Canucks Owner John McCaw reported a loss of C$36.6M on
revenue of C$54.8M for the 12 months that ended June '98, a
year in which the team failed to make the playoffs,
according to Schreiner & Damsell of the FINANCIAL POST.
That compares with a loss in the previous year of C$21.2M on
revenue of C$56.6M. Northwest Sports President & CEO
Stephen Bellringer "warned" that McCaw "will need another
injection of cash from its biggest shareholder to stay
solvent." McCaw owns Orca Bay Sports & Entertainment, the
firm that owns the Grizzlies and GM Place and controls 86%
of Northwest Sports, which owns the Canucks. Since taking
over Northwest Sports in '94, McCaw has spent C$68M
"financing losses," partly through issuing 35,000 preferred
shares of the subsidiary Vancouver Hockey Club Ltd. to
himself for C$35M in cash. Bellringer said that "the poor
results will continue" and is "forecasting a loss of
between" C$20-25M for the current FY (FINANCIAL POST,
11/11). In Toronto, Grant Kerr notes that sources "estimate
that McCaw has invested at least" C$275M into "his Vancouver
sports empire" since '95 (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 11/11). In
Toronto, Jim Taylor writes that the NBA lockout "is a double
whammy" for McCaw because "it costs his GM Place game nights
for his basketball operation" (TORONTO SUN, 11/11).
IN FOR THE LONG HAUL? In Toronto, Grant Kerr writes
that McCaw "apparently remains committed" to the Canucks
"despite rising debt." Bellringer: "I think his thought
pattern is to continue to support this team. If he had a
financial partner, certainly from a psychological point of
view, that would help" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 11/11).
Bellringer: "He's made it very clear ... he would be quite
willing to take on a sound financial partner" (CP, 11/11).
NEXT STEP? In Toronto, Jim Taylor, on the Canucks'
current financial situation: "Too bad. Shut them down."
More Taylor: "The business has to change. Costs have to
drop. Salaries have to be hauled back to reality" (TORONTO
SUN, 11/11). In Edmonton, John Short writes that NHLPA Exec
Dir Bob Goodenow "may be called upon -- and soon -- to
protect the owners from themselves, and all of hockey from
financial ruin." Short adds that it's "amazing" that
Goodenow and others still focus "almost exclusively" on
small Canadian markets while the Hurricanes "may be in worse
shape than either Pittsburgh or Long Island, and all are in
worse shape than any Canadian franchise." Short: "Write it
down: hockey owners are reaping unhappily the crop they once
planted so arrogantly" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 11/11).
