You have uniforms, you have licensing partners. It takes a good year and a half or so to implement something like that.
The reason they'd be moving is ownership has burned its bridges in Charlotte. Wherever they go will not be as good as staying in Charlotte.
They took a chance to take a company owned by Comcast. That might end up being a very good thing ... Comcast can promote it -- on its own cable systems -- on ESPN, on Fox Sports Net. Let's see if they do so. That'll say how committed they are.
Sometimes deadlines help and sometimes they don't make much of a difference. They rarely hurt, unless they are arbitrary or excessively short. But if you are working in good faith and the deadlines can be extended if progress is being made, they work well.
This actually puts hockey on more news pages, not necessarily in the way you want it, but it still is a cover story. Wayne Gretzky and his beautiful wife are good art, and that always attracts attention.