Tag Archives: Mubadala

Find us a replacement Cash Cow!

Posted on March 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

Who’s kidding who?

Daryl Katz has said that the tax base would provide revenue from the new Edmonton Arena into “perpetuity”.

Let’s go south, way south, and ask  Glendale, AZ  if they could do it all over again would they have taken ownership of the arena that has the bondholders holding them hostage? And, I know you are sick of this question, but we are going to keep asking it until we get an answer – - who the heck are the arena bondholders at Jobing.com?

The financing for the Edmonton Arena District is also a big question. The mayor wants to approve it, but has he and council been given enough details to make a real decision? To look at the opportunity and true costs? To consider how this affects their model for City growth?

Who the heck do these boys from the NHL think they are coming into town like gangsters looking for “protection money” and holding the Oilers fans hostage? The city is obviously hockey mad. And to add to the experience, the Rexall arena is apparently a great cozy place to take in the game.

If you want to compare a similar mistake, head over to the ACC in Toronto and compare the feeling you got at  Maple Leaf Gardens of old to the new, improved giant. Memories and Dreams has been replaced by, “wow, we are way up here aren’t we?”

But, despite it all, the Rexall Place lease is up in 2014, and they will not be renewing their lease. They will simply not be playing there, according to Gary Bettman. It’s too small potatoes for the vision of greatness and those confusing “revenue streams” that are so important. The big question remains who gets the biggest revenue streams? And, is the stream of cash going offshore?

For the 2009/10 season average attendance at Rexall was 16,839. With capacity at 17,100, we are close to filling the place, but not overburdened at Rexall. Gary Bettman sees it a problem that true hockey fans represent 60% of attendance – - individuals that is. I say where’s the problem? Hockey is for individuals. The Coyotes under the Gretzky Project could not find businesses to buy into the corporate game, and that was the telltale kiss of death. If there were enough individuals in love with hockey in Phoenix it might stand a chance.

How is it perceived that Edmonton will find more fans to pay even more than they are now?

Both the fans and residents will no doubt be paying large to fund the new digs.

There are examples of taxpayer nightmares all over the NHL wasteland, and the road show has now been taken north because the roadkill of the south is starting to stink in the heat.

In Columbus, the owners followed the lead of the NHL and built the private boxes and the new arena, and they still lost money. The answer from the NHL we will learn below, was to tap into the community as a whole.

Is it all about the big money surrounding financing?

Why pressure Edmonton now?

It’s easy to see the lure to exploit a city making some money, and where people have some pretty good jobs.

It’s time to take Alberta’s current economic boom and dip into the trough of dough of the City of Edmonton. But it should be understood they are a little tight, and in debt themselves. The City’s  AAA rating hasn’t been ravaged by the aggressive aspirations that ruined the City of Glendale. We all know they are now one of the most debt-burdened cities in the entire U.S.

Edmonton would be wise to ensure they don’t go down that road on promises backed by hot air.

Unfortunately we have seen that once the city takes on the gamble, the fiasco in the desert of Arizona has proven that the finance pitbulls aren’t going to release the death grip. They will call the shots, and the municipality and the league will have to react and keep them happy. Common sense and what is good for the game will not be at the control of those supposedly in charge of bringing a game for the benefit of the fans. Options, options and more options!

What else could be behind Bettman and the NHL dragging their heels and bending over backwards for a team that by merit needs to relocate?

Is it those pesky financiers of the Jobing.com arena? Yeah, it’s got to be a rhetorical question, n’est-ce pas?

Important here is the  capacity of Edmonton to weather the storm of a potential similar mistake. Where do they stand financially going into this  critical, and ill-informed decision ?:

The City is projecting that the tax-supported debt burden grew by 60% in 2009 to $878 million, or $1,123 per capita, with ongoing capital projects pushing the burden to roughly $1,800 per capita by the end of 2011. Although this represents a significant increase and further squeezes the budget due to debt servicing requirements, DBRS views the burden as potentially manageable provided the City continues to exhibit fiscal discipline. However, Edmonton will have consumed most of its room to manoeuvre within the current rating category. Beyond 2011, the outlook for capital spending and debt is less certain. DBRS notes that any material increase beyond the current tax-supported debt forecast would likely apply notable downward pressure to the rating.

A decent credit rating and some room for more debt makes them a target for abuse.

Who are the real investors and bondholders and developers behind this mega project? Will they be hidden from public view and scrutiny as in the case in Glendale, AZ?

It’s my ball, and if you don’t play my way, I’m taking my ball home

Or, as Darcy Olsen would say, Gary Bettman is playing hide the ball.

