BCHL hockey is a long way from what it was a year ago, and the Nanaimo Clippers owner can鈥檛 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.
鈥淚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],鈥� said Mussio.
He hopes that spreading the news that the team is for sale will help lead to better offers, and said he鈥檚 had 鈥渃lose to a dozen鈥� inquiries already, with people figuring it鈥檚 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 club鈥檚 situation after a year, and said he doesn鈥檛 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, 鈥渋t鈥檚 over鈥� for the Clippers.
鈥淪eventy-five per cent of our business comes from gate receipts. We don鈥檛 have TV contracts, we have a limited amount of sponsorship business in a small city鈥︹�� Mussio said. 鈥淪o it comes down to the fans and if you don鈥檛 have fans in the building, you鈥檙e losing a lot of money.鈥�
He said if things change and he gets 鈥渟urprised pleasantly鈥� and can see a pathway forward, he won鈥檛 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 won鈥檛 sell the club to an owner who isn鈥檛 worthy.
鈥淚 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, it鈥檚 just not an economically viable business to have鈥︹�� Mussio said. 鈥淵ou just can鈥檛 run a business under these rules, end of story, full stop.鈥�
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