NHL has never collected a relocation fee

When Judge Renfield Baum suggested that it was quite reasonable for the NHL to receive a relocation fee to move the Coyotes to Hamilton he likely caught everyone by surprise. The NHL has had numerous franchise moves but has never requested a fee. However, Judge Baum was likely aware that other sports team do collect a relocation fee. When the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, there was a $45 million relocation fee. The Judge understands that if an agreement can be reached on a relocation fee then that might go a long way to resolving this dispute.

There are suggestions that the fee might be as high as $300 million which would include indemnification for Toronto and Buffalo. That price would be highway robbery and would create quite the precedent. My research suggests that the six recent relocations did not include a relocation fee. However, when the Colorado Rockies moved to New Jersey in 1986 they did pay an indemnification fee of $35 million. That stands as the highest amount paid by an NHL franchise. In 1972 the expansion Islanders paid an indemnification fee of $4 million. In 1993, the Ducks refused to pay Los Angeles an indemnification fee but Gary Bettman was so desperate to have Disney as an owner that he game half of the $50 million dollar franchise fee to the Kings. The highest expansion fee collected by the NHL has been $80 million.

So the NHL may very well be using a form of extortion in order to get its blessing for a move to Hamilton. Of course, Gary Balsillie can always walk but most people doubt he will.

YEAR	TEAMS	FEES
1967	California Seal Los Angeles Kings Minnesota North Stars Philadelphia Flyers Pittsburgh Penguins St. Louis Blues	$2 million (Ex)
1970	Buffalo Sabres Vancouver Canucks	$6 million (Ex)
1972	Atlanta Flames New York Islanders	$6 million (Ex) + $4 million (Ind – NY only)
1974	Kansas City Scouts Washington Capitals	$6 million (Ex)
1976	Kansas City Scouts became Colorado Rockies	None
1976	Oakland Golden Seals became Cleveland Barons	None
1979	Edmonton Oilers Hartford Whalers Quebec Nordiques Winnipeg Jets	$6 million (Ex)
1980	Atlanta Flames became Calgary Flames	None
1982	Colorado Rockies became New Jersey Devils	$35 million (Ind)
1991	San Jose Sharks	$50 million (Ex)
1992	Ottawa Senators Tampa Bay Lightning	$50 million (Ex)
1993	Minnesota North Stars became Dallas Stars	None
1993	Florida Panthers Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	$50 million (Ex)
1995	Quebec Nordiques became Colorado Avalanche	None
1996	Winnipeg Jets became Phoenix Coyotes	None
1997	Hartford Whalers became Carolina Hurricanes	None
1998	Nashville Predators	$80 million (Ex)
1999	Atlanta Thrashers	$80 million (Ex)
2000	Columbus Blue Jackets Minnesota Wilds	$80 million (Ex)