I must apologize to Darcy Olsen of the Goldwater Institute, I didn’t realize she was a lady, and a sharp cookie at that!

She can be seen here discussing the issues of the Constitution with Judge Andrew Napolitano. I think Gary Bettman must wonder how the whole country wasn’t in on the taxpayer tapping party, and the Constitution it would seem is a roadblock, at least in Phoenix, to the sports leagues ability to squeeze the taxpayers more:

It’s almost too much research to do, but we don’t have to dig hard to scratch the evidence even at the surface.

When Ross Perot Jr. and Tom Hicks took on the Victory Park Project in Dallas, it wasn’t long before their vision of world-class venues and offices, and apartments went caflooey.

How about Columbus and their “arena district”. How have they done? Gone “world class?” Well:

Priest said he met with National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly more than a year ago and presented the team’s business plan, wondering how, despite decent ticket sales and corporate sponsorships, the team was still losing so much money. The league’s response: The team isn’t making as much money off the arena as other clubs.

It’s all about taxation folks. Quick, simple. Hockey doesn’t make money without taxing residents of a city. Is the verdict in that it brings in more than it takes away?

Perot and Hicks’ Victory Park – promises, promises

Read up on Dallas’ Victory Park and make your own decision. The game seems to be the same. Someone somewhere is making money, but it is not because the developments have been successful.

And why should they be when the coercion cart was put before the development horse?

The people making decisions were not experts in land use planning, but sales agents for sports leagues, and the NHL seems to be a driver. The real money is holding the debt that is backed by the city’s taxpayers.

Tom Hicks is losing or lost most sports teams so why is he still on the finance audit committee and Vice Chairman of the NHL ?

Where’s the real set of books when teams from all over are charging less for a nosebleed seat than most people can see a movie for?

A team is only “unsustainable” for as long as it takes to get them to build an arena.

And we haven’t gotten to the title of this article yet. Show me the new money.

How much you want to bet that Winnipeg sees hockey only if Edmonton builds the arena district? Otherwise, the NHL will “exercise” other options. And those options will include putting the Coyotes in a place where sooner or later an arena district will be needed.

Winnipeg, you made a mistake in having an arena all ready for the team.

The options the NHL is considering may have more to do with finding the replacement cash cow for a bunch of rich dudes in a place where sand is everywhere.

If Edmonton isn’t Glendale’s replacement opportunity for taxpayer- related revenue streams for those mystery financiers, then they may yet again shun Canada.

If you build it they will come. If you sold your league out to greedy financiers you may have to build it whether they come or not. And then, you will start looking stupid by all the excuses you have to make.

You might really get agitated when a group like the Goldwater Institute rains on the parade, and throws the plan off-course. And worse, it may expose the game surrounding the game.

If Edmonton doesn’t pay the price, the fans of Winnipeg may pay a price too.

In a league where it’s a new arena and development “or else”, the pure enjoyment of the sport is lost. And in the case of hockey for Canadians, it really is a shame, eh?

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Posted in Banking System, Competition Bureau, Corruption, Dallas Stars, Mubadala, National Hockey League, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes

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Bettman: “..the situation is far too serious for such game play”

Posted on March 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

Barry Goldwater can rest peacefully knowing his vision may expose the con of another hidden agenda, ulterior motive

It was a tough decision. Do I go with the above quote for the title of this article, or do I use the other equally interesting and loaded quote of Mr. Gary Bettman, ” I quite frankly don’t know who the people there report to or accountable to”.

Well, one thing is clear, they don’t answer to the same people Mr. Bettman answers to, and they aren’t concerned about anything other than making sure the taxpayers aren’t getting the shaft. I can see how that could get confusing for some people.

For Olsen of the Goldwater Group a private meeting wasn’t enough sweet battatas. Bettman  did  not want to do a joint press conference.

Darcy Olsen, head of the Goldwater Group, can probably see when a payoff is sweet. Come on to a press conference with me Mr. Bettman, she must be thinking to herself. Let’s tell the good people what’s really up. It’s probably like when you get to work in the morning, and the 60 Minutes news crew is waiting in your office. Oh, dang!

The issue he was addressing Tuesday night was the Goldwater Group’s insistence to stick to their principles; their mandate to protect the taxpaying public.

Uh oh! Can you see the wheels spinning folks? Do you think the “game” is being called by the Goldwater Group? Have the shenanigans of the NHL and their urban development deck of cards been met by the windstorm so to speak? Is it all ready to blow over, becoming exposed?

When Gary Bettman served Jerry Moyes proxies for the league’s assistance, he told Ron McLean on HNIC that it was to stop him from doing anything radical.

