With two days remaining in the Flames season-ticket
drive, the team is 148 tickets short of their goal of
14,000. Team ownership has said that if it doesn't sell
14,000 season tickets by tomorrow, it would put the team up
for sale. The team sold a total of 425 season tickets
yesterday, as Molson Canada and local hockey fans helped to
raise C$258,961 in the "I Am Keeping The Flames Alive"
campaign, surpassing their original goal of C$200,000.
Molson will now use the money raised to purchase 300 season
tickets for the 2000-01 season (Flames). In Calgary,
Cameron Maxwell writes that Molson "scored a late power-play
goal" with its contribution stemming from the C$1 donation
from every 12 of its beers sold in the last month (see THE
DAILY, 5/19). Maxwell adds that the team is "set to make a
big announcement this afternoon and speculation is it's a
sponsor" for the Saddledome or perhaps a new sponsor for
club seats to replace Chrysler (CALGARY SUN, 6/29).
OPINIONS BREWING: Molson CEO Dan O'Neill, in an
interview with Montreal's CBC Radio, "tried again yesterday
to calm fears" the Canadiens will be moved from Montreal now
that the team has been put up for sale. O'Neill: "I think
there's a degree of risk there. But to us, and to the
Molson family more importantly, this is something that's
part of the culture and something we can't let go" (CP,
6/29). Also in Montreal, Jack Todd lists BCE, Videotron,
Quebecor, CanWest Global and Rogers Communications as
potential suitors of the team, as each company is "capable
of taking this team places it was never going to go with a
beer company calling the shots." Todd: "In recent years,
the Canadiens have seemed hopelessly out of step even with
their own league." Todd adds that Canadiens President
Pierre Boivin "understands" that Molson "has not begun to
exploit the possibilities inherent" in the "CH" logo, and
"he sees the path to the future" (Montreal GAZETTE, 6/29).
In Toronto, William Houston cites "industry oddsmakers" who
make BCE the "favourite" to buy the team. BCE "would use
the Canadiens ... as content for media properties that
include" TSN, RDS -- the French-language "equivalent" of TSN
-- and future cybercasting (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 6/29).
One analyst said the sale of the Canadiens could "net"
Molson about C$60M after taxes (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 6/29).
In Toronto, Jeffrey Simpson doesn't "blame" Molson for
selling. He lists the NHL's "three challenges," and adds
they are "getting more acute." First, the sport is "far
less attractive" on the ice than it could be, second, the
"share of revenue to players has become too high and must be
reduced to the levels in other" pro sports, and third, the
NHL "has no effective means of revenue-sharing among teams."
NHL owners "not only signed" the CBA "they now complain
about, but they agreed to extend it," while the NHLPA "has
been "completely unhelpful in the debate about the plight"
of Canadian teams, and it "just seems intent on protecting
the players' gains" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 6/29).
