Phoenix Coyotes current owner Jerry Moyes believes the chances of the club being able to relocate to Hamilton are 50-50.
In a phone interview with the Spec this week, Moyes said Jim Balsillie’s $212.5-million conditional offer for the Coyotes is the best deal on the table for the bankrupt club.
“I don’t know what the answer is. It is a very difficult decision for the (Arizona bankruptcy) judge to make and, of course, the NHL is standing up there saying it will take us two years to make this move and the judge says ‘You better figure it out a lot faster than that.’ (Hamilton Spectator 7/2)
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The Rock announced yesterday that Oakville native Jamie Dawick has purchased the team. Dawick, who also owns a sports bar and is involved in building homes, has been in discussions to purchase the National Lacrosse League team for the past few months.
“The Toronto Rock is one of the cornerstone franchises of the National Lacrosse League,” said Dawick in a statement released by the team. “My goal is to restore the winning tradition of the Rock and ensure that it once again becomes one of the most competitive franchises in the league.”
Dawick, who is in his early 30s according to Rock head office staff, has taken part in several poker events, including last year’s World Series of Poker tournament. (The Toronto Star 7/1)
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The embattled owners of the Tampa Bay Lightning have hired an investment bank to potentially find a third general partner, sources said, as the team struggles with management division and financial losses.
Los Angeles-based Park Lane is exploring several options, including bringing in limited partners, securing a third general partner, or even finding a replacement for one of the current partners.
Last week, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman mediated between Len Barrie and Oren Koules, who are divided over the direction of the franchise they jointly bought for $206 million in June 2008. (Sports Business Journal 6/29)
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Miami entertainment figures Gloria and Emilio Estefan will be announced as Miami Dolphins minority owners Thursday by Dolphins majority owner Stephen Ross, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
The source said Monday night that the National Football League and the Dolphins are looking to expand their reach to South Florida’s growing Hispanic community and are turning to the Estefans as their ambassadors. Like many sports fans in South Florida his age, Emilio Estefan is a longtime Dolphins fan whose favorite player is Hall of Fame Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino. (Miami Herald 6/23)
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Chicago Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has promised to make an offer by Friday to buy the bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes and keep the team in Arizona.
Reinsdorf’s attorney Alan Klein said his client is in the midst of conversations with the city of Glendale on a new lease agreement that would be part of the proposal.
Klein made the comment from Chicago via conference call Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix, where Judge Redfield T. Baum adopted a sale schedule that gives the NHL the first shot at finding a buyer who will keep the team in Arizona. (USA Today 6/23)
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The Green Bay Packers withstood recession, Brett Favre’s dramatic departure and return to the NFL, and a 6-10 record to post a net profit last year.
At $4 million, it wasn’t a big profit — only one-third of Favre’s former contract — but in the current economic climate, Packers leaders will take it.
“It was a challenging year,” said Mark Murphy, president and chief executive officer. “It is a tribute to our fans and sponsors that we’ve really weathered difficult economic times as well as could be expected.”
Net income was 83 percent less than for 2007-2008, and profit from operations, which does not include investment income or provisions for taxes, fell for the third straight year, to $20.1 million. Profit from operations was $34 million in 2006-07 and $22 million last year, reductions the team blames, in part, on rising player costs. (Green Bay Press Gazette 6/22)
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The Molsons were the last group to enter the bidding for the Canadiens, but their efforts were rewarded yesterday when it was announced that they had reached an agreement in principle to buy a controlling interest in the team from George Gillett Jr.
The announcement yesterday ended speculation over Gillett’s future in Montreal. On several occasions, he has denied that the Canadiens were for sale and said that he was merely reviewing his assets as part of an estate-planning exercise.
Gillett bought the team for $275 million in 2001, but his stake in the team and the Bell Centre is highly leveraged and he needs cash to pay down debt taken on when he and Texas billionaire Tom Hicks bought the Liverpool FC soccer team. Terms were not announced, but it’s believed the winning bid could be as high as $550 million. (Montreal Gazette 6/22)
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Beijing Olympic organizers say they made a profit out of hosting last year’s Summer Games.
According to figures released Friday by the government audit bureau, $2.8 billion was spent on organizing and staging the Games, including the Paralympic Summer Games that followed.
That compares to income of $3 billion thus far, leaving a profit of $176 million, the bureau said. The biggest chunk, accounting for 40 percent, came from broadcast and marketing rights, along with sales of tickets, souvenirs, and commemorative coins and stamps. (AP 6/18)
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Talks to sell the storied Chicago Cubs baseball team have reopened with a rival bidding group, and are continuing alongside negotiations with the original Ricketts family buyers, sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday.
Bankrupt media company Tribune Co (TRBCQ.PK), owner of The Los Angeles Times, has been trying to sell the Cubs for more than two years to reduce its debt burden. It agreed in January to sell the prized team and other assets for $900 million.
An exclusivity period between Tribune and the Ricketts group has ended and the media company is now talking to a group that includes private equity investors Marc Utay and LeoHindery, three sources familiar with the situation said. (Reuters 6/18)
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WEALTHY AMERICAN industrialist Len Blavatnik has thrown Irish broadcaster Setanta Sports a financial lifeline by offering to invest £20 million (€23.5 million) for a 51 per cent stake in the pay television company.
This investment forms part of an overall £50 million proposed injection of new funds into the business by Mr Blavatnik and other shareholders.
The investment proposal was agreed in principle by Setanta’s board of directors at a meeting in London yesterday.
Setanta’s board also decided yesterday to recommence taking new subscriptions from customers, having suspended the service earlier this week. (Irish Times 6/13)
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