Hockey’s Business and Legal Updates January 16 through 21 Including Amazon’s Investment in Diamond Sports Group

Alec Roberson

It’s that time again when we take a look at what’s been happening in hockey’s business and legal world. Once a week we cover the big and not so big stories in this arena. We also include a featured story of the period. Let’s take a look at what has been happening this period.

Hockey’s Business and Legal News

A New Team in the ECHL

The ECHL approved the expansion application for a new team in Bloomington, Illinois. The team will begin play next season. Hallett Sports and Entertainment (HSE) will own the team and enter into a lease agreement with the city to play at the Grossinger Motors Arena. HSE currently owns the Indy Fuel of the ECHL, and this new team will bring the ECHL to 30 teams.

New York Rangers Owner Accused of Sexual Assault

James Dolan, the owner of the New York Rangers and New York Knicks of the NBA, has been accused of sexually assaulting and trafficking a masseuse around 2013 and 2014. The complaint, which was filed in California, alleges that Dolan manipulated the plaintiff, Kellye Croft, into performing sexual acts with Dolan and later with the infamous Harvey Weinstein. Interestingly, this all happened while she was paid to be a masseuse for the Eagles’ lead singer Glenn Fry during their tour at that time. This will be an interesting one to keep an eye on as it may end up impacting more than just hockey’s business and legal worlds.

IIHF Changes its Message on Israel’s Participation in International Hockey

Last period’s hockey’s business and legal updates saw the IIHF deciding to ban Israel from participation in international competition due to the events in Gaza. Many opposed this decision including the NHL. Now the IIHF appears to have changed its tone on this message. The IIHF decided that it will allow Israel to participate in the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division III, Group A (WM20IIIA) in Bulgaria this month. While Israel is not a hockey powerhouse in the world, it again shows the crossover of world events, politics and sports.

Hockey Diversity Alliance Announces Inaugural HDA Winterfest During All-Star Weekend

The Hockey Diversity Alliance announced that it will be hosting its first ever Winterfest in Toronto during the NHL’s All-Star Game weekend. This event will occur at Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods Park on February 3rd and highlight the importance of diversity and inclusion in hockey. Canadian Tire, CCM, Lululemon and Kraft Heinz are all sponsors of this event.

BCHL Adds Five New Alberta Based Teams

The relatively newly independent BCHL has added five Alberta based Junior A teams to its league. They will begin play in the BCHL in the 2024-25 season. These teams include the Blackfalds Bulldogs, Brooks Bandits, Okotoks Oilers, Sherwood Park Crusaders and Spruce Grove Saints. One of the big sticking points the BCHL faced when operating under Hockey Canada was that players wanting to play Junior A had to play in their province of residence. This led to the BCHL going independent from Hockey Canada. While little context was given, that is likely a factor at play for these teams moving to the BCHL.

Hockey’s Business and Legal Updates Featured Story: Diamond Sports Group Enters into Transaction with Amazon for Regional Broadcasting

In our hockey’s business and legal updates featured story for this period, Diamond Sports Group, the entity that owns Bally Sports, has entered into a deal with Amazon as part of its bankruptcy restructuring. This deal will allow Amazon to make a minority investment into the group which will also include broadcasting of NHL, NBA and MLB games on Amazon Prime. The court has to approve the deal since it is a chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. However, this overall looks like a good sign.

Bally Sports is responsible for almost a dozen NHL regional broadcasts. With the complications of bankruptcy involved, things were looking potentially troubling for the NHL. As we discussed in a previous article here, television broadcasting deals are a major piece of the hockey related revenue pie of the NHL. Which in turn, is a big piece of the salary cap limits each year. We will see how this deal ends up working out but for now it looks like Amazon may have come in as a savior.

Post image attribution: Public Domain

Alec Roberson

Alec Roberson grew up in coastal North Carolina, taking a somewhat unconventional path to hockey. With hockey being almost nonexistent in that area, Alec found his passion for the game following the success of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2001 and 2006 and later played club hockey in college. After going through law school and practicing for some time, he now continues his love for the game through writing. Find him on twitter @roberson_alec

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