NHL Rumors: Is Greg Jamison Really $20 Million Short?
Throughout the week, a story has gained steam via various news outlets that prospective Phoenix Coyotes owner, Greg Jamison may lack the necessary funds to purchase the team. Jamison reportedly needs $20 million more to reach the NHL’s asking price.
Readers need to understand that even though this story was picked up by NBC, Yahoo and others, this report centers around an article written by Mike Sunnucks, a Phoenix Business Journal writer. The point being, that even though many stories have been printed about the alleged short-fall of funds, they all reference Sunnucks’ story as the source.
The main issue is that Sunnucks never mentions any source, anonymous or otherwise, in his article. He states at the beginning of the article, “Prospective Phoenix Coyotes buyer Greg Jamison is approximately $20 million short of the money he needs to buy the hockey team and keep them in Glendale.” While it is not stated, Sunnucks may be referencing a story by Forbes that mentioned Jamison was short $20 million. Forbes cited “sports bankers” as the source.
Therefore, all the noise surrounding the Coyotes sale stemmed from one reporter, without a stated source, referencing another reporter with an anonymous source. The media cycle surrounding this story makes it seem that is it a fact that Jamison is short money when in actuality; everyone is taking the “sports bankers” word for it.
I also find it hard to believe that the “sports bankers” have inside knowledge of Jamison and his investors considering Sunnucks states in his article that, “Jamison has had potential investors and partners come in and out of his Coyotes bid on several occasions. He has never disclosed specific investors or partners.”
Jamison may or may not have all the funds at this time to purchase the team, but accepting that he does not as an absolute fact is to fall victim to argumentum ad populum; “If many believe so, it is so.”
**Disclosure: Mike Sunnucks and I follow each other on Twitter.**
Buy Phoenix Coyotes Tickets | Buy Phoenix Coyotes Apparel5 Rants to “NHL Rumors: Is Greg Jamison Really $20 Million Sho...”
Leave a Rant
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Thanks – great article. There’s so much talk and its really hard to tell if any of it is true.
Great job, Jaime! You are the voice of reason in a rumor ridden Twitter verse. Thanks for pointing out that “unnamed sources” are gossip, not fact or printable news.
So an unknown source, has an anonymous source, who knows a “sports banker”, who has no idea who ANY of the investors are, but believes they are $20M short! Ok, I have a granddaughter, oooops, an “anonymous source”, who believes in Santa & the Boogie man. She tells me I will get shiny new race car in December, but something is under my bed that will get me if I fall asleep!
Agreed, good points. Facts remain: Jamison has not bought the team yet and training camp is just over a month away. If he had the money, it’d be done. Lots of publicity from the NHL over the ‘new owner’. THAT also seems to be a potential exaggeration.
The entire episode is a disgrace to the NHL. The extent to which Bettman has gone to keep the franchise in Glendale, smacks of a bush league approach and is ludicrous to the extreme. If Jamieson had the money, he would have purchased the franchise by now. Move it or fold it, but don’t bail it out for yet another season.