2006 World Hockey Association Plan

W O R L D H O C K E Y A S S O C I A T I O N TM
P R O F E S S I O N A L H O C K E Y F O R T H E W O R L D

THE ABOVE LOGOS ARE FOR MOCK UP PURPOSES ONLY

BUSINESS PLAN FOR ESTABLISHING
THE WORLD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION™

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© 2003 World Hockey Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Title Page

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B U S I N E S S P L A N F O R E S TA B L I S H I N G T H E W O R L D H O C K E Y A S S O C I AT I O N ™

> Executive Summary > Background Information > World Hockey Association > Investment Opportunity-$4B > WHA™ Investment Value > Window of Opportunity

2
PAGE > Establishing the WHA™ > Venues Available > Game Plan > WHA Organizing Team > Conclusions > Schedules “A - E”

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Goal
To establish the World Hockey Association™ and operate it as a properly structured and professionally run hockey league, to showcase
the best hockey players in the world, in a league that offers franchise owners a lucrative investment opportunity, in the world’s first truly
global professional sports league, operating from 20 to 22 teams in North America (four that will play four home games each in China
and Japan) and 8 to 10 teams in Europe, in areas in which hockey has an established presence.

Window of Opportunity
The Collective Bargaining Agreement between the National Hockey League (“NHL”) and the National Hockey League Players’
Association (“NHLPA”) expires September 15, 2004. With both sides having developed decidedly different bargaining objectives,
absent our initiative, an extended work stoppage is likely. NHL teams assume they will be able to force the NHLPA to accept a new
collective agreement, to better serve their teams’ interests, and are positioning themselves for the new agreement by negotiating
contracts with most of their players that expire on July 1, 2004.
With more than 75% of all NHL players’ contracts expiring on July 1, 2004, the NHL has put the most valuable of their assets in play
on that date, exposing the league in a way that has never occurred in the history of any major professional sport. The aggressive
bargaining position taken by the NHL and its teams, in anticipation of an extended work stoppage, has created a unique window of
opportunity for a group of sports entrepreneurs to acquire these players on that date absent any acquisition costs, or any need to pay
any premiums to “lure” the players into the new league. The organizers of the new World Hockey Association (the “WHA”) believe it
will be possible to establish a new league with these players and capture the existing value of the NHL teams. By creating the league
with a more progressive structure, we believe that the WHA teams will ultimately be valued at amounts in excess of the current value
of all NHL franchises, which Forbes magazine recently estimated to be worth $5 billion U.S. collectively.
The WHA will be structured in a manner that includes revenue sharing at levels similar to those used in the National Football League and
will specify defined debt limits for its teams. At present, the NFL shares seventy-four (74%) percent of its revenues as compared to the NHL’s

© 2003 World Hockey Association, Inc. All rights reserved. Page 2 of 34

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WHA ORGANIZING TEAM

Gary Davidson, JD - Chief Executive Officer WHA
• Founder American Basketball Association
• Founder World Football League
• Founder World Hockey Association
• In 1994 Sports Illustrated named him as one of the 50 most influential people in sport over the previous 50 years.

Ritch Winter LLB - Media Liaison WHA
• Established The Sports Corporation, one of the largest Player Representation Firms in professional hockey
• Active participant and driving force behind elimination of Alan Eagleson from hockey
• “What R. Alan Eagleson was to malevolence, Ritch Winter is to honesty and courage” - Carl Brewer, 4 Time NHL All-star
Commenting on Ritch Winter’s role in securing a $50 million judgment for retired NHL stars.
• Hockey’s first “player agent superstar” – Chicago’s Rink Side Magazine
• “On behalf of all Canadians. I thank you for your inspiration, I thank you for being an example to all of us to relentlessly pursue our
cause, and if our cause is right, then by your example we know that Justice will prevail.” - Ian McClelland, while a Member of
Parliament speaking to the House of Commons on Ritch Winter’s efforts to reform the NHLPA.

Steven Kotlowitz JD - NHLPA Liaison WHA
• Partner of Ritch Winter in The Sports Corporation
• Formerly Senior VP Admin. at ICM, one of the leading talent agencies in Hollywood


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Maurice Strong – Political and Financial Advisor
• Undersecretary General, United Nations
• Senior Advisor to Kofi Annan, Secretary General United Nations
• Chairman, Earth Council
• Director, World Economic Forum
• Member, Toyota International Advisory Board
• Past Chairman, Ontario Hydro
• Past Chairman, Power Corporation
• Founding Chairman, PetroCanada Corporation
• John Huckell LLB, MBA - President and General Counsel WHA
• Counsel to a number of athletes and owners of professional sports organizations including owners and former owners of an
NHL franchise
• In private practice for over 20 years representing a variety of domestic and international business organizations
• While obtaining his MBA from 1995 -1997, focused efforts on sports businesses, including an analysis of potential expansion of the
NHL into Europe


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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

North American Professional Hockey
The National Hockey League (“NHL”) is currently the league in which the best players in the world are employed by member teams
that compete for hockey’s most coveted prize, the Stanley Cup. Currently, the NHL is the league that employs the best professional
hockey players in the world. All aspiring hockey stars throughout the world view playing in the NHL as the pinnacle of achievement
in the sport. The NHL’s success has allowed the league to offer its players the highest salaries of any hockey league in the world. The
demographics of players in the league are broken down as follows:
Year Pct. Canadian Pct. Non-North American Pct. U.S.
2002-2003 53.6 33.3 13.0
2001-2002 52.3 33.6 14.1
2000-2001 53.2 31.8 15.0
1999-2000 56.3 27.7 16.0
1998-1999 61.1 23.9 15.0
1997-1998 61.4 22.5 16.1
Source: Sports Illustrated

