Sorry to sound like a know it all but Labatt's has sponored HNIC for the last 3 or 4 years even though Ron Maclean still says "Molson" mistakenly before says with his voice trailing off "hockey night in Canada, on CBC"
Not to toot my own horn (well, okay, I guess I am hehe), but CVQ is up about 20% since I posted this, though I'm not sure if the optimism in the stock is relating to the quarter ending June 30, or if it is directly related to it appearing that the NHL will likely be having a season this year.
Sadly, I do not see any publicly traded pure plays in this article from the Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...969048863851&DPL=IvsNDS/7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes Jul. 14, 2005. 06:30 AM Businesses set to score with hockey Bottom lines are expected to rebound slowly Labour peace greeted with enthusiasm RICK WESTHEAD BUSINESS REPORTER Businesses ranging from brewers and broadcasters to concessionaires and cab companies are celebrating the armistice reached by the National Hockey League and its players union. After an agreement in principle was hammered out yesterday between the league and its players to end hockey's 301-day lockout, companies with ties to the game said they expect sales to rebound in coming months as the league resumes play this fall. "Everybody has lost with this lockout," said Greg Sutton, whose Toronto insurance company William J. Sutton & Co. provides disability insurance to about half of the NHL's 700-plus players. "The lockout's been bad for everybody from cab drivers in the downtown core to hockey stick makers to bar and restaurant owners and hotels," Sutton said. "This news is going to make a lot of people happy." The effects of the NHL agreement should be felt throughout Canadian industries in coming weeks. Hockey is worth about $400 million a year to Canada in export revenue, according to a January study by Export Development Canada, the federal government's trade-finance arm, and economists have said that the lockout shaved as much as one-tenth of a percentage point from Canada's economic growth rate. Mark Chandler, senior economist with Scotia Capital Inc., said Canada's food services and accommodation sectors have been flat since October, partially due to the lockout. Within hours of an early afternoon announcement yesterday about the hockey deal came news that one business that depends on the sport had already moved to recall employees laid off last September. Hockey puck maker In Glas Co., which laid off 25 of its 40 workers when the NHL locked out its players, said it would recall all of its employees and ramp up production in time for the start of NHL training camps in September. The Sherbrooke, Que., company makes about 200,000 game pucks a year, as well as NHL-licensed products such as miniature sticks, pins and water bottles. Others hit hard by the impasse include TV broadcasters and beer companies. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp., whose Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts draw an audience of more than 1 million viewers, laid off 50 workers. Sports cable channel TSN, which is owned by BCE Inc., has spent the past year showing reruns of so-called classic games. Rogers Communications Inc. also has had to alter its programming schedule to account for the absence of hockey. "The sales guys at the networks are going to be sleeping soundly tonight," said Patrick Walshe, an executive with media buying firm Starvest Media Group in Toronto. "They've had a stiff upper lip going the past year, but it's been tough. Hockey is what Canada watches." Brewers such as Molson Coors Brewing Co., which has sponsorship agreements with some NHL teams, and InBev SA's Labatt should also benefit from the agreement, company officials said. Canada's beer market has slipped by about 2 per cent so far this year. "People find other things to do with their time, and life goes on, but this is a good news story," said James Villeneuve, vice-president of Labatt Breweries of Canada. Concessionaires including Aramark Corp., which operates food and beverage catering services to 11 NHL arenas, will likely look to hire more part-time workers in advance of the coming NHL season. The Philadelphia company had pared back on the use of the 1,000 part-time workers it hires for hockey events at Vancouver's GM Place and Ottawa's Corel Centre. To be sure, the end of the lockout doesn't mean that struggling hockey-related businesses are poised for an immediate turnabout. "I don't think people will wake up tomorrow when it's 40 degrees and say they need to get a Leafs jersey," said Doug Hayes, president of National Sports, a 20-store Ontario retail chain owned by Calgary's Forzani Group Ltd. Still, the settlement has been widely received as positive news. Reebok International Ltd. unit Hockey Company Holdings Inc. in Montreal stands to improve its bottom line since about a third of the company's $240 million (U.S.) in sales two years ago came from sales of NHL jerseys, T-shirts and other licensed apparel, The Wall St. Journal reported recently. The end of the NHL labour battle may also prompt credit rating companies such as Fitch Ratings in New York to upgrade municipal bonds that were used to finance the construction of National Hockey League arenas. In March, Fitch placed on "watch negative" about $380 million (U.S.) worth of municipal bonds that had been used to build the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the Pepsi Center in Denver. With a tentative deal, credit ratings companies will now probably improve their outlook on hockey. "It's good news because some revenue is better than no revenue," said George Zoffinger, chief executive of the East Rutherford-based New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which owns Continental Arena, where the New Jersey Devils play. The deal will also likely bolster the municipal treasuries in many of the league's 30 cities, which in the past year have missed out on tax revenue from parking, concessions and wages. News of the deal also spread in another industry that suffered from a lack of spectators travelling to and from games. "A lot of my friends are talking about it," taxi driver Amir Sajjad told the Canadian Press. For Sajjad and other Toronto cabbies, Saturday nights used to mean guaranteed fares after the game. But the usual hockey night in Canada this past winter was no busier than a weeknight. "Now, there is no excitement in the city," he said. "But October, we are looking forward to it." Additional articles by Rick Westhead