This seems real. He's got the money, the background, and a place to play.
It doesn't sound like the usual smoke and mirrors.
The only thing I’m confused about is the arena. Wasn’t the big hang up with the previous bid that they didn’t want to use ScotiaBank Center?
I guess let them start off in an arena that holds 8k. If they sell it out regularly, they can move to ScotiaBank down the road. Hopefully that's not a deal breaker for Cathy.
The only thing I’m confused about is the arena. Wasn’t the big hang up with the previous bid that they didn’t want to use ScotiaBank Center?
I guess let them start off in an arena that holds 8k. If they sell it out regularly, they can move to ScotiaBank down the road. Hopefully that's not a deal breaker for Cathy.
It shouldn't be. 8K is the perfect size, assuming the place is reasonably updated.
This seems real. He's got the money, the background, and a place to play.
It doesn't sound like the usual smoke and mirrors.
The only thing I’m confused about is the arena. Wasn’t the big hang up with the previous bid that they didn’t want to use ScotiaBank Center?
The previous bid required consent from three different sets of people. The one rejecting the idea needed a better excuse than doing it out of spite so the arena was the reason, kind of like the arena is not the reason the Portland bid actually ended.
I think that it is dumb that the league put out the narrative about arenas given how many prospective ownership groups would need to lease their venues. You have to make it look like you would consider smaller or older venues to not at least have some negotiating power.
I guess let them start off in an arena that holds 8k. If they sell it out regularly, they can move to ScotiaBank down the road. Hopefully that's not a deal breaker for Cathy.
It shouldn't be. 8K is the perfect size, assuming the place is reasonably updated.
interestingly, the arena hasn't hosted very many basketball events throughout its over-100-year history. the most recent one took place this past December: the mcbb HOF series.
here's how the arena looks on tv:
and here's a more up-close, on-the-court perspective from that same matchup (skip around to see the different angles):
The only thing I’m confused about is the arena. Wasn’t the big hang up with the previous bid that they didn’t want to use ScotiaBank Center?
The previous bid required consent from three different sets of people. The one rejecting the idea needed a better excuse than doing it out of spite so the arena was the reason, kind of like the arena is not the reason the Portland bid actually ended.
I think that it is dumb that the league put out the narrative about arenas given how many prospective ownership groups would need to lease their venues. You have to make it look like you would consider smaller or older venues to not at least have some negotiating power.
i'm reading this as confirmation of Cathy E. pissing off and thus scaring away multiple potential ownership groups 🫣
I've never understood the necessity to personalize the WNBA's decisions. We don't know who owns the league, but whoever it is tells Cathy E. what to do. She's a messenger, not a decision-maker.
listen. at a certain point, i have to believe Engelbert plays some large part in this. like i’ve said in the past, i would think the NBA major stakeholders [whom i’ve believed are the ones who have the executive power with regards to the W’s decision-making] don’t want to see the W become bigger than what it is, which right now is a 12-team league operating largely outside of the NBA’s calendar with a minor-league-sized schedule. so then, what primary “external” force could be supplying an antagonistic presence to that? none other than the W Commissioner/the overarching league office, i would imagine – unless another entity can be thought of.
and if nothing else, she’s the mouthpiece, the talking head putting her face on the expansion project and at least making it seem like she deals with the day-to-days on that. is it really that hard to believe that she could’ve reached an impasse somewhere along the line with these prospective ownership folks as the one doing the talking? i’m not even saying she for sure should get the blame at this point. but is she really so much of a puppet that prospective ownership groups can and simply do bypass her and go straight to “the source” (NBA power-players or whomever else) in negotiating a new franchise for themselves? at a certain point, i’m skeptical of even that.
Some fans clearly want expansion by any means necessary regardless of viability and potential for both league and team success. I think it’s foolish to fault Englebert for enforcing standards in the expansion process. She clearly wants this league to grow and succeed and she sees deep pocket owners with top of the line arenas as a key to that success. If the deals fell through with Portland, Denver and the previous Toronto bid, I don’t think it’s because they find Cathy to be a jerk. The league doesn’t need any more Dallas, Atlanta or Chicago set ups. That may seem detrimental to expansion but she’s smart to insist on the standards she’s set forth to ensure the expansion teams we do get will be I line with the image the league is trying to project here.
The previous bid required consent from three different sets of people. The one rejecting the idea needed a better excuse than doing it out of spite so the arena was the reason, kind of like the arena is not the reason the Portland bid actually ended.
I think that it is dumb that the league put out the narrative about arenas given how many prospective ownership groups would need to lease their venues. You have to make it look like you would consider smaller or older venues to not at least have some negotiating power.
i'm reading this as confirmation of Cathy E. pissing off and thus scaring away multiple potential ownership groups 🫣
You’re looking for reasons to fault her and have a negative personal opinion of her regardless of the facts.
i'm reading this as confirmation of Cathy E. pissing off and thus scaring away multiple potential ownership groups 🫣
You’re looking for reasons to fault her and have a negative personal opinion of her regardless of the facts.
and i could simply turn around & say you’re going out of your way to defend her because you have a positive personal opinion of her.
i’m not going to though, because ultimately i’m not actually going out of my own way to fault her at every turn myself, as i said in my post thereafter where i said, “i’m not even saying she for sure should get the blame at this point.”
that said, while we don’t know why those other bids broke down, i personally won’t just rule out that she’s blameless either, and am still inclined to think she isn’t. but even if i think she potentially messed up a bid or two, that doesn’t mean i want her ass gone – especially not now that Toronto appears to be back in play.
i’m just the type of person to always be guarded when it comes to the decisions & moves of big executives, such as sports league commissioners. Goodell, Silver, Manfred, and Bettman haven’t done Engelbert any favors when it comes to that afaic.
OK, so how would Cathy Engelbert "piss off" a legitimate investor? Be a jerk? Insult their wardrobe?
This is a big business, and business decisions are about dollars and cents. Cathy does not set the financial parameters for any negotiation. That comes from her bosses, the owners of the league. They determine how much money the potential investor must have, what the arena must be like, and so on down the line.
If the numbers add up, the deal will be approved by the WNBA owners. If they don't, they'll turn it down.
Where precisely does Cathy Engelbert fit in this? Does she lie about the numbers? Does she say things to the potential investors that the owners don't want her to say?
If Portland had the right finances and right arena, in the minds of the WNBA owners, then Portland would have a franchise. If that ownership group walked away from a deal that made financial sense because Cathy Engelbert "pissed them off," then their likelihood of making good business decisions in the future is not that good.