“In the fall of 2017, when we celebrate the 100th birthday of the NHL, we will do so as a League of 31 teams,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “We are pleased to welcome Bill Foley and the city of Las Vegas to the League and are truly excited that an NHL franchise will be the first major professional sports team in this vibrant, growing, global destination city.”

“Foley paid the $500 million expansion fee to bring NHL hockey to Las Vegas, and the announcement is the culmination of two years of hard work that included a successful season-ticket drive to prove local interest.”

With that report, I begin my open letter to current NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and new Las Vegas hockey club owner Bill Foley…

Dear Gary and Bill:

You don’t know me, but maybe you should.

I realize why you jumped into the Las Vegas market and I’m proud.

I remember fifteen years ago when your old partner, Fox Television was struggling with their primetime lineup. Their top rated show was The Simpsons and it was ranked 39th for the four major networks. Along came the pitch for American Idol. All of the networks were pitched — ABC, NBC, CBS. They all said “no.” Fox said “we need a hit” “we need something different. Fox said “yes.” And did they ever get a hit (* – see ratings at the bottom). I know you are trying to do what the other three big sports have shunned over the years: bring a major sport to Sin City.

I am not so sure, however, if Las Vegas is the jackpot you are seeking. But here’s what’s happening to your sport right now…

…the Stanley Cup Final, with arguably the best player in your league in Sidney Crosby? Nobody watched.

You’re losing ground, big-time, to soccer, which is now on five networks. Interest has never been higher with networks bidding left and right for the rights to games. Soccer video sales through the roof. Soccer buzz off the charts. Soccer media coverage at an all-time high. In all aspects, it’s blown past hockey. The truth is, as painful as someone who has grown up around the rink, nobody wants hockey.

Even the UFC is getting bigger (or already is) than hockey. They create stars with every event (Connor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, Meisha Tate, Nate Diaz). People pay $50 to $90 per event on pay-per-view to watch their monthly fight cards. As many people that paying to watch the UFC are watching the NHL payoff games for free. ESPN and FOX are already preparing bids to televise the UFC when the contracts come up in 2018. UFC has also blown past hockey in terms of relevance.

What’s the solution? Las Vegas, of course.

Vegas is where you go to spice things up. It’s where you go to spice up your marriage, your relationships, your bachelor parties, your conventions…and your hockey.

You needed to make some noise and it makes you willing to roll the dice. You needed to get their first. You have a state-of-the-art facility in the T-Mobile Arena. Major League Soccer has explored putting a team there. The NFL has been talking about the Raiders to Vegas for months. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has publicly advocated regulating professional sports betting. Even Major League Baseball, who remains scarred by gambling scandals has talked about Vegas in the last week. You simply said, hmmmmmm, Quebec City or Las Vegas? No brainer, let’s beat them all to the punch. Las Vegas it is.

I know you are pleased with a few things. Gary, that $500 million expansion fee will please your 30 other owners. And Billy, you have to be thrilled about the 14,000 fans that have placed deposits on season tickets and the prospects of working with MGM Resorts (who built T-Mobile Arena) on providing comp tickets to fill the place up each night. But these are short-term solutions.

Guys, please give The Media Guy a call. I sketched out five-year plan for the growth of hockey in the desert. I learned from the great Jack Kent Cooke about what NOT to do for hockey in the Sunbelt states and since garnered a couple of CLIOs and Emmys, along with nine or so Telly Awards.

Not to brag, but I can help.

You need more than just a hockey guy to navigate through the expansion draft. You need another perspective. This is where I come in. Let me share this with you.

The future Las Vegas Ice Crew?

As a freebie, I am throwing some ideas, courtesy of the Idea Man in Training, my son Josh. While he aspires to be the first Academy Award winner that becomes an FBI agent, he has a unique insight into the souls of youthful America.

