THE NHL - PROBLEMS WITH FRANCHISED SPORTS
Background
In 1972 The Winnipeg Jets were formed to play in the league controlled by the World Hockey Association (WHA), moving to the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1979. However in 1996 the Winnipeg Jets moved out of Canada and down to Phoenix and the Phoenix Coyotes were born.
The reason for moving (Wikipedia):
As the NHL expanded in the United States, operating costs and salaries grew rapidly; this development hit the league's Canadian teams particularly hard. As Winnipeg was the league's fourth-smallest market (eventually becoming the third-smallest market after the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver in 1995), the Jets were unable to retain their best players. Various schemes were devised to save the team through a tremendous grassroots effort and government funds, but in the end the efforts were not enough.
As a result the team folded, was bought and moved to the desert of Phoenix. This is a usual occurence in the NHL.
1980 - Atlanta Flames become Calgary Flames
1993 - Minnesota North Stars become the Dallas Stars
1995 - Quebec Nordiques become the Colorado Avalanche
1997 - Hartford Whalers become the Carolina Hurricanes
There are a lot of teams that have been born out of nothing. There are new teams such as the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators, and Minnesota Wild all that are 10 years old or less. I think one of the most famous NHL teams to non-americans is the Anaheim Ducks (Fomerly the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim). This team was a creation of Walt Disney Pictures that developed into a genuine NHL team. This, I think, says it all.
This gives you some background to the franchising of Ice Hockey teams (obviously focusing on Ice Hockey) so I can talk about the Phoenix Coyotes in some sort of context for you.
The reason I want to talk about my 'beloved' 'Yotes is that they are in the same situation as the Jets were in 1993. On May 5th the current owners have filed for bankruptcy and putting the 'Yotes up for sale. The NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is dedicated to keeping the team local to Phoenix. Originally only open to offers to keep the team in Arizona, Bettman has been forced to open it up to re-location. Relocation of my team and a resulting re-naming leaves me stranded.
What the hell do I do? This doesn't happen in the UK with football (apart from Wimbledon/MK Dons) I have never been in this situation before. I saw this report that really made me think. If you read it, I wonder if you spot the same thing as I did.
It says that relocation to Hamilton, OT (One of the proposed moving sites), worries Toronto Maple Leafs as they will be competing for markets. WHAT? Markets? Followers of sports teams should not be described as markets, they are fans, certainly not in public in a newspaper. This made me think about franchising sports, the set up of the NHL and all the problems that come with it.
Situation
Lack of loyalty - Because of the way the league is set it, people with a lot of money, ultimately can create a franchise to be included in the NHL. Yes, CREATED. Because this can happen there is a lack of grass root support. As it is a winter sport, it is a native sport of Canada and the most northern parts of the USA (Hence the Original 6 - Detroit, Toronto, New York Rangers, Chicago, Montreal and Boston), franchising and start-ups is the best way to expand the sport across the country. It has worked successfully, with teams like The Ducks winning the Stanley cup in 06/07 season but Coyotes is a current example of the problems that this lack of grass-roots genuine support.
So when a team is in trouble, as it is, not too many people are going to be that bothered. For example, when Rover went bust, car users will just go somewhere else when they want to purchase a new car. It shouldn't be like that for a sports team.
The league set up - Unlike the in UK, the NHL (and all other American sports?) use a drafting system, where players get to play in the top flight by being picked in the summer drafts. The team that comes bottom in the NHL gets 1st pick, and the league winner gets last pick, in lame mans terms. This is a great way to bring in young talent and sustain the quality of play for the future. In the UK, we buy foreign players. However, this is only great for the individual players. There is no relegation and promotion set up, where the successful are rewarded and the crap aren't. This limits teams and great sporting institutions to stay in the same leagues with the same teams for what seems like an eternity. I can understand the problems in the football leagues here, where teams can spiral out of control. Teams like Leeds who went from Europe to League 1 in a matter of a few years, and more recently Southampton who went from the FA cup final in 2003 to League 1, having scraped existence by an hour or so (and also started with -10 points). However these are rare occasions and as it stands, these teams do exist. However with the fickle 'market' as the report put it, teams can pick up and move, and leave Phoenix with nothing.
The league and whole drafting system is run like a business plan. It is run like an education system. Yo
u go here and then go up a level to here and finally, if you make the grade, you will graduate to the NHL. These is no graduation from team to team in UK football, you graduate from academies, for sure, and lower teams are used by the bigger teams to allow their kids to earn experience, however, these other teams have the opportunity to take advantage and take the next step up. I think this leads to a lot of respect in UK football, and the whole football format, because teams who are in the top flight deserve to be there because they have earned it. OK, a team like Burley may be shit, but they have earned their opportunity - and once there even greater fan support. Unlike Phoenix who admittedly didn't earn their place in the NHL, it was delivered, and as a result, there is a sense of snobbery in hockey to not being a proper team. Like a kid getting great grades because daddy pays more schooling fees. A Crap example I know.
u go here and then go up a level to here and finally, if you make the grade, you will graduate to the NHL. These is no graduation from team to team in UK football, you graduate from academies, for sure, and lower teams are used by the bigger teams to allow their kids to earn experience, however, these other teams have the opportunity to take advantage and take the next step up. I think this leads to a lot of respect in UK football, and the whole football format, because teams who are in the top flight deserve to be there because they have earned it. OK, a team like Burley may be shit, but they have earned their opportunity - and once there even greater fan support. Unlike Phoenix who admittedly didn't earn their place in the NHL, it was delivered, and as a result, there is a sense of snobbery in hockey to not being a proper team. Like a kid getting great grades because daddy pays more schooling fees. A Crap example I know.As a result of all of these, huge stadiums are quiet (even in the Stanley Cup Finals, the crowd was quiet unless there was a goal, check or fight), when a team is in trouble there isn't as much genuine support, even in non-troubled times its a constant effort, fans seems like empty supporters, there because there is nothing better.
AFC Bournemouth is a small club but by gum, fans are blood fans, fans for live, PASSION. Toronto Maple Leafs should not be worried about a new top league team invading their space; they wouldn't be if the fan base was like it is at small teams. But it isn't their fault, the way it's marketed, the league set up and the way teams are treated like products by management.
Best way to put it, big franchised teams are like toys, when they break, you can buy another one. Non-franchised teams are like puppies, there till you die.
Solution
I don't really know if there is a solution. The NHL compliments itself with young talent, a lot of teams and it makes a quick buck but crap support. Grassroots football (or any other sport for that matter) has genuine quality support and reward granted when due, with a less efficient home-grown player arrangement.
I don't think the solution is by conversion to different league systems. They are onto something good with those home-grown guys, but I think it is essential for the players in the back bench and the press to stop talking and seeing teams as a product - a sense of grass roots needs to be instilled in to the local community. But for new teams I think this will take time, for the generation who grew up with a hockey team in Phoenix to get old. Patience is needed. The most successful teams in the NHL are from the Original 6. There are of course teams that have a strong and genuine following, Montreal for example, the only French Canadian team in the League, which surely lends a sense of belonging to that team, but for the others, they have built up this following because it's 100 years old this December (4th). For a team to become successful and have the same status as these teams, it needs to get established and take its time.
Businessmen are impatient. Stop treating it like a business and fans will become loyal and not treat it with the lack of affection as a toy. Something the World 20/20 cricket franchise will learn soon I am sure.
Cheers, Scott
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