Jeremy Laura: Remember that billion dollar mark I mentioned?

In this economy, "billions" won't fall form the sky, so from where does that money come? Won't come from me because I'm dropping DTV, NHL Center Ice isn't worth it when I can watch games on ESPN+. Contracts are going through the roof as players earn more each year ($11.5m+ contracts handed out more frequently...), gate receipts are slowing down, everything is increasing rapidly. So where does the money come from? Simple; Joe Fan gets shafted. And even worse, we're being forced to pay out the nose with the myriad avenues which we must purchase in order to watch our fave teams. Hell, it's like flipping a coin as to whether or not I can watch a game when I'm on the road for work! I've been better off listening to the games, which is what I do with more frequency. DTV Center Ice shows all games, so I hate dropping it..

I adjusted my DTV package from the top tier (which I had since the day I subscribed in 2004 through last year) to the lower-middle package in Mar of '21, saved around $100/month. Just paid my most-recent bill.....just under $20 short of what I was paying for the top tier package That's simply bull. So now I'm fighting with them over the increase but I know I'm going to lose, and they're going to lose me as a customer because of MANY things they're doing. Heard CI is going up to $250 or so next season...... Add that to ESPN+, etc... and I'm paying WAAAAY too much for "entertainment". Now the ticket prices will be raised as sure as the sun rises n sets......and our paychecks aren't getting bigger to off-set "inflation". Something has to give. It's just too much.

I can't even begin to imagine what the Atlanta & Houston franchises will cost, but I'd believe VERY high $100s of millions ($800m + for sure). OTT is supposed to be above $890m I read on some Canadian story a while back.... Ryan Reynolds better do a TON more Deadpool movies, if that's the case.

We're hurting and there's no relief coming. Gas will stay well above $275/gal (I paid $2.74 in SC last week), food prices are going to stay high, energy prices will be high....nothing's going down any time soon. It's almost like the middle-class will fall into 2 categories: Rich or on Gov subsidies (only rich of they hit the lottery...). Sad the way we're getting shafted. There's some pretty savvy book-keepers out there, I need to find me one

Hockey the sport is the best sport on Earth.

Hockey the business is like any other business.

I'm curious about the bloat in a top-heavy league. How much does Bettman make? How much do the governors and the board make? How many assistants to the assistants are there? How many pencil pushers are getting paid six or seven figure salaries to cosplay as necessary jobs?

Then imagine all of the expenses flying these suits around on needless trips to do needless work that has nothing to do with hockey the sport, but everything to do with hockey the business.

Bleeding millions and billions to feed the parasites at the top is the cost of doing business.

Keep in mind that Ryan is the “face” of a group. We also have inflation at around 6% (down from 9 this summer) which artificially inflated the cost of deals not yet closed. I think Ryan has also got a stake in a cell phone company. Here’s what I found out from small business owners. It’s good to have a successful business, right up until tax time. That’s when you want to make sure you recorded mileage, business write offs, additional expenses etc. on a massive scale, someone can maintain billionaire status as long as they are part of an LLC or corporation that limits their own personal exposure. The NHL (and most major sports divisions) are bizarre. You have a corporation owner, a team owner, a governor, a league president and a player’s association. If the NHL owned all 32 teams, they could easily look at where the losses were coming from. But, they’d also be responsible for those losses. The NHL can keep a team from selling (need approval from board of Governors). There’s also an agreement in place where financial aid is provided on a limited scale. But, what happens if too many teams need help?all teams claimed losses in 2021. But there should be some more variety to all these things: sales, lawsuits, franchise fees, etc. as best I can tell there is a specific number they are trying to hit and using multiple avenues in order to do so. I understand buying an existing franchise more than building a new brand right now. But, both are at a premium

Hockey the sport is the best sport on Earth.

Hockey the business is like any other business.

