Demo Copps? For Walter Gretzky Arena?
Balsillie may build arena named after Gretzky's dad
Updated Wed. May. 6 2009 10:45 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNew...506?hub=Canada
Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie has reportedly told Phoenix Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky that if he is able to purchase the team and move it to Southern Ontario, he will build an arena to house the team and name it after Gretzky's father.
On Tuesday, Balsillie made a $212.5-million dollar offer to purchase the ailing NHL franchise, on the condition that he can move the team to Southern Ontario.
Sports writer Howard Bloom, publisher of Sports Business News, said he has heard that Balsillie has offered Gretzky a stake in the team worth between 10 and 15 per cent. Bloom also reported speculation that Balsillie would build a new arena for the team named for Gretzky patriarch, Walter.
The overtures to Gretzky show Balsillie will do what it takes to become the owner of an NHL franchise, Bloom said, and the moves may just work.
"It's not that far-fetched. But as far as Gretzky, never say never," Bloom said Wednesday on CTV Newsnet. "And you know one thing about Wayne Gretzky: his heart is in hockey. His heart is in his country. And I'm sure Wayne Gretzky, who has also stated that he believes there should be a second NHL franchise in Southern Ontario, would want to be a part of it."
In addition to reaching out to the Great One, Balsillie has sweetened the deal for the NHL by offering $17 million in bridge financing to keep the team alive before the sale goes through.
His offer also stipulates that every investor in the team gets "100 cents on the dollar the money they are owed," Bloom said.
"You gotta like Jim Balsillie if for no other reason his tenacious desire to do this," Bloom said. "You don't get to be a billionaire by being a bad businessman."
Balsillie, the 48-year-old co-CEO of Waterloo, Ont.-based Research in Motion -- which makes the BlackBerry wireless device -- has tried twice before to purchase an NHL team and move it to Canada.
In 2007, he tried to purchase and move the Nashville Predators to Hamilton, Ont. That offer was rebuffed. Before that, he expressed interest in purchasing the Pittsburgh Penguins.
If Balsillie's offer is accepted, the Coyotes would become the NHL's seventh Canadian franchise. It would also be the team's second stint in Canada. The team was formerly the Winnipeg Jets between 1979 and 1996.
At a news conference on Tuesday night, Balsillie declined to say which city would host the team.
"What I will say is, I think this is an enormously exciting opportunity," he said. "I don't have to tell anyone here it's the greatest game in the whole wide world."
Balsillie has launched a website,
www.makeitseven.ca, for fans to show their support for his endeavour.
One person who believes Southern Ontario can support another NHL team is Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"I'd love another NHL team in Canada . . . particularly Southern Ontario can support another team," Harper said Wednesday in Prague, where he is engaged in trade talks with the European Union.
Harper would not comment specifically on the Balsillie deal, but did say he has spoken to some NHL owners about the possibility of another team in the region, in addition to the Toronto Maple Leafs.