NHL plans to take control of the Devils

[Fire0nice228]

All I know is when I happen to flip a Devils game on center ice during the regular season the place is freakin empty. Maybe their deep Cup run will help but the NYR, NYI, NJD, PHI is alotta teams in one small area there and alot of transplants too that cheer for teams other than those 4. Plus all the football and basketball..

[ExPatriatePen]

They need to accept the facts of needing to downsize the league. Southern markets really aren't viable for hockey.

except that Tampa, Carolina, Nashvillle, and even Florida all outdrew New Jersey this year.

http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From that article... Did anyone notice who was the worst draw on the road this year?

Spoiler:

The Stanley Cup winning LA Kings!

[darkstar57]

Not sure this is a market issue per se. Looks like more of a Vanderbeek issue.

This is


i live in NJ, the devils while their arena always seems empty usually do pretty well financially, for all we mock Uncle Lou, he does an outstanding job of running the devils and keeping them on budget. The old meadowlands arena had little in the way in revenue generation as the new arena and he made it work.

Vanderbeek has always been a little shady with the way he has run his business, he had a hand in a lot of the shady business that was going on at Lehman Brothers. There is plenty of money in the NY area and people who would want to own the devils. Perhaps Mikhail Prokhorov who owns the nets (and if you want a good laugh look at the youtube video he made that shows how much of a mans man he is, comic gold). Plus there are tons of other people in the NY area that have money, there are very few rich people in the NY area that can say they own a sports franchise and a ton that would want to as a status symbol

[bhaw]

I hate how the NHL keeps putting teams in these markets that can't support them:

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/03/ ... team-says/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[newarenanow]

All I know is when I happen to flip a Devils game on center ice during the regular season the place is freakin empty. Maybe their deep Cup run will help but the NYR, NYI, NJD, PHI is alotta teams in one small area there and alot of transplants too that cheer for teams other than those 4. Plus all the football and basketball..

I've been to a Devils game or two while visiting my brother in law, and the upper bowl is typically pretty full, while the lower bowl is sparce. The ticket prices are absolutely crazy in the lower bowl. People complain about Pens ticket prices, but their lower bowl tickets are nuts.

[columbia]

I hate how the NHL keeps putting teams in these markets that can't support them:

http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/03/ ... team-says/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

lol

[brwi]

Not sure this is a market issue per se. Looks like more of a Vanderbeek issue.

This is


i live in NJ, the devils while their arena always seems empty usually do pretty well financially, for all we mock Uncle Lou, he does an outstanding job of running the devils and keeping them on budget. The old meadowlands arena had little in the way in revenue generation as the new arena and he made it work.

Vanderbeek has always been a little shady with the way he has run his business, he had a hand in a lot of the shady business that was going on at Lehman Brothers. There is plenty of money in the NY area and people who would want to own the devils. Perhaps Mikhail Prokhorov who owns the nets (and if you want a good laugh look at the youtube video he made that shows how much of a mans man he is, comic gold). Plus there are tons of other people in the NY area that have money, there are very few rich people in the NY area that can say they own a sports franchise and a ton that would want to as a status symbol

Devils' losses 2 years ago are estimated at over 20mil and slightly less this year due to 11 home playoff games. That's not doing well financially at all. They have a ton of debt that is killing them right now and already owe 77mil from a missed debt payment last year.

I agree that it's not a LL issue, but the ownership sucks, attendance isn't good, and they partially financed their own building, leaving a ton of debt that present ownership can't handle. Hopefully a monied-investor is found ASAP or this looks like another bankruptcy filing coming in August.

[Pitt87]

If Vanderbeek fails to resolve his money issues.

In addition to the Coyotes, the NHL would now "own" the Devils. I don't know law, but why isn't a league owning 2 teams a conflict of interest?

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/o ... 0Xc8rl9MdI

Oh, and this would make Bettman a "Devil's advocate"...

The NHL technically 'owns' all of the teams; team owners act more like shareholders or affiliates, rather than a group of individual, unaffiliated businesses.

When teams are taken over by the NHL, its more like a change in business administration, not necessarily management. No conflict there as long as they don't push league-controlled items like draft picks or cap issues in one's favor.

[KG]

The new arena in Newark hasn't worked as planned. The team/arena generates additional revenues from concerts, family events, circus etc. Problem is the old Meadowlands now the Izod Center is still open so all or most of the non-hockey streams of revenue are going to the Izod Center.

Surprised that is allowed to happen to be honest...