Edmonton Oilers

[lobo1969]

A fans open letter to Daryl Katz. Hard to argue with what he's stating here.

http://thesportsdaily.com/the-oilers...mr-daryl-katz/

Meh... this guy lost all credibility when he trotted out the old "fire, McTavish, Lowe, Keith Gretzky(?), and now Bob Nicholson" rant. The Hall and Eberle trades were total utter failures. Chiarelli is everything wrong with the organization and needs to be gone yesterday. And apparently the writer has chosen to forget that last season was a success. Now 39 games into this season this 'fan' wants to burn the front office to the ground.
Come on, this is typical negative Oiler fan crap I'm personally sick of hearing. Just another clown full of self hate needing to project it on others and his favorite sports team. Too many opinions on who to fire next but no insight on a long term viewpoint.
This open letter is kind of embarrassing to read to be honest.

[agentzero]

Oh, also, the owner does only care about money, just like nearly every other professional sports team owner except maybe Mark Cuban.

That is always so true. Except, I wonder why... (I mean, I don't really wonder... Business personalities of this type cannot escape the behaviour that made them successful business heirs..er...people...). Many owners (if not all) made their money on a business having nothing to do with their toy, the sports franchise. As such, they should only really care about the on-field, on-ice success of that franchise, at all costs. They are by no means obliged to own sports franchises and certainly don't do it to make money. Data shows most sports franchises, outside NFL teams, the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers, Leafs and a few NBA teams don't make any money at all. They presumably do it because of an interest in the sport or the franchise, or both. If so, then all they should care about is how that team performs. If they don't think like that (or can't, per my comment above) then IMO they should get out of owning sports teams, where winning should really be the only purpose, at all costs.

[The Comish]

They are by no means obliged to own sports franchises and certainly don't do it to make money. Data shows most sports franchises, outside NFL teams, the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers, Leafs and a few NBA teams don't make any money at all. They presumably do it because of an interest in the sport or the franchise, or both.

I don't believe this for a second. I have a strange feeling (many actually) that the numbers are skewed by professional accounting firms to "look" like they aren't making any money. Many pro sports teams don't pay for their arenas/stadiums or get tax breaks, etc. In addition to insane ticket prices and TV rights (both national and local), many also receive concession sales, parking, merchandise/jersey sales, advertising fees, etc. There is NO WAY they are owning a team if they are bleeding money. NO WAY...okay, maybe there are a few (Arizona comes to mind), but I call bullcrap when an owner cries poor.

[The Comish]

Also, how 'bout that 2-1 shootout win against the pucking Ducks last night!? I actually caught from halfway through the third period and it was fast-paced and exciting, especially for a mid-season contest. I'm not used to that with NHL hockey. Oiler players must be hearing all the negative press and are playing a little harder! lol

[PenguinHunter]

I don't believe this for a second. I have a strange feeling (many actually) that the numbers are skewed by professional accounting firms to "look" like they aren't making any money. Many pro sports teams don't pay for their arenas/stadiums or get tax breaks, etc. In addition to insane ticket prices and TV rights (both national and local), many also receive concession sales, parking, merchandise/jersey sales, advertising fees, etc. There is NO WAY they are owning a team if they are bleeding money. NO WAY...okay, maybe there are a few (Arizona comes to mind), but I call bullcrap when an owner cries poor.

Its creative accounting for sure.... have the company that owns the team lose money on the arena... but the owners owns the arena through a different company that is making a tonne of money.

[als_revenge]

I'm pretty sure Melynk cares about money, and bleeding money.

As for the Oilers, what a train wreck of a season. Makes me sad how many awful Canadian clubs there are this year.

[LawMan]

I don't believe this for a second. I have a strange feeling (many actually) that the numbers are skewed by professional accounting firms to "look" like they aren't making any money. Many pro sports teams don't pay for their arenas/stadiums or get tax breaks, etc. In addition to insane ticket prices and TV rights (both national and local), many also receive concession sales, parking, merchandise/jersey sales, advertising fees, etc. There is NO WAY they are owning a team if they are bleeding money. NO WAY...okay, maybe there are a few (Arizona comes to mind), but I call bullcrap when an owner cries poor.

My belief is that owning a professional sports team as a stand alone entity offers a very poor return on investment. However, if you own a sports team, and a related business entity (TV company, key real estate, other) and can leverage the sports team to promote your other business there is a great deal of profit to be had. In Katz's particular case the purchase of the team was, IMO, part of a much larger real estate play that involves downtown Edmonton being revitilized, surrounded by the new rink (which the City paid for). The Oilers as a single entity may not make a great ROI but controlling them has allowed Katz to create a situation where he is set to earn a killing on related real estate. I would not be surprised one bit if he sells the team in a decade after the downtown re-development is finalised and moves on to other business ventures.

