BCHL hockey is a long way from what it was a year ago, and the Nanaimo Clippers owner cansa国际传媒檛 wait any longer.
Wes Mussio announced Saturday that the Clippers junior A hockey club is now for sale, posting the news on Facebook and mentioning a lack of support from the provincial government for the BCHL and its franchises.
sa国际传媒淚t has nothing to do with criticizing Bonnie Henry or the provincial government for lack of funding, it has everything to do with putting out a rationale behind the reason [for selling],sa国际传媒� said Mussio.
He hopes that spreading the news that the team is for sale will help lead to better offers, and said hesa国际传媒檚 had sa国际传媒渃lose to a dozensa国际传媒� inquiries already, with people figuring itsa国际传媒檚 a fire sale and they can buy low.
Mussio said he promised his wife at the start of the pandemic that he would reassess the hockey clubsa国际传媒檚 situation after a year, and said he doesnsa国际传媒檛 see a chance of hockey returning as normal, this year, next year, and maybe not even the year after that. He said without fans watching the games, sa国际传媒渋tsa国际传媒檚 oversa国际传媒� for the Clippers.
sa国际传媒淪eventy-five per cent of our business comes from gate receipts. We donsa国际传媒檛 have TV contracts, we have a limited amount of sponsorship business in a small citysa国际传媒a国际传媒� Mussio said. sa国际传媒淪o it comes down to the fans and if you donsa国际传媒檛 have fans in the building, yousa国际传媒檙e losing a lot of money.sa国际传媒�
He said if things change and he gets sa国际传媒渟urprised pleasantlysa国际传媒� and can see a pathway forward, he wonsa国际传媒檛 sell the Clippers, but and has started thinking about buying a hockey team in the U.S.
Mussio has now sold his condo in Nanaimo, but said he loves the city and the Clippers and wonsa国际传媒檛 sell the club to an owner who isnsa国际传媒檛 worthy.
sa国际传媒淚 hope an owner or a group of owners can take over and they can withstand heavy losses, but with the lockdowns and all those sort of things that are happening, itsa国际传媒檚 just not an economically viable business to havesa国际传媒a国际传媒� Mussio said. sa国际传媒淵ou just cansa国际传媒檛 run a business under these rules, end of story, full stop.sa国际传媒�
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