Approximately one third of the league’s players come from outside North America, with the vast majority coming from Europe, where
professional hockey also enjoys significant popularity. Those player’s who come from outside North America are nationals of the
following countries:
Czech Republic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Russia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Sweden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Finland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Slovakia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Other countries in Europe (no one country more than 5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
All others (no one country more than one) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .241


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The people in these countries acknowledge the NHL to be the best hockey league in the world. The NHL has been fairly successful at
marketing its product in Europe despite the absence of a league presence overseas. See NHL expanding European Revenue Generation
Potential – Bloomberg News June 8, 2002, which is included within Schedule “D”.
With an ever increasing pool of talent provided from leagues all over the world, the NHL has maintained the quality of the game while
growing to 30 teams located in large urban centers in the United States (24 teams) and Canada (6 teams). The talent pool available is
such that expansion could continue further without decreasing the quality of play at this level.
The NHL is currently broken into two conferences of three divisions with the following teams in each:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division Northeast Division Southeast Division
New Jersey Devils Boston Bruins Atlanta Thrashers
New York Islanders Buffalo Sabres Carolina Hurricanes
New York Rangers Montreal Canadiens Florida Panthers
Philadelphia Flyers Ottawa Senators Tampa Bay Lightning
Pittsburgh Penguins Toronto Maple Leafs Washington Capitals
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division Northwest Division Pacific Division
Chicago Blackhawks Calgary Flames Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Columbus Blue Jackets Colorado Avalanche Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings Edmonton Oilers Los Angeles Kings
Nashville Predators Minnesota Wild Phoenix Coyotes
St. Louis Blues Vancouver Canucks San Jose Sharks

The NHL has been increasingly successful in attracting the attention of the North American media, but despite its increased popularity,
the NHL still ranks fourth among the four major league team sports, behind the NFL, Major League Baseball and the NBA in terms
of television revenues, sponsorship and gate receipts.


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European Professional Hockey
There is no debate that the NHL attracts the best hockey talent in the World from all over the world. Consequently, Europeans are used
to seeing their best players migrate to North America to play in the NHL, leaving them with a second rate product in the European
leagues and an unsatisfied desire for NHL quality hockey at home.
Professional hockey leagues in Europe are organized by country. Almost every European country has its own national league structure
in which its teams compete to win their own national championship. There are two in-season tournaments for European professional
club teams, but these fit, more or less, into the regular season schedules of their respective domestic leagues and do not affect league
standings. Some nations combine forces to produce border-crossing leagues of a higher level than possible within their boundaries.
There are also a number of teams who compete in national leagues of another country, but these are mainly limited to lower divisions.
The professional leagues currently operating in Europe include the following:
Austrian League British Ice Hockey Superleague
Czech Republic League Deutsche Eishockey League (Germany)
Finland SM-Liiga Eastern Europe Hockey League (teams from Latvia, Ukraine and Belarus)
Russian Elite League Slovakian League
Swedish Elite League Switzerland National League (A&B)

The International Ice Hockey Federation (“IIHF”)
The IIHF is the governing body that oversees professional and amateur hockey throughout the world. Its headquarters are located in
Switzerland. Founded in 1908, the IIHF, is a federation of member national hockey associations governing the sport of ice hockey and
in-line hockey for both men and women. The objectives of the IIHF are:
• to govern, develop and promote ice and in-line hockey throughout the world;
• to develop and control international ice and in-line hockey;
• to promote friendly relations among the member national associations;
• to operate in an organized manner for the good order of the sport.


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GAME PLAN
To accomplish our goal we will have to take a number of steps that are outlined on the timeline set forth below. Initially, the costs will
not be extensive, however, as time moves closer to the expiration of the NHL/NHLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement, and as it
becomes necessary to set up the WHA infrastructure, costs will become significant.

Step 1 - Up to April 1, 2003
• Secure support of NHLPA
• Identify “partners” or up to six owners with whom this plan will be implemented

Step 2 - April 1, 2003 to Jun. 30, 200
• Finalize terms of NHLPA/WHA Agreement

Step 3 - Jul. 1, 2003 to Nov. 30, 2003
• Finalize league structure
• Finalize league by-laws and financial requirements of owners
• Hire league management team

Step 4 - Dec. 1, 2003 to Mar. 31, 2004
• Secure commitments from 30 Team Owners (multiple ownership groups with local operating partners will be approved)
• Secure venues for play


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Step 5 - April 1, 2004 to Jun. 30, 2004
• Hire League Officials
• Hold dispersal “draft” to allow some movement of some players
• Finalize terms of contracts with players
• Secure media deals

Step 6 - Jul. 1, 2004 to Sept. 30, 2004
• sign players ( a number of underage and unsigned NHL prospects will be signed earlier in a time frame to be determined)
• establish league schedule
• teams finalize rosters and other staff

Step 7 - September 16, 2004 - Teams Play First League Games


2006 World Hockey Association Plan

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2006 World Hockey Association Plan