Exclusive: Old Thrashers WILL BE the new Jets

The former Atlanta Thrashers will unveil their new Winnipeg branding today, on National Hockey League Entry Draft Day.

Now there is solid evidence that points to the resurrection of the Jets name.

The NHL owns the trademark, originally filed with the Canadian government in 1976. According to the Winnipeg Jets name and logo files in the Canadian Trademarks Database, there was a flurry of activity this month, as recently as June 15.

Listen to The Sport Market on Team 1040 and TeamRadio.ca from 9 a.m. to noon Pacific on Saturday, June 25 for the month-end roundtable for more on this story.

Winnipeg Jets entry in the Canadian Trademarks Database

Winnipeg Jets logo entry in the Canadian Trademarks Database

Gary gabs

A big week for hockey north of the border.

The National Hockey League announced May 31 it would return to Winnipeg after a 15-year absence with the conditional move of the Atlanta Thrashers by True North Sports and Entertainment. The Thrashers were the 28th worst market for attendance in the 30-team league.

Commissioner Gary Bettman announced a 13,000-season ticket drive and that a vote on the $170 million purchase would be taken by the board of governors on June 21. More than 7,000 packages were sold before the public sales began and each NHL owner will get a slice of the $60 million relocation fee, so it'll be a done deal.

On June 1, the Stanley Cup final returned to Vancouver for the first time since 1994 -- and began in Vancouver for the first time since the Millionaires were 1921 hosts. The Vancouver Canucks blanked the Boston Bruins 1-0 on Raffi Torres's late, overtime-avoiding goal with 18.5-seconds left in regulation time.

The 5.6 million average audience, with a peak of 7.8 million, was an all-time record for CBC's Hockey Night in Canada. The previous record was in 1994 when 4.96 million tuned-in to see the Canucks battle another Original Six team, the New York Rangers. That was game seven of the Stanley Cup final and the Canucks lost by a goal.

The NBC ratings for game one were the best in 12 years, a 3.2 national rating which translates to approximately 3.708 million viewers. Boston, Providence, R.I. and Hartford, Ct., were three of the top four markets.

The storylines are simple: an Original Six team from a sports-made region with a 39-year Cup drought against the Sedin twins and the rest of the Olympic city kids who are trying for a third time to win the franchise's first Cup since debuting 40 seasons ago.

Before the game, Bettman held his annual state of the league address. Here are highlights from the question-and-answer session:

Q. Can you update where things stand for realignment in lieu of Winnipeg's re-entry, and also the latest on Phoenix?

BETTMAN: With respect to Winnipeg's re-entry, obviously there is a process under the Constitution and Bylaws with respect to ownership transfers and relocation that needs to be complied with. That's on the agenda, will be on the agenda, for the June 21st Board meeting.

In order to do a schedule for next season, it's not possible to do realignment right now. Winnipeg, despite its geographic peculiarities relative to the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference, will be playing in that division and in that conference, with an assurance that for the following season they will be in the west.

We have a number of clubs that would like to address specific issues on realignment. All those clubs need an opportunity to be heard. That's a process we'll go through the first half of next season, looking at the issues that clubs want to raise, looking at various possibilities, and trying to figure out what will make the most sense moving forward.

If I had to guess anything, and this is purely speculation, as much as I hate to do that, because ultimately it's a Board decision, I think we'll wind up moving towards a slightly more balanced schedule to accommodate the variety of issues I've heard so far from the clubs.

Q. Phoenix?

BETTMAN: Phoenix, as I think you all know, because it's gotten a ton of attention, the City of Glendale stepped up and said they want the team to stay another year while they try to complete the sales process with us and will be funding the losses. Any suggestion that the League is funding this club or carrying the burden is not true. Last season the City of Glendale did it. This coming season the City of Glendale will do it, but hopefully not. Hopefully the club will be sold in due course, and there will be a new owner in there to start turning things around.

