Quote:
Originally Posted by LakeLocker
All this will tell you is the obvious. Melnyk can't relocate the team without the leagues approval. And why would they if they don't have to?
The relocation fee gives them a serious cash injection when they absolutely need it. A 200-300 deal would be exactly the type of thing that would send a message to other owners that you can't circumvent the leagues authority.
The league turned down $500 million, a $300 million relocation fee is absolutely in the realm of a seriously cheaper and more affordable option. Expansion fees were a tiny fraction of what they were when the Jets moved to Arizona/from Atlanta. It's a completely different league structure. Why would houston be expected to pay $800 million when you can relocate a team for free?
The league isn't stupid and they have the power.
This is an emotional appeal. The point is they lack an Arena and an Owner. The lack of an Arena etc is exactly why it would make sense to leave and come back.
They have the option of Squeezing money out of QC, Melnyk, and Ottawa. They have a monopoly and covid + QC + Melnyk has given them the perfect way out.
Ottawa isn't loosing a team, at least a team worth saving, they're having their franchise suspended for a small number of years, until they get a downtown arena figured out.
The Ottawa market needs time to reconfigure.
You can't charge Melnyk a sales fee, but a relocation fee is absolutely a thing they could get away with.
This would make sense if they had an arena deal worked out, and if Melnyk didn't piss the league off.
And make no mistake Melnyk isn't just not likable, he's a threat to the leagues business model. If an owner can just cash out at any time, the billions of dollars of team value could erode over just a few sales. More damming is that it's clear he not just rogue, he's blatantly sabotage a market to get his way, this is intolerable when revenue sharing is a thing.
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Sorry, you are contradicting yourself. On one hand, the league can just grab a team from an owner because the simply don't like it, and sell the team for below market and keep over half the money themselves. But on the other, they don't want franchise values hurt? You don't think the league having the ability to do that would hurt values? Who do you think the league is anyway? It's those very owners. Even the Clippers sold for above market at the time when the NBA forced their racist owner out. What's Melnyk's crime that doesn't end with the league tied up in court for years? Never mind that this plan revolves around the idea that if the Sens leaves town, the city will all of a sudden figure out that long elusive downtown arena and build it on spec that they can get another team.