That can't be right. Or can it? The Kings have always seemed to have some financial trouble, dating back to before the lockout. That's common knowledge. After that we went through an entire year without hockey for the sole purpose of restoring the financial viability of all the clubs. There were, and are, no guarantees that the clubs are all in the green, but from everything we have been told over the last three years they are doing much better than prior to the lockout. But wait ... The Los Angeles Daily News reported today that the Kings are losing more money now than they were prior to the lockout. Those emboldened words are key here.
I'll let that you soak that in for a moment while I present you with an excerpt from the Daily News.
So are the Kings really losing more money now than before the lockout? Wasn't the point of the lockout to fix problems such as these?The Kings declined to release specific numbers, but said they're losing more money per year now than before the lockout. At the start of the lockout, the Kings claimed to be losing $8 to $10 million a year.
"We're building our organization differently, to meet the reality that we're losing even more than we did before the lockout," chief marketing officer Chris McGowan said. "We have to run a better business."
Thus, the ticket-price increases, even coming off a season in which the Kings tied for the fewest points in the NHL. The Kings believe the increases are necessary, in part, to help stabilize their bottom line.