Phoenix Coyotes of NHL Continue To Thrash in Bankruptcy
The fate of the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL continues to be thrashed around in bankruptcy court as the judge tries to determine the fate of the franchise.
Only in America could you have a professional ice hockey team in the middle of the desert. Seriously, have you ever been to Phoenix? It is hot, hot and hotter. How hot? The baseball team plays in a stadium that has a roof that can be closed. To keep out rain? Nope. It is usually closed when it just gets to hot to safely play or even watch the game! Yes, that hot.
The Phoenix Coyotes are a professional hockey team that relocated from the chilly climates of Canada. The team is a perennial loser. Despite a new stadium, it has failed to draw fans to the shock of nobody with the apparent exception of the NHL. Hockey and the desert – yes, that is going to work! Regardless, the team is a financial disaster and the current owner has finally had enough. The NHL has been putting money into it, but the team is losing so much money that bankruptcy was really the only choice.
The owner, Jerry Moyes, filed bankruptcy on May 5, 2009. The NHL reacted by stating that he couldn’t file because he had already been stripped of his power to do so by the league. The undercurrent of aggravation with the filing is really due to another reason. Moyes wants the bankruptcy court to force the sale of the team through the NHL. He has a buyer, but that buyer isn’t liked by the NHL and wants to move the team to Ontario, Canada.
Toronto businessman Jim Balsillie is the purported buyer. You might know him better for his role with BlackBerry, with whom he made his fortune. He has tried to buy into the NHL before, but been rejected as an owner. He loves hockey and this appears to be his end run effort to get into the game. The NHL is countering by saying Moyes has no write to sell and also trying to find other buyers.
The Coyotes bankruptcy case is a big one. It stands for the issue of whether any professional sports team can use bankruptcy court to relocate whether or not the league in question wants them to. If the sale to Balsillie is allowed, then any team in any sport could do the same thing. The Dallas Cowboys could become the Los Angeles Cowboys for instance. It would be chaos to say the least.
On June 15th, the judge in the case issued an order blocking the sale to Balsillie. Read closely, the order is really only a temporary block as the judge asked for additional briefings and suggested strongly that the parties should mediate a settlement. The NHL claimed victory, but it is a hollow one at best. Hockey is bad in Phoenix and will never make it. What the NHL really wants is a movement fee for the team and that is probably what it will eventually get.