Maybe you decided to flip the channel from NHL teams being in the hunt for playoff hockey to check a cable news channel. If you did, you’d see down here stateside there’s this big thing going on with “congressional funding” causing airport security lines to be long. In the midst of all of that, a few congressman have been working on something very different, and it’s something that might just effect the NHL. Well, it might affect the NHL eventually.
Representative Greg Casar and Senator Bernie Sanders joined forces to introduce what they call the “Home Team Act”. The bill would require that any sports team owner looking to move their franchise, or sell to a new owner with the intention of relocation, first be required to offer the sale of the franchise to a group keeping it in its current location. The “Home Team Act” also opens the door for municipalities themselves to have an ownership stake.
The bill is largely looked at as happening in the wake of the Oakland A’s of Major League Baseball planned relocation to Las Vegas, but that move is incomplete. The A's play in Sacramento awaiting it’s new stadium to be build. Until then the NHL currently is the last professional major North America sports league to have a team relocate over state lines. That happened when the Arizona Coyotes relocated (the NHL officially says “deactivation” and replaced with an expansion franchise) to become the Utah Mammoth (then Utah Hockey Club).
Would this law have prevented that? The Coyotes always seemed like they were out of options in the valley and were essentially homeless when it came to a proper NHL venue. The NHL already knew they have a qualified owner in Ryan Smith and his Smith Entertainment Group to facilitate a quick sale that satisfied all parties. You would have to think that this law would have at least slowed down that process that happened very quickly.
Interestingly some states have a law already in place that would have done just that. The idea for this bill came after Casar found out an Ohio law prevented an MLS soccer team from moving to his home state of Texas. Said law was in response to the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy in the mid 1990’s that led the league to give Cleveland an expansion franchise called the Browns to essentially take their place. The NHL’s official excuse and explanation of the Coyotes being a “deactivated franchise” and Utah being an entirely new one, along with stipulations for then owner Alex Meruelo to get another team, avoided such controversy.
Here’s where it gets interesting for the NHL. They have more teams in Canada than other United States major professional sports league with seven. That leaves open the possibility of a team crossing that little thing called the “international border”. Under this law, the 2012 sale and relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to become the second Winnipeg Jets could have been prevented. Yet the original Jets relocation to Arizona in 1996 would have been allowed to happen. This is a scenario that would likely only effect the NHL. Would the law have requirements and details written in for these international transactions?
The thought of municipalities owning part of a team as a part of this law in an interesting prospect. Teams long looking for a new stadium might use that a tool to secure public financing. For example, what if Michael Andlauer agrees to give Ottawa a portion of the Ottawa Senators to get their long awaited new stadium deal off the ground? Wouldn’t that be a win/win for everyone involved? Quick side note, this would be an American law which most likely wouldn’t directly affect the Senators, but you understand the example anyway.
What does that mean for future league business as well? Essentially handcuffing a team to a city could hurt a franchises value. Will it change what markets want to pursue any future NHL expansion? What about cities that might have to make a financing deal on a new stadium? These new stipulations could put a potential future franchise in doubt, thus making cities hesitant to release the funds. Without a stadium, which some relocation and expansion is contingent upon, the NHL might be hesitant to grant a franchise or approve relocation.
The average sports fan probably doesn’t care about any of that. Why would a fan who can barely afford the cheap seats shed tears about the finances of his billionaire owner? For that reason this law, if passed, could be seen as a win for the fans.