s bond issue to finally sell the team to the Goldwater Institute blocking the bond issue and, by extension, preventing any potential sale of the team.  Depending on what happens, the Coyotes could just as easily be able to stay in the Arizona desert for years to come or be forced to pack up and leave the Grand Canyon State for another city, potentially even back to their original home of Winnipeg.

More news to come soon, in all likelihood. Hopefully there will be light at the end of the tunnel for this team sooner rather than latter and they they can find success wherever they end up.