Let’s think for a moment. If this league had nothing to hide, why would there be need for proxies from the Commissioner to one of the “partners” in the club that supposedly should be privy to the privilege of deciding where arenas get built, etc, etc? Would the rules be have been different for Jerry Moyes because he wasn’t in on the “development pie”?

Was Quebec City and Winnipeg told to build new arenas or we’ll send one of the teams to Phoenix where they were never sure hockey in 105 degree heat would really heat up? Why take hockey away from hockey-crazed Canadians and see if it works in the deep south, for no better reason that I can think of, than to look for the City willing to sell out to urban development?

There’s a sucker born every minute you know. The real sales job was finding that sucker, and they did in the City of Glendale. The NHL has contributed to building a deck of cards, and the only way to keep everyone happy is to continue to build.

They may have lost focus on the fans.

It would sure explain why hockey went where hockey is not popular. Why the bottom teams have to suck off the fat of where true profits lie — in the great White North (cu-loo-coo-cu-cu-coo-cu-coo!). Why the teams in the south will always need approved welfare. Where it made no sense to most of us, it makes perfect sense, in the sense, that it may never have been about hockey operations making a profit on pure hockey operations.

Where owners were truly not happy with just getting in the green because ticket sales were greater than player salaries. The salary cap is a joke.

And so, Tuesday night, Commissioner Bettman had his bluff called. The Goldwater Group wants to air to the world, without ability to read well-written speeches, that they believe this sports league has overstepped its bounds and is taking advantage of the residents and taxpayers of a City.

The Goldwater Group knows exactly what it has here.

Ironically, we laughed at the City of Glendale’s seemingly feeble legal team and argument in court. Glendale likely laughed at Goldwater.

Who’s laughing now?

To close, let’s watch the low-key Mr. Bettman tell Edmonton why they need to cough up the big tax bucks. And for God’s sake, is he trying the “sustainability as a franchise” garbage still in Canada – - the home of hockey? Surely Mr. Bettman is aware that argument is wearing thin! And Bettman has the gall to hold the card that he will pull the plug on the Oilers if a new arena is not built??! Not a threat, eh?

So where does he propose to build the next white elephant instead?!

Where is the priority? Putting hockey where market demands, or is the real money in land and urban development? It’s time we take that to a “press conference” of the NHL. The sooner the better, for the sake of the fans and the game!

It’s quite baffling how he admits the truth, but in a way that has most of us buying into the con. Is he ready to air to the world all the evidence to show who holds bonds behind the scenes, and open up the books to the profits that surround the game? Didn’t think so!

We could look at the comment that the Coyotes were never in jeopardy, and the notion was silly, when you factor in the true source of revenues. Silly us – - the taxpayers were going to pay the freight for the true “revenue streams”, right Mr. B? Masterful means to tell us the truth while we were sleeping. A marvel!

Game over Gary! Game on Canada!

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Posted in Canada, Competition Bureau, Corruption, Money, National Hockey League, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes, Politics, US Politics

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Time to take the rabid dog with shotgun to the back 40: This Coyotes fiasco has been tainted from the start

Posted on February 25, 2011 | Leave a comment

Which came first…..the arena chicken or the development egg? Who is ultimately responsible for lining Glendale up with a bond obligation that might put them over the edge?

So when Jerry Moyes tried to play nice with Council in the open meetings in Glendale months and months ago, he wasn’t dealing with a fair deck.

Moyes was continually shunned as he explained the Coyotes were not viable, and the $50 million Jim Balsillie was offering the City to relocate the hockey team was at least enough to cover off some interest.

At the root of memory sticks some points that cannot easily be shaken from the frontal lobe – - the biggest was Glendale’s comment in court that if the Coyotes should leave, they would have to replace the team with another hockey team. That sounds more like a deal with greedy investors promised sales tax related usury over taxpayers – - making it seem less likely the N.H.L. was behind the arena deal (although there were rumors there could be conflicts of interest for certain parties of influence…shhh…..you could be waking up in Vegas! Shhhhh……). Yep, those private mega-suites — sweet! But that’s another story isn’t it? I hate this sport, I hate this sport, show me the next arena, I hate this sport….

And for the need to replace the hockey team with another, we said, “says who?” What kind of team ya got in mind, Glendale? Does it matter?

Bizarre isn’t it that a comment like that came out. One might as easily have missed it, but for some reason it was bizarre enough to stand out and continue to rear its ugly head.

