Lou "the Knife" Lamoriello Strikes Again

[SueNJ97]

truth be told, the best play for the devils really is the xanadu project as opposed to newark (i really don't care where it is as long as it's in jersey and i can get there somehow). it would put more money into their coffers because they'd be getting a greater amount of "arena based money" which would be increased by a huge amount because of the vastness of xanadu and the draw that it would be.

furthermore, one of the reasons why all the sports teams love it is because one thought on the table for the project is that when one team is playing, the parking concessions for the ENTIRE park go to that team. so while the devils might only be drawing 15k for a game, the other (hopefully) 15k that are there for something else are helping out the devils.

not sure whether that'll hold true or not, but i will guarantee that the devils will not continue to play in the caa as is. at the very least, they will renovate the building to make it nearly as wide as the inner roadway so that the concourses are bigger. i have heard that this is not only possible, but able to be done in one calandar year WHILE the teams (as well as other events) still play there. sections would be closed off, but there could always be 75% capacity.

I had also heard that one of the reasons Dano was leaning toward retirement is that he may buy into the Xanadu project, which would be interesting.

[rbdf]

as an accountant and financial consultant who has worked with pro-sports franchises in the past, I can tell you that hockey loses money, no matter how you slice it. NHL teams can break even at best (if payroll is low enough and they have a good arena deal - they don't get the full ticket price, concessions NET income, parking etc., only a portion of that). It all comes down to t.v. revenue. NHL teams are getting about 5 mil per season from the nhl, and then their own local contracts, which typically are NO GREATER THAN about 3.5 mil (look at the ratings, nobody is going to pay much more for it).

For the most part, owners get hockey teams to fill their arena and/or t.v. schedule (colorado, nyr, prior owners in buffalo, etc.) that way, either your arena is picking up some revenue or breaking even on the 40+ days it otherwise would not have been used, and/or you're not buying broadcasting to fill 40 + television slots on your cable sports channel, which is carried on your cable t.v. company.

Think about how difficult it would be to come up with 40 MORE concerts/circus/ice shows/conventions etc., even at msg in the biggest metropolis/business center of the world. Or, think about the discount you'll have to shave off of your luxury suites if there were 40 less events. That's why the nhl exists as we have it today. It's not the NFL where each team gets 70mil a year in National t.v. money, but they pay at a similar salary level, and still need the same administrative and overhead and training structures to pay for, and they do it on 5 mil a year in nat'l t.v. money.

A salary cap is the only way the league survives. Owners get their ego's out there and give guys like bure and jagr and holik 10 mil multiyear contracts thinking, "this year I'll get the cup, even if it costs me a bit", that ratchets up all the lower level guys because it causes "average" salaries to increase. Since the owners can't control themselves, it's up to the league to do it for them.

[LIDevsFan1]

About T-vo "fitting in" or his ability, last time this year we weren't all raving about the Niewy/Langs deal.  Sometimes it just takes some time to get with the plan.  That said he won't get the $3-4 million.  We let O'Donnel go for $2.5 per-----T-vo prob. in same boat.  I'm guessing he would need to take $1.5-2 per.

I believe there were a serious amount of people who WERE raving about the Nieuwy-Langenbrunner deal last year. Even though it didn't turn out so hot in the playoffs.

There is a BIG difference between not making it happen last year and the Tivo situation. For two main reasons: One that whole head/not playing thing, which didn't go away for either side because we won the Cup and Two, Olie -- for all his logo thumping -- is not by nature the gritty Devils hockey player that we try and cultivate. I like him, I really do. He's always entertaining. But it's rough to watch him follow a great game with a sh*tty one.

ESB---I meant "this time last year." In other words people liked the Niewy trade at the time but it didn't turn out well after last year's playoffs. (Although Arnott/McKay wouldn't have made a diff either) Same thing can be said this year (at least about T-vo). Frankly, I don't care if he stays or goes, but given our aging D it would be nice if he took less $ and stepped up to the plate and played like he could on a consistent basis.

[StarDew]

I thought that we could lose money, or any team for that matter, after going so deep in the playoffs and it has little to dew with sellouts...the 1st 4 (correct me if wrong) games of ticket sales go to the NHL and the remaining games revenue goes to the teams...I don't know why the league demands revenue from playoff games since they don't give money to the teams

[redruM]

I expected all four gone, although I do not, did not, expect Lou to just cut Tivo loose, getting nothing in return really hurts, but it sounds like his salary is the problem, otherwise I think Lou would have taken picks & prospect for him at the deadline.

[Elias Sports Bureau]

ESB---I meant "this time last year." In other words people liked the Niewy trade at the time but it didn't turn out well after last year's playoffs. (Although Arnott/McKay wouldn't have made a diff either)

I know. I was talking about this time last year as well.

I think we all had quite enough of Arnott and his slacking ways. His playing when he feels like it and not doing what needed to be done on the top line.

McKay was beloved, but I think many were calling for his ouster and saying he was done.

I know I was one still very much in favor of the trade at this point last year, and waiting to see what would happen after it. AND specifically calling for Madden and Brunner to play together.

[rbdf]

dew,

ticket sales are between the team and the arena owner/operator - the league makes its $$ from the t.v. contracts (abc/espn/cbc), sponsorships (nike/easton etc all pay so that their logo's do not get blacked out - teams get no benefit from a player using a product, they still have to buy his sticks basically at full price), dues from each team (to cover referees, league operations, bettman's private jet, etc) and internet sales of apparrel, suiveniers, etc (the teams can have a physical store, but anything sold over the net is the league's sale - each team has a very minor ownership % of the nhl merchandise sales company).

Tickets, concessions, parking, and other game day revenues (advertising, programs etc) are all part of the team operations and are individual deals with the arena operator, concessions companies etc. Going deep in the playoffs means a considerable amount of scratch to a team, but still may not be enough if they have a bad arena deal, local t.v. deal, concessions deal, high overhead in the front office, bad ahl affiliation deal or most importantly, a player payroll somewhere north of 50 mil.

[MantaRay]

Fascinating stuff Rbdf. This is all very interesting. Owning the arena is key which why the Redskins are so highly valued.

[rbdf]

Yeah, it can get really complicated how the various revenues are allocated - for instance, dasher board advertising may get allocated more to the hockey team, while a spot on the jumbotron could be mostly to the arena and have to be shared a bit by everyone who plays in that arena. Ticket sales usually go mostly to the team, but a piece goes to ticketmaster, another to the arena (box office) and possibly some to a govt. agency if they were involved in financing the building. Concessions could be -0- to the team if the arena is owned by someone else, but would impact how much the team pays in rent.

Then technology comes into play also - some cable companies can use cloaking technology to put different advertisers on the dasher boards on t.v. than are actually on the boards at the arena - this is becoming more and more common for away games televised by the traveling teams home cable outlet (say the devils played in the duck pond, FSNY could overlay a verizon add on top of the arrowhead water ads) that revenue could be shared with the team, kept by the cable company, or just affect the overall price of the cable deal.

Basically, every penny counts, to all parties involved, and there are a lot of parties dipping their hand into the cookie jar.

[StarDew]

rbdf...it was constantly mentioned during the playoffs and on the radio broadcasts I listened to in rehab...the teams make no money on the first several games...I cannot recall if it was 2 or 4 but in those games they make nothing...I am not the search engine guru or I would look for something on the net...cannot believe I was the only to have heard this and not only this playoff season either.