NHL Rumours... The NHL is returning to Winnipeg

Winnipeg has size and wealth to support NHL franchise

By QMI Agency

Another prominent voice is in Winnipeg’s corner when it comes to the pursuit of an NHL franchise.

In an article on hot topics in economics, Conference Board of Canada director Mario Lefebvre said Winnipeg, Quebec City and Hamilton all deserve NHL franchises because they have the “four pillars necessary to the success of a professional sports organization.”

Lefebvre says those pillars are 1) the size of the market; 2) the wealth of the market; 3) a sound corporate presence; 4) a level playing field.

The director for the Centre for Municipal Studies says Winnipeg’s population is adequate to support a team and the city actually has a higher income per capita than Montreal (and on par with Vancouver). He goes on to say that Winnipeg has more large corporations than both Ottawa and Edmonton, cities that currently have NHL franchises.

Finally, Lefebvre points to the strong Canadian dollar as a means of levelling the playing field, a situation which did not exist when the Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques struggled to make ends meet during the 1990s. He said the Conference Board of Canada expects the loonie will stay at par with the U.S. dollar for the foreseeable future.

Winnipeg lost its NHL team when the Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996. Manitoba Moose owner Mark Chipman and business partner David Thomson have been in discussions to move the Phoenix Coyotes to the 15,000-seat MTS Centre, but it appears a deal may be completed to keep the team in Arizona.

rosencrentz wrote:$16 million was the payroll of the Jets when Shenkroh sold it for $85 million, and there was a $50 million dollar clause, for a sale price of the franchise, if it stayed here.
What is the franchise worth today, 15 years later?

FinanciallyConcerned wrote:What does it matter one way or the other? The salaries are what they are! And are you aware that WE are to blame for the high salaries?

Professional sports salaries all went to hell in a handbasket the day WINNIPEG paid Bobby Hull 1 MILLION DOLLARS to PLAY A GAME! It all started on the corner of Portage and Main when they handed him that oversized cheque and it has gotten worse from that day forward.

SO the fact that Winnipeg cannot afford a team is our own fault! We started it and we are paying the price for it. Winnipeg does not have the corporate support to have a team and thats all there is to it. We never had a problem filling the seats. If memory serves me right, we had one of the best attendance numbers in the league!

It's time to let this one die. We could not afford a team in 1996, and the payrolls are higher now and we still cannot afford a team! And before you say the dollar is at par now so it will work, the dollar WILL NOT stay at par and we will be back at the same place again soon enough, with the call for public money to support a team we couldn't afford in the first place! Then we can complain about having a team and needing public money to keep it instead of not having a team!

FinanciallyConcerned wrote:It's time to let this one die. We could not afford a team in 1996, and the payrolls are higher now and we still cannot afford a team! And before you say the dollar is at par now so it will work, the dollar WILL NOT stay at par and we will be back at the same place again soon enough, with the call for public money to support a team we couldn't afford in the first place! Then we can complain about having a team and needing public money to keep it instead of not having a team!

Livio Ciaralli wrote:JTF, and you think no tax dollars will be asked for. But i agree with your sentiment, we've already paid and keep paying for the place, I would rahter see Thompson, the billionaire , pony up for the expansion and acquisition costs.