Negotiations between Whalers and state officials over
whether the team will leave Hartford "contorted into a circus act
Tuesday" and both parties "walked away from the negotiating table
in a huff," according to Michael Arace of the HARTFORD COURANT.
One day prior to an announcement that has sold only 8,300 season
tickets, CT Gov. Jim Rowland said he felt "suckered" by the
campaign to raise 11,000 season tickets while Owner Peter
Karmanos "angrily denounced" reports he would move the team in
two years. Arace also reports the Whalers will announce today
that they will honor their Civic Center lease and remain in
Hartford for another two years. The negotiations were over
whether the team would stay a third year or longer but the
parties could not work out a deal. Karmanos: "This team will be
gone in two years -- if nothing else changes." Rowland: "They
are looking for some rainbow in the sky where they can make more
money ... Frankly, the owner, Peter Karmanos, is pretty far out
there." The state offered the Whalers a deal giving them control
of the Civic Center, but according to Lt. Gov. Jodi Rell,
sticking points were that the Whalers wanted a guarantee for the
equivalent revenue of selling 13,000 seats per game and an option
to move at the end of every season. Rowland: "Imagine if they
went out and did all this work for themselves over the last 10
years. We went out and sold more tickets in a two-month period
than they have been selling over the past two years" (HARTFORD
COURANT, 5/15).
AHOY CLEVELAND? In Toronto, David Shoalts floats Cleveland
as a possible destination for the Whalers, with team President &
GM Jim Rutherford acknowledging Ohio would be a good NHL market
(Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 5/15).
CIVIC DUTY? Focusing on Hartford, CNN's "Moneyline"
examined the role economic incentives play in "the sports
franchise relocation game" (CNN, 5/14).
