Blue Jackets Owner Reportedly Would Consider Selling Franchise

Blue Jackets Claim Lease Agreement Causing $12M In Losses Per Season

Blue Jackets Majority Owner John McConnell "would consider selling the Blue Jackets if a financial remedy isn't found," according to NHL sources cited by Aaron Portzline of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH. The sources said that McConnell is "more willing to consider a sale than" his father, late Blue Jackets Majority Owner John H. McConnell, though McConnell "has not returned a message" seeking comment. The Blue Jackets "claim losses of at least $12[M] per season because of their lease agreement with Nationwide Arena," but team officials and NHL sources insisted that the Blue Jackets "aren't likely to be on the move." Blue Jackets President Mike Priest: "I have full confidence that we have the support it takes in this town to find a solution. ... But having said that there are no guarantees." Portzline noted the team "would have many hurdles to clear before it could leave." The Blue Jackets "would have to buy their way out of their lease agreement with Nationwide Arena," and it is "unclear whether there is such a provision in the contract, or how much it would cost to exercise such a 'buyout' clause, but it's typically tens of millions of dollars" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 11/7). In N.Y., Larry Brooks wrote the Blue Jackets are the latest NHL team to "need the public to chip in their tax dollars in order to ensure that the privately owned franchise that caps its employees' wages remains in place." Brooks: "The NHL is filled with franchises that simply cannot produce enough revenue to thrive and please, please, let's not always blame 'the lease'" (N.Y. POST, 11/8).