Who really controls the Jobing.com financing? Who’s pulling the strings? Who holds those arena bonds? How did this nightmare financing bubble get born? Why is Mubadala so interested? What’s on the surface is becoming less and less, as the city councillors are on a “need to know” basis now, and they aren’t being told much!

Perhaps a councillor, such as Joyce Clark, who voted against the current deal should ask these questions. Perhaps, but good luck Ms. Clark, the heads in charge have a track record of only telling folks what they want disclosed.

We only need to look at the heavily edited emails sent to the Goldwater Group, as if a slap in the face, “who are you to ask?” gesture. Those emails from a long time ago also stick in the mind, and so does the reasoning of it being in the best interest of the City not to disclose some information.

Which brings us back to issues of democracy.

How is it possible to have a political process where a few key individuals get to dictate how the approval process works? It would seem a few key individuals may have more power at the City Hall in Glendale than is good for the residents. We only need to ask councillors like Joyce Clark what it’s like to get proper information to make a rational decision. I’m sure based on recent experience she is frustrated, possibly suspect of the agenda behind the scenes.

Why is information not readily available, and how come debate is not wide open?

This case has stunk since inception. We could see deception from the beginning. The charade and arrogance continues but it would seem it is coming to an abrupt end.

In a fashion of poetic justice, perhaps potential bondholders are looking at a City that professes a good game, but has a track record that barks, “Warning Wil Robinson”. Perhaps they are looking at the treatment (or lack thereof) of the past owner of the franchise, and are thinking if they can throw him away like an old newspaper, what will they do to us as investors?

Come to think of it, the NHL brass threw Moyes under the rig, too, didn’t they? They were all too eager to dispense with one of their own. No loyalty to anyone from anybody. Cover your butts 101, eh? What was the big secret that is tied to land development, not hockey? Land development or arena land development? Who is the most guilty? Who was deserving the “instigator penalty” for this one? Was it a City that made a bad deal on it’s own, or a group looking to take financing and build, build, build, muhahahahahahaha!

Nonetheless, the party’s over – - locally and globally! Credit is dried up. Like the con man who borrows all over town, and never pays back, eventually his luck runs out.

Who was the greediest? Who might have looked at sideline income that might have justified using other peoples’ money? Who may be suspect based on secrecy and blacking out emails, that would suggest using their positions for potential personal gain? Is it an issue for the fans and players of a hockey league, or  the residents of the City of Glendale to be concerned with?

And why did the bullpen immediately get on the phone together as if looking for the relief pitcher in the 9th inning, when we asked if Moyes was the victim of a squeeze play? And why did they jump to this site to see what could be the ugly truth becoming known?

To figure out this whole conspiracy of making lots of money on development we would have to look at two coins — one looking to build a city, the other a potential empire of sports venues.

Yeah, we’d have to look back on our notes, and that would be exhausting, perhaps not worth it at this point. We’d have to see who had big connections and influence with key people in the sports leagues, and in political circles, and had connections with wealthy investors in the background.

No sense to bother with that stuff now, is there? No sense to really join all the pieces and present a clear picture, right?

Oh, and we’d have to see who stood to build the monopoly they wanted, and who they were influencing, perhaps giving a cut of the action. Yeah, that would be too much work. What’s important at this point is whether the Coyotes can hang on, or should they be taken to the woods. We know the answer. We see where the thread dangled, and when tugged it unravelled more than anyone had bargained for. We are tired though, and perhaps ready to hang up our thinking cap. It’s over…. but just to close two other things are stuck in my mind: The vision of the video of the Winnipeg Arena being torn down after the streets were filled with mourning fans, and the other comment that “the league decides where the teams and arenas get built”. Yeah, those are tough ones too. Really makes one ponder, and think of all the possibilities.

The dog of Glendale has been bitten by deceit. It’s turned rabid.  Time to take him to the back 40, and put him out of his misery.

The dog isn’t the question, the question is who represents the dog?

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Posted in Corruption, Mubadala, National Hockey League, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes, Politics, Sports, US Politics

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Tax lien certificates are a license to steal money: Tapping into the municipality that used hockey for infrastructure and tax-base growth

Posted on October 25, 2010 | Leave a comment

We had reported on the foreclosures in Arizona, and mentioned the fact that municipalities have plenty of reasons to link up with firms that can aid in tax collection. There is an unpleasant but lucrative business opportunity related to unpaid property taxes. Buying for back taxes and selling for more is one way, but beware, without proper title and the derivative, mortgage backed-securites being in question, this could be risky. You might not end up owning what you think you paid for. But that is not for this discussion.

