It has been just over a year since Ice Arizona, lead by Anthony LeBlanc and chairman/governor George Gosbee, purchased the team and committed to keeping it in Arizona.
While fans rejoiced at the end of the ownership uncertainty that has plagued this franchise, there is a clause in the deal that says that if the team is not profitable after five years (four years from now) then they have the right to move the team.
This has caused quite a bit of consternation among the team's fanbase during what otherwise has been a much celebrated purchase of the team. On Monday there was an interesting article by Craig Morgan of Foxsports in which George Gosbee lamented the fact that people keep focusing on the out-clause and not the long term deals with vendors and sponsors that they have signed.
George was quoted as saying "I'm not sure it will matter if I say it, but we're committed to this market for the long run and we keep proving it."
That's all well and good, and I can sympathize with his annoyance at the constant questions and allusions to the out-clause, something which comes up constantly.
And while I do sympathize with him, how can you blame anyone for focusing on that? They were given a reprieve for their team, but no matter what any owner says, it is a reprieve contingent on something the team has never been: profitable. Since that is the case, they should damn well know it's going to be an issue until that day comes to pass and the team is still here or they take legal steps to remove backdoor from the agreement. (If that is even a possibility. I failed the bar six times so far.)
While I can't blame a corporate manager for doing his job and trying to focus on the positives, one must understand that a corporate manager is about the most biased and least trustworthy person possible. The very nature of his job is to obfuscate any negatives and focus on positives about his brand, whether they are true or not.
It's all well and good that he wants to focus on the fact that the Gila River deal is for 9 years or that he has a 10 year deal with Ticketmaster (as he specifies in the Morgan article) but if you think about it, breaking those contracts will be peanuts compared to the money they'd have to be losing in order to enact the out-clause, so those are empty words at best.
I truly believe that the Coyotes will not exercise the out-clause, but the reason for my doing so has nothing to do with anything Gosbee or LeBlanc say. The reason I think they'll stay in Arizona is because it's one of the top ten markets in the States (of places that have NHL teams at least) and is probably, of all NHL markets, the one with the most potential for growth in the future. This combined with recent TV deals and the salary cap should make it possible for the Coyotes to one day make money.
And, as Gosbee tells Morgan, they plan on being profitable by year 3 of their ownership, and he says renaming the Arena and the money they get from the NHL's Rogers deal has fast tracked that.
I am always weary of taking the profit projections from any person directly involved in the business he is talking about, but this is good news, since what he is saying does make sense and does seem to be plausible.
I see know reason to doubt that the Coyotes will remain in Arizona for as long as there is an NHL, but if Gosbee really wants to stop getting asked about the out-clause, he should promise to rip it up if the team sells X amount of season tickets. They could start a countdown on their website and promote the hell out of it, then when they clear the number - whether its 3000, or 5000 season tickets or whatever - hold a press conference and rip up the giant check equivalent of the out-clause and then have a huge party.
The bottom line is this: no matter what they do, no matter what they say, that five year out is going to hang over the team as long there is even the remotest possibility that it will be enacted. All logic can dictate that they'll stay, but as long as there's a chance, it's gonna be a problem.
Here is the Morgan article if you wanted to check it out.
http://www.foxsports.com/arizona/story/gosbee-coyotes-could-achieve-profitability-earlier-than-expected-081814
Thanks for reading.