AbNormal27
08-23-2003, 09:32 AM
Interesting story in the N&O, my dreams may be coming true!
Canes owner looks at local investors
By LUKE DECOCK, Staff Writer
RALEIGH -- Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos said Friday he is considering selling part or even all of the hockey team, depending on the outcome of the NHL's coming labor negotiations.
Karmanos, in town for the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic, said that, if the NHL can reach an acceptable accommodation with the NHL Players' Association on a new collective bargaining agreement , he would look to add local partners.
The CBA expires on Sept. 15, 2004.
"We'd like to do that, but I would put myself on the other side and say, 'Why would anybody buy a minority interest in a hockey team that heretofore hasn't been profitable?' " Karmanos said. "We're not the Lone Ranger when it comes to that by any stretch. ...
"It would be very difficult. I think when we have our new agreement I would like to get as many people who are interested to participate and have a real board of directors and become even more a part of the community."
Karmanos, who is on the NHL's executive committee, is among a group of hard-line owners who want to install a luxury tax or salary cap -- what commissioner Gary Bettman has described as "cost certainty."
Because the owners and players appear so far apart, a repeat of the 1994 lockout that wiped out 38 games and that led to the current CBA is widely feared. In a worst-case scenario, the entire 2004-05 season could be lost.
NHL executives have been threatened with fines for publicly discussing the possibility of labor problems, but Karmanos said the outcome of the 2004 negotiations will determine in large part the future of the Hurricanes.
"From the Hurricanes' point of view, we couldn't keep operating a team under the current CBA," Karmanos said. "[Which means] selling it. I think you would find people here. But again, it's very difficult to talk about as a business. You'd want someone who would give the same dedication to the sport that I have."
In December, Forbes Magazine valued the Hurricanes at $123 million , 21st among the 30 NHL franchises. Karmanos already has one minority partner in his hockey interests, Thomas Thewes -- one of his Compuware co-founders, who now lives in Florida. Together, they own the Hurricanes and two minor league teams and arenas.
Although Karmanos said he wants to spend more time in North Carolina, he lives in Detroit, where he is chairman and CEO of software company Compuware. He commutes to about half of the Hurricanes' home games.
Despite the prospect of at least a partial divestment of the Hurricanes, Karmanos said he eventually plans to become more involved in the business side of the hockey team as he reduces his role at Compuware. Karmanos, who turned 60 in March, said he had no timetable for such a move and that no changes were imminent.
Karmanos did acknowledge that the team's financial position was improving. Team officials have said the team has lost more than $100 million since moving to North Carolina from Hartford, Conn., in 1997.
The Hurricanes say they were 14th in the NHL in gate receipts last season, a remarkable accomplishment for a last-place team in one of the league's smallest markets. Based on interviews, documents and published reports, The News & Observer has estimated that the team averaged about $600,000 per game in gate receipts.
The team's average attendance was 15,682 in 2002-03, 19th in the NHL, even though the team fell from being a Stanley Cup finalist to finishing 30th and last in the NHL. The NHL average was 16,591.
Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford said season-ticket renewals were running behind goals and projections for the coming season, but he cautioned that the team rarely receives all responses until the end of September. The season-ticket base was about 9,000 last season.
"We would like it to be better than it is. Based on having an off season and the economy, I'm not completely surprised," Rutherford said. "We still have some work to do to get to the level we expected."
Rutherford said that corporate sales, however, were starting to rebound and that new clients were arriving -- Quintiles and Subway among them -- to replace those lost because of the sluggish economy.
OK, I'm hoping that GOP isn't blowing hot air here, and will be doing what I can to buy into this!
Aaryn
Canes owner looks at local investors
By LUKE DECOCK, Staff Writer
RALEIGH -- Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos said Friday he is considering selling part or even all of the hockey team, depending on the outcome of the NHL's coming labor negotiations.
Karmanos, in town for the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic, said that, if the NHL can reach an acceptable accommodation with the NHL Players' Association on a new collective bargaining agreement , he would look to add local partners.
The CBA expires on Sept. 15, 2004.
"We'd like to do that, but I would put myself on the other side and say, 'Why would anybody buy a minority interest in a hockey team that heretofore hasn't been profitable?' " Karmanos said. "We're not the Lone Ranger when it comes to that by any stretch. ...
"It would be very difficult. I think when we have our new agreement I would like to get as many people who are interested to participate and have a real board of directors and become even more a part of the community."
Karmanos, who is on the NHL's executive committee, is among a group of hard-line owners who want to install a luxury tax or salary cap -- what commissioner Gary Bettman has described as "cost certainty."
Because the owners and players appear so far apart, a repeat of the 1994 lockout that wiped out 38 games and that led to the current CBA is widely feared. In a worst-case scenario, the entire 2004-05 season could be lost.
NHL executives have been threatened with fines for publicly discussing the possibility of labor problems, but Karmanos said the outcome of the 2004 negotiations will determine in large part the future of the Hurricanes.
"From the Hurricanes' point of view, we couldn't keep operating a team under the current CBA," Karmanos said. "[Which means] selling it. I think you would find people here. But again, it's very difficult to talk about as a business. You'd want someone who would give the same dedication to the sport that I have."
In December, Forbes Magazine valued the Hurricanes at $123 million , 21st among the 30 NHL franchises. Karmanos already has one minority partner in his hockey interests, Thomas Thewes -- one of his Compuware co-founders, who now lives in Florida. Together, they own the Hurricanes and two minor league teams and arenas.
Although Karmanos said he wants to spend more time in North Carolina, he lives in Detroit, where he is chairman and CEO of software company Compuware. He commutes to about half of the Hurricanes' home games.
Despite the prospect of at least a partial divestment of the Hurricanes, Karmanos said he eventually plans to become more involved in the business side of the hockey team as he reduces his role at Compuware. Karmanos, who turned 60 in March, said he had no timetable for such a move and that no changes were imminent.
Karmanos did acknowledge that the team's financial position was improving. Team officials have said the team has lost more than $100 million since moving to North Carolina from Hartford, Conn., in 1997.
The Hurricanes say they were 14th in the NHL in gate receipts last season, a remarkable accomplishment for a last-place team in one of the league's smallest markets. Based on interviews, documents and published reports, The News & Observer has estimated that the team averaged about $600,000 per game in gate receipts.
The team's average attendance was 15,682 in 2002-03, 19th in the NHL, even though the team fell from being a Stanley Cup finalist to finishing 30th and last in the NHL. The NHL average was 16,591.
Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford said season-ticket renewals were running behind goals and projections for the coming season, but he cautioned that the team rarely receives all responses until the end of September. The season-ticket base was about 9,000 last season.
"We would like it to be better than it is. Based on having an off season and the economy, I'm not completely surprised," Rutherford said. "We still have some work to do to get to the level we expected."
Rutherford said that corporate sales, however, were starting to rebound and that new clients were arriving -- Quintiles and Subway among them -- to replace those lost because of the sluggish economy.
OK, I'm hoping that GOP isn't blowing hot air here, and will be doing what I can to buy into this!
Aaryn