I have done a video on this before, wanted to make an updated video on the topic.
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46 Comments
Jim did say he never spent much time in purchasing a nhl club, he spent much more time training to run a triathlon
Isn't the NHL guilty of some form of anti trust? I Believe in the NFL there was a team that wanted to move and NFL said no and went to court and won the right to move the team.
Not gonna happen. Leafs and sabres franchises don't want it. There are at least 5 other cities far a head of Hamilton. There are 3+ markets in America and 2 or 3 in Canada that would get one first. Not even sure why anyone would talk about Hamilton getting a team at this point
Blackberry was so funny thanks for making a video on this!
The Coyotes would be thriving right now in Hamilton lol.
I gotta see BlackBerry- this is apparently a recurring plot point played up for laughs.
Hey I'm from kitchener
It's not like Balsillie tried to buy a social media site just to give fascists a soapbox for their conspiracy theories
The shot of the arena in the thumbnail reminds me of a really wide fish
Blackberry did briefly do a smartphone foray- they made the palm (I had one), but they marketed it as 'sync to your big phone' a phone accessory rather than a standalone phone. I used it as a standalone phone. It had shit battery life, but on the other hand, it was smaller than a closed flip phone. I think they could have made a success out of it if they sold it with battery sticks and advertised it as fitting in a pocket or being a piece of jewelry (I wore mine around my neck the entire time I owned it. I had a black leather case and put a floral looking finger ring on it, it looked good with my dresses) That's how they should have advertised it. Instead they advertised it as an accessory which I think was part of what killed it. Look at the mini's success.
Quebec City also is not a wealthy market. Hamilton at least has multiple other cities to pull from, but sadly I think the most likely scenario is if the Sabres move there
Hamilton had it's opportunity when they were selected in 1990 over Ottawa but Ron Joyce quibbled over the payment of the $50 million expansion fee. Ottawa group let by Bruce Firestone agreed and were chosen over Hamilton.
Born, raised and still live (25 years) in Hamilton and although it would be amazing, it’s always seemed infeasible. Luckily Buffalo isn’t far for cheap games
Kitchener is a Better Hockey town than Hamilton, what holds Kitchener back is the Outdated Arena. Should have built a New arena Downtown and Incorporated the Transit Hub at King/Victoria. The Rangers and an AHL Team would sell out
They Quebec city Houston Baltimore Oakland San Francisco Kansas City Cleveland Cincinnati Virginia Beach Portland Milwaukee New Orleans Harford need NHL franchises but the only way to get a team is to do NHL expansion quit being cheap
Been wondering about this since the Arizona news came out. Thanks for the video!
Jim seems like some next level gung ho capitalist, who's used to get his way if he makes his way.
Really interestin story. 👌
The poor taxpayers always subsidizing rich owners and players.
shit, move a team to the Tri-Cities (Waterloo Region aka Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge)
Have you covered when Bettman will retire?
Yeah…and this Preds fan says 🖕 Balsillie and Leipold. Forced us to sell off Vokoun, Hartnell, Timonen, and Kariya. A fan rally to buy season tickets convinced local ownership groups to jump in. I was there as a STH before and have been now for 23 years in total. Proud that we retained this franchise and sought a new identity.
I feel like the gta could support 3 or more NHL teams
Such a dame shame he couldn't do it the proper way, imagine what the salary cap would be at now if he had moved Arizona to Hamilton, definitely over 100m
I think Buffalo would be more likely to ban the move to Hamilton than Toronto, as there are many Sabres fan in the Hamilton/Niagara regions, and Buffalo doesn’t have the luxury of selling out like the Leafs
People are wrong to think Blackberry was a cell phone company, just like they think Tesla is a car company. Blackberry was always, and is still a software company. Governments of the world didn't use Blackberries because they loved the phone, but because they were nigh unhackable. That's why the company still exists and still does a great number of sales.
My dad recently found a paper in his desk for season tickets to the Hamilton predators.
A Hamilton-based franchise would be a non-starter for the small-market Sabres. The Sabres have some season ticket members who live in Hamilton and surrounding cities and a Hamilton club would hurt them a lot. Also, anyone setting up shop in Hamilton would need the FirstOntario Center (FKA the Copps Coliseum) to be either heavily renovated or replaced so the club playing in the city can have an arena that meets current NHL specifications.
Buffalo and the Leafs do not want Hamilton in the NHL.
the thing about a team in Hamilton is i think the MLSE wouldnt be to happy and would likley shut down any attempt
Funny thin is I'm watching this on my blackberry key 2. Love this phone
Nobody in their right mind can look at the Coyotes situation and not think that things would have been exponentially better in Hamilton. This is Betteman's failure, not Balsille's.
As far as ease of access in the area goes, Buffalo is a straight shot down the QEW for most southern Ontario residents. Toronto is an hour longer drive from anywhere east of the GTA. The traffic is a huge discouragement to driving to Leafs games. Counter point to that, Hamilton doesn't have great GO train access at Copps, especially compared to the Leafs – but that is also supposedly in the works too. The price of Sabres games compared to an Ontario team would probably keep people going over the border.
That's stupid to sell tickets in Hamilton without owning an NHL team wait till the NHL gives you a franchise then you can sell tickets.
Honest to god, to this day I have no real idea what Blackberry even is. A smart device company from what I've gathered, but I don't think I've ever seen one of their products. Granted, I'm from Finland, so you know… been surrounded by Nokia phones since the mid-90's. But still. Interesting video.
Copps coliseum is too old now
My iPhone runs Blackberry device management software. Not sure if thats good or bad…
I like these analysis of the business of the NHL. I've always said it is never Bettman's fault. He answers to the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors is an "old boys club". If you don't court the Board you won't win. Jim being a maverick and going on his own way…..won't get him a seat with the old boys'. It's a club more than a business. All the owners get a say into who else gets to join their club.
Very interesting Hamilton Bulldogs jersey! I cheered for them in the AHL (Habs) and cheer for them now in the OHL. Love this kind of content!
Shannon knows his hockey
I'm still under the impression the bid on the Penguins was made in good faith by Balsillie to the NHL, with him thinking it would be seriously considered and having a good chance of winning. But then the NHL used it as leverage to force Pittsburgh's hand to fund a new arena, making it seem like they were using Balsillie.
The Nashville bid went through the owner and the Coyote bid tried to go through the courts. Seemed like he felt slighted by the NHL and took it personally, and tried to make them pay, as it were.
Shannon, I think you've done a great job with the material of late on the channel.
Haven't visited this channel for awhile but as soon as I saw Jim Balsillie in the title I knew I was clicking because I had totally forgotten about him. I want to see a team like Arizona or Florida move to Canada but I hope its Quebec.
Do any of the folks in Hamilton or Southern Ontario root–or care–for the Buffalo Sabres?? The only other team that the people of Ontario root for [in my experience Thunder Bay] is Montreal. Personally, as an American hockey fan, I believe it would be great for Hamilton and more importantly Quebec City receive NHL franchises. Now there's this nonsense of Hartford having a group of investors interested in buy the Phoenix Coyotes as well as Atlanta being a possible destination for the Yotes which is idiotic.
Penguins to Hamilton? …moving from one city with a dying steel city to another city with a dying steel city.
Hamilton is a bigger market than Quebec City because Mississauga, Oakville and Burlington are within a 40-minute drive. Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph and Cambridge are about that close by car (but not as the crow flies).
Quebec City is surrounded by mountains and farmland for AT LEAST an hour's drive in any direction. Quebec City's 4,000 more people than Hamilton's is EASILY counterbalanced by the Mississauga, Oakville and Burlington's combined million people.