I Call B.S. on Blackhawks

All references made towards claims are from claims made in this article >
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0730-confidential-hawks-20100730,0,1613106.column

Thank you Rocky Wirtz! The 2009-10 Blackhawks season was an absolute blast! Most fun I have had as a fan! The Bulls' wins were during my high school and college years, 1985 Bears, I was 10. 2005 White Sox, I was rooting for all 3 opponents.
I attended 16 games during the Stanley Cup Season, 11 regular and 5 playoff. I was able to enjoy the season with my friends, my children, and on one rare weekend with the open road. January 16-17, 2010 I made a weekend roadtrip from Chicago to Columbus, OH to Detroit, MI and caught 2 games. Nights and weekends were planned around the Blackhawks schedule, dinner times were altered, appointments and meetings were scheduled to make sure that I was available when the puck dropped. It had been 12 years since I changed my life that way for Michael Jordan and the Bulls and now the scheduling process had returned. I wore out the DVR for the playoffs and I shut out the outside world on a few occasions so I could watch the entire playoff game from start to finish instead of jumping in when my daughter's softball games were over. I watched the Cup clincher in a bar in Nashville, TN, with people who were more interested in the CMT Music awards that were on a few other TV's, while starting a vacation. I had a ticket to game 7 which would have involved me renting a car and driving from Nashville to Chicago for the game and then back so I could resume my vacation. I was all in and I loved every minute of it!
Now comes word, in the form of the above referenced article that the Blackhawks lost money in the same season in which they won the Stanley Cup and I'm calling bulls**t.  I kept it real simple and used basic numbers and I am sure that with more time and a little digging I could get more accurate but for the sake of argument I kept it simple. There were 2 United Center preseason games and 40 regular season games(1 of 2 in Helsinki was a "home" game). I figure the average ticket take for those games to be $989,000. There were 11 home playoff games I estimate the take from those to equal $22.6 million, they give the NHL at least 50 percent of what their gate receipts would have been at a regular-season United Center sellout or about $500k per game($5.5 million). The UC's website says there are over 6,000 parking spaces under UC control at a $25 avg I estimate $7.8 million in revenue. The article states that each team in NHL gets less than $10 million in TV revenue, we are using $10 million because its a nice round number. So let's do the math, 42 x 989000 = 41.5 million plus 22.6 - 5.5 = $17.1 million plus $7.8 million in parking and finally $10 million in TV revenue. 41.5 + 17.1 + 7.8 + 10 = 76.4. The salary cap was 56.8 million. So after salaries for the players 76.4 - 56.8 = 19.6. I know this is real BASIC and I'm not figuring in salaries of call ups and trades and other signings during the year but after the capped payroll there is approx $19.6 million dollars left just from gameday revenue. Now there is concessions, merchandising, and advertising to factor as income and of course practice facilties, travel, lodging, and all other employee's within the Blackhawks organization that need to be factored as expenses but, there is approximately $19.6 million in a buffer before all that begins.
Now Wirtz Corp views the Blackhawks as a separate entity and that is probably the smartest way when dealing with such large dollar amounts but Wirtz Corp. includes Wirtz Beverage Co., a five-state liquor distributorship, which Wirtz said has about $1.5 billion in annual sales; an insurance business; prime real estate; two banks; a 350-acre farm; a stake in Comcast's regional sports network; investments in Alberto-Culver, U.S. Bank, Sally Beauty Supply and The Sun-Times Media Group; and half of the United Center. It's that last part that is important, "half of the United Center" that means that Wirtz Corp's Blackhawks pay Wirtz Corp's United Center for use of the building and most likely where the $7.8 million parking revenue is going and maybe the concession and advertising money for signage on the ice/boards and around the UC. So sure, go ahead and claim the Blackhawks are losing money but then show us how much you made off the 50% ownership of the United Center. I haven't mentioned the circus, Disney on ice, or the concerts that are money makers for the UC and the Wirtz Corp as well. Rocky, I thank you for the Cup but I call B.S. on your books!