Everything's great! (well, somewhere)
The Sports Business Journal published a story today about the NHL's financial resurgence. The story read, in part:
``The league's revenue rose 11 percent to $64.66 million over the same period. (from the 2006 to 2007 fiscal year). ... Licensing surpassed pre-lockout levels of $4.04 million for the first time, hitting $4.3 million, and playoff assessments hit an all-time high of $6.09 million for fiscal 2007. Savings and cash investments added another $3.5 million to the league's coffers. Those numbers represent only NHL revenue. Additional revenue from NHL Enterprises and member clubs pushed overall league revenue to $2.3 billion over roughly the same period.''
Meanwhile, a certain hockey team in Los Angeles is losing more money than ever. No wonder they don't want to talk about it anymore...
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About Rich Hammond
Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.com.
Being a competitive team is the major key to high revenues.
Finishing 28th and 29th overall kinda puts a damper on things (the figures).
If you're a kings fan, now who do you blame.
you can blame whoever you want. it won't change a thing.
folks, I believe that it was Luc that made a comment in Rich's recent interview with them that basically Liar-wickie and AEG have taken a step back from the business side of the Kings and allowed the "foundation" that DL has put in place to call the shots ...well at least most of them. Lets see what happens.
Rich, thanks for calling the team on this one. In what other world would a guy be allowed to take over a business and after two years gone backward in product and financing? And then have the stockholders say 'lets wait and see'. No on expected an immediate turn-around, but the fact remains the organization has regressed on the NHL ice and off. Of course all they want to talk about is "next year". Then mantra of losers.
Anybody disapointed with the SC finals so far? I was hoping Pittsburgh would a least show up. Hopefully, tonight they can win a game and get me excited. Can Detroit really be that good?
Detroit is really that good.
I would love to make a comment about the SC finals but as far as I'm concerned the first game starts tonight. How many more years are we going to be stuck with Versus as the primary channel for the NHL?
I'm with Mark. they could at least put the games online if they're going to stick us with a crappy substandard network with lack of availability. I can't believe the league blew games 1 & 2 weekend by showing them both on VERSUS over the WEEKEND. saving grace: they weren't that close anyway...
as for the financials: either the front office is incompetent (at a minimum marketing has been, so there's something there), or they're fudging the books. they're charging $20-25 per for parking, next year going up to $30! and $12 a beer, how can they be losing money... they're a guaranteed cash cow. they shouldn't make guys grossly overpaid, which would easily shave $5-8M off the payroll a year and back in the coffers so AEG can quit whining or for trades/acquisitions. Cloutier, Handzus, and Blake being the main culprits there.
smoke & mirrors baby
Versus is starting to grow on me. I don't like their studio show, but their coverage is almost as good as ESPN was. And since ESPN now hates the NHL, I don't see what we're going to have much change in the near future.
The argument that VS. isn't available anywhere isn't holding much water anymore. It's in most households on most systems. But if VS. isn't available on the system you subscribe to, change systems.
2nd on VS. Unless you don't get the channel, I don't know what the gripe is, their coverage is quite good, easily the equal of the old ESPN coverage. My main complaint about them is they don't have any hockey content other than the occasional game and pre/post-game.
Are the Kings really losing money? Or are they full of crap? I don't believe for a second with a salary cap and a decent fan base that the Kings are losing money at an all time rate.
I agreee that VS does a good job with the coverage. They have really improved since they started covering hockey. I remember they were horrible in year 1. The NHL network is awesome, if not repetitive, in the pre/post game stuff. NBC in my mind is horrible. I can't stand listening to Milbury and that old geezer in the intermission report.