Again, we've gotten a number of questions about why this process in Phoenix and why the other process in Atlanta. Atlanta, not unlike Winnipeg in '96, found itself in a situation where nobody wanted to own a club in that market anymore. That's been for me the trigger point on having to deal with a relocation.

With respect to Phoenix, you have a city in Glendale that built the building and has invested in it and wanting the club to stay there. As long as they're prepared to carry the burden of doing this while we try to effectuate a solution, there's no reason to move.

Q. Steroids have obviously run their course through all of the professional sports. Yet your sport, your league, has not had a positive test in years, as I can recall. People who know steroids say if you're not catching anybody, your testing isn't good enough. Is it your belief simply no NHL players are doing steroids now? (Note: NHL players are not tested for drugs during the playoffs or off-season.)

BETTMAN: Well, it's clear that if we're not having positive tests, none of them are getting caught, which means if some are, it's not very many.

I do believe, and we've been in discussions over the last couple of years with WADA, there are ways that we can improve our substance testing, our performance?enhancing testing program. But that's something we need to do with the Players' Association, and that's something, when we actually sit down and begin discussions, we need to address.

I think we have a good program. It deals with education and counseling. It has comprehensive testing, but I think we can probably do more. At the right time we'll have that discussion with the Players' Association.

Q. There's been recent reports of a group in Seattle interested in an NHL team. What are your thoughts on Seattle as a hockey market? With Winnipeg done, do you have a list of cities that are potentials?

BETTMAN: There are no shortage of places that continue to express interest in having a team. I think it was half a dozen, and now it's down to five because Winnipeg comes off the list. My answer is the same. I don't want to raise anybody's expectation. We're hoping not to do relocation. You all know that we don't believe in doing that, except as a last resort. We do everything possible to avoid it, and we're not planning on expanding.

The interest is flattering, but I don't want anyone in any market that doesn't have a team to get their hopes up yet.

Q. Québec City was involved, Pierre Peladeau, the owner of Quebecor, launched a sports channel yesterday. He got 25 games of the Ottawa Senators. Is there some sort of relation there that we can say they are up front to get something in Québec City done or there's absolutely nothing to deal with that?

BETTMAN: I am not going to raise expectations. I'm well aware of Mr. Peladeau's interest and that is gratifying. I am well aware there are plans to build an arena, although we have made no promise of what will happen after that.

At the present time, since I don't have a franchise we're looking to relocate, and as I said, we're not planning on expanding, I don't want to get people's expectations in Québec City raised.

Q. Despite the $3 billion in revenue across the League, a lot of teams are losing money, or at least claim to. Is the gap too large between high and low revenue teams? Especially now that you're in Winnipeg, what adjustments need to be made to revenue sharing and the CBA, the next one, so those clubs can be in the best position to succeed?

BETTMAN: The fact we're in Winnipeg, the agreement is basically self?executing. It will apply to the Winnipeg team as it applied to the Atlanta team, again, assuming Board approval, which everybody is anticipating.

To the extent there are issues in Collective Bargaining, as I said in my opening remarks, the good news is it's too early to discuss it. The discussions I'll have in the first instance on that topic will be with Mr. Fehr. I won't be doing it in this environment.

Q. Is the gap too big?

BETTMAN: We have a system that is dramatically improved from where we were in terms of teams' ability to compete. You've seen it in our competitive balance. There has been dramatic improvement. Whether or not the Players' Association or we are going to be looking for adjustments is something we'll look at quietly and hopefully resolve quietly.

Q. Your office put out numbers on concussions specific to how they were suffered, be it from fighting, be it from hitting, whatever. The number that caught my eye was from fighting. I think it was 8% or somewhere around there. I'm wondering, after you've given out those numbers, has there been added talk, be it from managers, owners, governors, specific to that part and their interest in perhaps ending fighting?

BETTMAN: I don't think the discussion has gotten to the level where there's widespread sentiment to end fighting. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'ending fighting.' I assume you mean by increasing the penalties for fighting, because there are penalties now.

