A secret NHL report made public by Rick Westhead at the Toronto Star show that 31 per cent of the National Hockey League’s $1.1 billion (U.S.) in league ticket revenue, has come from the six teams based in Canada.
According to the report that has not been made public by the NHL (as of Friday morning, May 30), “the league has seen its ticket revenue rise almost 10 per cent, but 11 of the 24 U.S.-based clubs were either revenue-flat or lost ticket income.”
Not surprisingly, the Toronto Maple Leafs finished first on the list at $1.9 million in ticket revenue per game. The Montreal Canadiens were second. Based on 41 home games, the Leafs collected $77.9 million in ticket revenue last year and that doesn’t count the revenue from pre-season games.
Now, to be fair, Westhead suggested the increase in the value of the Canadian dollar may be responsible for as much as half of the league’s revenue gains since the NHL went through the lockout of 2004-05, but that doesn’t explain why six little Canadian-based teams create more than 30 per cent of the revenue.
What that suggests is that Gary Bettman’s foray into South Florida, Tampa, Nashville, Atlanta and Phoenix (not to mention the existing messes in Chicago, Long Island and Washington) has been an unmitigated financial disaster.
“This really makes the case for another team in Canada, whether it’s Hamilton, Winnipeg or Quebec City,” former Vancouver Canucks owner Arthur Griffiths told Westhead.
The most interesting item in the league’s report concerns the embarrassing Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes, who have been a financial and, yes, popular disaster in the U.S. desert since they moved from Winnipeg in 1996, were last in ticket revenue at $450,000. That’s a disgrace to the sport and suggests that commissioner Gary Bettman’s decision to allow the Jets to move to the American desert was a massive error in judgment. In the Jets final lame-duck year in 1996, the team earned about $330,000 per game in ticket revenues. That was the lowest in the final five years of the team’s existence. Twelve years later, Phoenix is only $120,000 a game higher. My good gawd…
The Coyotes are now, officially, losing more than $30 million a season (according to the Arizona Republic) and have lost as much as $600 million since leaving Winnipeg.
According to the report, obtained by rivercitysportsblog.com on Friday morning, in 2007-08, eight U.S. teams – the Coyotes, the Atlanta Thrashers, the Florida Panthers, the New York Islanders, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Washington Capitals, the Nashville Predators and the St. Louis Blues – generated less than half the amount of ticket revenue of the Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators. At $1.2 million in ticket revenue per game, the Oilers and Senators earned the least amount of ticket money among the six Canadian franchises.
This report obviously opens up the debate about bringing an NHL team back to Winnipeg.
Granted, Winnipeg has a population of only 700,000. Granted, Winnipeg lags behind other cities in weekly earnings. Granted, our corporate financial marketing base is very small. And granted, our downtown arena is tiny, with no parking revenue, many uncomfortable seats and too few luxury suites.
However, there is little question that after 12 years, fans are dying to have the NHL return. The mere fact that my book, “The Winnipeg Jets: A Celebration of Professional Hockey in Winnipeg,” sold out 7,000 copies in Manitoba alone, is a clear indication that the Jets mattered, still do and that their return would still draw large crowds. Hey, if I were Bettman, I’d put a team in Central Ontario tomorrow. Then I’d look at Winnipeg and Quebec City.
It has been suggested that the money is already in place in order for Winnipeg to acquire a franchise. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I do know this: No matter what happens in terms of the future of the NHL, Winnipeg will ALWAYS be a better market for big-time hockey than the southern United States.
Period. End of discussion.
There is little doubt that most Canadian hockey fans — and perhaps just plain old hockey fans in general — have fallen in love with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Most polls out there would suggest that the majority of fans in this country will be cheering wildly for the Pens, although not necessarily booing Detroit at the same time.