[LINK] Quebec and Winnipeg getting NHL teams and Toronto stealing a NFL team from New Orleans?

[rfmcdonald]

The prospect of Québec City and Winnipeg getting NHL teams almost two decades after they lost them, something I blogged about at History and Futility, seems somewhat stronger.

It’s by no means a slam dunk, a home run or even a wrist shot to the back of the net, but two self-confessed “jock economists” at the Conference Board of Canada appear to be cautiously making the business argument for bringing the National Hockey League back to Winnipeg and Quebec City.

A report released Wednesday argues clearly that the necessary factors — defined as market size; income levels; a strong corporate presence; and a level playing field — are not only present in the two cities, but are comparable to other Canadian cities with NHL franchises, and even better in some cases.

The caveat, of course, is that Winnipeg, which lost its beloved Jets in 1996 to Phoenix, and Quebec City, which saw its Nordiques head southwest to Colorado in 1995, remain small markets with a shallow corporate pool to draw from for season tickets and the big-revenue boxes.

“It’s a tough call,” admits Mario Lefebvre, director of the board’s centre for municipal studies and co-author of the report.

“This will take some fine planning; it will take some people working really hard behind the scenes, making sure that corporations are in for the long run.”

He says people in Quebec City have boasted to him about being able to sell corporate boxes before they even attract a team, let alone build the new arena that will be necessary to support an NHL franchise.

“That’s called frenzy of a new adventure,” Lefebvre says. “You are going to sell it for the first year, first two years, and who knows maybe even the first three years, but it’s the long-term dedication that you will need.”

According to Lefebvre and Glen Hodgson, a senior vice-president and chief economist at the Conference Board, populations in Quebec City and Winnipeg are large enough to support another professional sports franchise, and those people have the disposable income to pay for tickets.

The “level playing field” argument is perhaps the most compelling — part of what drove the Nordiques and the Jets out of Canada in the first place was the extremely low Canadian dollar, and rising salaries paid to players in U.S. dollars.

But with a salary cap taking care of one of those factors, and the loonie expected to stay at par with the U.S. dollar for the foreseeable future, “under these conditions, Quebec City and Winnipeg could compete with larger markets on an ongoing basis,” the report concludes.

Toronto city councillor Doug Ford's speculation about stealing the New Orleans Saints NFL team--the sort of thing that his brother, Mayor Rob Ford, wanted to get for Toronto somehow--is something that I apologize for to all Louisianans.

A Toronto city councillor has outraged NFL fans in New Orleans with comments about the team possibly moving to his city.

Doug Ford, brother of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, told a sports journalist this week that he was excited about the possibility of an NFL franchise relocating to north of the border. The brothers are known as big football fans — and big fans of the NFL.

Doug Ford told sports network The Score that he believed Toronto is in line for a franchise. But then he said, "Two teams are kind of in play here: Jacksonville’s number one; New Orleans is the other."

There was no reaction from Jacksonville, but fans of the 2010 Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints were outraged at the suggestion their team would pack up and move.

"Reports about the Saints as a potential team moving to Toronto are completely false," said Saints vice-president of communications Greg Bensel in an email. "The New Orleans Saints are committed to the city of New Orleans."

Ford was quick to apologize and say he was sorry. He said he had heard a rumour the Saints might be in difficulty and he should have been more careful.

"I apologize to all of the folks in New Orleans and Louisiana," he told the Times-Picayune. "After all the struggles they've been through, the last thing in the world we would want to do is take away the Saints."

Ford said he didn't appreciate the devotion Louisiana fans felt for their beloved Saints.

"Have they put me on the most-wanted list down there?" he was quoted as saying.

Gack.