NHL Kings President Tim Leiweke said that despite their
move to Staples Center, the team will lose $5M this season,
according to Helene Elliott of the L.A. TIMES, who wrote
that the $5M loss is a "dramatic improvement" over its $20M
loss last season at the Great Western Forum. The deficit
will also drop if the team makes the playoffs. But Leiweke
is still concerned about the rising player salaries in the
league: "It's like saying cancer is going to kill me over a
year instead of over a week. At some point, it has to get
fixed. We're going to have to prove to players this is not
a mirage. It's reality. Or they're going to continue to
ignore reality and there will be Armageddon." Leiweke added
the team would have broken even "assuming the same
attendance" had it not acquired Ziggy Palffy and his $5M
annual salary from the Islanders. But he said that it
wouldn't "have as good a record or draw as well" without
Palffy. Leiweke said Staples Center is a success: "This is
not a real-estate play, despite what people say, that the
team was bought to build an arena. We are committed to
building a winning franchise" (L.A. TIMES, 1/25).