The issue is really one about concussions. The reason for releasing the numbers is to make clear that concussions in the game are being caused by a variety of causes. And, in fact, the increase isn't coming, although the conventional wisdom incorrectly was that it was coming from more head hits, it's coming from pucks to the head. Maybe we should be having mandatory visors, something we'll discuss as we have over the years. Sometimes it's collisions with your own teammates, sometimes it's a check where you fall and bang your head.

The number of head hits really hasn't been the cause of the increase in concussions. It's been other sources, and that's what we're looking at in a comprehensive way.

One of the things that I indicated the Blue Ribbon Committee is looking at, as it's been dubbed, is whether or not we want to expand the head?hit rule. Accidents I think are going to happen and we have to deal with that and we do that through the proper diagnosis and treatment of concussions. Nobody has taken the leap that you're suggesting.

Q. Any updates with the next Winter Olympics or the World Cup?

BETTMAN: There is no update. That, again, is something that we will be in discussions with the Players' Association on because the international competitions, be it the conducting of a World Cup, which we're interested in doing, and the participation in the Winter Olympics, is something that we need to discuss and resolve with the Players' Association.

Mr. Fehr has been on the job a relatively short time. He's putting together his organization. He's been doing a lot of homework and catching up. In due course, we'll be having those discussions.

Q. Any more precise indication of where the cap is going?

BETTMAN: Actually, I think Mr. Daly did. I don't remember giving cap numbers. Bill, do you want to venture a guess?

BILL DALY: I think our current projections have the cap being in excess of $60 million, maybe as high as $63 million.

BETTMAN: And, obviously, the new television contract in the United States has an impact on that, bringing it up.

Q. Poignant because of the travel back and forth between Vancouver and Boston being difficult, the format of 2-2-2-1-1-1, any increased talk of going to 2-3-2?

BETTMAN: We periodically raise it with the managers, who when it comes to competitive issues are the heart and soul. There doesn't seem to be much of an appetite. I think people in our game are used to the travel. They like to keep the routine going.

It is what it is. We've been doing it for, oh, at least a couple of decades. I think if you go back to the '80s or '70s, there were a couple of years when it was tried. But this seems to be what the clubs are most comfortable with. What we try to do is make sure we're providing the best environment for them to have the competition and let it all out on the ice.

We want the Cup

It's the grandest trophy in North American sport. Though, some would argue the Arctic Winter Games Hodgson Trophy -- a six-foot narwal tusk -- is grander.

Regardless, the Stanley Cup will be awarded sometime between June 8 and 15 to the Vancouver Canucks or the winner of the Boston Bruins/Tampa Bay Lightning Eastern conference series.

In 1982, when Vancouver faced the New York Islanders, the Stanley Cup was exhibited at the Hotel Vancouver. During the 1994 finals against the New York Rangers, it was joined by the rest of the marquee silverware collection for public display at the Waterfront Centre Hotel. Thousands of Vancouver fans made a pilgrimage to see the shiny prizes. Some had tickets to the games. Others could not afford to see the finals in person.

So where will the holy grail of hockey be in 2011 before Commissioner Gary Bettman hands it to the winning team?

"This year there is no public showing planned of the trophies as of right now," the Hockey Hall of Fame's curator Phil Pritchard told me.

Tell the NHL and HHoF you want your eyes on the prize, that you want a chance to see the Cup on display during the finals in Vancouver. Send an email message to:

bhay@hhof.com
bmansur@nhl.com

Broadcast giant quits NBC: what next for Olympics?

June 6 and 7 could be among the biggest days on the sports business calendar in 2011. They'll definitely be among the most important for the beancounters at the International Olympic Committee.

That's when American networks will be in Lausanne, Switzerland to make their bids for the rights to broadcast Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016. They may even look for a bulk discount by tendering bids on Winter 2018 and Summer 2020.

