Owning a hockey team is not good business -- or is it?

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Neat little column from CBS.Sportsline.com about the recent franchise sales, and how owning an NHL franchise might be a better business move than possible initial perception

http://www.sportsline.com/nhl/story/10290458

[irishtemper14+25 11]

yea, but hockey is so much better than nfl lol

[Yzerman#19 17]

It's all the awful cheapskate owner's in the NHL that bring down the over-all value of the league. The Wings are so blessed to have a owner like Ilitch. If every owner supported their team the way Mike does, the NHL would be huge.

[Guest nutz2u]

The owners are always pissin and moanin about losing money. Even Ilitch whines and says the Wings have to go deep into the playoffs to break even. What they never talk about is total revenues, you know, the part that includes that little thing called merchandising and food consessions Well guess what, In '96 B4 the Wings won their first cup in 42 years. Total revenues for the Detroit Red Wings was 210 million dollars. Operating losses?

[Dixie Wingslover 0]

I especially liked this:

Tampa is one of the few success stories from the NHL's aggressive expansion into the U.S. sunbelt, with the league's third-highest average attendance last season, after the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings

.

[vangvace 12]

Coming soon to TLC... flip that franchise!

[yzerman&thewings=CUP 0]

The owners are always pissin and moanin about losing money. Even Ilitch whines and says the Wings have to go deep into the playoffs to break even. What they never talk about is total revenues, you know, the part that includes that little thing called merchandising and food consessions Well guess what, In '96 B4 the Wings won their first cup in 42 years. Total revenues for the Detroit Red Wings was 210 million dollars. Operating losses?

got any sources for that???

[OsGOD 3]

I think it is a HUGE value to the owners.. They can screw the fans and still pull in millions in their wallet.

[vangvace 12]

got any sources for that???

The needing to go deep into the postseason to break even was common in detnews Wings articles from ~2001 to the lockout.

As for the rest... good luck getting true revenue numbers out of any NHL team, or most sports teams for that matter.

[Alex Ovechkin 0]

From what I have learned owning a hockey team is just like any other business. You must spend money to make money. I don't beleve any NHL owner is hurt for money.

[Legionnaire11 0]

if you've got the money to lose for a few years, even owning a bad revenue team is a good move. Look at how much money Leipold is about to pocket. He's moaned about losing so much over the years, and he's still about to come out the other side of it with something like $90M in personal profit.

[eva unit zero 271]

if you've got the money to lose for a few years, even owning a bad revenue team is a good move. Look at how much money Leipold is about to pocket. He's moaned about losing so much over the years, and he's still about to come out the other side of it with something like $90M in personal profit.

Leipold's situation is unusual though; he sold a team valued at 125m for around 190m. He paid an $80m expansion fee, and lost $70m during his time with the team. That means had he sold the team as valued, he'd have had a net loss of $25m, instead of an overall profit of around $40m like he has.