Remembering that the Phoenix Coyotes hockey team was more about land development and not hockey, we have continued to look for connections surrounding business people who have been partnering with Glendale to solve the hockey issue. The question about being a “business reason” to own the Coyotes, where there would be sources of revenue outside of hockey stays prominent in focus.

The Ice Edge boys all gave some interesting tidbits. Daryl Jones said it was a “business reason” to own the Coyotes. Keith McCullough asked ‘who wants to go to a game in Phoenix anyways’. Hence the reasoning to shuffle off a few games to Saskatoon.

Strange for a team looking for a dedicated owner(s). And Anthony LeBlanc had tipped us off that Canadians were snapping up real estate in Arizona. Foreclosures were ripe for the pickins.

The above paints a vague picture that might suggest the business opportunity is related to properties, because, who the heck is really interested in hockey in 105 degree heat? Hmm…

Of course, we now have McCullough who supported the policies of Ben Bernanke in the past supporting the new friend, Hulsizer, who happens to be in a similar business, and would want to keep the Ice Edge boys in action in Glendale with the team. Who wants it? It doesn’t seem to matter. Swallowing pride (gulp), McCullough tells it this way:

Ice Edge chairman Keith McCullough told the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal earlier this week that his group had found a partner to help buy the Coyotes.

“Ice Edge would be a minority owner and an adviser,” McCullough said. “That investor is a friend of ours.”

Our last article pointed out that Hulsizer’s firm, Peak6 Investments as supportive of the Feds quantitative easing policy as if it were a good thing. The flavor is the same. No wonder it doesn’t matter who technically takes the team. There is a picture forming.

And, because everybody and his brother is looking at Mubadala today, let’s not forget they could be involved as they were with CityNorth. They could be the bondholders for the Jobing.com arena. But, will we ever know?

Where are the opportunities in Glendale that would make the Coyotes a viable loss-leader?

What if a City didn’t really care as much about hockey as it did collecting taxes? What if there were a whole bunch of homes that were vacant, and owed taxes for, and mean a double edged sword – no collection, and no future tax prospects.

Food for thought continues:

It seems to be Wall Street vs. everyone else.

Unless the U.S. economy experiences a dramatic turnaround, we are going to continue to see large numbers of Americans get behind on their property taxes, and the big banks will continue to be there to scoop up the tax liens.

Large numbers of poor and elderly Americans that don’t even have a mortgage will lose their homes and it will all be perfectly legal.  Executives at the big banks will be having a good laugh about their huge bonus checks as thousands upon thousands of our most vulnerable citizens are dumped out into the street.

And, we must pay close attention to the supporters of policy that support Wall Street. Any players entering the game to bail out the Coyotes must be scrutinized from this important perspective.

Remember, we have a municipality that might just be feeling the pinch from being strapped to a usury bond in Jobing.com arena, on top of a shrinking tax base.

Remembering the first thing the U.S. government might do with quantitative easing is to buy up toxic mortgage debt and pile it onto the taxpayers, there is also the issue of credit default swaps and the nasty business surrounding houses being worth more foreclosed than staying with homeowners.

If JP Morgan is involved with tax lien certificates via newly formed entities to stay off the radar, they might have lots of work for investors looking to tap into the lucrative tax/foreclosure game. After all, they are no strangers to checking things of this nature out:

16 Jul 17:06:17 Firefox 3.6 WinXP unknown United States New York,
United States		 Jpmorgan Chase & Co. (IP removed)[Label IP Address]
makeiteighteh.com/2010/07/16/martin-feldstein-bilderbergs-promoter-of-adjustable-rate-mortgages-and-the-subprime-mortgage-crisis/
No referring link

Hyperinflation coupled with a falling dollar will mean greenbacks are not as valuable as the collateral that was taken to secure the debt. No wonder the banks want to foreclose:

The horror show playing out before our eyes in the foreclosure markets, is the continuing collapse of perhaps the greatest financial swindle in the history of mankind: the derivatives markets. The story revolves around the way that derivatives were used to create a giant pool of fictitious capital, nominally based on home mortgages, and the way that the banks are now attempting to seize the homes to turn their funny money into hard assets.

It might make a “tax district” seem like a nice diversion from the real tax-related money of unpaid taxes on properties. As Glendale becomes more desperate for relief, the more accomodating they might become.

Hockey might be the least of Glendale’s worries, but might attract help looking to cash in on peripheral opportunities, or to aid and abet the Bilderberg agenda,  and the derivative housing scam’s effectiveness. We just need to look at the big picture, follow the money, and put the pieces together.

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Posted in Banking System, Bilderberg, Corruption, Mubadala, National Hockey League, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes, Politics, US Politics

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