The city of Glendale, Ariz. voted this week to put up $25 million to the NHL to help keep the Phoenix Coyotes playing at Jobing.com arena for the 2010-11 season.
Has it really come to this? Cities putting up direct cash just to keep teams in the city? It's bad enough that cities offer massive financial incentives, millions of dollars in cash for stadiums, tax breaks and other monetary considerations to lure owners or keep them happy. But when a city has to put up cash just so a league can keep the arena going, you know things are bad.
The NHL, the city and the prospective new ownership group all say the money may not be necessary. But The funny thing is that there does not appear to be a general consensus that any of this will matter in the long run.
Winnipeg--the city that was the previous home to the Coyotes franchise--has mounted a fairly compelling bid to bring the team back. And NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has not ruled out a move.
For the health of the NHL, Bettman must get serious about the Coyotes long-term prospects in Phoenix, and also take a look at other teams in non-traditional hockey markets like Nashville, Atlanta, Tampa and Miami. While not all of these teams deserve to be relocated--moving a team is terribly painful for fans and doesn't always solve a franchises problems--there is no doubt that the United States is probably too saturated with hockey while some hockey-crazy cities in Canada are underserved.
Look at Winnipeg. Look at Southern Ontario. Look again at Quebec City. Because the status quo just isn't working.
Comments