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[Willco]

$3.5 billion? Hot damn!

Updated: Mar. 3, 2005, 9:05 AM ET

Firms made pitch to owners Tuesday
Associated Press

TORONTO -- An investment firm and a sports advisory company reportedly made a joint proposal to buy all 30 NHL teams for as much as $3.5 billion.

Bain Capital Partners LLC and Game Plan International, both based in Boston, made the offer in a 30-minute presentation to NHL owners on Tuesday in New York, sources told the Toronto Star. The companies were invited to make their pitch by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Bain managing partner Steven Pagliuca, co-owner of the NBA's Boston Celtics, and Game Plan, which recently acted as an adviser on the sale of the Ottawa Senators, are betting that many NHL owners would welcome the chance to get out of the hockey business.

The NHL, which because of its ongoing player lockout recently became the first major North American pro sports league to cancel an entire season, has said its teams have lost a collective $500 million over the past two seasons.

It's unclear if team owners, especially those in large markets such as Toronto, Boston and New York, would accept the offer. Maple Leafs officials declined comment, as did a Game Plan spokesman.

NHL executive vice president Bill Daly was cautious in describing the level of interest the proposal received from the governors.

"I'm not going to characterize it," Daly told the Globe and Mail. "I would imagine different clubs had different feelings. The board listened to a presentation and that's about it."

Daly said the league was compelled to listen based on the significance of the offer.

"When someone's offering over $3 billion, we felt we had an obligation to the board to have them, at least, hear it from the proposed purchaser," Daly added.

The purchase would not be dependent on the NHL reaching agreement with the players on a collective bargaining deal, and a sale would not affect the status of the NHL Players' Association as the bargaining agent for players under U.S. and Canadian labor laws.

According to Bain and Game Plan, the sale would bolster the league's revenue because all of the teams would work together to generate more local television, sponsorship and revenue instead of competing against one another. The consortium told the NHL owners it had arranged for a large Canadian-based financier to join its efforts.

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

What a waste.

 

[Tedesco!]

I don't know about this.....

 

[Tarazet]

Holy shit. Light at the end of the tunnel for the hockey fan!

 

[DarienA]

That is crazy...

 

[Fuzzy]

On morning news shows here in Toronto it was said that the offer was rejected by the league.

 

[Willco]

On morning news shows here in Toronto it was said that the offer was rejected by the league.

Toronto local news knows something ESPN doesn't?

... I think you might've heard that the deal was rejected by Toronto, as I assume it would be by some of the bigger market teams. I don't know if New York would sell either.

 

[calder]

Toronto local news knows something ESPN doesn't?

... I think you might've heard that the deal was rejected by Toronto, as I assume it would be by some of the bigger market teams. I don't know if New York would sell either.

When it comes to hockey news, a daily newspaper in Red Deer or Saskatoon would know a *hell* of a lot more than ESPN on any given day.

When you're talking about the sports radio stations in Canada and especially TO, you're talking about probably the quickest of the quick when it comes to hockey rumours and news.


That offer is just too goofy to even really know how to feel about it.

 

[Fuzzy]

Toronto local news knows something ESPN doesn't?

... I think you might've heard that the deal was rejected by Toronto, as I assume it would be by some of the bigger market teams. I don't know if New York would sell either.

The deal was an all-or-nothing deal, one team rejecting it would throw the whole thing out.

 

[Willco]

When it comes to hockey news, a daily newspaper in Red Deer or Saskatoon would know a *hell* of a lot more than ESPN on any given day.

:lol

When you're talking about the sports radio stations in Canada and especially TO, you're talking about probably the quickest of the quick when it comes to hockey rumours and news.

That's odd since you think that news would travel faster as the NHL is based in a little country I like to call BADASSSSS AMERICA DAYTONA XTREME!

That offer is just too goofy to even really know how to feel about it.

I thought as a hockey fan you'd welcome this news!

The deal was an all-or-nothing deal, one team rejecting it would throw the whole thing out.

I figured as much, but there is plenty of time for the 20+ disgruntled owners to badger the bigger market owners.

 

[Culex]

They should have taken the deal, especially for those teams which may cease to exist next season.

 

[Rorschach]

That's odd since you think that news would travel faster as the NHL is based in a little country I like to call BADASSSSS AMERICA DAYTONA XTREME!

:lol :lol :lol

 

[Tedesco!]

At this point I don't care what happens... I just want to see the Leafs hit the ice!

 

[calder]

:lol

That's odd since you think that news would travel faster as the NHL is based in a little country I like to call BADASSSSS AMERICA DAYTONA XTREME!

No one who payed the slightest bit of attention to the sport would think that! :lol Just trust me, whether it's the split-second latest news on Dany Heatley's plea bargain or a rumour about a secret CBA meeting, the news will be on TSN, waymoresports, globeandmail, slam.ca etc etc probably a full day before it'll filter down to CNNSI or ESPN. Unless someone tells EJ Hradek a totally unknown bit of info, virtually all the hockey stories on the major American new sources start out in Canada first. Hell, 95% of the hockey stories on the American sports websites are just AP reports, while the Toronto Star by itself has like 6 full time hockey reporters. My local paper has 2 full time hockey writers who specialize in the NHL (ignoring the scrub they have cover the AHL) and we don't even have an NHL team.

 

[Fuzzy]

From SportsNet

It's not going to happen, by the way.

But this is the second time this group has made such a gesture. For many reasons, the NHL and its member clubs interest in pursuing such a radical move is almost nil and didn't sit well with all who were asked to consider the offer Tuesday.

"Not appropriate," is how one source described the pitch, although the sense is the league may have invited the group in as a reminder to all in attendance there are options and the NHL is still considered a valuable asset.

It's interesting that this is the second time that this group has tried this.

 

[Nerevar]

so wouldn't every team have to agree to sell for this proposal to work? I would imagine that this will never happen in any major sport.