Update: Thrashers sale not done, still details

More than likely the Good Saint Bettman is dispelling the relocation myth because a consensus of BoG members is pointing to the Thrashers not moving, relocation, voted DOWN..

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OHL,

As far as the tax break issue goes, when Time Warner sold the Braves look into who they sold them to and why the new owner (corporation) bought them. And if that isn’t enough evidence for my point try to break it down yourself with evidence of the contrary rather than just saying it “doesn’t add up” or “is extremely unsupportive”. And I don’t understand why a large corporation wouldn’t go looking for any kind of tax relief as long as it is a feasible possibility because big corporations pay millions (sometimes even billions) worth of taxes to the government. So why wouldn’t large corporations try to make their assets non-taxable so they can save money? Because in this case the money that is saved would be enough to cover payroll (for more than one season) for that asset if that is the way the corporation chose to allocate the money.

Anyway you did make a good point about the shortage of the Mark Cuban type owners in the world. The point I was trying to get across was that as long as a team is managed with success as the goal then the fan base will respond. Time Warner’s first mistake was hiring Don Waddell to run the franchise but their biggest mistake was not investing any more than what they had to in the Thrashers. As other people have noted in this blog the Thrashers payroll was at or near league minimum this entire stretch and when it came time to lock up one of our stars we either shipped him off at the trade deadline (Heatley), or let him walk in free agency after low-balling him with our offer to keep him (Kovalchuck). And it wasn’t just the Thrashers, either. As soon as TW took control of the Braves they cut payroll back 20M and the Hawks operated in a very similar situation to the Thrashers. Lucky for the Braves they have great management and as for the Hawks, well, thats an issue for another blog.

The Thrashers as a franchise was not managed, and TW did not care. That is what they did wrong OHL. Along with the Braves, Hawks, and Philips Arena they were just another asset to put into their portfolio until another buyer came along so they could make a profit. The Thrashers got the short end of the stick because even their new owners didn’t care about them, which we new from day one when their first move was to keep Waddell at the helm.

Let me rephrase my formula: Competent management = success, or at least fan support. Not all management is lucky to have an owner with a bottomless checkbook, but competent management finds a way to win anyway. Don Waddell is not competent. And rather than trying to fix it, Time Warner showed just how much they cared by making it somebody else’s problem.

If you have any more questions OHL just let me know, I’ll be glad to answer them for you.

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@OHL,

One more thing. You say you answered my question when you compared Columbus to Atlanta, but I disagree. Saying “Atlanta hasn’t been as supportive as Columbus,” despite the superficial similarities between their situations, does not directly answer my challenge as to why NHL hockey can’t work here. It just demonstrates that Atlanta *hasn’t* supported hockey as well as Columbus, not that it *can’t* or *won’t.* I need something more valid than shaky inductive reasoning.

The thing is, Columbus’s attendance trajectory could very well invalidate your premise. You realize that CBJ attendance was about as bad as ours in 2010-11, right (13,469 for ATL, 13,658 for CBJ). Hypothetically, if the young Thrashers started winning and attendance rose to the point where we outdraw Columbus for 10 straight years, what does that suggest?

Since this *is* possible, your evidence is not based on first principles, and is thus invalid.

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Crass Bonanza,

I have said this before and I’ll say it again – when you make the argument that “Columbus has less competition for the sporting dollar – CBJs are the only thing that makes the city “major league,” and no, The OSU does not count.” then you are making the argument that the Thrashers will do better in Winnipeg. Afterall, just like in Columbus, there is no competition for the sporting dollar in Winnipeg.

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OHL,

For your info., Liberty Media now owns the Braves. For a story regarding the tax advantages for both sides in the deal, just go to this article: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5214612

I never said that any corporation needs a tax break, but if you were the owner of a multi-million dollar corporation and an opportunity arose that could result saving millions of dollars worth of taxes, wouldn’t you do it? (The question is asked in retrospect, so no answer is needed from you).

And Time Warner never bought the Thrashers outright. The franchise was included in a package deal that included the Hawks and Philips Arena when Philips Arena was built (so Atlanta would have an arena that was capable of hosting both basketball and hockey events when the Thrashers came to Atlanta) so in effect they were more or less stuck with them. They acted like it too and couldn’t wait to get rid of them (sound familiar?). And I never tried to prove the Thrashers were part of some tax relief deal, I proved the Braves were. TW sold the Thrashers, Hawks, and Philips Arena to cut their losses because of the situation at CNN. They did not buy the Thrashers after the fact.

As for your last question, I’ve answered it in both my previous posts. So if you want to keep going around in circles and splitting hairs OHL I understand, but if you’re going to write like you know everything at least know what you’re writing about.

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