Boston investment firm wants to buy entire NHL for $3.5 billion

[WilliamPitt]

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2005/03/03/investment_firm_sports_advisory_company_make_joint_bid_to_buy_national_hockey_league/

Investment firm, sports advisory company make joint bid to buy National Hockey League
By Associated Press | March 3, 2005

TORONTO -- An investment firm and a sports advisory company reportedly made a joint proposal to buy all 30 National Hockey League teams for as much as $3.5 billion. The NHL recently cancelled its 2004-2005 season amid a labor dispute.

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, the Toronto Star reported Thursday.

It said the companies were invited to make their pitch by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

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.

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.

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[sportndandy]

1. Hmm. If they were public I'd short their stock.

IMO hockey is dead. Too many other forms of entertainment to hold interest. Kids today are more interested in skateboarding than spectator sports anyway. Not much of a fan base going forward. The future looks grim for everything except the gladitorial splendor of the NFL.

[dmkinsey]

2. I'd agree that the league has big problems

"Contraction" seems essential since there are teams now that just don't have support in their local areas. Carolina?
I also think the players are being unrealistic if they expect to be paid comparably to NBA players. There just isn't the revenue for those salary levels.

BUT, at least in the Original Six cities hockey rules. Especially Detroit where the football team is perennially poop and our Wings are the Yankees of the NHL

[grumpy old fart]

3. Not dead, but will never be the big time like it wants to be....

IMHO they need to scale back teams, open up the ice and live within their means. The sport has lost a lot since the days of the 5'10" speedsters. Way too many 6'3" 230# clutch and grabbers....

[Old and In the Way]

7. A fresh approach could be interesting.

Change the rules to accommodate wider/longer rinks and put an emphasis on speed and offense, instead of defense and fighting. I love the college game (maybe because my beloved Black Bears are always in the play for the national championship?).

[yvr girl]

4. Hockey is a religion in Canada

It won't die here. New dads buy their baby boys hockey gear, not baseball.

The league did expand to a ridiculous extent. Florida having hockey just doesn't make sense.

Teams can be profitable too. Vancouver has made money the last few years. They put together a good team, that was fun to watch, but that didn't break the bank. There was no BIG TV money, they had to work with Canadian dollar revenue and US dollar expenses, but they made a profit.

I think the league should contract. They also need to open the game up a bit. The trap is no fun to watch.

[DelawareValleyDem]

6. Actually, Florida hockey draws fairly well

Lot of transplanted Northerns there. It's the Altantas, Nashvilles, and Phoenixes that are the problem.

[HuckleB]

5. Hmm.

You think they'll be smart enough to put a team in the northwest?

[KamaAina]

8. Bain Capital? Isn't that *Mitt Romney's* old firm?!

Danger, Will Robinson, danger! Can you imagine an NHL run by Mitt Freepin' Romney or his cronies? We could actually be lamenting, "Where have you gone, Gary Bettman?"...

Oh well, maybe he'd make sure the B's got all the talent... if he didn't move 'em to Salt Lake, that is :evilgrin:

[THUNDER HANDS]

9. how can one company own an entire league?

I mean, this will never happen, but say it did, how could someone concievably own 30 professional teams?

There's something scary about the thought of that. It sounds too Republican for me.

[jakefrep]

10. I believe Major League Soccer does some variation of this.

It's called "single-entity" ownership. The league owns all franchises, with a local investor in each city owning a minority stake in the city's team.

[grumpy old fart]

11. Several minor leagues work this way......the CHL (Southern minor league)

for one is run this way. All the revenue is shared equally, but the teams are run independently as far as the on ice product is concerned.