EDIT: Rogers said as much to their shareholders last month (2 months ago) when a member of their board noted that they love having all of the content that the Jays provide (162 games a year) but they do not necessarily love owning the Jays....

[agentzero]

I don't believe this for a second. I have a strange feeling (many actually) that the numbers are skewed by professional accounting firms to "look" like they aren't making any money. Many pro sports teams don't pay for their arenas/stadiums or get tax breaks, etc. In addition to insane ticket prices and TV rights (both national and local), many also receive concession sales, parking, merchandise/jersey sales, advertising fees, etc. There is NO WAY they are owning a team if they are bleeding money. NO WAY...okay, maybe there are a few (Arizona comes to mind), but I call bullcrap when an owner cries poor.

You have to believe it, because it is true. I'm not saying sports franchises can't turn profits, but they pale (trust me, PALE) in comparison to the profits and revenues generated by the largest businesses trotting Wall Street that are owned by the guys who own these toy sports teams, not the least of which is the pharma business run by Katz.

As much as sports teams can seem like big business, they look like corner stores when compared to any Fortune 500 companies and don't come close to generating the profits that do the firms traded on NYSE.

Sports is small potatoes business, even if it's in the millions or hundreds of millions. Big business is well beyond that. I'll never be convinced that these guys venture into sports to build financial empires. Outside a few exceptions, they are meagre businesses.

And Melnyk cares about money with his sports team because his real businesses aren't doing well. Or, he's just a penny-pincher in general.

[The Comish]

You have to believe it, because it is true. I'm not saying sports franchises can't turn profits, but they pale (trust me, PALE) in comparison to the profits and revenues generated by the largest businesses trotting Wall Street that are owned by the guys who own these toy sports teams, not the least of which is the pharma business run by Katz.

As much as sports teams can seem like big business, they look like corner stores when compared to any Fortune 500 companies and don't come close to generating the profits that do the firms traded on NYSE.

Sports is small potatoes business, even if it's in the millions or hundreds of millions. Big business is well beyond that. I'll never be convinced that these guys venture into sports to build financial empires. Outside a few exceptions, they are meagre businesses.

And Melnyk cares about money with his sports team because his real businesses aren't doing well. Or, he's just a penny-pincher in general.

I wasn't trying to compare owning an NHL team to big business. I have no illusions that it's not AS profitable as a REAL business venture, but I sincerely doubt they are LOSING the level of money many owners imply. Most certainly they leverage the team ownership and arenas to serve their other (real) business ventures, but lose money? I would wager only a handful truly lose money when everything is added up.

Great points guys! Love this type of discussion.

[agentzero]

I wasn't trying to compare owning an NHL team to big business. I have no illusions that it's not AS profitable as a REAL business venture, but I sincerely doubt they are LOSING the level of money many owners imply. Most certainly they leverage the team ownership and arenas to serve their other (real) business ventures, but lose money? I would wager only a handful truly lose money when everything is added up.

Great points guys! Love this type of discussion.

I'll agree with you there. I won't buy that they are losing money, but my point from before was that they shouldn't even care if they do or don't with their sports teams. They are billionaires in other ventures so who cares how much your little hockey team costs.. It's for fun and if it's for money, like real money, then they're lying, because sports teams don't make real money. That's what I was getting at.

So Katz, Melnyk, all those chumps, talk is cheap and useless. Devote any and all costs to a winning product on the ice, because that's what sports teams are about. If they think they're about money, then they should sell their teams to other billionaires like Mark Cuban who understand this.

[Shift Disturber]

I mean, wow...can we at least come up with an "Oiler rule" whereby they're excluded from the draft lottery?

[The Comish]

I mean, wow...can we at least come up with an "Oiler rule" whereby they're excluded from the draft lottery?

No. The fans need the perpetual hope of the draft lottery. Also, I can't stand how reactionary the NHL is to short trends (Oilers suckage notwithstanding) and making rule changes. That stupid trapezoid, the 4 on 4 rule when the HHOF Oiler squads were dominating, the Avery wave rule, etc.

[doulos]

Team is back to being a disaster again. I've always maintained that I judge the GM by the team's performance, and it's clear that Chiarelli has been found very wanting.

I like about half his deals (including Lucic) but he obviously cleared a bunch of cap space this year (and with it offence) and did nothing to replace it. Real ugly.

[Axeman33]

I think a big change is close, be it McLellan being let go or Chiarelli getting canned.

The fact we are seeing more of Bob Nicholson around lately probably isn't a good thing for someone.

[doulos]

I think a big change is close, be it McLellan being let go or Chiarelli getting canned.

The fact we are seeing more of Bob Nicholson around lately probably isn't a good thing for someone.

Maybe. The season is over.