Munich, Germany, PyeongChang, South Korea and Annecy, France are bidding for 2018. The 2020 race has yet to begin.

NBC, which paid $2.2 billion for Vancouver 2010 and London 2012, is the incumbent. The former GE-owned broadcasting giant has held rights to all Summer Games since Calgary 1988 and Winter Games since Salt Lake 2002. But it will be without Dick Ebersol.

Ebersol dropped a broadcasting bombshell May 19 when his resignation from NBC was announced. NBC is now owned by Comcast and the official word is they couldn't agree on a new contract. The news broke exactly a month after Ebersol announced NBC and Versus's 10-year, $2 billion National Hockey League broadcast deal at a news conference with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Ebersol's Olympic journey began in 1967 when he joined ABC as a researcher. Ebersol and Canadian Lorne Michaels collaborated to create Saturday Night Live for NBC in 1975. During Olympic Games, Ebersol would actually camp in custom-made quarters in NBC's facilities at the International Broadcast Centre instead of stay in a hotel room. Ebersol spoke at length about his storied career during the Denver 2009 SportAccord convention.

Ebersol enjoyed his Vancouver experience so much (and the fact that the British Columbia government became an important advertiser) that he appeared in a video honouring outgoing Premier Gordon Campbell at a Vancouver Board of Trade event on Feb. 4, 2011. NBC lost $223 million on Vancouver 2010 after being hit by the Great Recession's advertising slump.

Whether NBC's London 2012 coverage will suffer without Ebersol at the helm remains to be seen. He has many proteges who will now run the operation. NBC, sans Ebersol, said it still plans to go to Lausanne and bid for the Olympics broadcast rights, but it will be a hotly contested race with Disney-owned ABC-ESPN, Fox and CBS.

A source told me Ebersol has been bearish on a bid for Sochi 2014 for quite some time. The unfriendly time zone -- eight hours ahead of New York -- was the biggest worry. Live sports are best shown live, but not at 3 a.m. when viewers would rather be sleeping. During a meeting, Ebersol was asked what he thought Sochi would be worth. He paused for a moment and scribbled on a note pad. He turned around and showed those in the meeting. It was a big "0".

Sochi 2014 could well be a commercial bust for the IOC and whichever company wins the U.S. rights if National Hockey League players aren't playing the hockey tournament. The Russian resort is building everything from scratch and, from what I saw last June, is on-track to be ready for February 2014. But volunteers, venue operations, transportation and security remain big unknowns for Sochi, which passed the 1,000-day countdown on May 14.

Soul on ice

Could Dustin Byfuglien save hockey in Atlanta?

While Vancouver Canuck Henrik Sedin was celebrating a Hart Trophy, Byfuglien was quietly enjoying his Stanley Cup summer in Phoenix until he found out he was traded.

The Fugly One was a Chicago Blackhawk until June 23 when he was dealt to the Atlanta Thrashers. The 25-year-old from Minneapolis had 11 goals and five assists in the Hawks’ Stanley Cup run. He certainly got some votes for the Conn Smythe Trophy and was unpopular in Vancouver for getting in the way of Roberto Luongo so often.

Atlanta is the eighth-largest media marketplace in the United States and it is rich with sports, where the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Falcons dominate the pro sports scene and the Georgia Bulldogs are the college mainstay. Basketball’s Atlanta Hawks are a bigger wintertime draw than the Thrashers, who averaged only 13,607 fans last season. That’s the third-worst attendance in the league.

Atlantans never did relate to Russian Ilya Kovalchuk, but they might just come to know and love The Fugly One.

While much was made of the Blackhawks marketing to African-American fans in Chicago, it’s a demographic that the Thrashers need for their survival. More than half of Atlantans are African-American.

Byfuglien, whose father was African-American Ricky Spencer, could end up playing on the same line in Atlanta with Vancouver Giants’ product Evander Kane. Kane was picked fourth overall last year by the Thrashers and is named after Atlanta heavyweight boxing superstar Evander Holyfield.

