Sabres sale rumor

[Weave]

42 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

I couldn't help but notice you were the first one to show up for szarlotka!

I never respected any of your apple pies.

[Believer]

Hmm… If Pegula sells the Sabres… and the new owner moves the Sabres to a new city… think Pegula will lose the goodwill and investment he’s bought himself in Buffalo over the years… Don’t see it happening myself…

[tom webster]

Hockey business is booming and TPEGS wouldn’t be selling low if that’s what he chooses to do. 
Everything is for sale for the right price. While I would be surprised if they completely divested themselves of the franchise, the numbers at least make it tempting.

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Believer said:

Hmm… If Pegula sells the Sabres… and the new owner moves the Sabres to a new city… think Pegula will lose the goodwill and investment he’s bought himself in Buffalo over the years… Don’t see it happening myself…

They aren't going to move. 

[Brawndo]

9 hours ago, tom webster said:

Hockey business is booming and TPEGS wouldn’t be selling low if that’s what he chooses to do. 
Everything is for sale for the right price. While I would be surprised if they completely divested themselves of the franchise, the numbers at least make it tempting.

With the New Stadium going in OP, I could imagine the idea of a Patriot Place Style Development going up around it. 
 

I believe The Penguins Sale contained the rights to develop some property around PPG Arena for the 900 Million, so the Pegulas divesting themselves of their Downtown Properties as part of a potential sale is not out of the realm of possibility. 
 

Another potential  factor is the Pegulas will probably get between 750 million and one billion from the State and County Government for the new stadium.  Couple this with the fact that KBC is in desperate need of a renovation with its pending expiring lease, they may not want to be the ones to ask the State for an additional 250-400 Million for KBC. 

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by Brawndo

[PerreaultForever]

7 hours ago, Brawndo said:

Both Peters and Friedman have heard the rumor, but Friedman mentioned the Pegulas wouldn’t likely move on it now during the Stadium Negotiations as it would be a bad look to politicians they are dealing with 

but does it? You people that live in Buffalo would know better, but I think they are pretty unpopular as hockey owners and if as Peters mentioned it can just make them look like they are all in on football, it could help them, and maybe if it's a shared stadium thing they want the hockey team money to pump it into that building.

As long as it's not a move out of Buffalo sale I don't think it'd be bad PR for them. 

[Kr632]

I put an offer in for the team last week when my Coinbase account said I had a few hundred million dollars. I hope they didn't accept it because it was an error and I only have $26 in.

[RangerDave]

8 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

They aren't going to move. 

I don't know about that.  The Pegulas just did sell their home!  🙂  Doesn't that usually mean they are moving?

Terry and Kim Pegula sell waterfront condo in Buffalo - Buffalo Business First (bizjournals.com)

 

[Brawndo]

25 minutes ago, RangerDave said:

I don't know about that.  The Pegulas just did sell their home!  🙂  Doesn't that usually mean they are moving?

Terry and Kim Pegula sell waterfront condo in Buffalo - Buffalo Business First (bizjournals.com)

 

They purchased a 2.5 Million Dollar Estate in East Aurora in 2018, which they have been using as residence while in Buffalo. Their Home in Boca Raton is still Their Primary Residence. 
 

The Condo was no longer needed. 

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2018/05/16/pegulas-buy-richard-garman-estate-in-southtowns.html

[PromoTheRobot]

9 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

They aren't going to move. 

You hope.

[LGR4GM]

12 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

You hope.

No, I know. Bettman won't move Arizona to anywhere good but by he's going to move the franchise closest to Toronto that has some of the highest TV ratings for hockey... on top of them putting in a 32nd team just this year. 

They ain't moving, the league isn't going to do it. 

BTW there have been rumblings for a couple years the Pegulas want to bring in a minority owner to run the business side. 

Let's say they can get 250 million for a minority owner, there's the renovation money for keybank

Edited December 22, 2021 by LGR4GM

[JohnC]

6 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

No, I know. Bettman won't move Arizona to anywhere good but by he's going to move the franchise closest to Toronto that has some of the highest TV ratings for hockey... on top of them putting in a 32nd team just this year. 

