In Winnipeg, Greg Lawless reports “details of the NHL’s new financing package to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix are beginning to leak out and the package could be brought to City of Glendale council for a vote next Tuesday” (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 5/5). YAHOO SPORTS’ Nicholas Cotsonika noted a decision on the Coyotes “will come to a conclusion soon, one way or another,” but NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman “still won’t say how soon.” Bettman insisted that the league was “still fighting and would keep fighting to the finish, whenever that is, sometime before the league releases its schedule" for the '11-12 season this summer. Bettman: “We believe that under the right circumstances, franchises should be able to work where they are. There may come a point in time where, for a variety of factors, we can’t make it work, but that doesn’t mean you don’t try” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/4).
NOTHING TO REPORT: In Atlanta, Tim Tucker notes Atlanta Spirit co-Owner Michael Gearon Jr. “reports limited progress” on the sale of the Thrashers “more than two months after declaring a ‘sense of urgency’ to find a buyer or investors who would keep” the team in the city. Gearon: “There are some people we are talking to, but nothing that is far enough along at this stage that it deserves further comment.” Since February, Atlanta Spirit has had “at least preliminary talks with several individuals or groups interested in buying the Thrashers and keeping them in Atlanta.” Some parties also have “expressed interest in the Spirit’s other holdings: the Hawks and the Philips Arena operating rights.” But there is “no indication that a deal is close with any of the parties.” Gearon: “There is still a sense of urgency, and that has not changed one bit” (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 5/5).
SECURE ON THE HOME FRONT: Browns President Mike Holmgren yesterday denied a report that Senior VP/Security Lew Merletti “would be reassigned" to Brooklyn Holdings LLC, the investment firm of team Owner Randy Lerner. Holmgren said that the team is "incorporating some changes in its security department, but Merletti would remain in charge of the department.” Holmgren did note that “one change involves moving" Browns VP/Security Carl Meyer from the team’s HQs in Berea, Ohio, to an office in Cleveland Browns Stadium (CLEVELAND.com, 5/4).
UNDER REVIEW: After EPL club Arsenal raised season-ticket prices by 6.5% for the '11-12 season, CEO Ivan Gazidis “promised a wholesale review of the entire ticket pricing structure at the Emirates, already one of the most expensive stadiums in Europe, in time" for '12-13. In a letter to the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust, Gazidis wrote, "I share your concerns that ordinary fans are being increasingly priced out of live football. This is bad for the continued health of the game." But he noted that "prices have been held flat since the move" to the Emirates in '06, and that the price increase includes the 2.5% value added tax the U.K. government introduced at the beginning of the year (GUARDIAN, 5/5).
MAKING A STATEMENT: In Dallas, Jean-Jacques Taylor notes the Rangers yesterday announced the signing of Cuban prospect Leonys Martin, sending "yet another signal to the rest of MLB ... that they have no intention of being a one-hit wonder." The Rangers “intend to go anywhere and everywhere to sign quality prospects such as Martin," and with “big-money owners Ray Davis and Bob Simpson, the Rangers have the financial backing to close deals when an opportunity presents itself” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/5).
