What do Major League Baseball's leaked documents mean for Edmonton?

A few days ago, Deadspin released leaked documents about the finances of the Florida Marlins, a team that held its home city hostage hostage and threatened to move until the city would give it a favourable deal for a new stadium, originally billed at $515, but now being billed as upwards of $600 million.

It turns out that the Marlins have turned a healthy profit over the last two seasons, and now the city of Miami is considering backing out of its original advertising deal as part of the new stadium.

So what does this mean? Well, consider all that Edmonton Oilers owner Darryl Katz has been doing to secure a publicly-funded arena in downtown Edmonton for his own private profiteering. Katz has guaranteed $100 million for a new entertainment district if Edmonton fronts the rest of the cash.

Katz, like Marlins, and former Expos, owner Jeff Loria has pled the "small market" excuse, that the team cannot operate in a "significant economic and competitive disadvantage." His efforts to control Copps Coliseum in Hamilton are suspicious, since when the Rexall Place lease expires in 2014, Katz may pick up the team and move them to Hamilton, if Edmonton doesn't give them what he wants.

The point here is that the Florida Marlins were able to get what they wanted by flat-out lying about their financial situation, and now we're stuck in a similar situation where Darryl Katz is directing Edmonton City councillors based on emotions. Can Katz fund the entire project? Probably not, but why must it be so glitzy?

Copps is not all that much bigger than Rexall. Is Darryl Katz looking to hold two Canadian cities hostage to move his team to the city that will give him the best playground, or does he simply want a controlling interest of a building that will inevitably host the NHL a few years down the road?

It's far more fun to think that it's the former.

More reading:

The team values and revenues of the National Football League are over double those of the NHL, but the NHL plays in a larger average market.

Andy Grabia of the Battle of Alberta is keeping a blog, Why Downtown? which takes a critical look at Edmonton City Council and Darryl Katz' arena plans.

Shameless wireless company understands synergy

How does this work for you?

General Motors' deal for the naming rights of Canada Hockey Place expired yesterday, meaning that some new sponsor would have to step up to the plate.

That would be Rogers Communications.

Enter the world of corporate buzz in press releases. Here are some of my favourites:

Rogers will work with the Canucks to explore new and innovative ways to use wireless technology to engage fans anytime, anyplace.

Ah. New and innovative. I hope that they put together an extensive strategy to implement these ideas.

“This is an important strategic alliance and we’re thrilled to partner with an outstanding organization like the Canucks,” said Nadir Mohamed, President and CEO, Rogers Communications. “B.C. is a critical market for Rogers and this announcement further enhances our investment in the province and builds on our powerful sports legacy."

Not only is this an 'important strategic alliance' but this is coming from a a guy who has no lss than four capital letters in his job title.

I also like the buzzspeak phrase "powerful sports legacy."

The legacy of Rogers in Canadian sports:

-Constantly refer to Nick Kypreos and Doug MacLean as leading experts.
-By keeping Don Taylor around, they have the goofiest late-night highlight programming on the major sports networks. And this is a competition that includes Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole.
-Made the switch to 'Connected' to reach an edgier segment of the population. Only changes made were that the highlight show somehow got shittier and you don't wear ties anymore.
-Changed the name of Canada's biggest sports landmark.
-Constantly interrupt our otherwise mundane sports programming with commercials featuring attractive young people who are sexually attracted to video phones and unlimited texting plans.

And also...

Rogers has a long history in sports. The company operates the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team as well as the Rogers Centre and Rogers Sportsnet.

Yeah, probably should have left that out of the press release.

Sportsnet News, not surprisingly, had the corporate bosses shell out a 2-minute segment on the "news" with some dumb montage of white-collar guys who have nothing to do with the Canucks put on jerseys.

Memo to Sportsnet: re-named arenas is not news. Fans falling out of the bleachers and parodies of Styx songs. Get it together.

Daryl Katz buys the lease to Copps Coliseum

The philanthropic owner of the Edmonton Oilers is doing well to put the city of Hamilton out of its misery.

The general consensus seems to be that Katz is attempting to either strong arm the city of Edmonton into helping them build a new arena or to "control the potential arrival of a relocated or expansion NHL team."

The idea that Katz wants a bargaining chip with Edmonton is pretty damn laughable, and Edmonton City Council should be able to see right through it. Northlands Skyreach Rexall may not be a luxury arena, but Copps Coliseum sure as hell isn't. It holds about 1,000 more people and has an ugly seat colouring scheme.

The way the NHL is today, neither Copps or Rexall should fit a team. It's a dissapointing reality. Even the Flames, who reside in a Pengrowth Saddledome that fits 19,000 people, are looking for a new place to not play hockey past April.

So if Katz is using this as a means to persuade Edmonton into buying him a lot (or part of the purchase price) for a new arena, it comes across as pretty thin. Mostly, this is something that Katz is likely using to stimulate discussion amongst Edmonton fans, with a renewed optimism and faith in the franchise thanks to Taylor Hall.

This gives me the idea to copyright the phrase "The House That Hall Built" so I can see some royalties in a few years when it eventually happens.