I listened to a Webinar this morning from the Conference Board of Canada on the Economics of Pro Sports in Canada. Being a federal government undertaking, there was a good deal of focus on markets in the east, but the economists had a few interesting facts and predictions:
According to their information, the Canucks revenues in 2012 (I'm assuming the 2011-12 season) were $143 million. Not quite the $200 million that the Leafs make, but pretty solid given salary commitments of around $70 million. I'm sure that other $73 million is more than enough to cover the rest of the team's expenses—salaries of management and support staff, travel and amenities, and a good percentage of arena operations.
This is why I don't fuss too much about the dollar-value cost of a buyout like David Booth's.
The more important detail—which I think is why we're actually seeing change this summer—is this:
At #Canucks town hall, COO says season tickets may be available to people not on the waiting list. Renewal numbers are down. @CTVVancouver
— Peter Bremner (@Peter_Bremner) June 18, 2014The Canucks held their Vancouver Town Hall meeting last night are are starting to acknowledge that they don't have thousands of eager new fans waiting to snap up season tickets.
This can't come as a surprise to anyone who saw the empty seats at Rogers Arena last season, but as long as those seats were sold in one form or another, the team was still making its base revenue. Now, they need to deal with bottom-line numbers as well as trying to improve the scene at Rogers Arena: ideally, with a full house and energized fan base at home games.
The economists in the webinar admitted that the correlation between revenues and winning is not as strong in pro sports as it could be, but also admitted that long stretches of losing will impact most Canadian franchises—and cited Vancouver as an example of a team that lost fan support as its on-ice fortunes declined.
If you can remember back to the late 80s—when Trevor Linden and Jim Benning played for the Canucks—you'll remember a half-full Pacific Coliseum and a lot of locals whose favourite hockey team played in a different city, mostly Toronto or Montreal. Empty seats were also the norm during the Canucks' decline in the late 90s and early 2000s, so it's not just the high ticket prices that have driven fans away. The Canucks' financial success over the last decade is definitely correlated to the longest stretch of on-ice success in franchise history.
In that respect, I think the David Booth buyout is another move that signals to fans that the new Canucks will look different this fall. Booth, obviously, did clear waivers today.
As far as the ongoing coach hunt, intrepid ex-TEAM1040 staffer Joe Leary was on the scene last night with this tweet:
He told me not to tweet it today, but cuz he came from #Pittsburgh he meant EST. Welcome to #Vancouver #DanBylsma pic.twitter.com/b0DkmPgtLN
— Joe Leary (@reallyjoeleary) June 18, 2014The sighting has sent up some waves of alarm in Florida, where the talk about Bylsma has been unwaveringly positive.
I'm glad he's here and happy to see that the Canucks have cast their net reasonably wide in this coaching search. Better to talk to everybody than to jump to a pre-set conclusion.
Another name was added to the list yesterday:
Canucks have asked permission to talk to another Ranger assistant as well... former Canuck farm team coach...Scott Arniel.
— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) June 18, 2014Meanwhile, Willie Desjardins' Texas Stars scored another overtime win on Tuesday to capture the Calder Cup. If the Canucks waited a few days to ask about Arniel, maybe it's just too soon, but Shannon also reports:
With continued talk that Willie Desjardins is a candidate in Vancouver, the Canucks have yet to ask Dallas to talk to the Stars' AHL coach.
— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) June 18, 2014Let's give Willie a couple of days to get home from Newfoundland and enjoy his win!
No word leaking out yet about John Stevens and Vancouver, either.
It sounds like the team is willing to take a bit more time, as Trevor has revised his timeline for hiring a head coach. From the Town Hall:
Linden also saying the #Canucks coaching search is in the interview stage & are hoping to have a coach in place by July 1. @ctvvancouver
— Kelcey Brade (@ctv_kelcey) June 18, 2014Player Tidbits
To finish today, a few quick notes about players who could be on the Canucks' radar.
• As I suspected, NHL.com is reporting that Willie Mitchell has had preliminary contract talks with the Kings and is hoping to stay in Los Angeles.
• Garth Snow is said to be shopping the rights to Dan Boyle, who doesn't appear to be interested in signing with the Islanders. Boyle's numbers are actually better than I thought—his 12 goals in 2013-14 were his highest total since 2010, and he missed 7 games after that terrible early-season hit in St. Louis. He's a solid power-play quarterback, but he turns 38 in a couple of weeks and was a minus player for his first time ever with the Sharks this year. Approach with caution.
• I'm more interested in Brian Campbell, who's rumored to be seeking a ticket out of Florida. His profile's not entirely positive: he's 35 and his salary is ridiculous—two more years at more than $7 million a season. But I always think of him as a hidden gem: I fixate on his power-play presence with the Blackhawks from playoffs against the Canucks—in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Always dangerous.
Though it's only a one-game sample size, I thought he still looked good when Florida came to town last season. Everything changed for the Canucks' power-play when Christian Ehrhoff left town. Can we target another player to take his place and, if so, who does the team move to create enough minutes for the role?
Realistically, I think it's more likely that we'll see changes up front than on the back end. I think they'll continue to try to work with what they have on defense.
• Jordin Tootoo of Detroit is the latest name to be added to the list of 2014 compliance buyouts.