Posted on 09/13/2012 8:56:44 AM PDT by raccoonradio
The team is owned by the Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the English football team Liverpool FC. While no final decision has been made about a potential sale, and the talks appear to be in the early stages, executives at Fenway Sports are debating whether they have the financial resources to run both teams, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The Red Sox have publicly denied that they are for sale. Reached Thursday, a spokesperson for the team said of the potential sale that “there is no truth to that rumor.” However, there has been talk for some time that the team is informally gauging interest in the club.
The price tag eyed for any potential sale would be a steep one, according to people who have spoke with Red Sox management: $1.3 billion. Forbes cites the value of the Red Sox at around $1 billion.
Financier John Henry is the principle owner of Fenway Sports, which bought the Red Sox in 2002 and produced immediate results, winning the World Series in 2004 and 2007. But the last two seasons have been dismal ones for the team, plagued by injuries and overpaid talent.
Recently, the team unloaded a slew of underperforming players, saving as much as $250 million through 2018.
Also likely weighing on the consideration to sell the team is the poor performance of Henry’s investment company, John Henry & Co. this year, these people say. The firm, which specializes in the futures market, has had a volatile year, with funds such as his Global Analytics losing nearly 16% this year, according to the company’s website.
But according to people with direct knowledge of the matter, the biggest challenge for Henry is running two expensive sports franchises. Fenway Sports purchased the Liverpool team for $476 million in 2010, and has been widely criticized for overpaying for players who have under-delivered.
In fact, Henry recently wrote an open letter to Liverpool fans, vowing not to overspend on talent in the future, but stating his commitment to keeping the team.
By weighing a sale of the Red Sox, Henry could devote more resources to the Liverpool team. Also, unloading Liverpool is considered more difficult compared with a franchise with the name recognition of the Red Sox, despite its lousy 2012 season.
Fenway also owns 80% of the New England Sports Network, where the Red Sox games are aired, as well as the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League. It's unclear how the sports network would factor into any deal.
In fact, people close to executives inside Fenway say management has been increasingly focused not on the Red Sox, but on the future of the Liverpool team.
>>The Red Sox have publicly denied that they are for sale. Reached Thursday, a spokesperson for the team said of the potential sale that “there is no truth to that rumor.”<<
IOW they are for sale.
Talk about your fixer-uppers.
Does this mean the Wal-mart Clan is running out of money?
Liberal DH’s to the core and this is how they run their businesses. Always over paying for CRAP! IDIOTS!
Maybe John Kerry can get his ketchup heiress wife to pony up some money to buy them, along with other investors. “Lovey,
do they still have Manny Ortez?”
http://liveshot.cc/Audio/Manny%20Ortez.mp3
they prefer soccer?
(WEEI's Big Show has a feature called the Whiner Line where someone imitates Henry--in a breathy, feminine sounding voice. "Hi...this is Red Sox owner John Henry..." Be sure and buy your Red Sox commemorative bricks!)
Liberals. Give ‘em another brain so they can be a half-wit.
The alleged “sellout streak”...via Boston Globe
Lucchino took exception to the notion that Red Sox fans are tired of the team keeping the sellout streak alive.
“I haven’t heard a single fan or received a single e-mail or gotten a single letter where that happens,” said Lucchino. He went on to defend the streak. “The Boston Globe has taken a very different definition. We’re battling definitions. Their definition is a literal one, and that every possible seat must be sold. And the operating definition that was here for years and years and was here long before we got here, and it’s in place for most Major League baseball teams, although there are some variations, but most baseball teams define a sellout as when you have more people in the ballpark, because you’ve sold more tickets and distributed more tickets than there are seats.
“It has been a source of pride. We thought for our fans as well as for the organization. It is what it is. When it ends—and it will end—I doubt this year, because we sold so many tickets in September. We’ve averaged 37,600 people, somewhere around there. That’s an average for every game this year. You can quibble about definitions, ‘Is this a sellout? Is that a sellout?’ But that’s an extraordinarily consistent record. You can quibble that there are some seats behind the post that didn’t get sold. Yeah, well there are several people in standing room instead. “
Also:
>>There has been speculation that the ownership group of Lucchino, John Henry, and Tom Werner might be interested in selling the team soon. Lucchino said that wasn’t true.
“Oh nonsense,” he said. “They feel the same kind of competitive juices that I feel, that our fans feel, to put this team back on the track it was on for a decade. For better or worse, we are the guys that you’re going to have to kick around for awhile.”
Thank God. They are taking the money and running.
I doubt she has to wait in line for tickets. /sarc.
yes..here are some comments from the posting of this article by Sports Hub 98.5 on facebook
— the sounds of a pending sale were obvious after the big trade. of course they’re shopping to sell
—Things get tough and Henry wants to bail...way to have no sack, pal.
— Just don’t sell to McCourt
—Oh please Bob Kraft buy this once proud franchise ....
—I always knew the soccer team came first, while the state of the Red Sox was way down on the list.
They also seem to be supportive of the Occupy Fenway Locker Room movement by the spoiled players
White elephant alert! This last-place pig has no where to go but up!
After what the Dodgers and Padres recently sold for, you’d have to be crazy not to think about offering any MLB team for sale.
They are massively overvalued.
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