Dallas Stars left wing Loui Eriksson (21) celebrates scoring a goal against Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne (35) of Finland during the third period of a NHL hockey game in Dallas, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011. At back are Stars Mike Ribeiro (63) and Predators David Legwand (11). The Stars won 3-2
Tom Gaglardi is in the driver's seat on the sale of the Dallas Stars but there is quite the debate about what the Vancouver businessman paid to be there.
One person well-connected to NHL financial matters said our estimate of $250-million (all currency U.S.) for the Stars plus a half-interest in the American Airlines Center was far too generous. This source pegged Gaglardi's offer closer to $125-million, which was disputed by a second source who has connections to the banking side of the sale. That source characterized the $125-million as the cash part of the transaction with Gaglardi assuming debt from the Stars and the arena to make the sale price higher.
In the meantime, Gaglardi, who is keeping quiet, is now in a 30-day exclusive negotiating period with the bankers in charge of the sale. They have agreed on a price and most of the major terms of the sale. The goal now is to wrap this up in a package so it can be taken through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court as smoothly as possible and present the team to Gaglardi (assuming none of the other interested parties presents a higher bid to the court) by early June.
The interesting thing about the argument between the two sources about the price is that both said Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who owns the other half of the arena, was interested enough to make an informal offer for the Stars. Cuban always let on his interest in the Stars was minimal but he would look at them in order to get a bigger share of the arena. He recently told the Dallas Morning News he would not buy the Stars himself but would "let someone else do the work."
However, our sources made it clear Cuban himself did the talking with the bankers but they were not interested. One source said Cuban studied the finances of more than one NHL team before he spoke to the Stars' bankers.
Cuban told the bankers he would pay no more than $80-million for the Stars and cover their next three years of losses up to a total of $75-million. If the Stars lost less than $75-million, the source said Cuban was willing to pay the difference to the creditors. That would bring the purchase price to $155-million, quite a comedown not only for the bankers but the NHL, since it has trumpeted the Stars as one of its model franchises.
The banking source confirmed there were talks with Cuban but they did not last long because he "was trying to low-ball this."
Two Dallas oil men, Doug Miller and Billy Quinn, made separate bids for the Stars and both were linked to Cuban at different points. They could resurface if they choose to make better offers through the court.
While Dallas was one of the NHL's best franchises, the trouble selling the team (it officially went on the market when owner Tom Hicks defaulted on $525-million in loans in March, 2009) reflects a terrible fall from grace. While reports place the Stars' losses at $15-million this season, our source says $25-million is more likely.
The Stars' attendance is to blame for the losses, as the fans voted with their feet with the team missing the playoffs for the third time in the last three years. The average crowd steadily declined, with the Stars hitting as low as 23rd in the NHL this season with just 15,073 fans turning up per game.
Even worse are the actual numbers in the seats, which is more indicative of the paying customers. Those who regularly attend games say it became common over the last two seasons to see as few as 6,000 fans at the arena, numbers usually associated with the likes of the Phoenix Coyotes or Atlanta Thrashers.
However, there is no chance the Stars will be moved.