but having the franchise’s money status up in the air to this degree is scary…

if an owner goes bankrupt in the middle of a season — does MLB back the team up and pay the expenses?

Didn’t the league run the Nationals for a while? Boy would that be fun…

The end of our long local nightmare could be in sight. After the last four games, this is good news.

heh.

it was that they were using it to negotiate with the banks/get more time?

Mr. Hicks missed a $10 million quarterly interest payment on March 31, triggering the default notice. The teams are unable to fund both their operating expenses and debt service, and Mr. Hicks has declined to continue making up the difference out of his own pocket, according to a person familiar with the matter.

That has angered some of the lenders — a collection of large banks and smaller investment funds — for whom the default notice begins a process that could put the banks in control of the teams. That won’t happen for at least 180 days, however, as lenders have agreed to National Hockey League provisions that prevent immediate foreclosure. Major League Baseball’s rules for such situations are more fluid, though if Hicks Sports Group can’t satisfy lenders, the lenders can eventually force an MLB-sanctioned sale of the Rangers.

And I found this interesting:

Relations between the Hicks Sports Group lenders and the NHL have grown increasingly testy of late, with the NHL threatening to do all it could to block a forced sale of the Stars, according to people involved in the matter.

I’m fine with whatever happens.

That is probably my biggest fear as a sports fan.

there is some hope for this franchise after all.

I would think that this is just a negotiating ploy to get the banks to lower his rates but with the way the economy is I don’t know if the banks will blink. Banks right now are trying to make examples of people.

Like someone said, we can hope.

as much as I dislike Tom Hicks’s comments on the radio and think he’s generally a dunderhead, I’m much more comfortable with the devil I know than with the devil I don’t. He’s stuck with JD thus far, and I wonder how many other owners would’ve done that.

So Hick can’t pay both the operating cost and the debt he has incurred. That means he can still pay the operating costs of both teams, but he needs to liquidate some assets to pay off his debt. Is that the way everyone else is reading it?

Does this maybe answer the Juan Cruz question?

What does this mean?

The Padres are valued at about $500 million, and Moorad will purchase the team over a five-year period. The Ricketts family bid about $900 million for the Cubs, Wrigley, WGN, and probably some other stuff as well. I wonder how much the Rangers (plus the local TV station) would be worth?

This seems to be the most significant part, that Hicks doesn’t WANT to pony up any of his own cash to ‘protect’ the investment in the Stars and Rangers.

Maybe he will if it comes down to that or maybe he doesn’t have as much in his pockets as people think (assets minus liabilities).

But is Hicks really could solve this himself and he doesn’t want to, it raises other questions:

1. Is Hicks more upside down in the Rangers than it seems? Maybe adding in his own cash would just lead to him losing that money as well.

2. Perhaps Hicks has lost faith in the MLB as a way to make money and he would rather take the credit hit than do what it takes to keep owning a team that (he might believe) has no real chance of turning it around and paying for itself.

Side Note: Hicks’ OTHER team, Liverpool is playing a huge match in the Champions League right now on ESPN2. They are up against it and need to score at least three goals or they are out of this competition. Huge crowd and big energy from London. He borrowed for this transaction also.

updated from the original Unfair Park post

“You may have read yet another news story about the current situation involving HSG’s efforts to renegotiate their loans. This time the story appeared in the Wall Street Journal. There is nothing new in this story. As has been previously reported, HSG missed its most recent quarterly interest payment. As a result of that payment default, HSG’s lenders have now sent the expected and normal default notices to HSG. But nothing has changed at the baseball and hockey clubs while the negotiations continue at the HSG level. Both Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League have strong protections for their franchises when discussions such as these are underway. These are complex negotiations and there are some very smart people working on them. As an owner and lender to HSG, I am working to negotiate something that will make economic sense going forward for me, HSG and its lenders. The current situation simply does not make economic sense. As these negotiations progress I will keep you posted.”

Tom Hicks “Could Eventually” Lose Control of Texas Rangers

this somehow implies that tom hicks has ever had control of the texas rangers

where was i when this happened???

at cnbc.com writes:

Hicks’ greatest problem might be his inability to accept reality. In mentioning that he’s ready to sell parts of his teams, he has mentioned selling a 49 percent stake, so that he can raise money while still maintaining his majority ownership position.

Not only has the value of his teams probably dropped at least 25 percent because of the marketplace, but the person who is buying has to have more cash than ever before. And someone who doesn’t have a sports team who is going to buy now is going to want majority ownership, if not immediately upon purchase, within a couple years.

You’re right. He has an MBA from USC. I assumed he did because he’s the “deal maker.” My bad. Well, that explains it! He’s not a lawyer!

There’s free parking and nickle beer in it for you

is that a lot of banks won’t even talk renegotiating a loan until someone has defaulted on one. If the banks feel like they’d be better served by renegotiating, they’ll do it. In most cases, they are much better off.

LINK

I’m thinking it is inevitable that the team will be sold…..