I'm curious about the bloat in a top-heavy league. How much does Bettman make? How much do the governors and the board make? How many assistants to the assistants are there? How many pencil pushers are getting paid six or seven figure salaries to cosplay as necessary jobs?

Then imagine all of the expenses flying these suits around on needless trips to do needless work that has nothing to do with hockey the sport, but everything to do with hockey the business.

Bleeding millions and billions to feed the parasites at the top is the cost of doing business.
- PDO-Speedwagon

There are 2 or 3 good examples of what you’re talking about. The book, “Me, myself and Bob” about the creation and collapse of Vegitales, a company called “recellular” in Ann Arbor that had more VPs than employees when they finally closed down, and the documentary “all things must pass” about Tower Records. Creative book keeping and the decision to stop selling/producing singles saw iTunes come in (after NAPSTER was shut down) and take over the market. The documentary is interesting, as is, “an impossible project” which showed Kodak destroy 80 facilities in one year with the Polaroid factory being saved and rebuilt. The visionaries in many cases (Steve Jobs for one) eventually got fired by the board they assembled

Hockey the sport is the best sport on Earth.

Hockey the business is like any other business.

I'm curious about the bloat in a top-heavy league. How much does Bettman make? How much do the governors and the board make? How many assistants to the assistants are there? How many pencil pushers are getting paid six or seven figure salaries to cosplay as necessary jobs?

Then imagine all of the expenses flying these suits around on needless trips to do needless work that has nothing to do with hockey the sport, but everything to do with hockey the business.

Bleeding millions and billions to feed the parasites at the top is the cost of doing business.
- PDO-Speedwagon

You can do search engine checks that will tell you how much a franchise is worth, debt percentage, annual expenditures etc. i don’t know if you can get info on the NHL or the NHLPA as to how much employees make or spend. The WWE (used to be WWF) is looking to either sell or go private because if you’re a privately held company, you don’t have to publish everything

Non-Hockey related question:
Any of you go to Movement Electronic Music Festival?
My first time going this year and just wondering if any of you go to this.
I'm going a day early and have time to check out Detroit.
The woman I'm bringing is a "foodie" and any recommendations around the Westin Book Cadillac would be much appreciated.


Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.

There are 2 or 3 good examples of what you’re talking about. The book, “Me, myself and Bob” about the creation and collapse of Vegitales, a company called “recellular” in Ann Arbor that had more VPs than employees when they finally closed down, and the documentary “all things must pass” about Tower Records. Creative book keeping and the decision to stop selling/producing singles saw iTunes come in (after NAPSTER was shut down) and take over the market. The documentary is interesting, as is, “an impossible project” which showed Kodak destroy 80 facilities in one year with the Polaroid factory being saved and rebuilt. The visionaries in many cases (Steve Jobs for one) eventually got fired by the board they assembled
- Jeremy Laura

Most of these teams are not owned by traditional corporations, but they are corporations that are owned by trusts. Billionaires don't keep their money in LLCs or corporations. They build trusts, which live forever, they can generally sustain infinite generations of family members, and they are built to specifically avoid taxes and protect generational wealth. When you hear politicians constantly saying billionaires need to pay their "fair share", pay close attention to what they propose. It's ALWAYS about taxing incomes above a certain amount, or more aggressive proposals call for wealth taxes. Billionaires don't have incomes, nor do they own assets. Everything is owned by the trusts and not a single politician in America has ever proposed taxing trusts (and they never will). It's all class warfare designed to make us think they want billionaires to pay their fair share. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are constantly calling for higher income tax rates, but the truth is, even at a 90% max tax rate, neither of them would pay a single penny more in taxes. They don't pay themselves incomes.

I bring this up because trusts are highly secretive. They will never open their books, they simply don't have to. Oh sure, they'll open the books of a single corporation within a trust, but you'll never see the real picture. Not only that, but it's ultimately the owners who own the league. They appoint a commissioner to oversee the league, but when it comes to the franchise owners themselves, the commissioners have zero power and they never will. For the wealthiest owners, owning a sports team is a hobby, not a source of income.

