New Coyotes Owner Introduced, But How Permanent Is This...???

((HT: AZCentral/12 News))

Andrew Barroway was introduced as the new majority owner of the Arizona Coyotes in Glendale Friday.

IceArizona bought the team for $170-million, but group owner-ring leader Anthony LeBlanc recently valued the franchise for a little over $300-million... (of course, he did...)

But the franchise can leave Arizona if they lose more than $50-million over the first five years of IceArizona's ownership. The larger question is: Just how much money have they lost already...? There's talk that the number is already close to $30-million after only two seasons...

Barroway is committed- for now... he is denying that he is buying the team to flip the team...

NBC's Pro Hockey Talk and James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail reported as far back as November that Barroway wanted to flip the franchise and was the only one in line to purchase the team- moving them to someone who wants to put a franchise in Las Vegas.

Here's the introduction

Barroway's addition gives the Coyotes a little more American ownership- which is huge for the small market/small budget squad that needs league assistance and Barroway's infusion of capital to get off the league salary cap floor...

Unless, of course, they're moving to Vegas...

NHL Doesn't Object To Looking At Vegas

((HT: Sportsnet))

MGM is building a new arena in Las Vegas, the HQ knows this...

The NHL Owners Meetings in Boca are now are kicking the tires on the the idea of going to that new Maloof Brothers arena and housing a franchise in that city- whether it's as a relocation or an expansion franchise.

Here's Strombo, Kypper, and Friedge after Evanka Osmak sets the introduction to discuss

The HQ has looked at the landscape and it appears to be going in three directions- Las Vegas, Quebec City, and Seattle.

It would make more sense to relocate ailing franchises in Phoenix and Florida to two of those cities and expand to Seattle and a 32nd city. But, with the idea of fellow owners getting over $30-million if two franchises are added, there's going to be a push in the next few years for the watering down of a product instead of strengthening what you already have.

Money in hand always trumps money down the line...

Is The NHL Heading To Vegas...? It May Be Being Shot As We Write...

((HT: VegasChatter))

This isn't the first time that the HQ has floated this story, but the idea is that the WorldWideLeader is already looking at the story and may be shooting a "30 for 30" with the Maloof Brothers.

Without an arena and a team...

But...

Vegas Chatter is saying that the "Birth of a Franchise" story is already being shot with the development of the new AEG arena front and center. The arena, set for opening in spring of 2016, would be the apparent home for a new sports franchise- when its completed.

Two weeks ago, NHL Number Two Bill Daly was asked about Vegas by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

Las Vegas is intriguing, Daly admits. In fact, out of curiosity, Daly queried a bunch of service industry folks — bartenders, waiters, drink servers, dealers, pit bosses — last weekend about whether they felt a professional sports team could thrive there.

“I got a variety of different responses,” Daly said. “The demographics of the market are pretty good in terms of average annual income. Las Vegas natives earn good salaries, good livings. I think they genuinely like sports. It’s a nighttime city, so it would have to be uniquely scheduled in terms of focusing maybe on industry nights as opposed to your typical Thursday-Saturday nights where everybody would be working.

NESN's "The Instigators" think Seattle and Quebec City are better ideas...

Reports: NHL to Expand to Vegas and _______

((ht: nypost.com))

It appears the National Hockey League is ready to grow.

And like the early U.S pioneers, they are working under the credo "Go West Young Man".

How else to explain the report that the league is looking two teams for their Western Conference.

And the reason this is newsworthy? Well, one of those teams may very well be the 1st pro sports team to base in the gambling capital of North America, Las Vegas.

The New York Post reports the NHL has already chosen owners for the Vegas franchise, billionaire William Foley and Vegas mobsters-hoteliers/former NBA owners, the Maloof family.

Oh, wait, did we just say that?

The team would play in the new 20,000+ seat arena being built on or near the MGM Resort and be admitted with a roughly $400 million expansion fee.

Read more from the Post RIGHT HERE

The story doesn't mention another franchise location, but the reason the league would need 2--to balance things with the Eastern Conference which has two more teams.

Our bet: Seattle. The league and the NBA have already flirted with Chris Hansen and others looking to bring the NBA and/or the NHL to Seattle. And they've proposed building an arena to house one or both.

We could be wrong, but either way, look for the NHL to make an announcement at some point. Our guess would be maybe after the 1st of the year, but we could be wrong too.

Report: NHL To Las Vegas A "Done Deal..."

((HT: The Score))

After word of Victor Coleman wanting to be a part of the idea of Seattle getting an NHL franchise, there's now word trickling out of Vancouver that Vegas is already there.

In an article in the Vancouver Province newspaper, columnist Tony Gallagher has it pegged that some arena in town will be hosting a team sooner rather than later:

A new team close to the newly renamed Arizona squad and California’s big three is all but assured, the only question being when and with which other city. Or should that be plural?

With all the activity going on in the Seattle area in the last little bit it would be quite a stretch to imagine that much time and effort being spent by so many wealthy men being frittered away for nothing.

Adding two teams in the west to get to an even 32 makes sense- especially if the ECHL reorganization would lead to a 31-team league and the AHL would finally have it's true western division in the 2015-16 season. Also, moving the Florida Panthers to Quebec City to placate the Canadian fan base from all the American movement would also be a solid part of the equation with a teram hemorrhaging money and not getting their way when it comes to the new arena the owners are looking for at present.

The ECHL Wranglers have their niche, and there is a history of NHL games in Las Vegas dating back to 1991.
((HT: NHL Network))


There's simply too much money in place in Quebec with Quebecor Media and the pieces are there for all of this...

And another cash-in day for the National Hockey League...

Super Clasico Friendly Really Wasn't...Brawls, Injuries, Ejections In Vegas...

((HT: KLAS-TV))

When Club America and Chivas Guadalajara play each other, it's simply a blood feud...

They're the two most celebrated soccer clubs in Mexico and their fans and teams don't like each other. Someone came up with the idea of having the two play each other in Las Vegas for a friendly...

Which led to a lot of fans throwing everything at each other an hour before kickoff and things being thrown inside the stadium onto the pitch at players after the players got into a fight themselves and the game was finally over...
((HT: DJ KORA))


And here...
((HT: DANY10009))


Classy... a little background...

Club America is owned by media group Televisa and they play home games at Azteca Stadium- the largest stadium in Latin America. Conventional wisdom is that CA is the most hated team in Mexico. Kinda like the Yankees...

Chivas plays at Estadio Omnilife in Guadalajara.

The fans weren’t the only ones who wanted to fight on Wednesday night. Four players from the two teams were ejected during the match. 400 fans were involved in the fights and it took 120 cops to break the whole evening up...

Here are the player ejections and the row from the first half...
((HT: tvestadio))


Here's team coverage...
8 News NOW

Las Vegas is worried that this incident will keep them from hosting more matches in the future...
And it should be...