I was a little taken aback this morning when I read in the Stockton Record that the City of Stockton, or shall we say the City Manager (since it seems from the article that none of the elected officials on council were aware of what was going on), is attempting to cobble together a way to purchase the Stockton Thunder hockey team from owner Michael Reinsdorf. The excuse is that because they feel they have an unfavorable lease that the city can then either keep the team or re-sell it to ownership with a lease agreement that is favorable to the city. The only person on council who opposed it immediately was uber-left councilwoman Susan Eggman.
As many of you know, I am a rabid hockey fan. I have also been an active participant in the debates over public financing of sports teams and facilities. It is a much easier case to make in spending public dollars for facilities than it is to actually BUY a franchise.
The interesting side to this story is the dramatic success of the Stockton Thunder hockey franchise that has become the crown jewel of the ECHL with attendance that other franchises could only hope for. This success has led the ownership to upgrade not only the quality of players and staff but to associate with an NHL franchise (Edmonton) for a quality stream of prospects to make sure that paying customers continue to be paying customers during an economic downturn.
Now that hindsight is 20-20 for those in government and the guidance of ownership (led by former Stockton Councilman Dan Chapman) has led to a successful business the city wants to either get its hands on the money or lower their exposure with a lease favorable to ownership that was needed originally since the restoration of downtown Stockton was still in it’s infancy. At the time, the investors needed a solid reward incentive to take what was a big risk that many people said would not work. Just a couple questions come to mind.
Will possible lower demand for tickets and a suddenly modified lease destroy the re-sale value of the franchise if the city buys and tried to re-sell it? Will bonds be issued to buy a team when the city already is having major issues with revenue shortfalls? What if the city takes a bath on the re-sale value of the franchise?
The lack of a strong voice from the conservative members of council is disheartening as owning a sports team would not seem to be a role of government we should encourage. Stockton’s groundbreaking hockey franchise should be allowed to continue to thrive without the interference from local bureaucrats.