Most of these teams are not owned by traditional corporations, but they are corporations that are owned by trusts. Billionaires don't keep their money in LLCs or corporations. They build trusts, which live forever, they can generally sustain infinite generations of family members, and they are built to specifically avoid taxes and protect generational wealth. When you hear politicians constantly saying billionaires need to pay their "fair share", pay close attention to what they propose. It's ALWAYS about taxing incomes above a certain amount, or more aggressive proposals call for wealth taxes. Billionaires don't have incomes, nor do they own assets. Everything is owned by the trusts and not a single politician in America has ever proposed taxing trusts (and they never will). It's all class warfare designed to make us think they want billionaires to pay their fair share. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are constantly calling for higher income tax rates, but the truth is, even at a 90% max tax rate, neither of them would pay a single penny more in taxes. They don't pay themselves incomes.

I bring this up because trusts are highly secretive. They will never open their books, they simply don't have to. Oh sure, they'll open the books of a single corporation within a trust, but you'll never see the real picture. Not only that, but it's ultimately the owners who own the league. They appoint a commissioner to oversee the league, but when it comes to the franchise owners themselves, the commissioners have zero power and they never will. For the wealthiest owners, owning a sports team is a hobby, not a source of income.
- bluelineenforcer

This is spot on.

There are 2 or 3 good examples of what you’re talking about. The book, “Me, myself and Bob” about the creation and collapse of Vegitales, a company called “recellular” in Ann Arbor that had more VPs than employees when they finally closed down, and the documentary “all things must pass” about Tower Records. Creative book keeping and the decision to stop selling/producing singles saw iTunes come in (after NAPSTER was shut down) and take over the market. The documentary is interesting, as is, “an impossible project” which showed Kodak destroy 80 facilities in one year with the Polaroid factory being saved and rebuilt. The visionaries in many cases (Steve Jobs for one) eventually got fired by the board they assembled
- Jeremy Laura

At some point in the past, corporations and investors turned cannibal. All thinking is short term and guided solely by profits. No thought is given to the long game or any other aspect of the business that is not profitable. It's like our economic system is a snake eating it's own tail, and we know how that ends up.

At some point in the past, corporations and investors turned cannibal. All thinking is short term and guided solely by profits. No thought is given to the long game or any other aspect of the business that is not profitable. It's like our economic system is a snake eating it's own tail, and we know how that ends up.
- PDO-Speedwagon

The people in power and the decision makers aren't economically affected by their policies. Gas, food and utility prices mean nothing to them. While the average Joe watches his 401k get devastated, the 535 Americans (and their families) who are exempted from insider trading laws are doing just fine.

Most of these teams are not owned by traditional corporations, but they are corporations that are owned by trusts. Billionaires don't keep their money in LLCs or corporations. They build trusts, which live forever, they can generally sustain infinite generations of family members, and they are built to specifically avoid taxes and protect generational wealth. When you hear politicians constantly saying billionaires need to pay their "fair share", pay close attention to what they propose. It's ALWAYS about taxing incomes above a certain amount, or more aggressive proposals call for wealth taxes. Billionaires don't have incomes, nor do they own assets. Everything is owned by the trusts and not a single politician in America has ever proposed taxing trusts (and they never will). It's all class warfare designed to make us think they want billionaires to pay their fair share. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are constantly calling for higher income tax rates, but the truth is, even at a 90% max tax rate, neither of them would pay a single penny more in taxes. They don't pay themselves incomes.

