The latest lawsuit by the city of Glendale Az. against the public watchdog Goldwater Institute might be the last shoe to drop in getting the Jets out of Phoenix and back to Winnipeg - as soon as next year.
That all said, a visit to 'Five for Howling' gives us this more Coyote centric take on the matter:
"The city is seeking damages should the team leave but there is a more important part to this suit that writers, especially North of the border seem to be ignoring. That's this tidbit from the ESPN report by Pierre LeBrun:
It's believed the city will also ask for a judgment that the lease agreement doesn't contravene state law.
If the City can get that judgment soon then the lawsuit becomes moot as two things happen. First it means that the Goldwater Group wouldn't have any grounds on which to sue any longer. That in turn would lower the rate on the bonds, which is what the city needs anyways, and allow the sale to proceed. However, if this time takes away from profits, or the tampering negatively affects the interest rate, Glendale could still have a claim as there would be monetary damages.
In all this suit isn't an indicator of the team staying or going in and of itself and saying otherwise is foolish. What this move does is take away the Goldwater Institute's ability to sit and do nothing and get a "win." It forces the issue to a resolution one way or another while not committing the city to a bad interest rate should they issue the bonds and GWI not sue anyhow. Hopefully the city can get a quick resolution to the question of the legality of the lease and move forward in a timely manner for everyone's sake. "
- That the team simply won't 'get a judgment soon' regarding the Goldwater Institute's ability to sue regarding the bond option. Which isn't to say they won't get a judgment eventually, just that I have my doubts about 'soon'.
- I have my doubts that even if they can get a quick judgment regarding the GI that it will be the one they want. Issuing bonds so that the city can put up $100M (to be recouped supposedly through parking concessions and naming rights) does seem on its face to violate the legal provisions against the city offering gifts or remuneration.
- Even if everything works out and Hulsizer ends up taking the team over, the fact of the matter is that they are a money pit, and eventually, deep pocket owners or not, the team won't survive where it is currently located.
So IMO the chances that Winnipeggers will be cheering on their own Jets team in the future just got much, much more likely.
2 comments:
Love the thought of the Jets back in the 'Peg but still think that it won't happen.
The value of viable markets like Winnipeg and Quebec, as far as the NHL is concerned, is far greater for their potential to push people in Phoenix, Atlanta and Edmonton to making the concessions needed to keep the teams where they are.
While the moves from Winnipeg and Quebec could be seen as part of the NHL's drive to create a bigger US TV footprint in search of the great TV deal (which, to their credit may be coming next season - if $200 million from NBC, Versus and ESPN counts as the great deal, as it will be twice what they are getting now).
The only "win" for the league in returning to those markets would be the revenue bump that both teams might garner. Given the lack of additional TV money that would be generated and the lack of corporate $ in both locales the real revenue win will be just from gate receipts so I'm not convinced that the move is such a fantastic revenue win in its own right (in the same way a second team in the GTO would be - merely that it would be far less of a money pit as compared to Phoenix.
the nhl is deaf to many issues...headshots, olympics etc
this is just another issue they are ignoring really hard, and it's sad.
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