Tom Golisano bought the Buffalo Sabres from bankruptcy in 2003. There are talks, initiated by an article by Jim Kelley in his Western New York Hockey Magazine, that the Sabres are up for sale.
Larry Quinn, Sabres Managing Partner, quickly fired off an e-mailed response to anyone willing to listen, click "open," and read along.
"We are not in negotiations to sell the team and as we have stated in the past, we will never entertain discussions to move the team out of Buffalo."
Kelley's article ((and partner column on sportsnet.ca)) also maintains that there have been talks with Research in Motion founder Jim Balsillie. Hasn't everyone talked with him...? Also mentioned is the thought that, if the Sabres are sold and/or moved that part of their schedule would be played at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario.
Golisano picked up the team for US$20-million and US$92-million in assumed debt. The National Hockey League is worried that the proposed sale price could be less than the US$206-million that the Tampa Bay Lightning went for last year. The concept, even in the current economy, that a team could sell for less than that particular benchmark gives the league office a case of the "willies" - the value of the loonie be damned at this time.
OSG sources close to the situation have confirmed that Golisano has had discussions with parties about the future of the franchise in Western New York. Another option for the Sabres could, once again, be Anschutz Entertainment Group. AEG was part and parcel to the possible move of the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
AEG was more than happy to give free rent and a management stake in the corporation to the Mario Lemieux/Sam Fingold group. But the city of Pittsburgh ponied up in time to keep the franchise in Pennsylvania. The same idea for another franchise to relocate to Sprint Center has yet to be explored.
The arena still has yet to find a primary tenant.
WIVB's Alysha Palumbo caught up with Kelley...
((HT:WIVB-TV))
No comments:
Post a Comment