*Nice touch for the Tampa Bay Lightning to stage a town hall meeting for the general public and to include season ticket holders at the press conference for the Vinny Lecavalier contract extension. Even if some media regulars couldn’t find seats.
As one fan at the over-flowing, 3:30 press conference noted, “I think there were a lot of season-ticket holders with last-minute doctor’s appointments.”
*Lecavalier was probably the Bay Area’s most popular bachelor even before inking that 11-year, $85-million contract. Another update: His personal entourage included his parents and his actress-girlfriend — but not fiancée — Caroline Portelance.
*Under the new ownership team of Oren Koules and Len Barrie, the Lightning have certainly been as “shockingly aggressive” in the marketplace as promised. And such aggression means millions of dollars for free agents, number-one draft pick Steve Stamkos and Lightning avatar Lecavalier.
A lot of folks, including some in the organization, are still incredulous about the spending spree. Mind you, this is the NHL, which doesn’t have a big-time TV contract to keep its franchises out of the red. This isn’t the quasi-socialist NFL, where even teams that put out a poor product make a handsome profit. And this is a franchise that the former owners, Palace Sports and Entertainment, said couldn’t make money unless it went deep into the playoffs. And even then, the payoff was no windfall.
So, what’s the financial context for owners who, with financing, shelled out $200 million for a team, the St. Pete Times Forum lease and 5.5 acres of adjacent real estate?
“We will mitigate losses and run it as a business,” said owner Oren Koules, which is relevant only if the previous owners didn’t do that very well. He wouldn’t go there.
But Koules, an informal, accessibly friendly sort who looks a lot younger than his 47 years, did indicate the bigger picture: “Asset appreciation,” he intoned.
Which sounds like a long-term commitment to this market, something he underscored when the Lightning sale was finalized earlier this summer. Another indication: Koules is still seriously house-hunting and ready to trade in his hotel reservations.