I bring this up because trusts are highly secretive. They will never open their books, they simply don't have to. Oh sure, they'll open the books of a single corporation within a trust, but you'll never see the real picture. Not only that, but it's ultimately the owners who own the league. They appoint a commissioner to oversee the league, but when it comes to the franchise owners themselves, the commissioners have zero power and they never will. For the wealthiest owners, owning a sports team is a hobby, not a source of income.
- bluelineenforcer

I disagree on the commissioner in this. Teams have to have the approval to sell and we’ve seen groups fail to gain that standing. Nashville had some odd history early on, Arizona was league property. There is a governance and at least 3 teams were forced to open their doors when they wanted to sit out a season (post shutdown) that was a guaranteed money loser. The league can revoke a franchise. It doesn’t often but it can. That doesn’t change that a business can completely go under and owners don’t incur any real damage if they set themselves up correctly.

At some point in the past, corporations and investors turned cannibal. All thinking is short term and guided solely by profits. No thought is given to the long game or any other aspect of the business that is not profitable. It's like our economic system is a snake eating it's own tail, and we know how that ends up.
- PDO-Speedwagon

The other issue is “bringing in an expert”. In the “Me, myself and Bob” scenario, the guy who invented a cartoon in his apartment, animated, packaged and sold it out of rented portions of a machine shop, thought that if he hired expensive VPs he wouldn’t have to worry. The company had one “banner year” of profit and much of it (according to the book) was spent on the taxes that 2 VPs were charged when they sold off their stock options. I’m not sure how you get that deal, anyone who’s done a loan or early 401K withdrawal knows about penalties and taxes. The company ironically started the shut down and walk bankruptcy after their first feature film. The day after. Soon you noticed a shift in animation. The rights were purchased and all the studio jobs subbed out to Canadian studios that did much of the CGI “daily cartoons” that had that odd early look. The owner (Phil Vischer) was hired to voice the characters until the brand eventually just seemed to disappear. Book stores closing down had a big impact on home video sales (Barnes and Noble even had a Veggie Tales section for a while).

The other issue is “bringing in an expert”. In the “Me, myself and Bob” scenario, the guy who invented a cartoon in his apartment, animated, packaged and sold it out of rented portions of a machine shop, thought that if he hired expensive VPs he wouldn’t have to worry. The company had one “banner year” of profit and much of it (according to the book) was spent on the taxes that 2 VPs were charged when they sold off their stock options. I’m not sure how you get that deal, anyone who’s done a loan or early 401K withdrawal knows about penalties and taxes. The company ironically started the shut down and walk bankruptcy after their first feature film. The day after. Soon you noticed a shift in animation. The rights were purchased and all the studio jobs subbed out to Canadian studios that did much of the CGI “daily cartoons” that had that odd early look. The owner (Phil Vischer) was hired to voice the characters until the brand eventually just seemed to disappear. Book stores closing down had a big impact on home video sales (Barnes and Noble even had a Veggie Tales section for a while).
- Jeremy Laura

I loved Veggie Tales for my kids when they were little. I remember Phil poured everything into Jonah, but it was too late. I think he produced great content until it had to be sold, then it was secularized and fell apart.

I loved Veggie Tales for my kids when they were little. I remember Phil poured everything into Jonah, but it was too late. I think he produced great content until it had to be sold, then it was secularized and fell apart.
- bluelineenforcer

Phil was so far ahead of CGI. He actually made his own video games as a kid, did special effects on 35mm film, was just a natural. But, had no confidence. He paid VPs more than he made because he thought that would save him. One of the first companies that bought the show for Saturday morning viewing removed “quirdy” the computer. Basically changing the entire theme up front. Geniuses (boy I’m glad I’m slightly below average) have so much talent but so little confidence or social skills and it ultimately takes their creations from them. Apple fired Steve Jobs. I still chew on this years after his passing and reconnection with the brand he invented

Are you looking to establish your own Limited Liability Company (LLC) in Washington state? Look no further! Our comprehensive guide provides you with a step-by-step process to open an LLC in Washington. From choosing llc in washington a unique business name to registering with the Secretary of State, we'll walk you through every crucial aspect of the process. Get started on your entrepreneurial journey and set up your LLC in the Evergreen State today!