(Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs – eager to learn more about this public-donations-towards-payroll business)
Whether it’s a vehicle to raise funds for an important documentary film or just a neat way for Ume to hire Creed’s engineer, Kickstarter.com has been an unrivaled success in the burgeoning electronic shakedown crowdsourcing field. After producers of a proposed “Veronica Mars” movie raised $2 million in half a day, The Hockey Writers’ Jameson Cooper suggests, “based on how Kickstarter is taking off in Hollywood, I wouldn’t be surprised if rumblings began to circulate around the front offices of many pro (hockey) teams in the future.”
If the Florida Panthers continue to remain unable to collect the money needed for a new scoreboard, then perhaps a platform like Kickstarter could be used to expedite the process. If the organization were to start a fund to help pay for the renovation either partially or in full, I have no doubt that even the Panthers’ medium sized fan base would be able to help raise the money needed to complete the project.
As I write this, there are 8 teams in the NHL whose payroll is roughly $15 million under the league’s salary cap. While the numbers may be a bit funky this season due to next year’s impending lower cap, the fact remains that many teams fail to come within reach of the league’s cap even though they are given the option. This has nothing to do with a team’s desire to win or build the best team, but rather their inability to go on spending sprees due to the limitations of their market. This is where Kickstarter could potentially come into play.Kickstarter could not have saved the Atlanta Thrashers from moving to Winnipeg, but it could have helped improve the Nassau Colosseum enough for the Islanders to not flee to Brooklyn. I for one, would relish the opportunity to kick a few bucks toward my favored team if the return meant that my team would be in a better position than it is now.