CFL/NHL partnership for city of Hamilton

I really want the NHL in Hamilton and it will be the best thing possible for Hamilton.

I'm also thinking of how great our city CAN be, with the hopefull support of both CFL and NHL franchises.

You know Copps will just be temporary, but it would be great if the city would work with Balsillie and Young to build a football and hockey facility next to each other.

You can imagine Balsillie would even be willing to put up most of the funding himself, and Young i'm sure could be pursuaded to do so as well.

A 16-17,000 seat arena and a 30,000-35,000 seat stadium would be the best possible situation for the city of Hamilton.

Big things are near for Hamilton!

There won't be any NHL in Hamilton so relax. The NHL BOG will not allow the sale, the sportsnetworks are just blowing this story out of proportion to give their 5000 hockey reporters something to do.

Your wrong! the NHL will be in Hamilton next year, guarentee you.

The NHL BOG will have no say, Balsillie knows what he is doing. Many BOG understand already that the NHL has to get back into Canada, and everybody understands now that Balsillie is the man to do it.

Bettman will lose his job if it falls through. This is why Bettman didn't want to bring it up, he knows this may cost him his job.

The NHL needs Hamilton, Winnipeg, Quebec City!

Why get excited over this?

We've been down this road before, Basille is using Hamilton as a pawn, and its working. The businesss community and the people of Nashville are stepping up to the plate and buying tickets, therefore he won't be able to move them out of Nashville.

mikem you don't make any sense. Balsillie doesn't want to stay in Nashville!

He wants to bring a team to Hamilton or anywhere else in Ontario.

And the people in Nashville are not buying tickets, get your facts straight!

This is very different. Back when, Hamilton did nothing for the league and the NHL wanted teams in the biggest US TV markets.

Now the NHL has expanded as far as it can go in the states. Very few markets and virtually no TV market. That means no big TV revenue ala NFL, MLB and NBA.

What Hamilton brings this time is the only other source of significant revenue. Last expansion fees were $80. Now Basillie's bid not only increases (drastically) all the other franchises worth about $238m, but it also ups the expansion fee for the next two western teams to a much higher level. This is big bucks for all the onwers.

Where else can the owners get this value and cash injection? I can't think of any other source, can you?

The businesss community and the people of Nashville are stepping up to the plate and buying tickets, therefore he won't be able to move them out of Nashville.

Why do you think so?

get your facts straight!

Balsillie and Young to build a football and hockey facility next to each other.

You can imagine Balsillie would even be willing to put up most of the funding himself, and Young i’m sure could be pursuaded to do so as well.

Seriously, it would be great but a lot needs to happen before it even becomes close enough to get worked up about.

Did I hear this correctly on the news the other day?.......some meeting with the NHL and this Research in Motion guy was cancelled and/or delayed because his paperwork wasn't filled out correctly....

??.....did I get that correct?

At any rate, I won't comment on the actual NHL coming to Hamilton thingy........I'm indifferent.

Yes don’t get excited - the reality is that Basillie has come up here got everyone excited, sold season tickets negotiated with the city but he hasn’t spoken to anyone in the NHL and no one from the BOG has commented. Good chance the BOG will turn him down.

City of Toronto is very upset this morning.
Because now Toronto wants a team too

Wrong.

Here's a quote from Bettman, "What's clear to me from meeting with Mr. Balsillie is he's passionate about the game, he'd like to own a franchise and certainly has the resources to do it."

While all governors aren't happy with the way he's going about it, here's a quote from the Star on June 14, "(Balsillie) is an honourable guy and he's got the money. That's it. He passes," said one respected NHL executive, who said his owner wouldn't get in Balsillie's way.

Why would Blackberry (RIM) purchase an advertising campaign in a country with 300 million potential customers and move it to a country with only 32 million potential buyers? This purchase has little to do with bums in the seats. Fans in Hamilton are being duped and used, once again. Dig yourselves out of a hole, wise up, and ignore the dangling artificial candy.

It has a bad taste.

Because it's not about advertising RIM. It's about GHSE buying and operating an NHL team. Surely Nashville has proven that it's the wrong place for that.

I'm not going to regurgitate this thread here except to say these things:

1. The BoG will be the laughingstock of North American pro sports if they reject a bid that doubles team values overnight for a SINKHOLE.

That would mean bye bye to $160 million USD of extra expansion fee money that KC and Vegas would carry together if Balsillie's bid is accepted.

The MLSE is not the NHL. A majority of owners will follow the easy money, TYVM.

2. Leafs do not have a veto over Southern Ontario;

3. Contingency plans are due diligence, even ones that smell like real plans;

4. The fan revolt that will hit Nashville when Balsillie's intentions are clear will make Norman Green's last winter in Bloomington with the North Stars look like a love-in. Hence for all the spin here that fans and companies are stepping it up (?) in Nashville (?), more fans will stay away in droves;

5. A Leipold and Balsillie series of lawsuits will effectively tear asunder the NHL territorial policies
   as presently constituted. The NHL will avoid that fight at all costs;

6. See #1.

Oski Wee Wee,

A CFL/NHL partnership here would be great, no doubt.

Good read oski and yes “See no. 1” is about as clear as it gets with this. They would look like the biggest fools going it would actually be funny and they won’t allow this to happen even if Mr. Balsillie has riled a few of them up a tad or two.

Next year? As in a few short months from now. Sorry, a 0% chance of that happening, despite your guarantee.

2009, an outside chance. 2010 or 2011, sure, maybe.

At any rate, I won't comment on the actual NHL coming to Hamilton thingy........I'm indifferent.

The concept of an NHL team in Hamilton is appealing, but what kind of fan support would there be in those seasons when the team doesn't deliver? Many of you will comment on my last statement by suggesting that the Ticats haven't delivered for several years and yet, under Bob Young's tutelage, they have had great crowds. I would answer you by saying that the great crowds at IWS were about to end and Mr. Young knew that, so he very wisely put some real football people in charge of his operation and it now appears, it may be successful and the large crowds maintained.

Our city council has nothing in common with Bob Young when it comes to smarts:

What about hotels, parking, etc. in the core?
This city wasn't even able to keep up a 46 year old city hall which they now want to call a "heritage site". I find this very humourous. If thats the case, I've lived in 3 homes which should be classified the same way.

I apologize for what I know is a very pessimistic attitude, but I've already seen too much of this city at work.

This being said, It still doesn't appear that we have the Predators in our back pockets, anyway, and according to Ron Joyce, who has already been through this, we likely won't.

hotels
this morning and earlier this year on bill kelly's show on chml the hotel association were and are interested at hamilton for building new hotels or upgrading existing hotels before the possible nhl coming here because of hamiltons high occupancy rate of existing hotels.
parking
theres more parking around copps than ivor wynne plus every major bus route in the city except for 2 major routes are within walking distance of copps
etc
i believe if the nhl comes here there will be more restaurants and bars downtown

Parking is fine, and it's part of the deal with Balsillie's group.

As far as hotels go, read today's Spec. There are about 4 more coming in the downtown area along with redeveloped Ramada and Connaught.

Here's the article entitles New hotels in the works as developers eye growth

And besides, the city wouldn't run this thing. Balsillie's Golden Horseshoe Sports Entertainment corp. would. That's part of the deal too.

This was the slap on the wrist and a "Dont do it again" tactic for the NHL to save face.. Balsillie has pushed Bettman around like no one ever has, they have EVERY intention of agreeing to BOTH this sale AND relocation but they have to make it look good, there is just tooooo much money to be lost here.