They ain't moving, the league isn't going to do it. 

BTW there have been rumblings for a couple years the Pegulas want to bring in a minority owner to run the business side. 

Let's say they can get 250 million for a minority owner, there's the renovation money for keybank

Why would a minority owner invest $250 M and not have any significant say in how the organization is run because the majority owner has all the authority? How many people would be interested in investing in a business with the expectation that they would help/required to pay for costly needed costly facility upgrades as  impotent minority owner when it comes to making decisions for the franchise? Unless there is a future option to buy it would make little sense for a new investor.

This reminds me of the situation with the Washington Football Team, formerly named the Redskins. The two major minority owners didn't want to be associated with the scuzzy majority owner, Dan Snyder. They wanted out because they had no say, as minority owners, to influence how the franchise was operated. They were bought out at below market cost per share because the minority shares were not equal value to the majority shares. My point is why would someone want to buy into a franchise at a high cost if there wasn't an expectation/agreement to buy in as a majority owner in the future?   

 

[shoretalk]

16 hours ago, Norcal said:

Chychrun?

He's -29 ... who would think he would or should be coming to the Sabres with our overload of D?

[sabresparaavida]

7 minutes ago, shoretalk said:

He's -29 ... who would think he would or should be coming to the Sabres with our overload of D?

I don’t really think the Sabres should trade for him, but he is also also averaging almost 25 minutes a game, on the worst team in the league. The coyotes have a -53 goal differential, with the least goals for in the league. Makes a lot of sense that he has a terrible +\-

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

Why would a minority owner invest $250 M and not have any significant say in how the organization is run because the majority owner has all the authority? How many people would be interested in investing in a business with the expectation that they would help/required to pay for costly needed costly facility upgrades as  impotent minority owner when it comes to making decisions for the franchise? Unless there is a future option to buy it would make little sense for a new investor.

This reminds me of the situation with the Washington Football Team, formerly named the Redskins. The two major minority owners didn't want to be associated with the scuzzy majority owner, Dan Snyder. They wanted out because they had no say, as minority owners, to influence how the franchise was operated. They were bought out at below market cost per share because the minority shares were not equal value to the majority shares. My point is why would someone want to buy into a franchise at a high cost if there wasn't an expectation/agreement to buy in as a majority owner in the future?   

 

Depends on the agreement reached.

[woods-racer]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

Why would a minority owner invest $250 M and not have any significant say in how the organization is run because the majority owner has all the authority? How many people would be interested in investing in a business with the expectation that they would help/required to pay for costly needed costly facility upgrades as  impotent minority owner when it comes to making decisions for the franchise? Unless there is a future option to buy it would make little sense for a new investor.

This reminds me of the situation with the Washington Football Team, formerly named the Redskins. The two major minority owners didn't want to be associated with the scuzzy majority owner, Dan Snyder. They wanted out because they had no say, as minority owners, to influence how the franchise was operated. They were bought out at below market cost per share because the minority shares were not equal value to the majority shares. My point is why would someone want to buy into a franchise at a high cost if there wasn't an expectation/agreement to buy in as a majority owner in the future?   

 

Because in the buy/sell agreement there are stipulations in place that the 250 million buy in allows a certain amount of decision making. 

 

[LGR4GM]

18 minutes ago, sabresparaavida said:

I don’t really think the Sabres should trade for him, but he is also also averaging almost 25 minutes a game, on the worst team in the league. The coyotes have a -53 goal differential, with the least goals for in the league. Makes a lot of sense that he has a terrible +\-

Sure he's better than what he looks currently, but that's not the question. 

How much does he cost to acquire, does he fill a need?

He costs a lot of young assets. We have 2 first overall LHDs on the team and 2 more LHD which were essential end of 1st round picks. 

[dudacek]

A team loaded with cheap young talent at the cap floor with a streamlined front office and saddled with very few big, long-term contracts in a good hockey market?

For sale you say?

[Brawndo]

9 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

but does it? You people that live in Buffalo would know better, but I think they are pretty unpopular as hockey owners and if as Peters mentioned it can just make them look like they are all in on football, it could help them, and maybe if it's a shared stadium thing they want the hockey team money to pump it into that building.