Here is some of his vision to connect with the fans:

• The goal horn. They could be super original and not have a horn, and instead have a man scream “Jackpot” and have the sound of coins falling out of the slot machine.
• The logo could be very simple — an “LV” crossing a pile of chips and cards. (I don’t feel like it should be too complex as the best logos in the NHL are simple but powerful…the Kings, Blackhawks, Penguins.) I also don’t feel they should hammer home the fact they’re a hockey team like the Sharks do by shoehorning a stick into the logo.
• The Ice crew should dress like the showdancers Las Vegas has.
• National Anthem. Since Vegas has a lot of famous singers, they could work out a deal with them and have a rotating cycle of the performers there singing the national anthem.
• The mascot should be an animal or a being not in the NHL already. It should stand out in a sense, but also embody the wild hectic nature of Las Vegas. Maybe a sphinx or a Flamingo because they’re showy colorful and bright similar to Las Vegas.
• The puck shouldn’t be like any normal puck. It should literally just look like poker chip.
• Get the Blue Man Group to perform pre-game, turn the plaza outside T-Mobile into an outdoor club before, during, and after the game. Go the whole nine yards with a DJ and free-flowing alcohol.

Maybe you like these ideas, maybe you don’t. I will reveal the points addressed in my five-year plan when we meet; most you probably already realize, but do not know how to overcome them. After all, being an investment tycoon is different than reaching the hockey fan and the fan-at-large simultaneously. Hockey is not diverse in an ever-increasing diverse world. The product is not good on television, when sports these days is all about TV. Nobody bets the sport in an increasingly betting-centric country. And, it’s very expensive and few play it. Yes, there’s work to do!

Let’s roll up our sleeves one afternoon and dig into the plan.

You won’t regret it.

And, please, even if you won’t call, don’t let the fans name your team in some silly contest. You’ll wind up with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim or something like that. No one wants that.

I look forward to your call.

Warm regards,
MICHAEL

Michael Lloyd, The Media Guy

Mr. Bettman…Call me!

The post An Open Letter to the NHL appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

It seems that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been a media darling since it was founded. President Dana White is everything the pundits want. From straightforward answers, to matching the best fighters to organizational transparency, White is the complete package. But event disaster struck this week as the UFC 151 card cancelled its lucrative pay-per-view event for the very first time in its history.

I was part of the drama-filled conference as White explained his decision…

Dana White: This is probably one of my all-time lows as being President of the UFC over the last 11 years. For the first time in 11 years we’re gonna cancel an event. This Saturday’s fight at Mandalay Bay is being cancelled. Dan Henderson has a partial tear in his MCL and couldn’t continue. He tried to train. He tried to continue to work out. He saw doctors and there was nothing we could do to save that fight. One of the things that you guys have heard me brag about a million times, how UFC doesn’t have to cancel events, we can always find a replacement. For somebody to fight Jon Jones on eight days’ notice is tough to do, but to be totally honest with you guys, one guy did. Not only when we called him did he say, ‘I’ll take the fight,’ he said, ‘I’ll fly to Las Vegas tonight and fight him,” and that was Chael Sonnen. Chael Sonnen accepted the fight with Jon Jones, wanted the fight bad. As of 8-9 o’clock last night, we had a fight. We here at the UFC started working, creating different commercials, PR started to crank up. I was gonna do this call and obviously it was gonna be a different call this morning but the one thing that I never thought in a million years would happen, happened. Jon Jones said, ‘I’m not fighting Chael Sonnen with eight days notice.” Again, something that’s never happened in UFC history. A guy who’s a world champion and considered one of the pound-for-pound best turns down a fight. That has never happened either. So right now what’s happening is this fight is cancelled. It’ll be Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida on Saturday September 22nd on the Toronto, Canada card at UFC 152.

Q: Did light heavyweight champion Jon Jones know what would happen if he turned down the Chael Sonnen fight?

DW: Believe me, I haven’t slept at all since last night. [Jon Jones] has been hit with some options. He knows what the consequences were and what would happen.

Q: Did Lyoto Machida get the call to step in as well?

DW: When it was going down and we were trying to make the fight, Machida was actually in the air, then landed in a connector fight for Brazil. He was already gone. He was in the air. I can accept that. I can accept why Machida didn’t take the fight. Completely different circumstances. Completely different story. When [Jon Jones] got the call he said, ‘I’ve got to sit down and talk to my coaches.’ His coach Greg Jackson says there’s no way you take this fight. You don’t take this fight on eight days’ notice. It would be the biggest mistake of your entire career. Wow. Chael Sonnen is a 185-pounder who wants to move up to 205 who hasn’t trained a day for this fight and the fight is in eight days and he says he’ll fly to Vegas tonight the supposed pound-for-pound third best fighter in the world, the world champion. How much faith do you have in your champion and your guy? I literally just bumped into Greg Jackson the other day and I was kinda joking around about some of the things I’ve said. I’ll tell you what. I’ll go on the record saying this guy is a fucking sport-killer. This guy is from another planet. I’ve never even seen anything like it in my life.

