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Tech Check
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Tonight we got word from our Sports Reporter Darren Rovell that the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes are filing bankruptcy, and a press release from the club says Research in Motion's Jim Balsillie is ready to snap up the team for over $200 million.
Now, back in September I asked Jim Balsillie about his strong desire to purchase an NHL team despite becoming a pariah to so many other NHL owners. As well as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.
I wrote then that Balsillie had been "Jonesing for an NHL team for the past several years."
It looked like he would close a deal for the financially strapped Pittsburgh Penguins. When that didn't work out, he started to focus on the Nashville Predators. Then it was the Buffalo Sabres.
Last summer, Sports Business Daily reported that Balsillie "has annoyed many of the 30 team owners and probably wouldn't be approve as an owner even if he was willing to overpay for a team." One owner said, "Jim scares most of us." "Legally too aggressive." "Treats his effort to get a team too corporately instead of realizing this is a club."
There was a thought that maybe Balsillie's problems stem from his Canadian citizenship, that he would buy an American team and relocate them North.
So I asked him whether there was any update. First, he told me, "I think all your viewers know that hockey is the greatest game in the whole wide world. It's actually not a game. It's a religion. So I think you can understand it's a religious obligation to be involved in the game. It's fun, it's a passion. I play it regularly. I played it Friday night, and I'll play a couple of times this week. It's passion."
If some owners think he's treating his play for an NHL team too "corporately," that seems to ignore his passion. Which is certainly legit.
I then suggested that his non-answer answer suggested he was out of the running for a team. He laughed and said absolutely not. "I get a lot of calls. My powder's dry. Come what may."
I asked back then, "So, a deal isn't imminent? "We'll see tomorrow. You never know. I'm very active."
I also asked him about the perceived, personal animosity between him and NHL commissioner Bettman. "There's nothing personal with the commissioner," he tells me. "He's trying to do his job well."
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AP Blackberry Storm |
Since then, RIM shares [RIMM
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] have been through the ringer, but they have staged a Herculean recovery since March 9, and surging huge over the last month. Balsillie's fortune has since recovered as well, making the $200 million Coyotes' price tag far more affordable.
Causing a Storm, with a Bold move as he Flips from one NHL team to the next, throwing owners a Curve by settling on the bankrupt Coyotes, and now in position to turn a financial grain of sand into what could become a Pearl. The move for the Coyotes shouldn't surprise anyone; with the various names of BlackBerry in the market already, Balsillie's been telegraphing his moves all along.
Now the question for all sides: Does Balsillie get to bring his new purchase home to Canada, as he has been desperate to do, or does Phoenix get to keep its struggling club?
Stay tuned!
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes