An investment firm offers to buy NHL (including all 30 teams) for $3.5 billion.

[Dooby]

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.

“ 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. ”
— Bill Daly, NHL executive vice president


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.

I suspect this deal is bogus. But it should scare the crap out of the players. If there was a single owner, then free agency would be a waste of time.

[Ninkobei]

hope it doesn't happen. can you imagine the trades? would it matter who won the stanley cup? likely the firm would re-sell the teams for slightly more than they payed.

[sike]

what the heck?

[Drbio]

I hope it does happen and I hope the players suffer because of it.

[GP]

I just never gave a damn about hockey. However, I always thought that the idea of a sports league being owned by a single entity was fascinating. They wouldn't have to have an anti-trust exemption from Congress. They wouldn't have to haggle over salaries like they do now. The league would basically function like any other business in regards to employees. Agents would probably become useless as players would have to accept salary and assignment or not have a job just like the rest of us with only moderate room for negotiation. Agents couldn't hold teams hostage using bidding wars. Players wouldn't get sold or traded to other franchises over financial constraints. However, there are some major downfalls to this scenario. Would the public still fund new arenas? I wouldn't think so. How competitive would the league be? Would the competition be genuine or like the WWF (or whatever its called now) and have market driven predetermined winners. Oh, maybe I should have said the NBA instead of the WWF.

[Ninkobei]

"Oh, maybe I should have said the NBA instead of WWF"

that's a bold statement, but there certainly is evidence to support your theory. Only problem is the evidence can fall into the category of random chance, and is not unusual.