Q: What about Dan Henderson’s injury?

DW: He’s got a partial tear in his MCL. He’d like a little more time to take this fight but we can’t be in the same position. We can’t be sitting around all worried about if Dan can be ready for the 22nd and he said the same thing. We’ll see what happens. It’s not like Dan has to go in and he needs surgery but he’s got a tear in his MCL and he has problems with lateral movement and some other positions so he couldn’t do the fight. Jon Jones is in shape and he’s ready to go. Machida is next in line and Dan’s hurt so that’s the fight that’s gonna happen. It’s in Jon Jones’ head that he didn’t prepare for this guy. I don’t know know, man. In the history of the UFC, Tito’s been the most difficult guy in the history of the company since I’ve been here and Tito Ortiz didn’t not take fights.

Q: How will Jon Jones’ image be affected and what are your feeling on his ‘business-like’ approach to fighting?

DW: I don’t think it’s great. The first fight ever cancelled in UFC history since we owned the company and the first champion to ever turn down a match. Let me tell you what. (laughs) I always laugh when I hear a fighter say, “I’m a businessman.” No you’re not. You’re a fighter. You see moves like this and other things where if they were real businessmen, we wouldn’t be having this conference call right now.

Q: Will Dan Henderson still be the number one contender when he comes back?

DW: You know how that always works. Look at Rashad. If you don’t get that shot right when it’s there and available, all kinds of crazy things can happen, or maybe it will be available right when he comes back. Who knows? I can’t answer that question.

Q: Why did you decided to scrap the entire event:?

DW: Because we’re eight, seven, I don’t know how many days away we are to the fight and this thing went right down to the wire right before we got on this call. We don’t have time. We’re strapped for time. If Dan Henderson would have gotten hurt two weeks’ ago, this would have been a different story. But eight days and Jon Jones acting like this and all this other bullshit, we can’t do it.

Q: How does this change your relationship with Jon Jones:?

DW: A lot. Jon Jones has been one of these guys with as much as he’s won and all the things he’s accomplished in a short amount of time, he burst onto the scene a year and a half ago. He’s ripped though the top guys. He’s been a champion that hasn’t been very popular, you know? I don’t think this is going to do wonders for his popularity. As far as his relationship with us, me and Lorenzo are both disgusted.

Q: ehat are the ramifications of cancelling the show:

DW: It’s a major, major deal. We lose shitloads of money, money that’s already been spent. We’re eight days out. We spent shitloads of money on this fight. I could sit here and we’ve been talking about it all morning about how far this goes and how bad it hurts but I don’t know because we’ve never done it. I don’t know what I don’t know yet.

Q: What about ticket refunds and the financial backlash?

DW: They’ll get refunded. Just if you were going to a boxing match or a concert and the thing got cancelled. You call Ticketmaster and everything gets refunded. Cancel your flights and hopefully everything is refundable and you can switch them to Toronto or another fight if you want to. {The financial backlash], it’s huge. The prelims were gonna air on FX and all the marketing that’s been spent. We don’t play. We spent some money. We’ve got billboards in Time Square, New York, all the money. You’ve seen television ads that’ve been running. The list goes on and on. It’s a massive, massive hit.

Q: What are your feelings about Greg Jackson

DW: I’m very confused by his whole fucking business plan. I don’t give a shit what Greg Jackson thinks. This guy is a fucking weirdo man. Turning down a fucking fight, saying if he doesn’t turn down a fight with Chael Sonnen it would be the biggest mistake of his entire career because he’s not ready for that guy? Greg Jackson should never be interviewed by anybody ever again except by a psychiatrist.

That’s a wrap. Thanks for stopping by!

The post MGS Chat: UFC President Dana White appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.