As long as it's not a move out of Buffalo sale I don't think it'd be bad PR for them. 

There is a significant segment of the NYS, even in WNY who do not agree with giving a Billionaire NFL/NHL Team Owner hundreds of millions if not a billion dollars for a new stadium that will be used 10-15 times a year. 
 

It’s potentially a bad look if while asking for this amount of money, they turn around sell Their other franchise at a potential profit of 400-500 Million while negotiating the deal. 
 

I could see them selling half of franchise and giving control of the day to day operations to the new owner while the Pegulas concentrate on the Bills. 

[msw2112]

I have no information on this topic, but in my opinion, the Pegulas would not want to sell.  After many years of failures, the team finally seems to be moving in the right direction.  They have a GM in place who appears to be competent and is someone they know and trust.  They have a coach who appears to be competent, has shown an ability to develop players, and a lot of young talent in the pipeline.  They've made it through (arguably) the worst of the pandemic, despite the current brief shutdown.  The future looks pretty good for the franchise.  After football season, if the team continues to play better, as they have been, they will sell more tickets, and if the team continues on its current trajectory, the fans will come back even more over the next couple of seasons.  The value of the frachise should increase substantially in the next couple of years.

Edited December 22, 2021 by msw2112

[Sabres Fan in NS]

1 hour ago, woods-racer said:

Because in the buy/sell agreement there are stipulations in place that the 250 million buy in allows a certain amount of decision making. 

 

Paging @PASabreFan ... 

Seems like some are thinking there is a possiblility of a second meddling owner coming in.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

A team loaded with cheap young talent at the cap floor with a streamlined front office and saddled with very few big, long-term contracts in a good hockey market?

For sale you say?

When you look at it this is a reasonable take that a sale was part of the plan all along.  

That said, the exact opposite conclusion is just as reasonable.

[Curt]

2 hours ago, JohnC said:

Why would a minority owner invest $250 M and not have any significant say in how the organization is run because the majority owner has all the authority? How many people would be interested in investing in a business with the expectation that they would help/required to pay for costly needed costly facility upgrades as  impotent minority owner when it comes to making decisions for the franchise? Unless there is a future option to buy it would make little sense for a new investor.

This reminds me of the situation with the Washington Football Team, formerly named the Redskins. The two major minority owners didn't want to be associated with the scuzzy majority owner, Dan Snyder. They wanted out because they had no say, as minority owners, to influence how the franchise was operated. They were bought out at below market cost per share because the minority shares were not equal value to the majority shares. My point is why would someone want to buy into a franchise at a high cost if there wasn't an expectation/agreement to buy in as a majority owner in the future?   

 

So, I believe that the theory is that the Pegulas are interested in a minority owner who would take on much (most? all?) of the day to day financial runnings of the organization.  If this is the case, then the minority owner would in fact have a say, a primary say, in the runnings of the team.  This would need to be formalized in writing as part of the sale agreement.  Perhaps this whole agreement could include an option to purchase more shares in the future and even enough to become the majority owner.  It really would depend upon the sellers and hypothetical buyers.

[Porous Five Hole]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

A team loaded with cheap young talent at the cap floor with a streamlined front office and saddled with very few big, long-term contracts in a good hockey market?

For sale you say?

While this makes perfect sense, couldn’t it also make perfect sense that this is a needed reset and ownership is in it for the long haul with maximum flexibility moving forward?

[tom webster]

Gambling 

Digital Marketting 

Hockey’s popularity overseas

The wealthy with more disposable income than ever 

The league softening the rules on majority owners.

Sports franchises in general will be partially purchased by investment groups. This has nothing to do with the Pegulas “needing” money but rather exploring creative options to turn paper gains into liquid assets. They won’t be the only ones. Some analysts predict that with the addition of gambling and digital revenue, a franchise like the Bills will be worth a minimum of $10B and the Sabres $1B within 2 or 3 years. Hell, hockey had revenue over $5B this year and will probably recoup all their COVID losses within 2 years. On top of all that, sports ownership is still a “glamour” investment for those that need their ego stroked daily.