Jim Balsillie won’t be the owner of an NHL team any time soon, according to the CBC. Apparently the Predators’ current owner, Craig Leipold, freaked out when he learned that Balsillie had the lease at Copps secured and everything was in place to move the team to Hamilton. So instead of accepting Balsillie’s $238-million bid, Leipold is mulling over a bid from some deep-pocketed Californian, William DelBiaggio, for a mere $190 million. DelBiaggio has expressed interest in relocating the Predators to Kansas City if he becomes the owner.
So to summarize:
- The Predators are a good team, but Nashville, Tennessee is not a hockey market and as such, have been hemorrhaging cash for their entire 10-year existence.
- Canadian rich guy bids $238 million to buy the team and plans to relocate them to Hamilton, Ontario – a hockey-mad Canadian market.
- Predators’ owner rejects Canadian rich guy’s $238-million bid for his team. Instead, he’d rather sell the team to an American rich guy for only $190 million.
- American rich guy would like to see the Predators move to Kansas City, Missouri – a city and state not known for their love of hockey.
Does anybody else see the flakiness in this, or am I popping crazy pills?
