Canada’s NHL teams facing money woes

Sitting here in the Canadian Rockies watching Hockey Night in Canada, one realizes how vital the NHL game still is in this home of hockey. However, the constant rattle in the news is still not positive about the NHL’s future in Canada or for other professional sports here.

The Ottawa Senators are for sale. Their owner has pleaded, begged, ranted and attacked trying to get tax dollars, or at least tax breaks, to keep the team afloat. He has not gotten all he wanted, so last week he put the young franchise up for sale.

CBC commentator and former Boston Bruins coach Don Cherry said Saturday the Senators will be in a U.S. city by next year.

The number one problem is the exchange rate over the past decade. The Canadian dollar is worth only 63 cents to the U.S. dollar. NHL players are paid in U.S. dollars. That is an enormous burden for Canadian teams.

Problem number two is the small Canadian markets. The advertising dollars and ticket buyers cannot even match the new NHL cities like Phoenix and San Jose.

Ottawa has arranged for tax breaks from the city and province, but not from the federal government. Properly, the federal officials say they cannot provide tax breaks for Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal. No such plan that covers all NHL teams, and maybe even the NBA and MLB franchises, exists.

Is this discussion even warranted? Why does the argument in Canada and the U.S. continue that public tax funds or tax waivers be granted to these private businesses that happen to be sports franchises?

The fact is not every city can support a professional franchise. Anaheim, Florida (Fort Lauderdale), the Islanders on Long Island, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, and Washington are all struggling in the NHL as a business. There is no public policy that justifies bailing them out with tax dollars, public bonding obligations or tax waivers.

These are business problems for both the franchises and the pro leagues. The Canadian dollar problem is an NHL problem, not a Canadian tax issue. The rising salary scales that can bankrupt teams is a private business problem. Inviting the public to help keep running those costs up is ludicrous.

Canada’s pro sports concerns extend to baseball (can Montreal succeed?), the NBA (Vancouver and Toronto are struggling) and the NFL (there is no market support for an NFL team). While the exchange rate looms large, Canada’s problems in major league sports underlie a greater problem that too many pro owners want to ignore.

When are pro sports franchises going to run their business as just that? Why is it that every fan knows that salaries are driving sports into the ground and owners just keep writing bigger checks? Why? Because in the end, the millionaire/billionaire owners who refuse to open all their tax books are making a fortune while they plead for tax dollars. They are the same owners who refuse to implement league-wide solutions to assist needy franchises.

They are the owners who will not assist fellow league capitalists, but never mind begging for public dollars. Pro sports are a business. Some make it, some don’t. Canada needs league help, not tax bailouts.

A brighter note, tonight Maine’s own Kariyas, Paul and Steve, meet when Vancouver plays at Anaheim. “We’ve never played against each other in a game other than ping-pong, what with the age difference,” Paul says.

NEWS columnist Gary Thorne, an Old Town native, is an ESPN and CBS broadcaster.