More On The Strange Case of the Phoenix Coyotes

I find this whole thing with the Phoenix Coyotes to be fascinating. So if you don't mind, I'll keep blogging on it awhile.

First, to address one of the comments from my earlier post: supposedly, the only out in the lease agreement between the Coyotes and Glendale, AZ regarding the use of Jobing.com Arena is bankruptcy. And since the city is seen as one of the creditors because of the money that the team owes on the lease, the Coyotes argument will be that the sale and relocation will allow the team to pay off what it owes on the lease. The city and the NHL are expected to argue that while past debts will be paid off, future income from the team that will be lost by the move will not covered. I don't think a bankruptcy judge cares that much about lost future income. I could be wrong, and we'll be getting an answer to that over the next several months.

Next, I'd like to address a response to this whole issue by a deputy of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Jim Balsillie is threatening to take the league to court and charge it with violations of antitrust law if the NHL attempts to stop the relocation of the team to Hamilton, Ontario.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly stated: "If I didn't know any better, I would think I was living in a time warp. It's as if the complaint was drafted 30 years ago. Since that time, case after case after case has established a sports league's right to control the location of its franchises. Maybe they haven't been paying attention."

Now maybe it's just me, but I tend to follow these things rather closely. And as much as I can recall -- and I took multiple classes on antitrust and sports law while I was in law school -- there's been only one major court opinion that is on point to this issue. And the league lost. And it lost badly. That case happens to be known as Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission v. NFL ("Raiders I"), 726 F.2d 1381 (9th Cir)., cert. denied, 469 U.S. 990 (1984). And for those who don't recall the matter by that name, it's the case that found the NFL in violation of the U.S. Antitrust laws because it would not allow Al Davis to move the Oakland Raiders to Los Angeles. And as we all know, the Raiders won the case, moved to L.A., then ended up moving back to Oakland.

I suggest Mr. Daly give that a read before mouthing off.

Now here's the thing. I don't think there are have been anymore cases regarding franchise relocation like this one where a particular owner was attempting to move his franchise and the league wouldn't allow it. The Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis in the middle of the night without league approval and the league did nothing. The NFL made no attempt to stop Art Modell and Bud Adams from moving their franchises. Los Angeles Raiders moved back to Oakland. The St. Louis Cardinals moved to Phoenix. The Los Angeles Rams moved to Anaheim and then to St. Louis. And the law suits that have been filed in these matters weren't from the team's owners fighting the NFL. They were from Houston and Cleveland and Los Angeles trying to stop the moves. So whatever decisions came from those moves aren't on point.

Meanwhile, do you know why there is a baseball team in Seattle? Because the Mariners were part of a court settlement brought by various Seattle officials after the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers after just one year in Seattle. And do you know why Tampa Bay has the Rays? Because in 1992 the San Francisco Giants were sold to interests who were going to move the team to Tampa Bay, but MLB and Bud Selig stepped in, found a local owner, and forced the team to stay in San Francisco. So with the Tampa Bay region threatening to sue, MLB caved and granted the city an expansion franchise.

So the NHL can huff and puff all that it wants, but the law is on the side of Jim Balsillie when it comes to franchise relocation.

Oh, and before I go, another NHL team that is in serious financial trouble is suddenly being rumored as to be heading to Hamilton for next season. The Atlanta Thrashers, whose ownership group has been suing each other from almost the moment they brought the team, may have found a Canadian owner who wants to relocate the team to Hamilton. It's all just rumor and innuendo, of course, but there it is.