Atlanta is also the birthplace of Martin Luther King, who led the civil rights movement.

It's a long climb to the hilltop that is the Stanley Cup, but 2010-2011 could be the year Atlanta is spared from becoming the first city to lose two National Hockey League franchises. Thanks to Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien.

Are you tired of the IIHF?

International Ice Hockey Federation public relations czar Szymon Szemberg says he’s tired of Sidney Crosby and various, twentysomething hockey players claiming they’re too tired to play at the World Hockey Championship.

Well, I’m tired, too. Tired of Europeans who govern the Great Canadian Game holding a world championship that clashes with the Stanley Cup playoffs and calling it a world championship. It really is the “annual European springtime invitational.”

I’m tired of the IIHF forgetting that the NHL, whose fans pay players like Crosby, compressed its schedule in 2009-2010 to accommodate the Vancouver Olympics. Surely the IIHF must’ve noticed an increase in its Swiss bank account after the most-watched hockey tournament of all-time.

I’m tired of the IIHF neglecting opportunities to develop the game outside North America and Europe. Dear IIHF: did you hear about the economic boom in China and the construction of ice rinks all over Asia in the past decade?

I’m tired of the IIHF spending little time or money to develop women’s hockey and sledge hockey.

Most of all, I’m tired of the IIHF running its affairs like a secret society with a rule-breaking ex-referee as its president.

Rene Fasel was outed by a Swiss newspaper last year for alleged kickbacks. A Deloitte probe paid for by the IIHF was never published. Finally, after the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee said “tsk-tsk” to Fasel for favouring a friend, but it didn’t send Fasel to the penalty box.

Tiresome, isn’t it?

Canucks' tri-centennial not legit

The Vancouver Canucks are a marketing juggernaut and have cornered the market as the number one professional sports property. They have made General Motors Place the number one destination and Canucks' games the number one local TV draw.

Not so difficult to achieve with little competition, except for outdoor sports and recreation. The Canucks are Vancouver's only connection to a big continental sports league during dark and stormy winters. The sport is Canada's national winter pastime. Many Vancouverites are from points east of the Rockies where hockey is life. Just wait until 2011 when the Vancouver Whitecaps enter Major League Soccer and challenge the Canucks for the finite pool of ticket and sponsor money available in this market. You will quickly witness why Canucks' owner Francesco Aquilini was bidding against Greg Kerfoot for an MLS franchise.

The Canucks will be celebrating their 300th consecutive home sellout April 3 when the Minnesota Wild visit. I'm a stickler for statistical honesty and I won't be sending the Canucks a 300-candle cake.

Only the beancounters inside 800 Griffiths Way know how many tickets have been sold and distributed over the last 299 games.

I do know that on March 15, 2007 -- when the Canucks beat St. Louis 3-2 in overtime -- there were 18,325 tickets scanned by GM Place staff at the arena entries. The NHL scoresheet falsely reported the arena was at 18,630 capacity and that was also the attendance figure announced in the arena. I asked Canucks Sports and Entertainment for comment but never got a response.

The 18,325 figure comes from a Bunt and Associates study for the City of Vancouver's Olympic transportation office. The same report said 16,653 season ticket holders attended the game. Capacity was increased to 18,810 with the Best Buy Club for the 2009-2010 season.

The Canucks' average $62.05 ticket price is third highest in the NHL -- a portion of that revenue is shared with the league's struggling southern franchises including the Phoenix Coyotes. But most of the money stays here to support a franchise that still hasn't delivered a Stanley Cup to its fans after almost 40 years.

Fans love the franchise too much. One could argue it doesn't have the incentive to make a Cup run because the organization is not desperate for revenue. Cup-winners like Tampa Bay, Carolina and Anaheim were. The proliferation of spring concert tours and big events like the Ultimate Fighting Championship fill GM Place dates and keep the Aquilinis flush with cash.