Just watched the 30 pre-game show on Hockey Night in Canada before the Toronto vs Pittsburgh game. It available if you get the NHL Centre Ice package. For the hockey newbies here, the Pittsburgh Penquins are flirting with the idea of moving to Kansas City as they currently play in a 45 year old building, the oldest in the NHL. Fast Forward to Jan 20 @ 6.30pm EST. and I paraphrase...................................... "a new arena is being built in Kansas City Missouri, an oxi-moron to most Canadians who assume Kansas City is in fact in Kansas, the city borders a river and is across two states. A new arena called the Sprint Center is being built and will be ready for the 2007-08 NHL season. It will have indoor soccer with the Kansas City Comets but is looking for an big league anchor tenant from the NHL or NBA, they are leaning towards the Pittsburgh Penquins who are out of a lease in Pennsylvania in 2007 and..................................................blah blah blah all hockey talk." The HNIC team did an interview with the KC arena management and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Probably the first time something like a indoor story might be broke on HNIC but MISL will take it.
This is good news. Thanks Paul. Isn't that Tim Leiwike guy with AEG FROM the MISL? I think he worked with one or more of the teams in the 80s. Anyonre remember?
Are we sure this was fact and not wishful presumption? I know the party line is the Comets will be back, but.... Maybe it is fact...I dunno.
Could be that or lazy reporting or an assumption. Someone thinks they heard from someone that that would be happening, or they read it somewhere that it might happen, and they figure their audience isn't going to know enough one way or another to call them on it. Don't know. Hope it's true. We could use another team and another nice new arena.
Anshutz Entertainment Group They own the LA Kings(NHL), Chicago Fire and LA Galaxy (MLS), LA Riptide(MLL), other minor teams aswell not just in the US; and they also run(but not own) other teams and Arenas like the Staples Center.
Basically, AEG promised the folks in Kansas City they'd come up with a tenant for the new arena by hook or by crook. There's little chance they're going to get an NBA team. The Penguins coming into play gives them hope, but if they can't pull that off (and it's far from a done-deal as these things usually are not simple), they have to put something in there. It'd only be 15 dates, but it would be a start. What we don't know is who'd own the Comets if they came back. I know Kincaid is a Kansas City guy and rich, but he didn't see the economics working before, I doubt they're significantly better now, even with a new arena.
I'll bet that our Stevie-Boy is pitching AEG into running the team. I can't imagine that Kincaid wants to return.
He can pitch them all he wants. Lieweke was already quoted as pretty much saying he didn't even want the Comets in the new arena (under the old regime before they folded).
Can't slip anything by you! I don't have a link, but it was in the KC Star. It was along the lines of "Good-bye and good luck."
You would think that, but arenas (at least claim they) lose money on a lot of minor league sports teams and would rather use those days for family shows and concerts. It's expensive to operate an arena and if a team is drawing less than 5,000 a game (which is the case here and then some), the arena will lose money unless they charge a hefty rental.
In which case it would be funny, but not necessarily the first time that someone wished Tim wouldn't speak in public, if they were stuck with an MISL team as their only team tenant next winter.
AEG was already "pitched" about owning an MISL team in the summer of 2004 when they were offered, and turned down, the Steamers.
Tim Leiwicke has been in LA sports since the late 80's at least. I knew him when he has managing media relations for the Kings when McNall owned the team. He's a pretty straight up and credible guy. If he said it, it's most likely true.