Mario's got to be pissed that Betteman's arrogance and ignorance on insisting that someone who's prepared to invest that kind of money wouldn't have any say in the potential moving the team to a location of their own choice just fucked him out of $175 million.Balsillie pulls bid to purchase Penguins
Bob McKenzie
12/15/2006 10:08:34 PM
An uncertain future for the Pittsburgh Penguins has become even more uncertain.
Candian billionaire Jim Balsillie has withdrawn his offer to purchase the Penguins and where it goes from here is anybody's guess.
Penguins chief executive officer Ken Sawyer spoke at a news conference on Friday night and expressed disappointment.
"We were hopeful that this was going to come to a conclusion any day," Sawyer said. "All we know is that he and the league couldn't come to an agreement and he chose to give us a notice.
Representatives for both Balsillie and the NHL refused to comment on Balsillie's withdrawal, but sources tell TSN the deal started to fall apart a week ago today, when the $175 million transaction was supposed to officially close.
Sources say the NHL introduced a lengthy list of terms and conditions on the closing day that Balsillie would have to agree to if he were going to be approved as the new owner of the team. The sources added that those conditions included keeping the franchise in Pittsburgh under any circumstances and also provided for a scenario where the league could take control the franchise if it deemed it necessary.
In any case, it seems clear Balsillie was not prepared to meet those terms and conditions. He and the league apparently have been negotiating for the past week trying to find some common ground that would permit the transaction to take place, but sources say Balsillie grew weary of the process and served notice to the league he was terminating his offer to purchase.
Sources suggest the door isn't closed to Balsillie resurrecting his interest but only if the conditions of ownership are amenable to him. The NHL, though, appears intent on getting some firm commitment that the Penguins will not be leaving Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, the news obviously comes as great disappointment to Penguins' owner Mario Lemieux. Lemieux issued the following statement:
''Jim Balsillie delivered a notice of termination today, and it is our understanding that he has stopped negotiating with the National Hockey League to get the necessary consent to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins,'' Lemieux said.
''While these developments create significant uncertainty, the Penguins organization will re-evaluate our situation after the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board makes the decision on the awarding of the Pittsburgh gaming license.
''What is clear is the best way to assure that the team remains viable and in Pittsburgh is to award the gaming license to the Isle of Capri.''
A decision on a slots license application is to be made Dec. 20. If the license is awarded to the Isle of Capri group, which has an agreement with the Penguins to get a new arena built for the NHL team, the future of the franchise in Pittsburgh appears to be secure.
But if the slots license were granted to a group other than Isle of Capri, there is no guarantee the Penguins would be able to stay in Pittsburgh.
It is difficult to know how to spin what has happened here since neither side – Balsillie or the NHL – are talking. The best we can do is to speculate.
The NHL might be inclined to say its desire to include assurances the Pens stay in Pittsburgh, and Balsillie's subsequent refusal to grant those assurances, shows that Balsillie was strongly considering the possibility of relocating the franchise, perhaps to southern Ontario, where the headquarters of his RIM corporation are located. The NHL could maintain it was championing the cause of NHL hockey in Pittsburgh and protecting the Penguins.
Balsillie might be inclined to say the NHL blindsided him and the Penguins' Lemieux-led ownership group with a series of last-minute demands that would leave his $175 million investment greatly compromised and that he could never invest that sum and have his hands tied as tightly as the NHL was insisting.
Now? Who knows?
The first hint that something might be awry came earlier this week when a fax vote by the NHL board of governors was supposed to have been completed. Whether it was or not, we don't know. But the expectation was, initially anyway, that the approval would be swift and unanimous and could have been announced as early as Monday of this week.
Sources told TSN that the board approval might be withheld until after the Dec. 20 announcement on the slots license in Pittsburgh, that if the Isle of Capri received the license and the arena plans were going ahead then Balsillie would get board approval. But that if Isle of Capri didn't get the license, and the Pens' arena future was uncertain, there would have to be assurances from Balsillie to keep the team in Pittsburgh before league approval was granted.
As it turned out, those demands were made last week when the deal was supposed to close on Dec. 8.
The Penguins are expected to hold a news conference during the first intermission of their game against the New York Islanders in Pittsburgh.
Rack Jim Balsillie
Moderator: Shoalzie
Rack Jim Balsillie
For telling Betteman to go fuck himself.
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Re: Rack Jim Balsillie
Perhaps. But could turn out to be the best case scenario for him too. We'll see come Wednesday when the Slots License is issued. If given to Island of Capri... Mario's a VERY happy man. To the tune of perhpas $50-100 million happier. Should Island of Capri get the license, they have pledged that they will build a new arena for the city. Voila... the price tag on Mario's team just shot up AND the team stays in the 'burgh, no doubt.Otis wrote:Mario's got to be pissed that Betteman's arrogance and ignorance on insisting that someone who's prepared to invest that kind of money wouldn't have any say in the potential moving the team to a location of their own choice just fucked him out of $175 million.
As an aside, Betteman's an idiot. I can't believe he wold actually think for a second that Balsille would agree to the terms set forth by him, specific to keeping the team in teh 'burgh, no matter what. Balsille would be a certified dolt to move forward w/the purchase under those terms.
Re: Rack Jim Balsillie
I doubt it, considering that the Ducks sold for $90 million which means that the price of the Penguins was over inflated.Ken wrote:Perhaps. But could turn out to be the best case scenario for him too. We'll see come Wednesday when the Slots License is issued. If given to Island of Capri... Mario's a VERY happy man. To the tune of perhpas $50-100 million happier. Should Island of Capri get the license, they have pledged that they will build a new arena for the city. Voila... the price tag on Mario's team just shot up AND the team stays in the 'burgh, no doubt.Otis wrote:Mario's got to be pissed that Betteman's arrogance and ignorance on insisting that someone who's prepared to invest that kind of money wouldn't have any say in the potential moving the team to a location of their own choice just fucked him out of $175 million.
As an aside, Betteman's an idiot. I can't believe he wold actually think for a second that Balsille would agree to the terms set forth by him, specific to keeping the team in teh 'burgh, no matter what. Balsille would be a certified dolt to move forward w/the purchase under those terms.
As an aside, Maria's threat to withold Balsillie's $10 million deposit is laughable but I really hope he does do it. The ensuing legal actions against the NHL would bring tears of laughter watching as Bettman's ass is continually reamed by lawyers far smarter than he is.
I'm guessing the idiot that told Maria to do this hasn't heard of the RIM lawyers.
As for the other reported 2 prospective bidders.. one is Frank D'Angelo.. the CFL turned him down for a franchise in Ottawa so that should tell you how stable his ownership bid would be
More on this topic..start around 31:30 in to it...
More from Howard Bloom...
More from Howard Bloom...
Read the rest of it hereThe Sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins and a two car funeral
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me, in this case once again shame and embarrassment reigns in the world of illusion Gary Bettman and the NHL lives in. For the second time in less than five months the sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins has blown up in the faces of Bettman, Mario Lemieux and the National Hockey League.
With the Pennsylvania Gaming Association set to award the sole gaming license for the Pittsburgh region Wednesday, the future of the NHL’s Penguins a key to the Isle of Capri’s casino bid took a dramatic step backwards Friday evening when Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie announced he had decided he was no longer interested in buying the Penguins.