Report: $3.5 billion offer to buy all NHL teams

msnbc.com ^ | March 3, 2005 | AP

[Axeslinger]

TORONTO - A Wall Street buyout 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 and The Globe and Mail. 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.

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[Axeslinger]

Hey, maybe now Bettman will get fired AND the players union will get broken! One can dream!

[Red Badger]

They should buy Baseball...........

[July 4th]

They can do with the league what the guys from Microsoft did with the PBA. Clean it out, pump it up, get some TV deals, and make some money.

[TXBSAFH]

ping

[ImProudToBeAnAmerican]

Nothing like some proper entreprenurial efforts to get the pucks back on the ice!

This would be great!

[Bikers4Bush]

If those leading the players union aren't crapping their pants over this then they've taken one too many stick shots to the head.

[Hebrews 11:6]

One owner for thirty teams cannot possibly work. Fans would assume that league results were being manipulated by the owner for its own benefit and that no true competition existed. Without competition, fans leave, and the owner is bankrupt.

Even since 2000, fans and press have speculated that NBA Commissioner David Stern is manipulating results in favor of marquee franchises such as the Lakers and Knickerbockers. That kind of cynical speculation would rise to a certainty under this foolish and shortsighted proposal.

[Kretek]

Tar and feather Bettman.

I don't care what else happens; he needs to be run out of town on a rail.

[Moleman]

One owner for thirty teams cannot possibly work. Fans would assume that league results were being manipulated by the owner for its own benefit and that no true competition existed.

So you wouldn't believe the results say if someone like Vince McMahon purchased the NHL?

[scab4faa]

They can do with the league what the guys from Microsoft did with the PBA. Clean it out, pump it up, get some TV deals, and make some money.

whats the PBA?

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

For the most part, NHL hockey is the WWF on ice...

...or is that the NBA (Pistons V Pacers)?

[Tallguy]

One owner for thirty teams cannot possibly work.

Years ago I saw a made-for-TV movie about the abortive attempt to form a players' union. The movie was called "Net Worth" and was set in the '50's, IIRC. Featured players were Gordie Howe & Ted Lindsay (the 'ring leader').

In the Era of the 6-Team league, the official owner of the Chicago Blackhawks (Norris?) also had 'controlling interest' in 3 other teams. This was all off-the-books so that he wouldn't attract anti-trust litigation.

[Hebrews 11:6]

So you wouldn't believe the results say if someone like Vince McMahon purchased the NHL?

Forty-five years ago, when I was ten, I enjoyed watching sports on LA TV, including Roller Derby (Thunderbirds: Red Smart, Ralphie Valaderas, Dick Lane announcing, etc.).

Then, one day I noticed that the fistfights all happened directly in front of the single rink-side camera....